Two temperaments in history : scientific and literary (1951) -- American architecture between World's Fairs : Richardson, Sullivan, and McKim (1983) -- Four approaches to regionalism in the visual arts of the 1930s (1977) -- The Tennessee Valley Authority : lessons for the present and future (1993) -- Fiasco at Willow Run (1943) -- The symbolic essence of modern European architecture of the twenties and its continuing influence (1963) -- The international style in the 1930s (1965) -- "I am alone" : Le Corbusier, bathrooms, and airplanes (1983) -- William Lescaze reconsidered (1984) -- The aftermath of the Bauhaus in America : Gropius, Mies, and Breuer (1968) -- Seagram assessed (1958) -- Medical research building for the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (1961) -- Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas; Library, Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire (1974) -- Robert Venturi and the decorated shed (1985) -- Bank of China tower (1991)
Summary:
"Historian and architectural critic William H. Jordy (1917-1997) significantly shaped the way we understand the character and meaning of modern architecture and American culture. This collection of his thought-provoking essays encompasses Jordy's entire career and includes his signature essay, 'The Symbolic Essence of Modern Architecture of the Twenties and Its Continuing Influence.' The collection also contains critical writings on works by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, Louis Kahn, and Robert Venturi, as well as less well-known pieces and one previously unpublished text. Generously illustrated, the book demonstrates the range and depth of Jordy's thinking. He leads his readers to discover important connections of architecture with art, literature, intellectual history, symbolic structures, social purpose, and community. Mardges Bacon's insightful introduction to the volume situates Jordy's essays in historical and architectural context and offers a concise intellectual biography of this original and influential thinker"--Publisher's description