Product Description

From the 1920s through the 1950s, Hugh Ferriss was America's most ?celebrated architectural artist, famous for his dramatic charcoal ?renderings. First published in 1929, The Metropolis of Tomorrow was the ?quintessential document of the prosperity of the 1920s, as well as a ?personal manifesto of visionary urbanism. In it, Ferriss drew and ?discussed the American skyscraper and presented his romantic vision for ?an ideal city of the future.?

?This fascimile edition of this classic captures all the drama of the ?original volume, reprinting over 60 of Ferris's striking chiaroscuro ?renderings and his written commentary. In addition, included are over 40 ?additional drawings and photographs and an insightful essay by Carol ?Willis (author of Form Follows Finance) on Ferris's career. This ?historic document is available from Princeton Architectural Press for ?the first time in over five years.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1425934 in Books
• Published on: 1998-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 200 pages

From Library Journal
In this 1929 volume, Ferriss presented his vision of how he believes the cities of tomorrow (which now are those of today) would look. Ferriss's specialty was skyscrapers, and the 108 illustrations here feature monstrous buildings, many of which came to fruition. Though basically black-and-white drawings of buildings, the plates are often extremely beautiful.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"A book like this lives or dies by the quality of the drawings. And here Ferris's dark, chiaroscuro renderings retain their atmospheric impact." -- Howard Mansfield, Small Press

"Princeton Architectural Press should be applauded for rescuing this book and making it available to a wide audience." -- Scott Gutterman, Architectural Record

In the boom of the 1920s, Manhattan reached for the sky as never before. Buildings competed shoulder to shoulder to be the world's tallest, often remaking the city. New York changed more in three years, said one observer, -- From Independent Publisher

Customer Reviews

Brutal metropolis
I think that generally Dover Books are to be congratulated on reprinting many books that otherwise might never be seen again and priced very reasonably too. I don't think any plaudits are in order on this book though. I found the text very dull and the pictures gave an overall impression of blackness.

Hugh Ferris managed to develop a wonderful rendering technique (being trained as an architect no doubt helped) that seemed so suited to commercial buildings of size, especially skyscrapers. His black and white artwork is simply stunning but it needs to be printed on quality paper to bring out the subtleties of grey shading. The main problem with the book is the paper does nothing for his work and I was really made aware of this when I recently bought Power in Buildings a lovely reprint of his 1953 book. The fourth of his famous renderings from Evolution of the Set-back Building appears in both books but in the 'Power' edition the image looks so right.

His writing in 'Metropolis' came across as very long-winded, for example, this is from the last page of the book:
'As for personal and specific proposals, the author well knows how many parapets, other than the one we are now leaving, overlook the imaginary "Metropolis of Tomorrow" and he shares the common belief that few of the many visualizations currently being formulated can contribute more than a particle to the ultimate actuality'
The ten pages of words and pictures devoted to Set-back I thought the most interesting part of what he had to say.

Get his 'Power' book for a much better appreciation of his architectural thoughts and the fifty main renderings really look beautiful on good paper.

Visual philosopher
To say that this 1920's classic is anything other than a masterpiece would be proof of insanity. By "interpreting" a Law, (NY Zoning 1917), Ferriss found beauty in the hope of what might be. In today's world of 3D CAD and computers, Ferriss was able to use canvas to convey not merely ideas and requirements, but opportunities and emotions. There are few books that inspire architects more than this. The value of original prints of this is evident in that single plates are sold in New York for $20 apiece by street vendors Architects are usually too caught up in the details to appreciate the beauty of buildings. Leave it then, to a painter to bring out the beauty and grace of buildings that were meant to inspire, or were not meant to be.

Magnificent Value
Ferriss's drawings had an immediate impact on architecture. Some of his projections are the purest distilling of Art Deco application to buildings one can find from the age. But Ferriss's effect on cinema and illustration has been very powerful as well, and far less documented. The 1-star-off is because the reproduction quality -- quite good, no doubt -- leaves some to be desired, nonetheless: the sfumato effects appear more like soft-focus than atmosphere and the graininess brings to mind infra-red film more than the grit of a huge city fueled by leaded gas and coal.