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BOOK REVIEWS Although Dowling interviewed many of her subjects in preparation for this volume, it is not a detailed scholastic study of the New Classicism phenomenon. Missing from Dowling's text is a critical examination of why Modern Classicism is relevant to mainstream architectural practice in the twenty-first century. The Modernist argument of the 1920s, that the Classicism of its time was mindless formalism lacking meaning or relevance to contemporary society, does not necessarily hold now. But a review ofthe compelling arguments for exploring the classical language anew could have synthesized the architectural philosophies of the book's subjects and laid the groundwork for future discourse. While some of the projects discussed are public, institutional buildings (usually arts or collegiate facilities), the majority are exclusive luxury residences for the extremely wealthy. One primary justification for returning to Classical forms is the language's ability to communicate the mission and values of an institution or its inhabitants. Classicism is most articulate when applied to public buildings that aspire to represent us all, such as Allan Greenberg's reception rooms for the Department of State. It is therefore less compelling in private dwellings. Despite this, New Classicism: Rebirth of Traditional Architecture is an effective illustrated survey ofan intriguing contemporary architectural movement. It will satisfy designers interested in the Classical movement and delight their potential clients with its lively text and many gorgeous illustrations. JEFF TILMAN University ofCincinnati Sarah Williams Goldhagen. Louis Kahn's Situated Modernism. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001, 269 pp., 141 b/w illus., 24 color plates, hardcover, $45.00, ISBN 0-30007786 -6. A t the time of his death in 1974, Louis Kahn was arguably the most important architect ofthe postwar era. His buildings have inspired generations of architects and given rise to a steady stream of scholarly publications. Sarah Williams Goldhagen's book is a noteworthy addition to the growing body ofKahn scholarship, providing a critical review of his oeuvre in the context of the cultural environment of the twentieth century. Goldhagen, who teaches architectural history at Harvard University, has written and lectured extensively on Kahn since completing her Ph.D. dissertation at Columbia University in 1995. In tandem with her work on Kahn, she has also coedited a book on Modern architecture. The current book is the culmination ofher past scholarship. Goldhagen's narrative is divided into eight chapters that outline Kahn's architectural trajectory from the early 1930s to the 1960s. The first chapter focuses on his involvement with Modern architecture. The legacy of these formative years was an enduring commitment to community issues and a desire to create buildings that have a monumental quality. These themes became the leitmotifof his subsequent work. The following chapters trace the development of Kahn's mature vocabulary, or to use the author's ARRIS Volume Seventeen 65 BOOK REVIEWS phrase, his "quest for authenticity." This process began with the Yale University Art Gallery in the early 1950s and reached its apotheosis in the National Assembly Complex in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Within a period of about ten years, Goldhagen argues, Kahn had shed various tropes of Modern architecture, embraced an archaic/ historical sensibility, experimented briefly with space-frame construction, developed a new spatial idiom, and raised his community emphasis to the level of a participatory democracy. In the final chapter,titled"Louis Kahn's Situated Modernism," Goldhagen examines Kahn's mature work in relation to Post-Modern architecture. She concludes that despite its historical reference and spatial complexity, Kahn's work remains Modern because it eschews ornamentation.This conclusion represents a paradigmatic shift from earlier claims that, in his mature work, Kahn had severed all ties to Modern architecture. Throughout the text the author carefully balances the history ofeach project with a detailed account ofits larger cultural setting. Her overriding concern is to illustrate that Kahn, far from being an isolated genius, as some have claimed, was a shrewd observer ofthe contemporary architectural milieu, a milieu that he fully absorbed into his work and to which he contributed. Projects such as the Yale Art Gallery, for example, show the influence of Mies, the Smithsons, and Le Corbusier on Kahn's work. Goldhagen supports her arguments with a host...

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