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An Architect's Paris
Paris is almost as well known for its architecture as for fashion, food, wine, and lovers. This is, after all, the city of the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre - both old and new - and the Opera, Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur.
An Architect's Paris reproduces the visual and verbal musings of an architect on the prowl in this great city. Thomas Carlson-Reddig spent two months wandering about the City of Light, jotting down his reactions to its architecture and design and making sketches and watercolors of his favorite sites in order to give us a personal, incisive look at the city. While he is awed - still - by the Eiffel Tower, he finds La Defense nearby to be an arid, boring, unfortunate venue. A candlelit, music-filled Ste. Chapelle is described as though seen in a dream, while the area around the Pompidou Center, with its street people and grifters, is more like a nightmare. His combined look at Ledoux's Rotonde de la Villette and Tschumi's Parc de la Villette is at once startling and reassuringly fitting.
An Architect's Paris is organized by regions, with a bonus of a daytrip to Chartres. A color-coded map helps the reader comprehend the structure of the city and the author's wanderings within its boundaries. While the book is designed to withstand the rigors of travel and handling, its evocative, often poetic pictures encourage one to navigate these age-old streets in the comfort of a favorite armchair as well as on foot.
An Architect's Paris reproduces the visual and verbal musings of an architect on the prowl in this great city. Thomas Carlson-Reddig spent two months wandering about the City of Light, jotting down his reactions to its architecture and design and making sketches and watercolors of his favorite sites in order to give us a personal, incisive look at the city. While he is awed - still - by the Eiffel Tower, he finds La Defense nearby to be an arid, boring, unfortunate venue. A candlelit, music-filled Ste. Chapelle is described as though seen in a dream, while the area around the Pompidou Center, with its street people and grifters, is more like a nightmare. His combined look at Ledoux's Rotonde de la Villette and Tschumi's Parc de la Villette is at once startling and reassuringly fitting.
An Architect's Paris is organized by regions, with a bonus of a daytrip to Chartres. A color-coded map helps the reader comprehend the structure of the city and the author's wanderings within its boundaries. While the book is designed to withstand the rigors of travel and handling, its evocative, often poetic pictures encourage one to navigate these age-old streets in the comfort of a favorite armchair as well as on foot.
166 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 29, 2023
WARNING: This book contains art, some of which include depictions of various body parts that are often concealed in public. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!
I purchased this book for four reasons: 1) The author is married to a friend of my wife; 2) I love the author’s drawings, with which I became acquainted via social media; 3) I have a passing familiarity with Paris, having twice visited there many years ago; and 4) I met the author several weeks ago while passing through Charlotte, NC and only then learned of this book. Thomas is a practicing architect, and his lovely & extremely smart wife is a tenured professor of architecture at UNC Charlotte. All of that said, this is a fine book. The author and his wife have spent many months in Paris, and experiences (and not a little research) from those visits provide the book’s content. Frankly, ~98.345% of what Tom writes about were missed by my cursory glances during my all-too-brief visits. While there, instead of looking at masonry and other components of building design and function, I mostly watched people and traffic. My gawking did take in some of the more prominent or well known edifices around town, but not with eyes that could discern architectural styles, let alone design nuances. And I certainly had little to no knowledge of who did what or when in any of the buildings save Napoleon’s Tomb, Les Invalides. [That reminds me of the old joke: who is buried in Grant’s Tomb?] If you are familiar with the streets of Paris, main and minor alike, the author’s descriptions might remind you of your own adventures in the city. Me? I loved the drawings that are sprinkled throughout the pages, though I believe Tom and his wife should have spent another six months or so there capturing even more of the city’s beautiful architecture. I truly envy Tom and Kelly’s many visits to Paris, not just the number of days/weeks/months they spent there, but their curiosity and desire to learn so much about where they were. If you’ve not been, but want to know what Paris offers, this book might be a great way not only to take a virtual tour, but also a chance to learn both historical and practical (where to sip coffee or buy baguettes) aspects of one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Highly recommend.
I purchased this book for four reasons: 1) The author is married to a friend of my wife; 2) I love the author’s drawings, with which I became acquainted via social media; 3) I have a passing familiarity with Paris, having twice visited there many years ago; and 4) I met the author several weeks ago while passing through Charlotte, NC and only then learned of this book. Thomas is a practicing architect, and his lovely & extremely smart wife is a tenured professor of architecture at UNC Charlotte. All of that said, this is a fine book. The author and his wife have spent many months in Paris, and experiences (and not a little research) from those visits provide the book’s content. Frankly, ~98.345% of what Tom writes about were missed by my cursory glances during my all-too-brief visits. While there, instead of looking at masonry and other components of building design and function, I mostly watched people and traffic. My gawking did take in some of the more prominent or well known edifices around town, but not with eyes that could discern architectural styles, let alone design nuances. And I certainly had little to no knowledge of who did what or when in any of the buildings save Napoleon’s Tomb, Les Invalides. [That reminds me of the old joke: who is buried in Grant’s Tomb?] If you are familiar with the streets of Paris, main and minor alike, the author’s descriptions might remind you of your own adventures in the city. Me? I loved the drawings that are sprinkled throughout the pages, though I believe Tom and his wife should have spent another six months or so there capturing even more of the city’s beautiful architecture. I truly envy Tom and Kelly’s many visits to Paris, not just the number of days/weeks/months they spent there, but their curiosity and desire to learn so much about where they were. If you’ve not been, but want to know what Paris offers, this book might be a great way not only to take a virtual tour, but also a chance to learn both historical and practical (where to sip coffee or buy baguettes) aspects of one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Highly recommend.
November 27, 2024
Utterly delightful - I fully enjoyed this!
March 7, 2017
Recommended for only those who both have an interest in architecture and are fairly familiar with Paris.
For a book that moves from building to building, describing their appearance and the history behind them, it's fairly easy to follow along. I, would, however, recommend pausing at the beginning of a chapter rather than the middle of one, as the author does not dwell on one building for that long and it's easy to lose your footing.
The numerous illustrations help the pacing as well, for every few pages you're graced with one.
My one real complaint is that despite the amount of information given, it's unlikely I'll retain any of it. As I said before, the author does not dwell on one building for long before moving to another and because of that I've found after a few pages I remember very little of what I've read.
For a book that moves from building to building, describing their appearance and the history behind them, it's fairly easy to follow along. I, would, however, recommend pausing at the beginning of a chapter rather than the middle of one, as the author does not dwell on one building for that long and it's easy to lose your footing.
The numerous illustrations help the pacing as well, for every few pages you're graced with one.
My one real complaint is that despite the amount of information given, it's unlikely I'll retain any of it. As I said before, the author does not dwell on one building for long before moving to another and because of that I've found after a few pages I remember very little of what I've read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews