Book Review: Private Towers
Thursday, May 28th, 2009 by Mason Kirby
Private Towers: Expanded Edition by James Grayson Trulove
Private Towers: Expanded Edition by James Trulove is a delightful compendium of oddly shaped residential structures that demonstrate how various tall forms are used to maximize the relationship between a functional program and surrounding environment. Peter De Bretteville’s personal residence, aka “Cistern Tower” in New Haven, is featured in this book. Peter is an instructor at the Yale School of Architecture who taught second year design studios, and materials and methods while I was there. I remain a fan of the round “free weights” that anchor the edges of the otherwise loose canvas awnings that surrounds the exterior of his reclaimed and reused water tower. Examples found in this book influenced our plans for the “Wiley Tower,” a project currently on-the-boards located in Mendocino, California.
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About the authorMason Kirby is an architect practicing in the San Francisco Bay Area of California.
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6 Responses to “Book Review: Private Towers”
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I have heard something about the Author!
It is a unique book about the Tower Designing by the Author.This Review adds another mark to this Book.
Well the first impression of the book is that it brings up the notion of wealth & royalty with the fine pieces of architectural follies.Its always been challenging & obsessive for an architect to build such stunning towers.
This book sounds interesting. It really is something to explore the idea of living in a tower as a conscious rejection of normal dwellings. I’d love to hear from those that do live in their own private towers and the reasons they decided to do so in the first place.
This thing is pretty interesting and i have heard about the author before and i hope he will not disappoint the readers
The expanded edition of Private Towers is quite interesting. The private towers built for residences, libraries offer a new insight in building architecture and environment.
Towers are just for wicked witches are locked away princesses? Private Towers looks like it would be a great conversational piece and a wonderful addition to any architect or architect enthusiast’s collection.