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Published by Tra Publishing
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
Table of Contents
About The Book
"Profiles more than 60 dwellings and monuments built by artists." —Publishers Weekly
From Miami’s Coral Castle to LA’s Watts Towers, Architectural Fantasies explores over 60 dwellings across more than 30 states. These artist-built spaces allow one to step directly into the artwork, and range from scratch-built creations and modified structures to monuments, sites of devotion, and intricately decorated interiors.
Is it a rollercoaster? A cathedral? A dream? There you are, traveling along the beautiful backroads of western Tennessee, or the majestic mountains of Colorado, or a quiet neighborhood in upstate New York, when you encounter a monumental and wondrous creation. You have found Billy Tripp’s Mindfield, Jim Bishop’s Castle, or Prophet Isaiah Robertson’s Second Coming House—examples of unconventional and unique visionary architecture.
All across the U.S., these self-taught artists and architects, working outside of the mainstream, unite function with fantasy. The works are generally monumental, frequently provocative, often whimsical, sometimes reverential, and regularly misunderstood—but always remarkable. Experience this window into the passion and the innovation of some of our most creative artists and the ways they transform the spaces in which they live and work.
From Miami’s Coral Castle to LA’s Watts Towers, Architectural Fantasies explores over 60 dwellings across more than 30 states. These artist-built spaces allow one to step directly into the artwork, and range from scratch-built creations and modified structures to monuments, sites of devotion, and intricately decorated interiors.
Is it a rollercoaster? A cathedral? A dream? There you are, traveling along the beautiful backroads of western Tennessee, or the majestic mountains of Colorado, or a quiet neighborhood in upstate New York, when you encounter a monumental and wondrous creation. You have found Billy Tripp’s Mindfield, Jim Bishop’s Castle, or Prophet Isaiah Robertson’s Second Coming House—examples of unconventional and unique visionary architecture.
All across the U.S., these self-taught artists and architects, working outside of the mainstream, unite function with fantasy. The works are generally monumental, frequently provocative, often whimsical, sometimes reverential, and regularly misunderstood—but always remarkable. Experience this window into the passion and the innovation of some of our most creative artists and the ways they transform the spaces in which they live and work.
Product Details
- Publisher: Tra Publishing (June 30, 2026)
- Length: 456 pages
- ISBN13: 9781962098298
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Raves and Reviews
"Jo Farb Hernández is a leading expert in the field of art environments, and she makes an ideal guide, bringing a depth of knowledge to this multidimensional field."
– Laura Hutson Hunter, BookPage, STARRED Review
“Gathering decades’ worth of research and documentation, the book includes spectacular photographs by Fred Scruton and highlights the remarkable diversity of hand-built environments....Hernández champions these individualistic works as monumental exemplars of the vast potential and wonderful weirdness of the human imagination.”
– Kate Mothes, Colossal
"These unusual environments represent a magnificent act of resistance. They also embody the idea of ephemerality in creation and, above all, the idea that art, in all its forms—like that of Salvation Mountain of Leonard Knight—can save us."
– Sarah Lombardi, Director, Collection de l’Art Brut, Lausanne, Switzerland
“Jo Farb Hernández captures the boundless breadth of inventions embedded in the United States’ most extraordinary art environments. This book is an essential record of alternate stories and thriving contributions to the fields of art and architecture."
– Valérie Rousseau, Curatorial Chair and Senior Curator of 20th-Century & Contemporary Art, American Folk Art Museum (AFAM)
“Thorough and very readable documentation and analysis of monumental and magical architectural creations by self-taught makers across the US. Beautifully photographed and published. A must for both the scholar and layperson.”
– Thomas K. Seligman, Freidenrich Director Emeritus, Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University
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Book Cover Image (jpg): Architectural Fantasies
Trade Paperback 9781962098298
