LA in top form (5/5)

In the introduction by Brooke Hodge, he mentions that in past decades LA attracted some brilliant architects who flourished with the excellent climate and wealthy, inspired clients. Richard Neutra, Rudolph Schindler, Frank Lloyd Wright, John Lautner and the Case Study Program produced outstanding structures and this book reveals that the city still encourages creative architecture.

The fifty considered in the book are a mix of commercial, civic, cultural and housing. Each is a photo survey over two, four, or six pages with a brief analysis of what the architect and client wanted. I thought that many of these buildings really looked quite striking, like the LA Trade Technical College, LAPD new headquarters, Samitaur Tower, Tonga Park, the Vespertine restaurant and the United Oil gas station. A nice touch is that the address of each is included so you can look it up on Street View.

Because all the photos were taken by Mike Kelly, they all blend together throughout the book, it's a handsome print and design job, too.

Light houses (5/5)

The book features twenty-three houses produced by the international architectural company SAOTA (Stefan Antoni Olmesdahl Truen Architects) based in Cape Town. The five hundred illustrations reveal some truly sumptuous homes built around the world, with a common element of letting the outside light inside.

All the houses cover several pages starting with an essay about the location, description of the structure and materials used. This is followed by photos over a spread, a whole page or two on a page. Each house has a page devoted to a site and floor plans (unfortunately I thought these were really too small to give an indication of the interior design). A really interesting feature is a spread of seven close-up photos of interior detail combined with elevation graphics. 

Eight pages at the back of the book have an illustrated company Timeline, which really should have been on the front pages so the reader would know something about the company before looking at the houses. A common element throughout the pages is the beautiful photography that reveals the splendor of each home. Staff photographer Adam Letch is responsible for many of these shots.

My only regret, after looking through the book several times, is that I don't live in any of these beautiful homes.