The architecture of
Barry Byrne : taking the Prairie School to Europe / by Vincent L. Michael ;
photography by Felicity Rich
University of Illinois
Press, Urbana (Illinois) [etc.] : 2013
viii, 226 p. : il.
ISBN 9780252037535
Sbc Aprendizaje A-726.5 ARC
One of Frank Lloyd Wright's earliest apprentices, a visionary of modern
Catholic church buildings
One of the first
significant apprentices of Frank Lloyd Wright, Barry Byrne (1883–1967) was a
radical architect who sought basic principles as fervently as his mentor Wright
and his inspiration Louis Sullivan. From these roots he developed a
design philosophy that began with the function of the building. He followed
Wright's principles but forged an individual style more reminiscent of Sullivan
and Irving Gill, with taut planar skins enveloping modern space plans. In 1922
he designed the first modern Catholic church building, St. Thomas the Apostle
in Chicago, and in 1924 he traveled to Europe where he met Mies, Mendelsohn,
Oud, and other modernist architects. He was the only Prairie School architect
to build in Europe, designing the concrete Church of Christ the King, built in
1928–31 in Cork, Ireland.
In this book,
architectural historian Vincent L. Michael charts the entire length of Byrne's
work, highlighting its distinctive features while discussing the cultural
conditions that kept Byrne in the shadows of his more famous contemporaries. Byrne
lacked the architectural ego of his mentor Wright and believed true
architecture was intrinsically humble, concentrating for much of his career on
Catholic churches and schools throughout North America, many of them now
considered landmarks. A dedicated modernist who rejected historical mannerisms
and celebrated contemporary materials and processes, he was also a devoted
Catholic, progressively participating in the liturgical reform movement from
the 1920s until his death. In his practice his modernism and Catholicism came
together, revolutionizing the ground plans of Catholic churches in anticipation
of the reforms of Vatican II forty years later.
Creative, vibrant, and
relentlessly intellectual, Barry Byrne was, like all great artists, a
collection of contradictions. Illustrated by more than one hundred
photographs and drawings, this biography explores the interplay of influences
and impulses--individualism and communalism, modernism and tradition,
pragmatism and faith--enduring throughout Byrne's life and work.
"A very exciting
topic and a study that is long overdue. Michael puts Barry Byrne's
modernist perspective into the context of Catholic doctrine and Catholic
architecture in a way that is illuminating and convincing."--Paul Kruty,
author of “Frank Lloyd Wright and Midway Gardens”
"Vincent Michael effectively promotes awareness of the innovative architecture of Barry Byrne, a prominent and important designer of modernist Catholic churches. This volume will be welcomed by readers interested in modern architecture and design, religious architecture, Catholic history, Chicago architecture, or Frank Lloyd Wright."--Dale Allen Gyure, author of “The Chicago Schoolhouse: High School Architecture and Educational Reform, 1856-2006”.
"Vincent Michael effectively promotes awareness of the innovative architecture of Barry Byrne, a prominent and important designer of modernist Catholic churches. This volume will be welcomed by readers interested in modern architecture and design, religious architecture, Catholic history, Chicago architecture, or Frank Lloyd Wright."--Dale Allen Gyure, author of “The Chicago Schoolhouse: High School Architecture and Educational Reform, 1856-2006”.
Vincent L. Michael is
Executive Director of the Global Heritage Fund in Palo Alto, California, the
John H. Bryan Chair of Historic Preservation at the School of the Art Institute
of Chicago, and a Trustee of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
LINKS
UI Press | The architecture of Barry Byrne
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