Students of the Chicago School of Architecture owe a deep debt of gratitude to Donald Hoffmann for his pioneering work on John Wellborn Root who, along with Louis Sullivan, were the pioneers of late 19th century urban architecture in America. This is an important book for any architectural library.

Root's Ironic Legacy Hoffman makes a thorough case for John Wellborn Root's place as one of America's great architects. It is therefore a bitter irony that Root's less talented partner, Daniel Burnham, is cited in most modern encyclopedias as one of the founders of the Chicago School of Architecture, while Root---especially at the time of Hoffman's 1973 book---often is not. After all, it was Root's creative genius that propelled the firm of Burnham and Root into international focus at the moment of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

Root's relative anonymity began with that exposition, for he had died two years earlier of pneumonia. He had been set to rise to certain international stardom as consulting architect for the exposition. He had planned to feature American forms, not European ones. He submitted the site plan and died unexpectedly the same month.

His site plan was mostly realized, but not so his thematic proposal, which was overwhelmed by Parisian Beaux Arts designs. This lost opportunity was also America's loss. Burnham was largely to blame: he was chief of construction, and he inexplicably countered Root's American theme. The resulting exposition design under Burnham's leadership merely repeated a previous European showcase.

Because of the European theme of the Chicago Exposition, the Chicago School was set back a decade. Even worse, architects all over America emulated the exposition. To this day, the American landscape suffers the influence of the Chicago Exposition. One is left to marvel at how different America would look today had Root lived even long enough to guide the exposition to American forms.

About 97% of Root's buildings were razed in the first sixty years of the Twentieth Century, primarily because the business district of Chicago can't grow outwards because of geography. Therefore, it must grow upwards, and that means taller buildings are forever replacing tall buildings, Root's included.

Root's legacy is indeed full of ironies.

Root's Roots Hoffman's important work on this book is singularly responsible for reviving Root's place in architectural history. In the quarter century that has passed since Hoffman's book was published, Root is now accepted by historians, though not the general public.

If there is a weakness in Hoffman's book, it is the spare attention given to Root's life outside Chicago. Here are three details which would have rounded out this otherwise splendid book:

(1) Root was born in my hometown of Lumpkin, Georgia in 1850. I remember the commanding wooden two-story home in which he was born. It was torn down about 1963. Adding to the Root irony, his birthplace today is occupied by a simple brick house. Most natives of his hometown know nothing more than the text of a historical marker about Root, which seems to point out this modern house.

(2) John Wellborn Root's father, Sidney, invented international business in Atlanta. Sidney engineered Atlanta's economic boom which began during the Civil War and has yet to stop.

(3) Root named his masterpiece, the Monadnock, to honor his father, whose family admired Daniel Webster. Webster lived near Mt. Monadnock in New Hampshire.

Root's Future A recent weekend in Chicago took me to three of Root's remaining buildings. One of them, the Monadnock, bowled me over. It is hard to believe that it could have been built in the Nineteenth Century, for it seems fresh even today.

My visit also led me to Donald Hoffman's book, which has now inspired us locals to recognize John Wellborn Root's 150th birthday in January, 2000. Hoffman has thus dispersed one more of Root's ironies---Root's hometown will never forget him again.

John Wellborn Root's short life was elemental in the development of the early skyscraper. With his partner, Daniel Burnham, Root quickly climbed the social ladder in his adopted city of Chicago, receiving commissions to design South Side mansions for industrialists in the 1870s. The firm of Burnham & Root quickly rose to great acclaim designing commercial buildings such as the Grannis Block and the 10 story Montauk Block, credited as the first building ever referred to as a skyscraper. Root engineered several key technological improvements that made the tall building possible, including the use of a steel within a concrete foundation and was, along with contemporaries William LeBaron Jenney and Holabird & Roche, involved in the use of metal interior frame to support a large building's weight, rather than the historic use of masonry load-bearing walls. Root's Second Rand McNally Building was the world's first building to be supported only on a steel frame. The 22 story Masonic Temple was the world's tallest building when completed in 1892. Root's designs generally frankly expressed their structure in a Romaneque manner, being instrumental in the creation of the so-called "Chicago" or "commercial style". Yet his work was often beautiful, as seen in the Women's Temple, Rookery and Monadnock- the latter two critically-acclaimed structures still standing in Chicago.

Root was an accomplished orator and reader, and if he had not died in 1891 at age 41, he, rather than Louis Sullivan, may have become the spokesman of the Chicago style. The artuiculate Root wrote many articles in trade magazines and spoke at architectual forums, speaking of his architectual theories. Certainly Root was a witty, pleasant gentleman greatly admired by his peers.

Nevertheless, Hoffman's book is not uncritical; the book looks at the failures and the minor commisisons of churches, train stations, and the like. A complete history of Root's work is presented with special emphasis is placed on the most important works listed above. Hoffman's book is well footnoted and his conclusions are supported by the evidence. After the first chapter, Hoffman mostly eschews biography, focusing on Root's career.

The book is interesting and rich in details. Hoffman explores the dynamics of Burnham & Root's successful partnership whereby Root, the designer, handled the drawing, and Burnham, the planner, laid out interior floor plans and handled the "jaw work" in talking to clients.

The relationship with Burnham is interesting for it is Burnham who is best remembered today for his later work in the city planning movement. Although Root's buildings have mostly been demolished as their cities, Chicago, Kansas City, San Francisco and others, have grown upward, several survive and this book keeps the memories of the others alive.

This book is an excellent study, in marvelous detail
and analysis, of one of Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpieces
of architecture. Too often the words "artist" and
"genius" only dimly suggest the true nature of the
person or work being discussed; but this book with
its keen and accurate delineations about Robie,
the client and his desires, Wright, the architect/
artist/genius and his desires, and the work of art
itself -- the Robie House -- help one to fully
understand the harmonious combination of elements
which can come together in producing a masterpiece.
The author of this work is Donald Hoffmann, and
he has himself produced a work of magnificence
in this full presentation of the design and execution
of a "dream house." Hoffmann gives full and interesting
accounts of Robie and of Wright as their two psyches
come together to promote an "idealized" artwork which
pleases both client and architect.
The book also has wonderful footnotes filled
with insightful comments and quotes. Here is
an example of one:

Louis H. Sullivan at the end of his life wrote
quite beautifully that Wright was gifted with
"an apprehension of the material,so delicate as
to border on the mystic, and yet remain coordinate
with those facts we call real life." (p. 31)

The text itself is filled with suggestive and
provocative commentary:

Wright's ideal was the comprehensive and unified
work of art, the *Gesamtkunstwerk. German culture
fascinated him. He spoke of Bach and Beethoven
as the two greatest architects, and he confessed
his love for the old Germany of Goethe, Schiller,
even Nietzsche. (p. 14)

Wright stood almost alone in his intuition of
the prairie. * * * Everything about the site
suggested a long, low, stream-lined, ship-like
house: the prairie, the nearby lake, the new
sense of speed, * * * and the shape of the lot ,
three times as long as it was wide. (p. 17)

Radical and masculine, the Robie house would be
built in a part of Chicago characteristically
stern and urbane. (p. 13)
-------------
The book is filled with "160 carefully selected
illustrations" --which include architectural
drawings and many photos, both of the house,
of Robie and his family, of Wright, and of some
of Wright's other previous houses leading up to
the Robie House. Hoffmann also did excellent
research by gaining access to complete
taped transcripts by Robie, and interviews with
Robie's son, and others.

There is something very compelling and involving
to my sense perceptions about Wright's long, sleek,
tiered approach to architecture, as well as the
various designs of lamps and chairs and lights
which he included in the house. But on seeing the
photos of the dining room...and the rigid but
beautiful "Gothic" like chairs, as well as the
photos of the "stuff" that the Robie family
cluttered the Spartan rooms with in their
attempts to "customize" it to their living
desires...the house seems incredibly beautiful,
but not incredibly utilitarian: idealized, abstract,
geometric beauty and organic harmony with the
beauty and structure of Nature, but not necessarily
"organic" in its relation to people and "common
creature" comforts.

Dieses Buch, wie sein Thema, wird wie ein Ziegelsteinouthouse aufgebaut. Unassailable Forschung. Gute Arbeit, Don.

Has a lot of information to understand about de Production and Inventory Management

In 7 large steps the writers show the reader the basics of production planning. Master planning, inventory management, MRP, capacity management, production activity control, JIT and the theory of constraints are explained, not only as basic statements, but also including some standard calculation approaches. 1991, the first production computer systems were introduced, but this book stays at the basic. What to do if the current ERP-systems fail and the millennium bug strikes again? Step-by-step, with a calculator in the hand.

Don Hoffman's book gives and accurate description of how this magnificent home came into being from its inception to completion. It discusses how the sketches evolved due to the environmental considerations of the landscape showing how Kentuck Knob was build to coordinate the house and the hill upon which it was built into one organic structure.

It explains Wright's architectural philosophy as to why he makes the decisions he did when building this house.

Visually the book itself is elegantly designed with excellent photographs giving a true feel for the nature of the house and providing some insignt to the wise, artistically minded people whom conceived of and lived in Kentuck Knob so happily and with such a great respect for the environment which the house occupies.

As a child I spent a great deal of time in this house, being close family friends with the original owners, so I would know if there were any inconsistancies with the book and reality and find it most accurately written.

This would be a great gift for anyone interested in architecture, environmnetalism or whom is a particular fan of Frank Llyod Wright's architecture. Also it is so beautifully done that it would just be a pretty coffee table book to keep for yourself or for in a guest room.

In this book, noted architectural scholar Donald Hoffman outlines the contributions of these two men and others to the fledgling skyscraper movement. Among the topics examined are the profit motive behind skyscraper construction, the importance of light in skyscraper design, Sullivan's soaring idealism, the "anti-skyscraper," exemplified by Wright's Price Tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and many more.

Accompanying the perceptive, carefully researched text are 100 excellent illustrations, including rare photographs, floor plans, and renderings that document such important structures as Sullivan's Wainwright Building in St. Louis, along with his Masonic Temple, Reliance Building, and Marshall Field Wholesale Store in Chicago; the A.T. Stewart store in New York; the San Francisco Call Project; Wright's Larkin Building in Buffalo, New York, as well as his dazzling but never-constructed National Life Insurance Company project, Chicago, and St. Mark's Tower project, New York.

Architecture enthusiasts will find this comprehensive, authoritative study filled not only with an abundance of insights into the early development of the skyscraper but also with the ideas and influence of two master builders who played key roles in one of the most revolutionary developments in modern architecture.

This is an historical books about this house but all the pictures are in B & W. And it's so sad for such a masterpiece of frank Lloyd Wright.

This book is one of the best I have seen for describing in detail the challenges of creating one of America's architectural landmarks. Anyone who reads this book will be reminded of Thomas Edison's comment about genius being 99 percent perspiration and 1 percent inspiration.

Fallingwater came as a commission after one of the longest dry spells of Frank Lloyd Wright's career. Despite having no work to do, no money, and few prospects, Mr. Wright dawdled with the project while trying to sell his client, Edgar Kaufmann, as many other projects as possible. Contemporary accounts suggest that Wright only began sketching something on paper when Mr. Kaufmann was about to arrive at Taliesin in Wisconsin, where Wright did his work.

Mr. Kaufman was not an easy client. He was the head of a major department store, and was used to getting his own way. Client and architect often clashed, with bent feelings on both sides. Independent "experts" got involved who also added to the controversy, mistakes, and misunderstandings. Mr. Kaufmann deserves credit, though, for sticking with Wright as the costs soared way above the original budget for this most unique house.

Interestingly, the two were brought together by Mr. Kaufmann's son who had come to study with Wright in Taliesin. The book contains a brief introduction by Edgar Kaufmann, Jr. who ultimately gave the home to a local nature conservancy.

Even without the challenges of the human relationships, Fallingwater was a most ambitious commission. In a remote part of the Allegheny Mountains in Pennsylvania, Fallingwater is sited on top of a waterfall. The potential for the water to undermine the house is enormous. Mr. Wright also wanted to keep as many of the original rocks and trees as possible. The site survey was often wrong, and the designs had to be adjusted to reflect the reality. The design also provided other unusual problems, and the first cantilever was built incorrectly due to changes made under Mr. Kaufmann's direction.

The book contains a wealth of maps, letters, summaries of interviews with those who worked on the project, drawings, plans, and photographs of the work in progress in black and white. This detail brings the challenges to life in a very real way.

The fascinating part of this book to me is that Fallingwater's final effects are the opposite of its creation. The home seems to float above the water, like a mirage. It seems to exude tranquility and peace. Yet, its every stage of movement toward becoming a reality was like a Sumo wrestling match with enormous heavyweight egos and ideas colliding at high speed and with little regard for the impact on the other fellow.

As much as I love Fallingwater, I love understanding more about how it was created even more. Anyone who wants to leave a mark of greatness behind should read this book.

After you finish thinking through the implications of Mr. Wright's vision and ways of implementing it, I suggest that you think about your own personal life and work. Where are you lacking in vision? Where are you lacking in the processes to implement worthwhile visions?

Turn your dreams into beautiful realities . . . for everyone!

Of all the books on Fallingwater, this is the best when you want to know about how the house came into being. I have 2 copies of the book, one that accompanies me on all my travelling, and one to keep in my library. I have at least read it 8 to 10 times, and already look forward to the next time. The black and white photography is quite good, although the book would even be better with some color takes. Hoffman did a great job researching on the subject, and reading the book, it occurs that this was no easy task to get everything in order, chronoligically.