Signature Architects of the San Francisco Bay Area

Written in a style that's friendly, accessible, witty, and imaginative, Dave Weinstein really brings the personality and history of Bay Area architecture and architects to life in his book. Great photography too!

Every city has a wide variety of buildings. But San Francisco, because of its small size puts a wide variety of architectural styles in close proximity. San Francisco is unique (with the possible exception of Boston) in that the down town residential areas have been kept up, have kept their value, and are considered to be desirable places to live. As the book says, I'm not sure that there is a Bay Area traditional architecture. Instead it seems that a Victorian house can be adjacent to an ultra modern with no jarring conflict in the mind. This well written, beautifully illustrated book, perhaps untentionally seems to tell why this is so. Mr. Weinstein describes the work of fifteen of the Bay Areas most famous architects. Their styles vary, and perhaps because of this these fifteen architects just may be the reason that San Francisco architecture is so diverse. Other architects or prospective house builders have taken ideas from this fifteen. Besides being a history of San Francisco architecture, this book also qualifies as an idea book for anyone thinking of building a house.