La città vivente

by Frank Lloyd Wright, Bruno Zevi (Contributor), Enrica Labò (Translator)

[publisher: Skira/ Vitra Design Museum, 1998, first edition] COLLECTORS VERY FINE w/ fine dustjacket (small tear at corner) -protected in mylar cover. Interior pages like new. 334pp., illustrated throughout in color with some b/w photos. --Near the end of his life, in 1958, Wright published The Living City, the final version of his vision of an ideal social order. Indeed, all of his building and projects can be seen, retrospectively, as prototypes and proposals, models for the new, decentralized pattern of living that he offered as a blueprint for the future and from which we have much to learn today. This book is an innovative survey of Wright's career focused upon the nine basic building types found in the Living City and pursuing the evolution of each throughout his career.

Genres: Architecture, Nonfiction, Urban Planning, Cities, Urbanism, Art

238 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

Frank Lloyd Wright was one of the world's most prominent and influential architects.

He developed a series of highly individual styles, influenced the design of buildings all over the world, and to this day remains America's most famous architect.

Wright was also well known in his lifetime. His colorful personal life frequently made headlines, most notably for the failure of his first two marriages and for the 1914 fire and murders at his Taliesin studio.

Reviews

[Adam Schweigert · Rating 2 out of 5]

We get it. You don't like skyscrapers.

[Kaden Luther · Rating 2 out of 5]

As expected of FLW, the illustrations are great. But God. Somebody really should have told this guy to just stop criticizing every form of government because it doesn’t fit his idea of a “democratic city” through an architectural lens perfectly, and also probably that he didn’t really understand economic philosophy (honestly, he didn’t really understand in general that you can’t look at politics through visual architectural philosophy. Who would have thought?). I respect the guy a lot, and I love his work, but I really, really thought this would be a lot better. His writing is like that of a teenager that spent his time going through the dictionary instead of reading Thoreau or Mises. So I don’t like FLW as a writer. Oh well.

[Em · Rating 2 out of 5]

Much longer than it needed to be to convey his points. Somewhat repetitive. Great illustrations though.

[Jeremy Teigen · Rating 3 out of 5]

As much a winding, wide lens criticism of urban/suburban divide as it is an unrealistic social and political planning for reordering society. Very revealing about FLLW's views, though.