Power in Buildings: An Artist's View of Contemporary Architecture

New York: Columbia University Press, 1953. First Edition. Ferriss, Hugh. Hugh Ferriss (1889-1962) was trained as an architect but spent his career creating fabulous renderings for other architects. Through those renderings, Ferriss produced an urban vision that sold buildings on behalf of architects like Raymond Hood, Cass Gilbert, and Holabird & Root. Ferris's work in the 1920s and 1930s were widely publicized, influencing not only the sense of progress that the Art Moderne style promised, but the burgeoning motion picture industry as well. Many have said his renderings were a direct influence on Fritz Lang's 1927 film, "Metropolis," his work has also has been cited as the inspiration for the Gotham City that Bob Kane and Bill Finger created in which Batman pursues his own version of justice. Regardless of his influence, Ferriss's work is stunning and should be seen as one of the key components that have shaped our perception of architecture and graphic arts of the 1920s and 1930s. 102 pp. 4to. Wear and scuffing to dust jacket, large loss at base of spine, small tears and chips at edges, now in mylar cover. Grey cloth boards with black embossed titling and silver embossed swoops that mimic the lines of the cover illustration by Ferriss. Clean and crisp within.