American Architecture

by David P. Handlin

Book Overview

America has always presented a unique challenge to architects: should they emulate the Old World or respond to the demands of the New? David Handlin tells the complex story with lucidity and insight. Almost from its seventeenth-century beginnings, American architecture was subject to two apparently contradictory processesthe practical and the grandiose. The first comes through in the vernacular buildings of rural America, the innovations of Jefferson,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0500203733
• ISBN13: 9780500203736
• Release Date: February 2004
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.41 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.9" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

An good introduction to American architecture

I liked this better than any other architecture book I've read. It was well written and included a lot of historical detail on bulidings, cultural and political influences, and the architects themselves. It explained the rationale behind a lot of the works without getting bogged down in architectural theory. Other books I've read have been mere appreciation on the one hand, or too thickly academic on the other; this one struck a good balance.Dave Carr