No Place Like Utopia: Modern Architecture and the Company We Kept by Blake, Peter (1996) Paperback

by Peter Blake

For more than half a century, Peter Blake has lived in the mainstream of contemporary architecture and art. As writer, magazine editor, critic, and practicing architect, he has numbered among his friends and acquaintances (and occasionally enemies) virtually all of the major figures of modern architecture, and a good many famous artists as well. In this crisp and lively memoir, he brings them―and the time he shared with them―vividly and memorably to life. The anecdotes are memorable. Brings to life the masters of twentieth-century architecture and art, sharing anecdotes and memories of Frank Lloyd Wright, Buckminster Fuller, Le Corbusier, Jackson Pollock, and others.

Genres: Architecture, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Kathleen Tahk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderful anecdotes from Blake about all of the masters of modern architecture with whom he interacted in his days at the Architectural Review and in his early career. Still, I wish it read less like a light memoir and more like a critical assessment on modernism.

[Marian Ferguson · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the name dropping grew a little tiresome, Blake for his vantage point of curator of architecture at MOMA and editor I. Chief of Architeture Forum provides provocative insights into the history of modern architecture I the US.

[Beth Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I loved this book and was fascinated by the Peter Blake's tales of Architecture in America. As I worked my way towards the end, he started to seem pompous and like the sort of guy who likes to listen to himself talk. Some sections also seemed redundant. Still, an interesting read from start to finish.

[Kiel Bryant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twenty-five thousand stars, if I could.