Customer Reviews

Washington Through Two Centuries

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Joe Passonneau has combined history, planning and architecture in our nation's capitol that has a certain relevance to every serious, large city in the country. What you really learn here is how architecture and planning can work together in a creative relaltionshiip and both better for the experience. If the elected officials were crafting laws with the same care, concern and perhaps even love, that architects, planners and a host of other insightful non-professionals were using to build Washington, DC, we would all be better off today.

The maps alone are glorious and probably worth the price of the book itself. Study them and you will start to understand and appreciate the historic process by which cities either reinvent themselves or fail to do so. Architects, planners and history buffs should own this book. Period.

Mr. Passonneau's book on Washington successfully covers the planning history of this country's capitol city, and essentially uses it as an illustration of how planning can guide development of a city on many levels. The maps in this book are the culmination of a thirty year project which, because it involved historically accurate hand drawings of the facades of all of the buildings in the covered area, is certain never to be undertaken again. Thus this book is not only extremely informative and interesting from historical, social and political perspectives, it is in itself a beautiful work of art, a feast for the eyes.

I've been looking for maps that depict DC through the years. I live in SouthWest DC in one of the few new buildings that obviously took the place of many things that were here before. This book has been so helpful in showing the development of DC through the years. Between maps I've never seen before, plans and photos, this is a must have for anyone who wants to see the changes in DC in the past two hundred years.

As the title suggests, Washington Through Two Centuries is a terrific book for those interested in examining Washington's evolution over 200 years. I would caution however that it may not be a great book for someone who wants a condensed, easy to read story. More of a reference guide than a coffee table book, it takes a bit of time to digest.

Product arrived sooner and was of better quality than expected. Good show. But of course, I have never been disappointed with an article from Amazon