JORDY ON GILL & MAYBECK

Irving Gill

Bernard Maybeck

After reading the Gill and Maybeck sections of Jordy's book, William H. Jordy, American Buildings and Their Architects - Volume 4: Progressive and Academic Ideals at the Turn of the Twentieth Century, Oxford University Press, 1972, one ponders the circumstances revealed, and realises just how excellent Jordy is at describing the experience of these architects' works. It is an approach that has been squashed by the more ‘scientific/intellectual/academic’ approach to reviews that argues that experience is too personal and vague to be relied on; yet it is really all we have. The intellect consciously puts ‘experience’ aside as unreliable when analysing a work, but Jordy embraces its significance and relevance in the wholeness of things. One can add very little; there is not much more to be said.

Gill

Maybeck

Not only are the buildings carefully and beautifully described by one who has actually been there, aware, feeling, but Jordy also manages to capture the unique spirit of each architect, touching precisely on the characteristics of their different approaches with an astute, knowing subtlety. Jordy has a shrewd, searching eye and a sharp intellect, and does his research, being able to name and illustrate the varied references in this work.

The chapters in his book are succinct and precise; they beautifully capture the essence of these architects and their buildings. One can only comment that it is a real shame that this 1972 publication was not made known to us at the time of its release so as to add to the debate and comprehension of the period that had reverberations through the century. Instead, the book gets discovered some 53 years after its first appearance, in a small village in Norfolk – see: https://voussoirs.blogspot.com/2025/10/in-praise-of-classicism.html - and still it can contribute to the understanding of the time, the turn of the twentieth century: if only schools of architecture and architects showed an interest in the ideas and history of this era instead of being distracted by ‘isms’ and the elusive, ‘progressive’ promises of ‘whiz-bang’ new technology that thrust expectations into a void, the chasm of AI, leaving the past as a mocked irrelevance.

Gill

Maybeck

As well as Irving Gill and Bernard Maybeck, the book delves into the works of Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan, exploring Sullivan's ornament in an intriguing scholarly fashion not previously seen. Sullivan’s decoration is usually merely noted as an admirable, quirky aside; a frivolous, personal indulgence. Jordy’s astute writing opens up one’s thinking on decoration by studying Sullivan's works and his writings, using Sullivan's much neglected last publication that was on ornament, as a guide to understanding this remarkable man: Louis Sullivan, A System of Architectural Ornament, According with a Philosophy of Man's Powers, American Institute of Architects, 1924. It seems that Adolf Loos’s position that declared ornament a crime has won the day. One wonders if the happy acceptance of this position only simplifies matters for everyone today, making things easier, less complicated, by doing away not only with any challenge decoration might bring to the modern mind, but also the added expense of such an ‘unnecessary’ element. We do not yet realise what we have dismissed.^

Gill

Maybeck

Interestingly, Wright, Gill, and Maybeck all worked for Sullivan at some time in the early stages of their careers.

Gill

Maybeck

Get a copy of Jordy's book and read it now. It makes Pevsner's writing on this era* seem stolid, starkly cold and rigidly academic. Jordy speaks from understanding and experience. One wonders how today's architecture would stand up to such rigorous, intelligent, and probing scrutiny that is prepared to investigate the full scope of the work both intellectually, factually, and as sensed in the everyday. We need more of this style of review instead of the indulgent babble of self-centred, self-explained, self-promoted works - see: https://voussoirs.blogspot.com/2026/05/parametric-parameters.html.

Irving Gill

Louis Sullivan

Bernard Maybeck

Frank Lloyd Wright

Why did this book never reach Australia in 1972? One does recall the agreement between Australia, U.S. and British publishers to restrict the distribution of certain editions that are also published elsewhere – see below.# Still, this does not really explain why the Oxford edition of Jordy’s original Doubleday publication never got into this country. Perhaps no one could be bothered promoting it? Did Nikolaus Pevsner have the market with his British version of things; or was it Penguin Books that managed matters? In spite of this control on imports, The American Book Store did open up in Brisbane in 1957, (closing in 2022), and began importing American books and editions, seeming to overcome or ignore the copyright restriction; but still the Jordy book never appeared.

Gill

Maybeck

#

AI Overview

Australia does not ban or restrict personal readers from buying U.S. versions of British books, but its copyright laws restrict commercial bookstores from importing them. 

The Parallel Import Restrictions (PIRs)

Under the Copyright Act 1968, international publishers often split territorial rights, treating the U.S., UK, and Australia/New Zealand as separate publishing regions. 

• The Rule: If a publisher holds the exclusive Australian license for a book, commercial booksellers in Australia are legally blocked from buying and bulk-importing cheaper U.S. or UK editions of that same title.

• The Exception: Booksellers can source overseas editions in bulk, but only if the local publisher fails to release an Australian edition within 14 to 30 days of its worldwide release, or if the book goes out of stock in Australia for an extended period. 

What This Means for Consumers

• Personal Shopping: You can freely purchase U.S. or UK editions of books for your own personal use from online retailers (like Amazon or Book Depository) without restriction.

• Local Bookstores: If a book is officially distributed in Australia, your local bookstore may be legally barred from stocking the American or British version and must sell the regionally approved edition. 

Differences in U.S. vs. UK Editions

Australian publishers predominantly use British English, so most locally available books will mirror UK formatting. When you encounter U.S. versions, you may notice these common regional differences:

• Spelling: U.S. versions change British-style spellings (e.g., colour becomes color, realise becomes realize).

• Vocabulary and Content: American editors frequently localize British slang and cultural references to suit U.S. readers.

• Titles: Books (especially thrillers and memoirs) occasionally have their titles altered specifically for the U.S. market. 

Some conversations on the matter:

The Australian publishing and literary industry actively supports these territorial copyright rules, arguing they protect local publishers and encourage investment in Australian writers. You can learn more about how copyright law affects book accessibility through the Australian Digital Alliance. 

• the book trade needs more than parallel import restrictions

• 1 Dec 2015 — The Australian book trade has a long history of tension between books produced at home and books imported from overseas. But our c...

• Lost in Translation – Aussie English in the US Publishing Market

• 17 May 2014 — Lost in Translation – Aussie English in the US Publishing Market * '-ise' vs '-ize' (eg. realise, memorise) * 'ou' vs 'o' (eg. hon...

• Removing import restrictions would harm Australian authors, say …

• 7 Apr 2015 — “Competition policy should ensure Australian businesses can compete fairly in the global marketplace.” Gordon-Smith says the indus...

*

Nikolaus Pevsner's Pioneers of Modern Design was first published in 1936 by Faber & Faber. It originally debuted under the title Pioneers of the Modern Movement: From William Morris to Walter Gropius. 

The seminal work was later expanded, updated, and published under its current title in 1949 (by The Museum of Modern Art) and 1960 (by Penguin Books). 

^

The crowds were astonished. They beheld what was for them an amazing revelation of the architectural art, of which previously they in comparison had known nothing. To them it was a veritable Apocalypse, a message inspired from on high. Upon it their imagination shaped new ideals. They went away, spreading again over the land, returning to their homes, each one of them carrying in his soul the shadow of the white cloud, each of them permeated by the most subtle and slow-acting of poisons; an imperceptible miasm within the white shadow of a higher culture. . . . The virus of the World’s Fair, after a period of incubation in the architectural profession and in the population at large, especially the influential, began to show unmistakable signs of the nature of the contagion. There came a violent outbreak of the Classic and the Renaissance in the East, which slowly spread westward, contaminating all that it touched, both at its source and outward. . . .
                The damage wrought by the World’s Fair will last for half a century from its date, if not longer. It has penetrated deep into the constitution of the American mind, effecting there lesions significant of dementia.

- from The Autobiography of an Idea by Louis Sullivan, 1924.

Also, see: https://commonedge.org/louis-sullivan-would-like-to-clarify-his-thoughts-on-ornamentation/

"It is the pervading law  of all things organic and inorganic, of all things physical and metaphysical, of all things human and all things superhuman, of all true manifestations of the head, of the heart, of the soul, that the life is recognizable in its expression, that form ever follows function. This is the law." 
Louis Sullivan