Five of Frank Lloyd Wright's archetectural prototypes are examined in this beautiful volume. These works proposed an unprecedented integration of building and landscape, and although never built, were crucial to the development of Wright's later designs. They showed that Wright was not only a great architect but also a master in the art of landscaping. 179 illustrations, 79 in full color.

In the 1920s, premier American architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed five major projects: the Doheny Ranch, the Lake Tahoe summer colony, the A.M. Johnson desert compound, the George Strong automobile complex, and the San Marcos in the Desert hotel and housing complex. None was built, yet they proved instrumental in Wright's growth as an architect. Here, two major essays by Spirn and David G. De Long, professors of architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, argue persuasively that these five projects show Wright's emerging belief in constructing buildings that were not in contrast to but in unity with the environment, resulting in a fresh, new landscape. Both professors write in a scholarly style, more for the professional architect than the informed reader. Their essays are illustrated with 179 original drawings of the five projects, but sadly, the reproductions are faint and often unclear. Also included is a portfolio of drawings assembled by C. Ford Peatross, a curator at the Library of Congress, on the importance of the automobile in the 1930s. Although the major essays do touch on the influence of the automobile in Wright's projects, this portfolio seems added simply to give the book bulk. Recommended only for academic, especially architectural, libraries.?Glenn Masuchika, Chaminade Univ. Lib., Honolulu

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