"From the birth and life of one of Manhattan's most detested icons, Meredith Clausen spins an engrossing tale that shows how large iconic projects in New York City all too often get built: through a complex dynamic of manipulable zoning statutes, real estate economics, and corporate image-making. This is also the story of how the extraordinary personal hubris of public officials can provoke ineffective, if voluble, interventions by municipal agencies, the popular press, and the public. If you think that the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site is at all unusual, read this book."--Sarah Williams Goldhagen, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University "Are you one of the millions of people who hate the Pan Am building? Read this book!" Christopher Gray, "Streetscapes" columnist, New York Times, and author of New York Streetscapes "Are you one of the millions of people who hate the Pan Am building? Read this book!" Christopher Gray , "Streetscapes" columnist, New York Times, and author of New York Streetscapes "From the birth and life of one of Manhattan's most detested icons, Meredith Clausen spins an engrossing tale that shows how large iconic projects in New York City all too often get built: through a complex dynamic of manipulable zoning statutes, real estate economics, and corporate image-making. This is also the story of how the extraordinary personal hubris of public officials can provoke ineffective, if voluble, interventions by municipal agencies, the popular press, and the public. If you think that the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site is at all unusual, read this book." Sarah Williams Goldhagen , Graduate School of Design, Harvard University "Are you one of the millions of people who hate the Pan Am building? Read this book!"--Christopher Gray, "Streetscapes" columnist, New York Times, and author of *New York Streetscapes*
Meredith L. Clausen is Professor of Architectural History at the University of Washington, Seattle. She is the author of Pietro Belluschi: Modern American Architect (MIT Press, 1999.)
"Clausen has rifled through the archives and peered behind the glass curtain of mid-century modernism to spin a gripping tale of financial and aesthetic hubris run amok." Tom Vanderbilt Bookforum "Clausen's fascinating study focuses on yet another modernist symbol, one that is still very much with us, despite its status as first among 'the buildings New Yorkers love to hate.'" WBUR "Clausen's saga should be read by every New Yorker who cares about the city's future." Julia Vitullo-Martin New York Post
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