BOOKS Green Pioneers
Ecological Architecture: A Critical History. By James Steele. 272 Pages. 120 color illustrations; 130 black/white. Thames and Hudson, New York. $55.00 This book is from a series that included excellent authors Aaron Betsky on Landscapes and Catherine Slessor on Sustainable Architecture and High Technology. James Steele seeks to reconfigure the standard history of modern design (conventionally framed by history of industrial revolution) by restating aims of historically recognized modernists. According to the Steele vision, the early pioneers were, in fact, leading a green revolution. In Steele's view the Scottish vernacular of Charles Rennie Macintosh and the garden cities of Ebenezer Howard were part of a green revolution. Less convincing is Steele's promotion of Le Corbusier, Shindler and Wright as green revolutionaries. On the other hand, Steele's inclusion of Hasan Fathy's mud homes and mud towns give this Egyptian architect his deserved place within the history of modern architecture. As the author approaches more recent leaders, Ian McHarg, a "passionate steward of the environment," stands out. Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates: Allegheny Riverfront Park. Jane Amidon, series editor. 125 color illus., 25 black/white illus. 176 pages. Princeton Architectural Press, New York. Paperback. $29.95. This is the third in a valuable series called Source Books in Landscape Architecture. It is an outgrowth of discussion-based seminars at the Knowlton School of Architecture. The park is a project of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, created in 1984 to develop a cultural district in a 14square block area along the Allegheny River. Following Van Valkenburgh interviews are critiques by Gary Hilderbrand, Ethan Carr and Erik de Jong.
NEW FELLOWS
John Aliotta, Principal, Swanke Hayden Connell Architects, New York, NY; Karen Fairbanks, Principal, Marble Fairbanks, New York, NY; Philip Giang, Cooper Robertson, New York, NY; Christine Glavasich, President, G2 Project Planning, Inc., New York, NY; Margaret Helfand, Principal, Helfand Architecture, New York, NY; Theodore Kleiner, Vice President, STV Incorporated, New York, NY; Alex Krieger, Partner, Chan Krieger & Associates, Inc., Cambridge, MA; Andres Mignucci, Principal, Andres Mignucci Arquitectos, San Juan, Puerto Rico; Lyn Rice, Principal, Lyn Rice Architects, New York, NY.
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