Not By Design Alone

Paperback, printed in black&white on white paper In the years he ran his architectural practice (1961 to 1979) Louis Sauer became one of the most awarded and admired of the post-war generation of American residential architects ...His work is exceptional for its variety and wealth of solutions ... "Not By Design Alone" is a candid and revealing memoir of a complex, creative life ... The cast of acquaintances in his early years verges on the mythical: studying art and design under Serge Chermayeff and meeting Mies van der Rohe and Eero Saarinen; taking Margot Fonteyn and (Sir) Robert Helpmann to see drag shows; photographing Carlo Scarpa and turning down an offer of work from Louis Kahn - who he later studied under ... In this exemplary autobiography, Sauer dares to question, and strives to answer, what it has meant for him to live a life as an architect. He fails, as we all must, but not without entertaining and enlightening us.
Sam Lloyd
Although there are not many American architects like Louis Sauer ... his working values seem to come directly from his American heritage: a commitment to pragmatic action, to building rather than talking about building, commitment to giving the people who use his buildings maximum choice in their daily lives.
James Morgan
Lou Sauer's lessons, struggles, and successes are all told in this compelling book, which is heavily illustrated with photographs and drawings and the curiosities of a long and interesting life. Both memoir and history of how building and city design is thought and taught, Not By Design Alone is a journey through a life that was ahead of its time.
Stuart Harrison