My daughter and her boyfriend are part of a group visiting the city in March. It's the first trip for both. He's a building science major and, of course fascinated with buildings. He will be amazed, and I was hoping to give him a book he could take with him. I saw the AIA guide to NYC by Norval White on Amazon. Is that the best one?
Absolutely.
Can't go wrong with the AIA. It is incredibly comprehensive and has wonderful detailed entries on every notable, and barely notable buildings in the city.
Here is another vote for the AIA guide to NYC.
The City Review site is a wealth of information on New York's architectural treasures. Scroll down a bit on the site to the listings, which are divided by neighborhood. Click on the building name for detailed info.
Y'all are great. Thanks for the help!
In addition to the AIA, you might consider "New York Streetscapes" by Christopher Gray. It's a collection of pieces from the old "Streetscapes" column in the Times:
One of my favorite sites about NY history - with a focus on its buildings and their use, is Forgotten NY. http://www.forgotten-ny.com/
It's webmaster, Kevin Walsh has a great book by the same name that also delves into this subject matter.
If they have free time while they are here they should consider a visit to the skyscraper museum www.skyscraper.org , tours by the Municipal Arts Society www.mas.org and a visit to the AIA offices and exhibitions in New York.
Enjoy!
One of my fave photo books is called New York Changing:
http://www.newyorkchanging.com/
A revisiting of Berenice Abbott's 1930s original, "Changing New York."
http://www.amazon.com/Berenice-Abbott-Changing-New-York/dp/1565845560
Enjoy!
The AIA guide is of course the biggest and best. I have 2 old downtown walking tour books that have a nice amount of historical background as well as architectural info:
Touring Lower Manhattan: 3 Walks in New York's Historic Downtown by Andrew. S. Dolkart and Steven Wheeler; and
Forging a Metropolis: Walking Tours of Lower Manhattan Architecture by Andrew S. Dolkart (covers fewer places than the first one).
Both are easier to carry around than the AIA guide if you're going to be downtown.
Also there are a lot of specialized architecture books; my fave is
Terra Cotta: Don't Take It for Granite: 3 Walks in NY City Neighborhoods by Susan Tunnick.
Terra Cotta is a building material that was very popular at one time and is making a comeback as a modern building material; I love how it gets used in various ways, and it pops up all over NYC. New York has its own association called The Friends of Terra Cotta for us terra cotta cultists.
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