While the Seagram Building was generally appreciated by the public and architectural critics, there were also comments about the drawbacks of the design. Robert A. M. Stern stated that there were negative comments about the plaza's "austerity" and the lack of purity in the exterior. Stern cited architect Louis Kahn, who believed the rear "spine" to take away from the purity of the slab, and who stated that the hidden wind bracing made the building appear like "a beautiful bronze lady in hidden corsets". Furthermore, while Mumford largely praised the design, he found the pools and fountains in the plaza to be a "gross defect" in what was otherwise a "masterpiece". Italian architecture writers Manfredo Tafuri and Francesco Dal Co, in their 1976 book "Modern Architecture", stated that the Seagram Building stood "aloof from the city", which they considered as a symbol of absence.