What do you think?
Rate this book
A-frame
"A" was the architectural letterform of leisure building in postwar America. Eager to stake out mountain and lakeside retreats, an entire generation of high-end homebuilders and weekend handymen found the A-frame an easy and affordable home to construct; its steeply sloping triangular roof distinctive and easy to maintain )almost no exterior walls to paint!). Fueled by A-frame plans and kits, the style became something of a national craze, with tens of thousands of houses built.
Indeed, the A-frame was an icon for recreation, and acceptable form of modernism (although its origins go back thousands of years), and a convenient tool for marketing a wide range of products, including gas-powered toilets, motorcycles, and canned vegetables; Fisher-Price even made one for children. So popular on the domestic front, the A-frame was eventually adapted to other building types, from roadside restaurants to churches.
In a fascinating look at this architectural phenomenon, Chad Randl tells the story of the "triangle" house from prehistoric Japan to its lifestyle-changing heyday in the 1960s. Part architectural history and part cultural exploration, A-Frame documents every aspect of A-frame living using cartoons, ads, high-style and do-it-yourself examples, family snapshots, and even an appendix with a complete set of blueprints in case you want to build your own!
Indeed, the A-frame was an icon for recreation, and acceptable form of modernism (although its origins go back thousands of years), and a convenient tool for marketing a wide range of products, including gas-powered toilets, motorcycles, and canned vegetables; Fisher-Price even made one for children. So popular on the domestic front, the A-frame was eventually adapted to other building types, from roadside restaurants to churches.
In a fascinating look at this architectural phenomenon, Chad Randl tells the story of the "triangle" house from prehistoric Japan to its lifestyle-changing heyday in the 1960s. Part architectural history and part cultural exploration, A-Frame documents every aspect of A-frame living using cartoons, ads, high-style and do-it-yourself examples, family snapshots, and even an appendix with a complete set of blueprints in case you want to build your own!
- GenresNonfiction
207 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2004
5 people are currently reading
38 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 30, 2017
From the Fisher-Price “little people” A-frame I played with at my grandparents’ house as a kid to the multicolored-gable A-frame just before the Iowa border that my wife, Megan, and I can’t wait to spy on our way to visit her family in Sioux City to the Instagram A-frame collection I curate for my personal obsession, it’s safe to say I love A-frames. Chad Randl’s “A-frame” had been in my wish list for some time, but with the hardback long out of print prices had gotten a bit outrageous (currently ranging from nearly $400 to just over $1400 on Amazon.com). Sure, there is a paperback reprint available directly from the publisher for $25, but that was only an option of last resort I barely considered. With some keen searching and a little luck, Megan scored a like-new hardback copy for a steal, and surprised me with it for my birthday.
For the prices this book was going for I expected a hefty coffee table book, but “A-frame” is a relatively diminutive 8.2” x 7.6” with type so small and lightweight I pity anyone who doesn’t have my 20/15 vision; both the average reader and the wonderful images would have benefitted from a larger format. To further distance itself from casual architectural picture books — no disrespect to Taschen, but this is from Princeton Architectural Press, after all — Randl’s incisive text provides a wonderful examination of the A-frame, from prehistoric roots to ascendance as modernist icon, from affordable do-it-yourself kit home to architect-designed church, from pop culture phenomenon to cultural also-ran.
The A-frame isn’t for everyone, but if you appreciate architecture, history, and popular culture — and can get your hands on a copy — Chad Randl’s “A-frame” is for you. And if you’re not already a fan of one of the simplest, most alluring, and most underappreciated forms in architectural design, it might just change your mind.
For the prices this book was going for I expected a hefty coffee table book, but “A-frame” is a relatively diminutive 8.2” x 7.6” with type so small and lightweight I pity anyone who doesn’t have my 20/15 vision; both the average reader and the wonderful images would have benefitted from a larger format. To further distance itself from casual architectural picture books — no disrespect to Taschen, but this is from Princeton Architectural Press, after all — Randl’s incisive text provides a wonderful examination of the A-frame, from prehistoric roots to ascendance as modernist icon, from affordable do-it-yourself kit home to architect-designed church, from pop culture phenomenon to cultural also-ran.
The A-frame isn’t for everyone, but if you appreciate architecture, history, and popular culture — and can get your hands on a copy — Chad Randl’s “A-frame” is for you. And if you’re not already a fan of one of the simplest, most alluring, and most underappreciated forms in architectural design, it might just change your mind.
April 28, 2021
This is a great journey through the post war cultural and economic forces that led to the incredible popularity of the A-frame during the 50s and 60s. It’s very engagingly written with lots of period illustrations and even a complete set of plans for one of the most popular models. It is a must read for any architecture/culture addict.
November 11, 2017
Birthday gift from Diana!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews