From the late Herbert Muschamp; the former architecture critic of The New York Times and one of the most outspoken and influential voices in architectural criticism; a collection of his best work.The pieces here—from The New Republic; Artforum; and The New York Times—reveal how Muschamp’s views were both ahead of their time and timeless. He often wrote about how the right architecture could be inspiring and uplifting; and he uniquely drew on film; literature; and popular culture to write pieces that were passionate and often personal; changing the landscape of architectural criticism in the process. These columns made architecture a subject accessible to everyone at a moment when; because of the heated debate between modernists and postmodernists; architecture had become part of a larger public dialogue. One of the most courageous and engaged voices in his field; he devoted many columns at the Times to the lack of serious new architecture in this country; and particularly in New York; and spoke out against the agenda of developers. He departed from the usual dry; didactic style of much architectural writing to playfully; for example; compare Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Bilbao to the body of Marilyn Monroe or to wax poetic about a new design for Manhattan’s manhole covers. One sees in this collection that Muschamp championed early on the work of Frank Gehry; Rem Koolhaas; Zaha Hadid; Thom Payne; Frank Israel; Jean Nouvel; and Santiago Calatrava; among others; and was drawn to the theoretical writings of such architects as Peter Eisenman. Published here for the first time is the uncut version of his brilliant and poignant essay about gay culture and Edward Durrell Stone’s museum at 2 Columbus Circle. Fragments from the book he left unfinished; whose title we took for this collection—“A Dozen Years;†“Metroscope;†and “Atomic Secretsâ€â€”are also included. Hearts of the City is dazzling writing from a humanistic thinker whose work changed forever the way we think about our cities—and the buildings in them.
#2429711 in eBooks 2013-07-19 2013-07-05File Name: B00FLLXVVS
Review
27 of 27 people found the following review helpful. Nice alternative card ideas; cool paperBy laurakCute projects. Pretty paper. Seven of the papers are double sided (back is a solid color; but not white). The rest are white on the back. All of the backs are pale enough that you could include a note on them. The paper is a little thicker than regular origami paper; probably because the kit is for making note cards; not origami. Its still easily workable. About 1/3 of the sheets are ~7 inches (assuming the "7-inch paper folder" is a reliable measuring device). The rest are ~6".The directions are clear. I particularly like that when precision is not imperative; the instructions will tell you (because; really; who can reliably make a fold 1/5 or 1/8 of the way across the paper; and why go nuts trying to if its not necessary?!).Most of the projects are relatively simple; but the final product looks difficult enough that your recipient will be impressed. I tried the projects that caught my eye on first glance (about 1/3 of them) and only had trouble on the "flapping bird envelope" because I wasnt sure what an "inside-reverse fold" was and where to put it. Google fixed the first problem; and the second was user error. Had I looked closely enough at the diagram; I think it would have been apparent what I needed to do...even without Google. Oh; and thats the only origami term in the book that isnt described somewhere.The letter folder is plastic and had some rough edges on it that caught on the paper. Nothing an emery board couldnt fix. Ill probably just use another bone folder I already have or my thumbnail.The box is a bit large for what comes in it. (Sorry...Im an overpackaging fiend!) Theres a cardboard "riser" inside to make it look like theres more inside than there really is. Thats okay. Ill remove the riser and use the box to store the other origami paper I bought!For what its worth; my book was only 48 pages; not the 64 listed in the Product Details (and on the back of the box mine came in). Nothing seems to be missing; so Im not sure whats up with that. And while the cover of the book that came with the kit was a little thicker than a paperback; it wasnt what I would consider hard cover. Maybe that refers to the box?Overall a good value for the money; and itll allow me to feed my folding fetish for a while longer.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. easy and fascinating note folds and envelopes Ive ever seenBy Rob SteinOf all of the origami products Ive ordered over the past years; this simple little book has some of the most creative; easy and fascinating note folds and envelopes Ive ever seen. I have inflicted them on many of my friends with whom I correspond regularly. Figuring our how to open them is half the fun! Beats e-mail all to pieces! I highly recommend this product for yourself; or as a gift for anyone who still enjoys the art and craft of sending written correspondence on classy stationery.6 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Fun letters to send and great for other purposes; tooBy DOmedicalstudentI like this product and new what I was getting when I ordered it; however; I thought there would be a few more folds in the book.The only thing I am really disappointed with is the size of the paper. I must have misread the size in product description; because I thought the papers would be larger than they are. It makes the folded product quite small. Some of the notes; like the spiral note and the trapezoid note/envelope are large enough; but most of the others; especially the envelops are very small. Thats okay; I will use what the kit came with for other things and buy some larger paper for making my notes/envelopes.If you care what the paper looks like; the pictures shown especially those from inside the book are much more vibrant than the actual paper that comes with the kit (though the designs are the same; just in duller colors).Otherwise; this is a great product that allows you to add fun and interest to a normal letter. These can be used for a lot of things such as place cards at a party; business card holders; and other holders that can add interest to a paper flyer/note/card; etc at any event.I am glad to have purchased this item - I have folded at least one of each item in the book and can say that the instructions are very clear. The one exception to that is the crane envelope instruction that says to "inside reverse fold" which I had to youtube to figure out what to do after unintentionally riping my first try at folding that envelope from so many tries.I have enjoyed this kit and know I will find many uses for the folds included.