Reyner Banham
This book may have the most obscure subject of any book reviewed at Reader’s Diary in the nearly seven years that the site has been in existence. It’s about US concrete factories and grain elevators and their influence on European modernism and the International style as exemplified by Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier.
The first two sections of the book cover, respectively, factories and grain elevators. Banham has an engaging personal style and a particular appreciation for Buffalo’s elevators. He also mentions Minnesota’s elevators, notably the Peavey-Haglin experimental concrete grain bin, which is probably the least-known landmark in the Twin Cities.
The third section of the books deals with the influence these US structures had in Europe. It’s not as interesting as first two but there’s some interesting material on Fiat’s Lingotto plant and its famous rooftop test track, an icon of European modernism that, ironically, Henry Ford, creator of the Highland and River Rouge plants, probably would have scoffed at as impractical.
This is definitely not a book for everyone, but I liked it.