Guide to Modern Architecture

First edition (1962) copy of Guide to Modern Architecture by Rayner Banham In most countries, modern buildings now form an appreciable part of the backdrop to everyday life. Yet their critics cannot distinguish bad ones from good, and their supporters are liable to be told to sit down and shut up if they venture a word of praise. This book sheds some light on the situation, by briefly illuminating the main preoccupations of modern architects (function, form, construction, and space) and by illustrating and commenting on a worldwide, highly diverse selection of modern buildings. The result is a lively justification of the author's claim that modern architecture should not be difficult to appreciate because it is like any other architecture only more so: it has more things to say and more ways of saving them.' Hardcover with dust jacket, 160 pages  Edition/year: 1st, 1962, D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc. Condition: great vintage condition with minor wear to the dust jacket  Dimensions: 8" x 7.5" x 0.75"