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In recent years, museums have achieved the status of architectural monuments in their own right, especially in America, where the museum itself is often as much a focal point as the art it displays. This landmark publication looks at American art museums designed since the Museum of Modern Art was completed in New York in 1938.

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Library Journal Review

Curators, critics, and designers of the postwar era often question whether the architecture of art museums should symbolize the creative genius of their contents or quietly provide containers and backgrounds. In his introduction to this expertly photographed if overly designed monograph, Wim de Wit (special collections director, Getty Research Inst.) addresses this conundrum with insight and useful examples. Edited by Tilden (American Synagogues), this first illustrated survey of contemporary museum design features concise textual entries, sumptuous graphics, and historical data. Unfortunately, the entries are arranged alphabetically rather than chronologically. In fact, construction dates are subsumed variously within the text of each entry, which consists simply of a statement from the museum director, a statement from the architect, awards, and quotations from critics. The absence of consistent descriptive information and floor plans results in unfortunate ambiguities. For example, the entry for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles lists both Frank O. Gehry and Arata Isozaki as its designers, even though only Isozaki worked on the building. Lacking a logical order or adequate documentation, this is a marginal acquisition for art and design school libraries, which may prefer works like James Grayson Trulove's Designing the New Museum and Justin Henderson's Museum Architecture. Larger public libraries, however, may wish to purchase.-Paul Glassman, Hofstra Univ. Lib., Hempstead, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

This pictorial survey of three-dozen existing museums and works in progress suggests we are living in a golden age of cultural architecture. Once Western culture built cathedrals as expressions of wealth and power; today it's innovative architecture. And museum building has become an art in itself, one fraught with the peril of overshadowing the collection inside. Yet this is a celebratory book that matches museums and architects' statements with Rocheleau's flattering and seductive photos (works in progress are represented by renderings and models). There's a museum of wine and a museum of glass, but most of the buildings shown are repositories of art. It's a coast-to-coast tour, though not exhaustive. And the arrangement is alphabetical rather than chronological, so an opportunity to evaluate museum design as a continuum or evolution of ideas is largely lost. Still, the main ingredient in this browser's guide is what we can learn about visual dazzle, inventive building, and the lure of monumental space devoted to the wonders of art. --Steve Paul Copyright 2005 Booklist