Park and Recreation Structures : Administration and Basic Service Facilities : Recreational and Cultural Facilities : Overnight and Organized Camp [Hardcover]

Albert Good (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1999

America's parks-and their architectural companion, the log cabin-hold a powerful grip on our imagination. Harkening back to a simpler time, these rustic structures serve as a reminder of America's frontier spirit, and serve as a popular source of inspiration for contemporary architecture, in everything from simple vacation homes to the mansion "lodges" favored by today's wealthy elites. This classic three-volume survey, first published in 1938 by the National Park Service, details in photographs and measured drawings the rich legacy of America's park structures. In over 500 illustrations, Park and Recreation Structures documents picnic tables, dams, drinking fountains, trail signs, storage sheds, bridges, boathouses, lodges, and inns from the glory days of park construction. Reproduced in its entirety in a single volume, this book will serve as a source of ideas, details, and imagery for architects, landscapists, gardeners, and anyone interested in America's national parks.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This gorgeously reproduced volume, a reprint of the classic 1938 National Park Service study, offers inspiration through hundreds of drawings and photos of park structures. Landscape Architecture

About the Author

Albert H. Good was the architectural consultant to the National Park Service at the time Park and Recreation Structures was originally published.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 624 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press (June 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568981716
• ISBN-13: 978-1568981710
• Product Dimensions: 12.3 x 9.5 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #490,743 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buildings and sites of the WPA and CCC era., August 7, 1999

By 

Bill vonRosenberg, AIA, PMI: [e-mail]... (Austin,Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Park and Recreation Structures : Administration and Basic Service Facilities : Recreational and Cultural Facilities : Overnight and Organized Camp (Hardcover)

This is the best source book for the architectural projects and site concepts produced during the 1930's for the Works Projects Administration (WPA)and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Albert Good's narrative provides insight into the motivating forces that employed thousands of out of work architects, engineers, skilled craftsmen and laborers to produce projects that now form the core of our national and state park systems.

Most of the work produced under this program is enjoyed by today's tourist as the premier and most desirable destinations for outdoor experiences. Few new park facilities can duplicate the environments created by these dedicated workers on superbly selected and planned sites during the darkest days of the "Great Depression". The hand crafted, and sometimes intricately decorated, architecture and natural landscape planning evolved from talented designers and often unskilled laborers who lavished their work with love that only the lack of deadlines, the motivation of an empty stomach, a belief in the benefit for their fellow countrymen and the need to build with on site materials can produce. These buildings are truly "green buildings" before the term and recent politically correct notion became fasionable.

Any architect, engineer, conservation and environmental supporter or depression era historian can benefit from this publication which brings one in contact with a nation faced with financial ruin and the effect on the hopes and spirit of its citizens. It demonstrates that when given a chance, the work ethic that has and hopefully will always exist in this nation produces fantastic results..........that we can roll up our shirt sleeves and pull on our boots to produce marvelous and lasting accomplishments even under great adversity.

I recommend this book not just for the professionals whose vocations it represents but also for those who wish to understand the mountains that can be moved with a little sweat and perseverance.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great "Catalogue" of American Log Construction, November 17, 2005

By 

Robert W. Chambers "author and builder" (Wisconsin and New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Park and Recreation Structures : Administration and Basic Service Facilities : Recreational and Cultural Facilities : Overnight and Organized Camp (Hardcover)

The golden era of handcrafted log construction was 1920's and 30's, and this wonderful book details, in project after project, the structures that had been built in America's National and State parks during that time. Cabins, lodges, visitor centers, even bridges, drinking fountains, fire pits, outhouses, and log benches-they all get photos, drawings, and commentary in this encyclopedic work.

Albert H. Good wrote several books as Architectural Consultant for the National Park Service, and 3 of them are bound into one huge book here--it is the size of a library dictionary. More than 600 pages, and countless photos and drawings, the publisher used high quality paper and library binding. It feels like an expensive book!

For me, the drawings are the gems. B&W photos must be difficult to scan and reproduce from the original, and some of the photos in this book, while generally very good, have suffered just a little. But this is nit picking.

This book is a treasurehouse of handcrafted stone and log structures--these were craftsmen working at the peak of their abilities. And the designs are superb-they have the human scale, the warmth, and the charm that current architects could learn from. Great log homes don't need to be 4000 square feet, or have 20-foot ceilings. This book is proof of that.

Save up and buy this book. Use it when designing your own log home or cabin. Share it with friends. I have been building log homes, and writing about log home construction, for 23 years and each time I browse this book I learn something new.

Robert W. Chambers, author, Log Construction Manual

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great reference, September 24, 2005

By 

S. Brown - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Park and Recreation Structures : Administration and Basic Service Facilities : Recreational and Cultural Facilities : Overnight and Organized Camp (Hardcover)

This is a beautiful book and an excellent reference. It is a reprint of the three volume set published in 1938. "Patterns From the Golden Age" is a cheaper reprint of the same thing - but the quality of the photos in this version is well worth the extra money.