Iconic LA, Stories of LA's Most Memorable Buildings - Hardcover

Koenig, Gloria

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1890449083 ISBN 13: 9781890449087

Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press, 2001

Synopsis

Journalist and writer Gloria Koenig profiles 13 important public and private buildings in the Los Angeles area, including one designed by her husband, architect Pierre Koenig. Although very different from one another, she argues that the buildings together form an "architectural web" that represents the cultural currents at work in the city. Among other topics, she covers each building's origin, architect, construction process, and history, as well as its public reception. The book contains high-quality b&w photographs. Oversize: 9.5x12<"> Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

About this title

About the Author

Gloria Koenig is an award-winning fiction writer and journalist whose work has appeared in a variety of venues including the Los Angeles Times. She is a former contributing editor to several publications at the University of California at Los Angeles, focusing on disciplines such as health sciences, sociology, education, and arts and architecture. A Los Angeles resident, she brings an informed literary sensibility to an historical exploration of the city's architectural heritage.

From the Inside Flap

Frank O. Gehry: During the early 60s no one expected significant architecture to come out of LA. Critics dismissed the city as interesting but basically unimportant, which allowed room for a great deal of artistic freedom. For me, LA has always offered a kind of freewheeling chaotic order. I'm intrigued by its strengths and weaknesses, and see Los Angeles as a manifestation of our time."

Julius Shulman, architectural photographer: "The skill and sensitivity pertinent to the identity of LA's diverse design images is evident in Gloria Koenig's writing. Her selections, ranging from Watts Towers to Grauman's Chinese, from the San Fernando Mission to the upcoming Disney Concert Hall, reflect her innate abilities to observe a cross-section of the city's creativity in the arts and architecture."

Robert H. Timme, Dean, USC School of Architecture: "Iconic LA presents the reader with thirteen different buildings, each rich in style and substance, but it is the strength of the total collection that makes this presentation so exciting. Koenig is able to show that Los Angeles, unlike any other major city in the world, has a truly powerful foundation, comprised of diverse architectural images. This foundation has served as a catalyst to encourae the variety of creative work that is now, and will continue to be, constructed in this capital city of new modernism."

Reviews

A combination of social and architectural history, this volume profiles 13 of Los Angles's most identifiable structuresDfrom the San Fernando Rey Mission, the Watts Towers, and Griffith Observatory to the Getty Center and the as-yet-to-be-completed Disney Concert Hall. The history of each structure is presented in a very readable and well-documented style. High-quality black-and-white historical and contemporary photographs and drawings provide a visual context for the narratives. As with any "best of" compilation, one can question the selection of "icons," but all of these structures (with the possible exception of Case Study House #22 designed by Pierre Koenig, the author's spouse) are readily identifiable as L.A. landmarks, and most do have Los Angles Cultural Heritage Commission historic cultural monument status. Recommended for comprehensive design libraries and general collections with an interest in Los Angeles local history or travel.DJay Schafer, Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1890449083
• ISBN 13: 9781890449087
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 120