USA: Modern Architectures in History

“At last, the book I have been waiting for: the story of modern American architecture deeply contextualized in the history of the last century and a half. Wright is that rare scholar who understands how intricately the built environment is laced into larger historical trends. This is a wonderful book for all who care about architecture and the long history of modern work, housing, and public life in the United States.”–Lizabeth Cohen, professor of history, Harvard University, and author of A Consumers’ Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America (9/15/2007 12:00:00 AM)

“Gwendolyn Wright is one of the few able to convey an appreciation of the architectural object and to situate buildings within broader social, technological, and aesthetic contexts. . . . This is a survey to stimulate thought and further investigation.”– “Architectural Review” (6/1/2008 12:00:00 AM)

“I am always amazed at Gwendolyn Wright’s ability to bring excitement and positive joy to urbanism and architecture in a rare way. Her enthusiasm for historical examples surely inspires others to take a deeper look and to reflect. In this moment of rapid urbanization worldwide, that reflection is needed more than ever.”–Steven Holl (8/13/2007 12:00:00 AM)

“Impressive for its breadth and conciseness. The choice of illustrations is superb and the design of the book is crisp and unostentatious. . . . Wright condenses social history into her narrative with, at times, poetic intensity. . . . Gwendolyn Wright’s USA constructs a model of how cultural histories can be more inclusive without submerging a movement’s monuments.”–Stephen Fox “Cite” (4/1/2008 12:00:00 AM)

“In a mere 320 pages, Gwendolyn Wright has managed to pack a staggering amount of information and visual documentation about the modernization of American architecture. She covers the evolving social, cultural, and political context as well. It is a credit to her neat, economical, agile prose and prodigious command of this vast material that she has also succeeded in making it an enthralling narrative and a major piece of criticism. . . . Gwendolyn Wright has produced a classic.”–Liane Lefavre “Architects Newsletter” (2/18/2008 12:00:00 AM)

“It takes great intelligence to gather the bits and facts of so many contributing disciplines and to present them as a coherent history, but that’s precisely what we get in Gwendolyn Wright’s USA. . . . It is a book that reads well and tells its story directly and without frills, even with some welcome temper. . . . Wright’s book puts us in the center of what is clearly an ongoing dialogue, a discourse on what we did, what we are doing now, and what we might be doing next. It arms the reader with everything required to join the fray.”–Helen L. Kohen “Home Miami” (3/1/2008 12:00:00 AM)

“Lucid and readable. . . . USA is dazzling.”–Josh Stephens “Next American City” (6/1/2008 12:00:00 AM)

“Perhaps the finest American survey text available. Wright addresses herself first to architects, . . . but USA seamlessly turns the freshest scholarship into a clear (but not monolithic) guide for historians. Teachers who want to include architectural hsitory in a history course without immersing studentss in art-historical paradigms will especially welcome this book.”–M. D. Samson “Journal of American History”

“Sure to become a standard in the field. . . . This book is a joy to read and copiously illustrated. Wright’s enthusiasm for her topic comes through in her vivid, compelling writing. . . . Essential.”– “Choice”

“While not shortchanging major figures (Frank Lloyd Wright appears in every chapter until his death), she looks further afield to consider significant work by underappreciated architects, some female, many outside the Chicago-New York-Los Angeles metropolitan axis. . . . Wright’s book, sure to be incorporated into architecture school syllabi nationwide, indicates that she’s up to the challenge.”–Bill Millard “eOculus” (4/1/2008 12:00:00 AM)

“Gwendolyn Wright’s splendid book updates, revises and enriches everything we know about the development and influence of American architecture with new material, brilliant insights, and the perspective of a new century. She makes the story so new and compelling and writes it so well that it will supplant older versions to become the standard reference.”–Ada Louise Huxtable (9/7/2007 12:00:00 AM)