Old World Inspiration For American Architecture
Los Angeles: Monolith Portland Cement Company, 1929. First edition. Hardcover. Folio. [8]pp., [1] 144 plates with one page intro for each of fourteen chapters. Original brown leatherette with gilt lettering and blind-stamped vignette and decorative ruling on cover, gilt lettering on spine. Title page printed in red and black with lithographed vignette. With foreword by Requa.
"Architecture can be tersely defined as, "the science of planning, and the art of designing structures." Primarily, architecture is a science, a problem of engineering and mathematics. A building cannot approach perfection, either from the standpoint of utility or art, if the plan and structural requirements are made subservient to it s design and decorative treatment. Secondarily, architecture is an art, but it cannot be classed with the fine arts if it is fettered with dogmas and formulas, nor it its products fail to satisfy the functional demands." (Foreword)
The illustrations, rendered in high quality offset reproductions, are structured into fourteen chapters: Street Scenes and General View, Buildings–Country Type, Building–City Type, Roofs–Towers–Cornices–Chimneys, Doorways, Window Grilles, Balconies, Courts and Patios, Garden Details, Stairways–Ceilings–Fireplaces, Fountains, Floors, Walls and Gates, and Ornamental Iron Work. Each section with a short introductory text and all 144 plates with elaborate captions on facing pages. Complete list of plates at front. Light wear along edges of binding. Illustrated Ex-Libris on inside front cover. plates in fine condition. Very good to fine condition. Item #56085
Price: $1,000.00