Criticism, History, Social Sciences, Architecture 

From the librarian:

Tom Wolfe tells a true story of the development of Modern Architecture throughout the Western world. It will give insight to engineers, and the public, into why all of the modern buildings look, well, the way that they do. A book widely read, and sometimes highly reviled, by architects, From Bauhaus to Our House uses a mix of casual narrative, sarcastic comments, and direct quotes from events he himself attended, in an attempt to tell a straight and simple story to describe the 20th century "state of the art" in architecture.

For the structural engineer who struggles to understand the way architects think and act, this thin book describes some of the intellectual inheritance that many contemporary architects have been taught and continue to teach. However, while Wolfe can give the reader a sense of self-assured smugness that they have "seen behind the curtain", it is important to remember that Wolfe is reporting on only a small, albeit highly influential, selection of 20th century architects.