Customer Reviews

Barns of Illinois

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It wasn't all that long ago that the major part of Illinois' economy was based on farming and animal husbandry. Even today, the majority of the state's land is used for agribusiness. Barns were an essential building. They housed livestock, sheltered implements, served as work centers for threshing and other activities, were social centers for some (barn dances!) and more.

Today's barns are generally industrial buildings made of steel and erected quickly with the help of a few men and machines.

Yesterday's barns were usually wooden and sometimes brick. Some, perhaps most, were utilitarian structures of simple design. Others were quirky with octagonal, round and other designs, sometimes with a purpose, other times simply mirroring an owner's individuality.

Larry Kanfer photographed 39 or so of these Illinois barns and his wife wrote a commentary on each. The barns range from almost two hundred years old - about as far back as you can go in recorded Illinois history - and some are of recent construction or the product of massive renovation. One of them is unique in that it sits in the Lincoln Park ?Zoo, less than a mile away from the soaring buildings of Chicago's Gold Coast.

Kanfer's photography is workmanlike. His views are to record the building, not create an impression for impression's sake. The barns are the stars of this show and Kanfer lets them shine.

His wife Alaina writes restrained prose describing the history of each barn. It is sober prose and doesn't try to tug at the heartstrings with false eulogies of a long past age. I was particularly struck by her commentary about round barns and how the University of Illinois was instrumental in popularizing the design. Below a beautiful two-page spread of one of these round barns, Alaina's commentary is sparse, informative and complements both the design of the barn and her husband's excellent photograph of it.

The Kanfers have done a marvelous job of memorializing the barns of Illinois. As a late winter snow blankets Northern Illinois, this is an ideal book to page through and think of the approaching Spring and a long drive through the farmland not all that far from Chicago. Maybe I'll stumble across a photogenic barn or two.

Jerry

Great Price. This was a presant for my boss and friend who is a Historic Preservation Architect. Just what he wanted!!!

I bought this book as a gift for my photographer husband. He loved it and we went to see one of the barns featured in the book. The photographs are beautiful and the stories about the barns were an extra added bonus that I was not expecting.

The book is a refreshing glimps of the past. We will use it to plan short vacations viewing some of these structures on site, to further discuss their history. Thank you!