This title is just a bit too niche for a public library audience. I think it could be a valuable addition to an academic or art library with a robust architectural program. While the cover and description indicate that this is entry-level, instead it is for those with some experience.

This book offers a compelling exploration of how museum architecture shapes our art-viewing experiences, primarily through insightful interviews with the architects behind these iconic spaces. What makes this book stand out is its direct engagement with the architects’ perspectives, providing a nuanced look at the influences, training, and intentional design choices that affect how we interact with art. It's a valuable resource not only for architecture enthusiasts but. more broadly for those interested in museum studies and even in user experience design. The book made me think more about the evolving role of physical museum spaces in a digital age, where pervasive online access to art changes our relationship with the in-person experience. Nearly 50 years after Brian O'Doherty's "Inside the White Cube," this work furthers the conversation. O'Doherty argued that the "white cube" gallery space is not a neutral container but actively shapes our interpretation of the art within it. Similarly, the architects in this book reveal how their designs are active participants in the art experience, framing and contextualizing the works. The book is illustrated with photographs, architectural renderings, and a few models. I would have loved to see even more of the visual archival materials such as early designs and sketches from the ideation stage. My thanks to Chronicle Books for providing an advance digital copy for review.

Building Culture gathers a series of interviews initially published in ArtForum by Julian Rose with 16 architects who have designed major museum buildings or renovations. Rose interviewed both the well established and the up-and-coming names, centered usually on their best known project, but conversations also covered working methods, educational and personal backgrounds and their perceptions of what is valuable in a museum or public space. Interviewees include Frank Gehry, Elizabeth Diller, Walter Hood and many others.

It is a diverse group, and Rose is clear in their introduction to mention allegations against one of the interviewees. Alongside each interview, the volume also includes images of the buildings or works mentioned, both those in progress and those completed.

As a group, the projects discussed are from the 1960s to the present, with some projects discussed only now under construction. Despite their brief length, Rose is able to touch on a variety of topics and subjects, giving some ideas of the importance of the architectures background and perspective in the buildings they've designed. There are some common topics across the interviews such as the reaction or move away from the traditional white wall galleries, flexibility in space versus purpose building and museums themselves as community or cultural spaces.

Recommended for collegiate readers in museums studies, art history or architectural design.

This is a cool book for anyone curious about architecture and/or museums.
It was written with a lay audience in mind and contained some wonderful photos.
I'm not into architecture, however, I throughtly enjoyed this book, so I can imagine anyone interested in the subject would love it!

This was a very interesting book. It was pretty cool to read about why architects and other museum workers design buildings, galleries, and exhibitions in a particular way. I was also glad that it was written with a lay audience in mind and was informative and detailed without being overly technical or filled with jargon. The pictures of each space were a nice addition as well.

So I found the idea of this book intriguing because I had already started having these kinds of thoughts. I've been in some great art museums, and I was always surprised how much I enjoyed the buildings themselves. This book has interviews with some of the most important architects, and you can learn about their accomplishments, what influenced them, and what they think is important.
There are also photographs of some of their buildings, and it's so interesting how different they are from each other. This would make a fantastic coffee table book or even a book club book, where you do a few sections at a time to discuss the ideas. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this