Author Sam Lubell writes in the book's introduction that Frank LLoyd Wright was perhaps the main pioneer of the new organic architecture that influenced, in future decades, the building styles of John Lautner, Bruce Goff, Fay Jones, Herb Greene, Bill Peters and others. There was a stimulating counter to the work of these folk with the arrival, during the Thirties, of several European architects like Gropius, Mies van der Rohe, Breuer, Saarinen, Frey and Mendelsohn, all of the Modernist School. Their work, in later years, influenced Philip Johnson, Edward Durell Stone, Eero Saarinen, Pierre Koenig and William Pereira.
The book reveals, in hundreds of color photos, the work of these architects backed up with a several hundred-word essay for each building by Lubell, who knows his stuff and writes in an easy conversational style. Of course, all the well-known buildings are here (justifiably Lloyd Wright has twelve) but what I liked about the contents was the selection of the lesser known buildings like Robert Bruno's 'Steel House', Herb Green's 'Praire House' or Ant Farm and Richard Jost's 'House of the Century'.
I was particularly pleased to see that each building really made an attempt to show the structure, obviously the outside but several of the interiors. Bruce Goff's 'Ford House' has nine, Schindler's 'Kallis-Sharlin residence twelve, Lautner's 'Elrod House' ten. All the book's photos are big on the page, frequently with one over a spread.
There are four essays between all the individual buildings where Lubell delves into various aspects of architecture and twelve pages near the back look at twenty-four buildings with a photo and long essay, this is followed by a building index.
I liked 'American Icons', it's certainly a worthwhile look at some very creative architecture. I believe a second volume will be published later this year.
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