Thursday 10 March 2022

LA buildings deserve much better than this (1/5)


































I should have known this book was an also-ran. It cost a bit less than the postage and arrived still shrink-wrapped..so new. I recently reviewed Mike Kelly's excellent 2019 published book on contemporary LA architecture (ISBN 9783791384771) he photographed fifty buildings, some of which are in LA 2000+ but his photos beautifully capture the essence of the exteriors and interiors. 

This book, from 2006, is full of photos that do very little to help the reader appreciate the city's remarkable architectural creativity. Mostly they are taken at odd angles and confusing close-ups. Another problem is the hopeless layout. Colored panels run across pages with the copy in almost page width lines. Photos butt together, headings on colored panels run over photos despite plenty of white space for the heading.

No wonder the book was so cheap to buy. It'll not stay long on my shelves.

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