Lara (architecture, U. of Michigan) offers a study of what became a Brazilian national investment in avant-garde modernism in architecture that went far beyond the output of professional architects and into the realm of the private home. The author conducted numerous interviews with the original resident/builders--people who designed and built their homes with no professional architectural training, took photographs, and examined plans to bring this "popular modernism" into perspective with the work of Brazil's high modernist top architects. The book, which includes several photographs, provides a thoughtful presentation of a trend that reflects how modernism was specifically expressed in Brazil in the context of Latin American and global expressions of modernism. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)