Richard Meier (1) (1934–)

A quick glance at Amazon yields at least five books dedicated to Richard Meier's Getty, a hilltop acropolis overlooking Los Angeles that opened in 1997, the same year as Frank Gehry's Guggenheim in Bilbao. That was a great year for architecture, since it vaulted architecture into the wider public discussion in the US – I recall discussing these two buildings with many people, such my mother (she preferred Meier's relatively sedate complex to Gehry's flourishes), who normally would not have paid attention to architecture. One thing I recall at the time about Meier's building was how it was the "same but different," as the saying goes: the geometry and rigor is unmistakably Meier, but the Getty eschewed his signature white porcelain panels in favor of travertine, thereby creating a softer version of his architecture. That built reality is barely hinted at in this book, which was published six years before completion (seven years after he was selected as architect!); the black-and-white drawings and model photos point to an all-white architecture more in keeping with Meier's previous buildings. Only a mockup of a travertine wall at the end of the book points to this distinction in his oeuvre. The other books, published after the Getty was completed, bring this earthiness to the fore, but this in-progress book focuses squarely on design as process, with plenty of sketches, drawings and models to pore over decades after they were made.… (mere)