Book Review: Best Years of Arts and Architecture 1945-49

Book Review: Best Years of Arts and Architecture 1945-49 – From the end of World War II until the mid-1960s, exciting things were happening in American architecture. Emerging talents were focusing on innovative projects that integrated at once modern design and low-cost materials. The trend was most notably embodied in the famous Case Study House Program, a blueprint for modern habitation championed by the era’s leading American journal, Arts & Architecture.

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The complete facsimile of the ambitious and groundbreaking Arts & Architecture was published by TASCHEN in 2008 as a limited edition. This new curation—directed and produced by Benedikt Taschen—brings together all the covers and the highlights from the first five years of the legendary magazine, with a special focus on the Case Study House Program and its luminary pioneers including Neutra, Schindler, Saarinen, Ellwood, Lautner, Eames, and Koenig.

A celebration of the first brave years of a politically, socially and culturally engaged publication, this special selection is also a testimony to one of the most unique and influential events in the history of American architecture.

David F Travers is the former editor and publisher of Arts & Architecture, which he ran from 1962 until 1967. He was a consultant for architects, including The Architects Collaborative, William Pereira, Charles and Ray Eames, and Daniel Mann Johnson & Mendenhall. He was also a founding member of Action for a Better Los Angeles, and served as president of the Architectural Guild at the University of Southern California. He lives in Santa Monica.