Max Gordon: Architect for Art - (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Whether creating enormous exhibition spaces or designing living quarters for collectors and homes and studio facilities for artists, the acclaimed architect Max Gordon (1931-1990) shaped the physical settings of art in the world's major metropolises during his influential career. Following several decades of work with leading architectural firms in New York and London (during which he designed the headquarters of New Scotland Yard), in the early 1980s Gordon designed the first Saatchi Gallery in London, and went on to become celebrated and sought after as the art world's architect of choice, designing spaces for artists Elizabeth Murray, Jennifer Bartlett, Richard Serra and Joel Shapiro, and gallerists Paula Cooper, Brooke Alexander, Maeght-Lelong and Lorence-Monk in New York and Anthony d'Offay and Annely Juda in London. This first monograph offers a detailed overview of Gordon's projects for the art world, from the 100,000-square-foot exhibition space he designed for the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid to the SoHo home he remodeled for Richard Serra, demonstrating throughout his elegant use of light, space and minimal decoration, and displaying his gift for always highlighting the art.

Review Quotes

A minimalist before the term was established, Gordon was a functionalist too. His gallery spaces were designed to work for the art, not to enhance his own reputation as an architect. "Beinahe nichts" was one of Mies's directives. This means "almost nothing". Quietly and unostentatiously, Max Gordon created a great deal more.--Stephen Bayley "The Art Newspaper"

This delightful book falls outside most familiar categories. More than anything, it's a series of fond tributes to a quirky, independent, personally flamboyant, professionally unostentatious architect, who was both stubborn and collaborative. His minimalist plans speak to the needs of the art they were designed to accommodate. They don't steal the show. Most of all, the book offers the gestalt of Max Gordon, the mind behind some of the late 20th century's most important exhibition spaces, from Saatchi's first gallery in London to Tate Modern's Turbine Hall.--Barbara MacAdam "ARTnews"