Why does one talented individual win lasting recognition in a particular field, while another equally talented person does not? While there are many possible reasons, one obvious answer is that something more than talent is requisite to produce fame. The "something more" in the field of architecture, asserts Roxanne Williamson, is the association with a "famous" architect at the moment he or she first receives major publicity or designs the building for which he or she will eventually be celebrated. In this study of more than six hundred American architects who have achieved a place in architectural histories, Williamson finds that only a small minority do not fit the "right person–right time" pattern. She traces the apprenticeship connection in case studies of Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, Henry Hobson Richardson, the firm of McKim, Mead & White, Latrobe and his descendants, the Bulfinch and Renwick Lines, the European immigrant masters, and Louis Kahn. Although she acknowledges and discusses the importance of family connections, the right schools, self-promotion, scholarships, design competition awards, and promotion by important journals, Williamson maintains that the apprenticeship connection is the single most important predictor of architectural fame. She offers the intriguing hypothesis that what is transferred in the relationship is not a particular style or approach but rather the courage and self-confidence to be true to one's own vision. Perhaps, she says, this is the case in all the arts. American Architects and the Mechanics of Fame is sure to provoke thought and comment in architecture and other creative fields.

"The Architect Builds Visible History." Vincent Scully Which architect designed the pedestal for the Statue of Liberty? Who put a Chippendale pediment atop a skyscraper and quickly created a landmark of contemporary architecture? Who was the only American architect to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery during the Civil War? Which architect designed a castle in California for William Randolph Hearst? Master Builders answers these and scores of other questions about more than 100 architects and builders who have left indelible marks on American architecture. This unique guide puts faces with America's most well-known and loved buildings--from the U.S. Capitol and Washington Monument through the first skyscrapers and landmarks of the Post-Modern movement. "Why should you want to know more about these architects?" asks Roger K. Lewis in his introduction. "The reason is simple. You are undeniably connected to the built environment that you inhabit, use, see and respond to. You affect building design, and building design affects you." Can you pair these master builders with their works? Frank Lloyd Wright U.S. Capitol Skidmore, Owings and Merrill Central Park Adler and Sullivan University of Virginia Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Glass House William Thornton Home Insurance Building Orson Squire Fowler Fallingwater H. H. Richardson CBS Building Frederick Law Olmsted San Simeon James Renwick Seagram Building Robert Mills Trinity Church, Boston I. M. Pei Salk Institute Julia Morgan Sears Tower Eero Saarinen Smithsonian "Castle" Cass Gilbert John E. Kennedy Library McKim, Mead and White U.S. Supreme Court Louis I. Kahn Chicago Stock Exchange Thomas Jefferson Octagonal Houses Philip Johnson Pennsylvania Station William Le Baron Jenney Washington Monument

This lively text provides a candid inquiry into the contemporary means by which architects get work and (for better or worse) become famous. In response to the reciprocal relationship between publicity and everyday architectural practice, this book examines the mechanisms by which architects seek publicity and manage to establish themselves and their work ahead of their colleagues. Through the essays of specialist contributors, this book enables the reader to understand the complex relationship between what they see as the built environment and the unwritten stories behind how it came about.

In this volume the author analyzes 400 architectural books and articles published over the past 150 years to reveal changing societal preferences in architecture and to measure the reputations of individual architects - the text includes a ranked list of the 100 most famous architects.

This book presents the making of Mexican Modernist architecture through five power structures – academic, social status, economic/political, gender, and postcolonial – and by interviews and analysis of 13 key Mexican architects. These include Luis Barragán, José Villagrán García, Juan O’Gorman, Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, Agustín Hernández, Abraham Zabludovsky, Carlos Mijares, Ricardo Legorreta, Juan José Díaz Infante, Enrique Norten, Alberto Kalach, Javier Sordo Madaleno and Clara de Buen. Although the five power structures framed what was built, the testimony of these Mexican architects helps us to recognize and discover subtleties and nuances. Their views thereby shed light on what contributed to making Mexican Modernist architecture so distinctive globally. Even if these architects were not always aware of the power structures, their projects nonetheless supported discrimination, marginalization and subjugation. In that sense the book also reveals the extent to which these power structures are still present today. The Making of Mexican Modernist Architecture’s uniqueness lies in uncovering the remarkable buildings that arose amid the five power structures while at the same time questioning their validity. It also voices the urgent need today for a new kind of architecture outside these boundaries. The book is essential reading for anyone studying Mexican and Latin American architecture.