Marion Mahony Reconsidered

“Marion Mahony Reconsidered tells the fullest story of Marion both as a person and as an architect available. The introduction and essays look at Marion’s whole career but also have an overriding purpose—to redress Marion’s erasure from history by raising new questions, by focusing on achievements that cannot be denied, and by beginning to fill in some of the blanks, gaps, and absences in her life story. This is a scholarly achievement of great significance to the history of architecture.”

“An architect and extraordinary graphic artist, Marion Mahony was nothing less than a force of nature. Until now, Mahony was often marginalized as merely a ‘helpmate’ to or ‘talented renderer’ for first Frank Lloyd Wright and then her husband, Walter Burley Griffin. At the other extreme, some have amplified her achievements by diminishing those of her husband. Meticulously researched and rich in critical analysis, Marion Mahony Reconsidered is a remarkably even-handed, well-balanced study. Marion Mahony at last has the monograph her remarkable career deserves. It is, moreover, a dangerous book for those who believe Wright single-handedly invented everything emanating from his Oak Park studio. Without reservation, this book belongs in the library of those interested in Mahony, Griffin, and Wright as well as the genesis of modern architecture in America.”

“Absorbing. . . . Does much to place Mahony in the correct relationship to the men in her life and the world in which they collectively functioned.”

“Marion Mahony Reconsidered opens the door for further study and presents an insightful portrait of a pioneering designer whose contribution to American architecture deserves recognition and further study.”