Making Architecture: The Getty Center

Preface by Harold M. Williams
Essays by Richard Meier, Stephen D. Rountree, and Ada Louise Huxtable

This volume completes the documentation of the planning, design, and construction of the Getty Center begun in The Getty Center: Design Process. Designed by Richard Meier & Partners, the Getty Center sits atop a stunning 110-acre hilltop in west Los Angeles and is home to the entities that make up the J. Paul Getty Trust.

The book includes a series of essays by individuals who have had important roles throughout the course of the project. A chronology identifies the key dates and events in the design and construction process. Extensively illustrated with photographs by several accomplished photographers, site drawings from Richard Meier & Partners, and Robert Irwin's drawings of the Central Gardens, the book presents readers with an insider's view of the making of the Getty Center.

Harold Williams was the chief operating officer of the J. Paul Getty Trust during the planning, design, construction and opening of the Getty Center. Stephen D. Rountree was executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Trust. Richard Meier, the architect of the Getty Center, has received the Pritzker Prize for Architecture and, most recently, the Gold Medal from the American Institute of Architects. Several books have been published on his work. During her tenure as the architecture critic of The New York Times, Ada Louise Huxtable won a Pulitzer Prize for her criticism. She is the author of The Unreal America: Architecture and Illusion.

"A winner for anyone fascinated with how these things take shape." 
—Buzz Weekly

Winner, AIGA 50 Books/50 Covers of 1997

Honorable Mention, 1998 American Association of Museums, Museum Publications, Design Competition

Winner, 1998 Small Press, Book Awards