In Building A Masterpiece: Milwaukee Art Museum, Franz Schulze (architectural historian, art critic, and professor emeritus at Lake Forest College, Illinois) presents a superbly documented work of architectural triumph as he showcases the world-class Milwaukee Art Museum designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava which joins the original building by Eero Saarinen. Dramatic photography illustrates and documents the new museum structure and enhance Schulze's informative essay as part of an illustrated retrospective of Calatrava's architectural career. Also included are highlights of the museum's encyclopedic collection with each color plate being accompanied by a brief essay of its own. Building A Masterpiece is a welcome and impressive addition to any professional or academic architectural studies reference collection.

Not only is this catalog of Chicago's murals enormously useful for the casual reader/visitor, but its style is elegant and restrained, its color illustrations clear and gorgeous, its scholarship impeccable and useful, and quite simply a pleasure to study and own. We are fortunate to have such a comprehensive book.

An artifact capturing the trajectory of etheral spatialization begun by Mies, spontaneously and without apparent precedent over 60 years ago. Krueck's early projects bear testament to the pure potential of the lyrical study of architectural space conducted 50 years ago at the Illinois Institute of Technology under Mies, Speyer, Brenner and later Danforth and Takeuchi. At its best, Krueck's work is resolved to Greek ideals. Even Krueck's later work prove how fleeting is the vision.

This is one of my favorite mini-books on Chicago architecture. It is perfect if you are in need of a comprehensive guide with short entries to shape your exploration of the city. Unlike, say, the AIA Guide, photographs are provided for every entry. Photos are small but nowhere near as tiny as the AIA thumbnails. While the entries are brief, they cover most of the important highlights. I am anxious for a new edition, as many of the descrpitions (and their accompanying photos) are in need of updating in order to cover recent restoration efforts and newer major buildings as well.

I love this book. It is fairly recent overview of the famous buildings in the Chicago area. It covers downtown, the city, and the suburbs. It also has some good buildings featured from the Sears Tower to the Amritech Building at Hoffmann Estates. Though the photos are in black and white, and the entries are a little short, this is a definate buy if you are interested in Urban Architecture or Chicago.

While much is known about the works or Mies van der Rohe, little is ever revealed about the man himself. After reading Franz Schulze's book I found myself reflecting quite deeply on my own direction in the great field of Architecture.

Schulze gives readers a honest perspective on the mysterious personality of Mies. He tells much about his marital life, his relationship with his daughters, and his political life; three aspects of the man which had significant influence on his career.

In the end Mies is painted as one who did what was necessary to become great, but never lost sight of the true essence of arguably the most influential of all art forms.

Schulze appears to have a deep respect for Mies and is therefore very frank in this book. However, he is not merely spouting rhetoric. Much of the biography is based on interviews with those close to Mies, including his grandson, Dirk Lohan, who himself is a successful architect in the Chicago area.

As a fan of modernism and a resident in a Mies Van Der Rohe-designed Commonwealth Plaza building in Chicago, I have an acute appreciation for Mies' vision and mastery of form and function in architecture. I borrowed this book from a friend and was mesmerized by the depth in which Mr. Schulze chronicled some of Mies' best works. I received incredible insight into the philosophy of this master architect. The text was accompanied by black and white photos of the buildings and designs and was perfectly matched. The black and white layout of the book focuses the reader on the form of these buildings and its importance, thereby giving a glimpse of the thoughts behind the designs. The book is incredibly comprehensive and a must for anyone with an interest in architecture and modernism. Unfortunately, the book is not in print and I have been constantly searching for my own copy, preferably new. I hope that the University of Chicago Press, itself part of a highly-regarded academic institution, to quickly offer a reprint of this valuable book. I would love to obtain a hardcopy version, as I strongly feel that this is a collection-quality book.

Useful and informative, but Norton was a bit slap-dash in its production. The "newly-drawn plans" were disappointing and nowhere near the standard in architectural publishing; whoever was responsible shouldn't have been.

I really love David Adler. I was thrilled to find out that this book was in the making. But when I finally got my hands on it I was furious to find that there were no color plates in the entire book. All photographs are archival. The Richard Crane mansion in Ipswich is a tremendous house, and I appreciate the old view from the beach, but how does that compare to the view now that all of the landscape has come to maturation. Not including color plates and more contemporary shots was a cruel tease to play.

growing up in Lake Forest, IL...I, too saw these beautiful country estates -- but never knew the common theme was David Adler. Such a wealth of information and history that I have to thank Mr. Salny for. We are talking an era of architecture that included not only the design of a building, but also the design of the gardens, the interiors, etc. A fabulous book -- beautiful and inspiring in so many ways!

A great book about my favorite architect. Johnson's buildings are truly an example of his passion and distinct style. Franz Schulze went to great lengths to describe his career from working w/ Mies ,his partnership w/ John Burgee to practicing alone at 90+ years old. The book discusses his up & down life that impacted his work.

The most compelling attribute of Schulze's recount of the life thus far of Philip Johnson is the story of how a young Johnson followed his passions and became a self-eduated person of enlightenment - or at least learned at 20-something that enlightenment is a pursuit, not a destination. Whether you like architecture or not, this book will inspire introspection of your own pursuit for passionate endeavors.