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.

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.