G.E. KIDDER SMITH BUILDS
ANGELO MAGGI, FOREWORD BY MICHELANGELO SABATINO
First comprehensive overview about a talented twentieth-century writer, photographer, and ‘builder’ of books who greatly impacted architecture appreciation in America and beyond.
The volume represents the very first book dedicated to George Everard Kidder Smith, who passed away 25 years ago in New York. It deals with his life and work underlining his ability to document and interpret historical architecture and the great buildings. His books were aimed at the layman, and books such as Brazil Builds, Italy Builds, The New Churches of Europe, Pictorial History of Architecture in America, to mention only a few of them, received tremendous critical and popular acclaim.
As an author, educator, photographer, and “builder” of books and exhibitions, G. E. (George Everard) Kidder Smith (1913–1997) was a multidimensional figure within the wideranging field of North American architectural professionals in the second half of the twentieth century (Fig. 1). From his start during the volatile years leading up to, during, and immediately following the Second World War, Kidder Smith excited the imagination of the general public as well as architecture professionals by publishing photographyrich books about new and old buildings in a range of countries. Although Kidder Smith was propelled in his travels by a powerful wanderlust, he was no flaneur.
His body of photographs consistently conveys an engaging and empathetic approach to framing buildings and the people that use them. Almost always, Kidder Smith captured human figures within his photographs. The photographs aim to reveal intimate relationships between buildings, landscapes, and people. More times than not, Kidder Smith’s framing eschews documentarystyle “completeness” in favor of more nuanced glimpses aimed at enticing the viewer to engage with the rest of the building on their own terms.
“It is difficult to think of any great building in the history of architecture which did not represent a union of the talents of the architect with those of the painter and the sculptor.”
Because America does not realize the fundamental approach of modern architecture and the great benefits (which we hope to make clear) accompanying it, it neither knows nor cares about it. It does not seek buildings generated by plan instead of façade; it does not look for living beauty and restfulness in its houses; it is horrified at anyone proposing that some responsible and capable authority plan its subdivisions, approaches, and highways in an effort to make its cities and surroundings coherent and beautiful. It seemingly frowns on other than the falsefronted and compromising colonial.—“The Tragedy of American Architecture,” Magazine of Art, November 1945, 255
Selected Works
Drawing CodesEXPERIMENTAL PROTOCOLS OF ARCHITECTURAL REPRESENTATION
FLUXArchitecture in a Parametric Landscape
FLUX - Ila + AndrewArchitecture in a Parametric Landscape
New Investigations in Collective FormNeeraj Bhatia
Tatiana Bilbao EstudioBenjamin Wilke
Autonomous UrbanismEvan Shieh
WAY BEYOND BIGNESSProject type
Designing the Computational Image, Imagining Computational DesignDaniel Cardoso Llach and Theodora Vardouli
Living + Dying INbetweenPeter Zweig
Silt Sand SlurryRob Holmes, Brett Milligan, and Gena Wirth
G. E. KIDDER SMITH BUILDSProject type
NUCLEAR CHRONICLESDESIGN RESEARCH ON THE LANDSCAPES OF THE US NUCLEAR HIGHWAY
Environmental Activism by DesignColeman Coker, Sarah Gamble, Katie Swenson , and Thomas Fisher
Designing for EmpathyAybars Aşçı
Designing for Empathy - Aybars AşçıAybars Aşçı
Johnston MarkleeBenjamin Wilke
Impossible and Hyper-Real Elements of ArchitectureCarl Lostritto
New Investigations in Collective FormNeeraj Bhatia + The Open Workshop
Source Books in Architecture 16Tatiana Bilbao
Environmental Activism by DesignColeman Coker + Sarah Gamble
Designing the Computational Image, Imagining Computational DesignDaniel Cardoso Llach + Theodora Vardouli
CITIES OF REPETITIONHONG KONG’S PRIVATE HOUSING ESTATES
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