Robert Arthur King

In a trailer to the documentary short Stonefaced, architect and educator Robert King describes modern buildings as "faceless." This phrase refers to the lack of detail in boxes covered with glass and metal, but it can also be taken more literally, since modern buildings are not adorned with the carved animal and human faces that King is enamored with. When I try to recall a relatively recent visage on a building, all that comes to mind is Charles Moore's Piazza d'Italia, where the architect himself spews water into the basin. But on King's turf, New York City, I come up with nothing. We must go back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries to find such representations and King has done just that, producing two books in the process – Faces in Stone and Animals in Stone – that are collected for the first time in a single volume. The figures take center stage in large photos – usually one to a page – but the book also includes small photos of the buildings they adorn, addresses, subway information, and helpful maps. With all this extra information, readers can venture out to see in person the faces that often go overlooked but which King has carefully trained his camera on.… (meer)