Preface by William J. MitchellWe can all play the irresistible game of

Preface by William J. MitchellWe can all play the irresistible game of looking for our mentors and heroes, and we can compare our own judgments, rankings and groupings to the tale told by the computer. But beyond this, the panoramic view that Bonta constructs provides a rewarding new way to contextualize both architects and texts--to locate and assess them in relation to general evolutions and transformations of the architectural community's values, tastes, and interests. -William J. Mitchell, Dean of the School of Architcture and Planning at MIT In 'American Architects and Texts, ' Juan Pablo Bonta analyzes the indexes of nearly 400 architectural books and articles published over the past century and a half to reveal changing societal preferences in architecture and to literally measure the reputations of individual architects. The result is a provocative study--part book, part electronic database and analysis software--that follows the ups an downs of more than 7, 000 architects' standing in the literature and, indirectly, their standing in the profession. There is a ranked list of the '100 most famous architects, ' along with views of evolving architectural careers and the response to them by critics and historians. The complete database and analysis is available in machine-readable form. In American Architects and Texts, Juan Pablo Bontaanalyzes the indexes of nearly 400 architectural books andarticles published over the past century and a half toreveal changing societal preferences in architecture andto literally measure the reputations of individualarchitects.