The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 17 February 1998
by Reyner Banham
At UC Santa Cruz in 1986, this reader took a highly entertaining course in high-tech architecture taught by Reyner Banham. In this book, published much earlier, he defined and examined four ecological models for Los Angeles; Surfurbia, Foothills, The Plains of Id, and Autopia. Each model is accompanied by a discussion of representative architecture. Banham gives an entertaining, enlightening and admiring view of Los Angeles's supposedly vacuous monuments. He demonstrates that this much-maligned city deserves a spot among the great cities of the world, and, indeed, has often found itself ahead of European architectural trends. Banham elevates even the freeways to the status of great human monuments. Since its publication in 1971, Banham's view has vindicated LA, and this book is still worth reading for his entertaining prose and insightful perspective.
Also by Reyner Banham: [ A Critic Writes]
[Other Books in or about California]