Great American Architects Series

Acclaimed architect Gil Schafer illustrates how he blends classical architecture, interior decoration, and landscape to create homes with a feeling of history. As a traditional architect, Gil Schafer specializes in building new "old" houses as well as renovating historic homes. His work takes the best of American historic and classical architecture—its detailed moldings and harmonious proportions—and updates it, retaining its character and detail while simultaneously reworking it to be more in tune with the way we live now—comfortable, practical, family-oriented. In his first book, Schafer covers the three essential cornerstones of creating a great traditional house: architecture, landscape, and decoration. He discusses the important interplay between the interior architecture and the fabrics, furniture, and wall treatments. In-depth profiles build on these essays, including Schafer’s own new "old" house in the Hudson Valley; the renovation of a historic home in Nashville designed by Charles Platt in 1915; and the restoration of a magnificent 1843 Greek Revival mansion in Charleston. Filled with hundreds of interior and detail shots, The Great American House is an invaluable resource for anyone who loves old houses and traditional design.

"The Architect Builds Visible History." Vincent Scully Which architect designed the pedestal for the Statue of Liberty? Who put a Chippendale pediment atop a skyscraper and quickly created a landmark of contemporary architecture? Who was the only American architect to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery during the Civil War? Which architect designed a castle in California for William Randolph Hearst? Master Builders answers these and scores of other questions about more than 100 architects and builders who have left indelible marks on American architecture. This unique guide puts faces with America's most well-known and loved buildings--from the U.S. Capitol and Washington Monument through the first skyscrapers and landmarks of the Post-Modern movement. "Why should you want to know more about these architects?" asks Roger K. Lewis in his introduction. "The reason is simple. You are undeniably connected to the built environment that you inhabit, use, see and respond to. You affect building design, and building design affects you." Can you pair these master builders with their works? Frank Lloyd Wright U.S. Capitol Skidmore, Owings and Merrill Central Park Adler and Sullivan University of Virginia Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Glass House William Thornton Home Insurance Building Orson Squire Fowler Fallingwater H. H. Richardson CBS Building Frederick Law Olmsted San Simeon James Renwick Seagram Building Robert Mills Trinity Church, Boston I. M. Pei Salk Institute Julia Morgan Sears Tower Eero Saarinen Smithsonian "Castle" Cass Gilbert John E. Kennedy Library McKim, Mead and White U.S. Supreme Court Louis I. Kahn Chicago Stock Exchange Thomas Jefferson Octagonal Houses Philip Johnson Pennsylvania Station William Le Baron Jenney Washington Monument

Since the Renaissance, books and drawings have been a primary means of communication among architects and their colleagues and clients. In this volume, 12 historians explore the use of books by architects in America in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, a period when the profession of architecture was first emerging in the United States.

In this volume the author analyzes 400 architectural books and articles published over the past 150 years to reveal changing societal preferences in architecture and to measure the reputations of individual architects - the text includes a ranked list of the 100 most famous architects.

The twelve architects featured in this book designed ninety-four hotels from 1878 to 1948. Many of them worked as apprentices in architect’s offices. Some were lucky enough to study in an architectural college, and some were wealthy enough to attend the École des Beaux-Arts (School of Fine Arts) in Paris. This school has a history of more than 350 years in training many of the great artists of Europe. Beaux-Arts’s style was modeled on classical antiquities. The origins of the school were drawn from 1648—when the Académe des Beaux-Arts was founded to educate the most talented students in drawing, painting, sculpting, engraving, and architecture. Women were admitted beginning in 1897.

A classic book authored by the foremost architectural historian in America, this fully illustrated history of American architecture and city planning is based on Vincent Scully's conviction that architecture and city planning are inseparably linked and must therefore be treated together. He defines architecture as a continuing dialogue between generations which creates an environment across time. This definitive survey extends beyond the cities themselves to the American scene as a whole, which has inspired the reasonable balanced, closed and ordered forms, and above all the probity, that he feels typifies American architecture.