"The ever-lucid New Yorker critic offers a nuanced exploration of architecture's allure, how buildings both modest and regal are vital 'for the making of place, and the making of memory.'"—John King, San Francisco Chronicle (Holiday Gift Guide: Architecture Books)"Best of all, Goldberger combines forensic analysis of the architectural art with a sense of wonder."—Jonathan Wright, Scottish Sunday Herald "Paul Goldberger is America's preeminent public critic of architecture, and his wise, compassionate Why Architecture Matters sums up a lifetime spent exploring, reflecting and writing. . . . Goldberger does not prescribe solutions but argues passionately that architecture must continue to define our place in the world in a way that 'startles us and comforts us at the same time.'"—Kirk Savage, Washington Post "[A] little gem of a book. . . . wise, concise, and utterly devoid of the ideological snark that infects the profession."—Inga Saffron, Philadelphia Inquirer ("Good books, good gifts")"[One] of the most revelatory appreciations of architecture I've come across is New Yorker critic Paul Goldberger's new book, called Why Architecture Matters. This isn't a history of architecture, but rather something more elusive. . . . Goldberger roams from classic masterpieces like the Pantheon to the architecture of memory, like the modest two-family house of his childhood in New Jersey."—Maureen Corrigan, NPR.org (Originally aired on WHYY)"But just tick off the social issues that are intimately connected to architectural design and land use policy—affordability, sustainability, conservation, historic preservation, and mobility leading the list—and it becomes pretty clear: Society at large is desperately in need of the vision, insight, and know-how of architects, teachers of architects, people who write about architecture, and people who believe that architecture does indeed matter—to everyone."—Carole Rifkind, The East Hampton Star "Goldberger writes in a broadbrush, aphoristic style honed as the New Yorker magazine's 'Sky Line' columnist. His insights are riveting."—David Minthorn, Associated Press "Placing on display the most public of all the arts can be astonishing. Paul Goldberger, collecting his thoughts on architecture over 40 years, does this. His book, Why Architecture Matters , could be said to be a portable architectural museum that, by turns, astonishes, intrigues, explains and entrances."—Architecture Bulletin "Despite the breadth of the subject, Goldberger effectively satisfies the challenge he lays out for himself in the ambitious title: explaining why good architecture matters, in a clear and unpretentious manner that should satisfy those who design buildings, and those who use them."—George Beane, Metropolis Magazine "Drawing on many writers’ works, from ancient to modern, [Goldberger] offers strong challenging opinions with his judgments and emotional responses to buildings. The book features wonderful descriptions of both buildings and sites. . . . Highly recommended."—W. L. Whitwell, Choice "Why Architecture Matters is a good introduction to a fascinating subject that should indeed very much matter to everyone."—Mobile, AL Press-Register "This generously illustrated volume anchors its speculations in brief discussions of buildings that manage this hard-won equilibrium."—Brian Sholis, The Virginia Quarterly Review Selected for the 2009 Holiday Gift Guide, John King, San Francisco Chronicle Selected as one of the Best Books on Architecture in 2009, Inga Saffron, Philadelphia Inquirer Selected as a Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2010 in the Architecture category"Paul Goldberger is America's foremost interpreter of public architecture. . . ."—Tracy Kidder"Why Architecture Matters reminds us that in a democratic capitalist society, the only sure guarantee that we will get good architecture is if we shake off our ignorance and start to take a personal interest in the design of our neighborhoods. Here is a succinct, lyrical and heartfelt book that celebrates the best works of architecture and points the way to being able to build more of it in the world today. There are so many guides to the world of art, so few to the world of architecture. This is among the very best."—Alain de Botton, author of The Architecture of Happiness "A beautifully written and generous meditation on the art of building that every aspiring architect should read."—Witold Rybczynski, author of The Perfect House
Paul Goldberger is America's preeminent public critic of architecture, and his wise, compassionate Why Architecture Matters sums up a lifetime spent exploring, reflecting and writing. Some of the most affecting parts of the book are drawn from his deeply personal experience, growing up in the lively streetscape of 1950s Passaic, N.J., sojourning in the architectural wonderland of Yale University, and coming to terms with the construction and destruction of the Twin Towers.
With a broad topic and a deep reach, this collection of work from New Yorker architecture critic Goldberger reflects on the meanings and effects of architecture, both in the abstract and in everyday life. From specific places like the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. ("may be one of the few great architectural works anywhere whose approach is marked only by directional signs, not by a glimpse of the thing itself") to discussion of individual architects (Saarinesen, Lloyd Wright, etc.), Goldberger is clear and direct throughout, occasionally addressing readers directly with questions and thought experiments ("For the next few pages ... think only in terms of what a building looks like when you stand before it") that help recreate the architectural thought process. Sometimes focused too narrowly on the author's own experience (breathlessly recounted memories of architectural epiphany can fall flat), Goldberger occasionally risks alienating readers who lack his enthusiasm. For students and fans of architecture, however, this makes an elegant but energetic tour of building design, aesthetics, construction and inspiration that should encourage new ways of viewing one's surroundings. 55 b & w illustrations.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Goldberger has long been recognized by readers of the New York Times and The New Yorker as an architecture critic on a par with venerated peers like Ada Louise Huxtable and Lewis Mumford. With many books to his credit—most recently an incisive take on Ground Zero doings in Manhattan, Up from Zero: Politics, Architecture, and the Rebuilding of New York—Goldberger sums up a lifetime of musings on things architectural with picturesque essays concerning the way the built environment affects the quality of our daily lives. Owing to telling autobiographical insights incorporated into the narrative, we see how this most diplomatic of observers finds merit in the classicists and preservationists of the last two centuries, as well as in avant-garde innovators such as Corbusier and Frank Gehry. VERDICT Although a bias for the East Coast can be detected, Goldberger's trenchant and deftly communicated insights retain a universal validity. These meditations will entrance and enlighten anyone curious about why the buildings around us affect us as they do.—David Soltész, Cuyahoga Cty. P.L., Parma, OH
The Virginia Quarterly Review
The Virginia Quarterly Review - Brian Sholis
Scottish Sunday Herald
Scottish Sunday Herald - Jonathan Wright
Blueprint Magazine
Blueprint Magazine - Penny Lewis
Why Architecture Matters , could be said to be a portable architectural museum that, by turns, astonishes, intrigues, explains and entrances.”—Architecture Bulletin
The Perfect House
Why Architecture Matters reminds us that in a democratic capitalist society, the only sure guarantee that we will get good architecture is if we shake off our ignorance and start to take a personal interest in the design of our neighborhoods. Here is a succinct, lyrical and heartfelt book that celebrates the best works of architecture and points the way to being able to build more of it in the world today. There are so many guides to the world of art, so few to the world of architecture. This is among the very best."—Alain de Botton, author of The Architecture of Happiness
