It was once common to discuss the work of Charles Platt (1861-1933) alongside that of McKim, Mead &amp; White, but by the time of his death, Platt's name had already fallen out of favor under the influence of modern movement critics. This long-overdue reevaluation of Platt's career shows that in the first decade of this century, Platt's office was one of the New York firms that dominated the general development of American architecture, and his country houses and Georgian style mansions were regarded as the best American examples of their genre. He led the American revival of the formal garden in the 1890s, and is credited with having introduced the American villa theory in his book Italian Gardens (1894). Morgan notes that Platt first achieved a reputation for his accomplished landscape paintings and etchings, and his conception of building and garden design grew out of this training rather than the formal Beaux-Arts curriculum subscribed to by most of his successful contemporaries. The book treats Platt's work in five chapters: his study of art at the National Academy of Design in New York and in Paris where he exhibited in salons and garnered awards as a landscape painter; the impact of his work on Italian gardens; his large-scale country estates and domestic buildings, where the Italian precedents were adjusted to local conditions; his public architecture and urban commissions, which include the freer Art Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Vincent Astor estate in New York, and the campuses of the University of Illinois, the Connecticut College for Women, Deerfield Academy, and Philip's Academy in Andover. Keith Morgan is Professor of Architecture in the American Studies Program at Boston University. Charles Platt is included in the Architectural History Foundation's American Monograph Series. Previously announced.

Charles Platt: The Artist as Architect (Architectural History Foundation Book)

Arts & Photography

Morgan, Keith N.

Architecture

Mit Pr

Shaping an American Landscape: The Art and Architecture of Charles A. Platt

A rich portrait of a major figure in American art and architecture and his role in shaping American cultural identity.

Octagon (Washington, D. C.)

hood-museum-of-art

Platt, Charles A.

Davidson, Rebecca Warren

William Benton Museum of Art

History & Criticism

Univ Pr of New England

Italian Gardens

This influential book was long out of print until the appearance of this new edition, which includes 20 additional photographs not found in the original. Devoted to the landscapes surrounding Italian villas, it depicts an indoor-outdoor lifestyle that was of particular appeal to later American landscape designers.

Platt, Charles Adams

Sagapress

In 1883, Frederick Law Olmsted Sr. moved from New York City to Brookline, Massachusetts, a Boston suburb that anointed itself the "richest town in the world." For the next half century, until his son Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. relocated to California in 1936, the Olmsted firm received over 150 local commissions, serving as the dominant force in the planned development of this community. From Fairsted, the Olmsteds' Brookline home and office, the firm collaborated with an impressive galaxy of suburban neighbors who were among the regional and national leaders in the fields of architecture and horticulture, among them Henry Hobson Richardson and Charles Sprague Sargent. Through plans for boulevards and parkways, residential subdivisions, institutional commissions, and private gardens, the Olmsted firm carefully guided the development of the town, as they designed cities and suburbs across America. While Olmsted Sr. used landscape architecture as his vehicle for development, his son and namesake saw Brookline as grounds for experiment in the new profession of city and regional planning, a field that he was helping to define and lead.Little has been published on the importance of Brookline as a laboratory and model for the Olmsted firm's work. This beautifully illustrated book provides important new perspective on the history of planning in the United States and illuminates an aspect of the Olmsted office that has not been well understood.Published in association with Library of American Landscape History: http://lalh.org/

Community by Design: The Olmsted Firm and the Development of Brookline, Massachusetts

Literature & Fiction

Reed, Roger G.

Cushing, Elizabeth Hope

University of Massachusetts Press

In 1883, Frederick Law Olmsted moved from New York City to Brookline, Massachusetts, a Boston suburb that anointed itself the “richest town in the world.” For the next half century, until his son Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. relocated to California in 1936, the Olmsted firm received more than 150 local commissions, serving as the dominant force in the planned development of this community. From Fairsted, the Olmsteds' Brookline home and office, the firm collaborated with an impressive galaxy of suburban neighbors who were among the regional and national leaders in the fields of architecture and horticulture, among them Henry Hobson Richardson and Charles Sprague Sargent. 
Through plans for boulevards and parkways, residential subdivisions, institutional commissions, and private gardens, the Olmsted firm carefully guided the development of the town, as they designed cities and suburbs across America. Frederick Law Olmsted Sr. and Jr. and their associates represented a new cohort of professionals who worked well in tandem with the wealthy, ensuring both the visual quality and the social hierarchy of the community. 
While Olmsted Sr. used landscape architecture as his vehicle for development, his son and namesake saw Brookline as grounds for experiment in the new profession of city and regional planning, a field that he was helping to define and lead. Little has been published on the importance of Brookline as a laboratory and model for the Olmsted firm's work. This richly illustrated book provides important new perspective on the history of planning in the United States and illuminates an aspect of the Olmsted office that has not been well understood.\n“Chock full of details (with hundreds of reproduced photos and plans) and meticulously researched, the book exposes the multiple webs of influence; wealth, social hierarchy, design genius and high-minded ideals that came together to guide the development of Brookline at a time when booming population and streetcars brought rapid change. The authors trace the relationships among the leading trend-setters in architecture, municipal governance, landscape design, engineering and horticulture as they converge in Brookline at the turn of the 19th century.” ―Brookline Perspective

Community By Design: The Olmsted Firm and the Development of Brookline, Massachusetts

Library Of American Landscape History

Boston's skyline was radically transformed between 1975 and 1990. Presenting illustrations and critical descriptions, this book serves as an introduction to these buildings and developments, in the larger context of the city's history. The principle focus is on areas of densest construction - downtown, Back Bay, the waterfront - although attention is given to concomitant growth in Cambridge, Charlestown, and the South End. New buildings are considered within existing street patterns and topographical configurations. Included here are such projects as the depression of the Central Artery, the addition of the airport tunnel, the extension of the subway system, and schemes to enhance the public realm - the Southwest Corridor park, the reopening of the South and Back Bay railroad stations, and the park in the heart of Post Office Square. Together with new architecture, the evidence speaks for the continued dominance of urban concerns - hence, the stress on town improvements. Furthermore, the persistence of the past is manifest in the role of preservation and adaptive use, promoted by the Boston Redevelopment Authority and the Boston Landmarks Commissions, sparked by civil debate. Maps, site plans, photographs, aerial views and reproductions of drawings and models accompany a text wherein the authors provide an overview of the city and explore more than 100 buildings with sufficient documentation to stimulate the ongoing dialogue concerning the future of Boston - a livable city, which celebrates the human scale.

Boston Architecture 1975-1990

History

Miller, Naomi

Americas

Te Neues Pub Group

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