5 comments about Prairie Style: Houses & Gardens by F.L. Wright.

1. Prairie style architecture is one of the most American of the house styles, it is quenticential Frank Lloyd Wright. I did not always appreciate the style, I watched as they demolished many in Dallas and did not shead a tear, but after really looking at these homes and admiring the unique style, I lement the loss of those homes and I have a new appreciation of these fine homes. This book is wonderful, it has vivid images and the text is very informative. It is fascinating how Wright perfectly merged the house into the Gardens and how perfectly the two interact. Even if you are not sold on the beauty of the Prairie Style, I encourage you to get this book, you will come away with a new appreciation of this singular style and you may actually find yourself wanting one.



2. This book does have a very nice blend of photographs and reproductions of sketches and interior / exterior images, but I was not impressed with the cross over into other architect's work that, in my humble opinion, do not come close to approaching FLW's ability. Overall it is a good resource, but hardly a definitive study on Wright and his structures.



3. This book varies from most books on Wright and the prairie style architects in its extensive use of interior photos. Many of the prairie homes are somewhat unremarkable from the outside, while inside they have a distict beauty and grace. "Prairie Style" beautifully portrays the interior as well as the exterior of homes by Wright, his students, and contemporaries.



4. This book covers more than just Wright. It also gives you some insight to others that came out of the Prairie School and others that were redefining the American style near the turn of the century. The book has wonderful pictures, but as an architect, I wish it had floor plans so I could more easily understand how the spaces worked together. It's still a nice addition to my library.



5. The great thing about the Prairie Style is that elements of it can fit into so many different other types of designs and times. Even though I have a very modern, contemporary home, I got plenty of ideas from this beautiful book. Contains loads of beautiful pictures of home interiors by Wright & his followers.

1 comments about Tennessee's New Deal Landscape: A Guidebook.

1. President Franklin Roosevelt, confronted with the hardship of millions of unemployed Americans and radical political ideas blossoming around the world, put millions of unemployed Americans to work building bridges, roads, buildings and other elements of America's infrastructure. These fine work projects are seen across America and represent a hard period in American history, and a period of hope and achievement.

   I found this H-Net review of this book on the Internet.

   "Carroll Van West. Tennessee's New Deal Landscape: A Guidebook.
   Reviewed by Edward Salo, Geo-Marine, Inc.
   Published by H-Tennessee (September, 2002)

   "Creating a Modern Tennessee through the New Deal
   When most people think of the New Deal's impact on Tennessee, the concrete dams of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) are the image that comes to mind. However, like many states, Tennessee's public landscape was drastically affected in other ways by a variety of New Deal projects. In Tennessee's New Deal Landscape, Dr. Carroll Van West, project director for the Center for Historic Preservation, Middle Tennessee State University, examines over 250 of Tennessee's historic sites constructed during the New Deal and uses that information to catalogue how Depression-era federal government work changed the built environment of the state. West's book serves both as a heritage tourism guidebook and as a scholarly work. It also succeeds in illustrating how "New Deal agencies transformed the state's public landscape, leaving in their wake the infrastructure for the emergence of a modern--and different--Tennessee" (p. xii).

   "Students of Tennessee's cultural landscapes and historic preservation will be familiar with West's earlier scholarship. Because of his work at the Center for Historic Preservation, West has either written about or is familiar with most of the New Deal historic properties in the state. His previous book, Tennessee's Historic Landscapes, is the definitive study on the different historic landscapes across the state. West's new contribution focuses exclusively on the historic properties that were constructed during the New Deal era in Tennessee. He has mined both primary and secondary sources on Tennessee's New Deal experience, including TVA records, the WPA guidebook on Tennessee, cultural resource reports, and National Register of Historic Properties nominations to produce a similarly authoritative examination of the state during the 1930s.

   "In his first chapter, West presents a short thematic history of the New Deal, identifying the ten major New Deal agencies that worked in Tennessee. Unlike his previous book, which looked at the state's regions, he divides New Deal Landscapes into chapters based on the resource's property type. The next seven chapters include discussions of state offices and county courthouses; federal courthouses and post offices; community buildings and institutions; schools; housing; parks, memorials, and museums; and infrastructure. Each chapter contains a short narrative focusing on political, cultural, and social patterns that influenced the resources, as well as individual descriptions of other examples across the state, organized alphabetically by county. By not designating the properties as belonging to West, Middle, and East Tennessee, West makes his information accessible to those unfamiliar with Tennessee's traditional geographic divisions. A bibliographical essay also directs readers to important sources for further research.
   
   "West makes it clear in his preface that the book is not comprehensive. The examples he uses are fairly divided between the rural and urban sections of the state. Many of the properties discussed in the chapters are representative and are not the only examples in the state. The identification and description of New Deal property types, however, is one of the book's strengths, making it easier for local historians to examine Depression-era landscape and distinguish significant buildings.

   "The examples that West uses illustrate two interpretations of the New Deal in Tennessee: construction and destruction. Although many projects created new buildings, some, such as the TVA dams, also destroyed rural areas and displaced people from their traditional homes. Additionally, the construction of TVA lakes disrupted rural life, while also laying the groundwork for Tennessee's economic growth during World War II and the Cold War. This dichotomy shaped many Tennesseans' attitude toward the federal government both during and after the New Deal years.

   "Although the book's only problems are cosmetic in nature, a few changes would have helped the reader. First, all of the pictures in the book are modern, but many readers would appreciate historic views of some of the buildings. Additionally, sidebars with brief descriptions of architectural elements or styles (for example, WPA Moderne style) would have made the book more accessible to laymen. Also, with the growing interest in environmental history, West's discussion of the creation of state parks and soil conservation only begs for more study.

   "The study of New Deal landscape has bloomed during the 1990s. Many state historic preservation offices have developed New Deal theme studies to assist in placing 1930s properties on the National Register of Historic Places. Although these theme studies are helpful for historic preservation planning, they are not easily accessible to the public. Public historians should use West's book as an example on how better to communicate historic landscapes to the general public. The book takes "gray literature" and presents it in a manner that is useful. The framework that West has developed also lends itself to other possible historic themes, such as railroads, military, agriculture, industrial, and ethnic landscapes. This book should be read by public historians not only for the content but also for the methodology."

1 comments about The Havana Project: Architecture Again (Architecture & Design).

1. Do you want to know architects' own thinking and voices? Take this book. It would be the one that can satisfy your wondering about architecture.

No comments about Henry Hobson Richardson and the Small Public Library in America: A Study in Typology.

No comments about Paris on the Potomac: The French Influence on the Architecture and Art of Washington, D.C. (Perspective On Art & Architect).

No comments about Living Together: Multi-Family Housing Today.

4 comments about Our Governors' Mansions.

1. This book is well researched and the subject matter is very interesting. Every state is represented, with the exception of the few states, California!!!, that don't have an offical exective residence. The book is well layed out, my only qualm is the visuals, it's not that the images are poor, it's just the quality of visuals are poor, they are not vivid, they are not crisp, I can only assume it has something to do with the quality of the paper used, whatever the reason it is quite noticable and too bad because other wise it is a very good book, having said that I still highly recommend it because it's not the author fault for the quality of the photos, that lies with the publisher.



2. This book dedicates 4-5 pages to each Governor's mansion in the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii. Written history of each home is included, as well as pictures of the different mansion's exteriors and interiors. At the end of the book are addresses to contact any of the 50 Governors or First Ladies of the United States...



3. For years I have looked for a book about the Governors' Mansions of the United States. This book was recommended to me by the director of Alabama's Governor's Mansion and I was very excited and proud to get it! With beautiful pictures and interesting stories of every mansion this book is a real gem. It is a great book for anyone interested in history, architecture, or interior decorating. Our country is indebted to First Lady Kathy Keating for all her hard work.



4. Believe it or not, this is the first of its kind, a complete look at every occupied governors' residence in the nation. This is a fun read with interesting historic tidbits about these beautiful homes. Great pictures too!

No comments about Edwardian Architecture: A Handbook to Building Design in Britain 1890-1914 (World of Art).

No comments about Molyneux: The Interior Design of Juan Pablo Molyneux.

No comments about Projects in China: Von Gerkan, Marg and Partners.