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Similar books could be produced in any oldercity with many buildings that have survived the ravages of “urban renewal.” Butphotographer Robert Arthur King, a professor at the New York School of InteriorDesign, didn’t have to wander far from home to find his subject in thedecorative stone carvings on the facades of buildings. King focused on blackand white photographs of animal figuresArt Deco eagles, sinister goats,roaring lions, glowering owlsmostly carved by anonymous artisans of the late19th and early 20th centuries. Implicitly, King makes acase against the rigid application of modernist dogma to architecture. That thecarvings he photographed added depth, visual interest and beauty to theirstructures was sufficient justification for their existence. Form doesn’tnecessarily have to follow function. (David Luhrssen)
