Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Published in conjunction with a major exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, this catalogue reveals new perspectives on the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, a designer so prolific and familiar as to nearly preclude critical reexamination. Structured as a series of inquiries into the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives, the book is a collection of scholarly explorations rather than an attempt to construct a master narrative. Each chapter centers on a key object from the archive that an invited author has "unpacked"-interpreting and contextualizing it, tracing its meanings and connections, and juxtaposing it with other works from the archive, from MoMA, or from outside collections. The publication aims to open up Wright's work to questions, interrogations, and debates, and to highlight interpretations by contemporary scholars, both established Wright experts and others considering this iconic figure from new and illuminating perspectives.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

This catalog and the accompanying exhibition celebrate the 150th anniversary of the architect's birth and the unpacking of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives after it was transferred to the Museum of Modern Art and the Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library at Columbia University. Responsible for both exhibition and catalog, Columbia University and MoMA colleagues Bergdoll and Gray organized them around a sampling of the items in the archive rather than telling a sequential story of Wright's work, which is more than adequately documented elsewhere. Given the massive scale of the archive, which encompasses the entirety of the architect's long career, the works chosen provide the 16 essayists with ample opportunity to work in many themes present in Wright's architecture. The beautifully illustrated selection of drawings, sketches, models, photographs, and -correspondence include some never before studied and others that provide new information on well-known works. Writings on the conservation of the architectural models, an overview of Wright's architectural drawings, and the data visualization projects the Avery Library is bringing to bear on the archives offer additional perspectives. -VERDICT An important title for information about the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives in general and for the fascinating works included in the catalog.-Amy Trendler, Ball State Univ. Libs., -Muncie, IN © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

This book, and the MoMA exhibition it catalogues, presents to the public for the first time some of the archival material from the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives that Columbia University's Avery Library and MoMA jointly acquired. Bergdoll and Gray's aim is not to offer a survey of Wright's work but instead a series of snapshots of the archive's material, with a focus on specific studies and heretofore unpublished material that is part of Wright's oeuvre. Organized in five sections--"Nature," "Culture," "Process," "City," "Archive"--the essays cover a large part of Wright's domestic and public architectural production, from his earliest designs to his final ones, from architecture, landscape, construction, and graphic designs to the design of cities. The book is copiously illustrated with superbly reproduced design and construction drawings, studies, photographs, and so on, visuals that show not only the beauty of the designs but also the complexities inherent in Wright's work. Other illustrations from the museum's collection help to situate his work and compare it to that of his contemporaries. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers. --Luis E. Carranza, Roger Williams University

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Barry Bergdoll is Curator in the Department of Architecture and Design at The Museum of Modern Art and Meyer Schapiro Professor of Art History and Archaeology, Department of Art History, Columbia University. Jennifer Gray is Project Research Assistant in the Department of Architecture and Design at The Museum of Modern Art.