Making Houston Modern

Reviews / Votes

The story of this man, and his work, little known outside of Texas, fills this Texas-sized tome with a rich history of 20th-century architecture and its patronage, the complex personal struggles of an "outsider" architect and individual, and stunning archival photography of the inventive buildings and interiors he designed. Those designs, so rooted in their time and place but with universal appeal, deserve, at long last, a larger audience. (Architectural Record) Making Houston Modern successfully tells the story of Barnstone's life and work by engaging many voices in the writing of this book-architects, historians, critics, and even clients and family members. . . . The beautifully illustrated volume . . . adds to important recent work. . . . As the editors make clear, Houston's architecture deserves a broader audience. (Journal of Architectural Education) [Making Houston Modern] contains an extremely valuable catalogue raisonne of [Howard Barnstone's] works as well as a frank portrayal of his bipolar condition. (Austin American Statesman) This volume devotes attention to all sides of a person in a way that few architectural monographs achieve...Making Houston Modern makes the case that [Barnstone's] legacy also resides in the culture he proliferated, both social and architectural. (Cite Magazine) Barnstone was, like the southern state, a 'lone star': the reserved kind, popular in his day but whose works were inexplicably left out of the canon of Houston's modernity. This book seeks to remedy the oversight...Elitist, sophisticated, and irreverent, Barnstone was free verse, with no particular style but a discreet charm over a bourgeoisie, who contributed decisively to the modernity of a city. (Arquitectura Viva) In Houston, Barnstone's otherness-his New England roots, Jewish heritage, bipolarity, bisexuality-placed him at odds with the prevailing culture, despite his best efforts. This tension fueled his intensity and formed a man who was "complex, complicated, and prolific." Making Houston Modern makes this clear in its thorough appreciation of Barnstone's life...Today, Barnstone's architecture, depleted through demolitions, alterations, or neglect, seems compromised at best. [The authors] make the case that his legacy also resides in the culture he proliferated, both social and architectural. (Rice Design Alliance) [Making Houston Modern's] focus on the social and urban changes that facilitated modernist development is one of the book's overall strengths...The book succeeds in illuminating Barnstone's milieu, and offers important insights into his architecture. (Texas Architect)