Henry Hobson Richardson. A genius for architecture. Photographs by Paul Rocheleau (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Constructed over a century ago, the buildings of Henry Hobson Richardson (1838-1886), America's leading architect at the end of the nineteenth century, brought international acclaim to American architecture. During his twenty-one-year career, Richardson drew inspiration from many wellsprings of medievalism, thus placing his work within the Arts and Crafts tradition. His architecture came to be recognized as quintessentially American, and it inspired and greatly influenced the work of others who followed him, most notably Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright. Richardson's powerful, unified structures -- in which vernacular, provincial, and primitive sources fuse with an elemental consciousness of natural environment and regional landscape -- expressed the spirit of his own era yet transcended time, and today still stand as an inimitable bridge between the past and the future.

This unparalleled publication pairs the research of a renowned architectural historian and the vision of an exceptional architectural photographer, producing the first full-color critical review of this important architect's work. Margaret Henderson Floyd illuminates new and surprising aspects of Richardson's remarkable story, placing his buildings within the architectural ambience of nineteenth-century England and New England, while Paul Rocheleau has photographed most of the significant extant buildings to create a volume as important visually as it is textually. The stunning photographs of Richardson's work -- over two hundred and all in color -- are supplemented with archival photographs and drawings.

About the Author

Margaret Henderson Floyd was a professor in the Department of Art and the History of Art at Tufts University. She specialized in the architecture of 1750 to the present, with special emphasis on the aesthetic of Boston Back Bay and New England. Her previous books include Architecture After Richardson: Regionalism Before Modernism -- Longfellow, Alden and Harlow in Boston and Pittsburgh; Harvard: An Architectural History with Bainbridge Bunting; and Architectural Education and Boston: Centennial Publication of the Boston Architectural Center.

Among Paul Rocheleau's books are American Colonial: Puritan Simplicity to Georgian Grace; Farm: The Vernacular Tradition of Working Buildings; Harlem: Lost and Found; and Shaker Built: The Form and Function of Shaker Architecture.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Monacelli (October 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1885254709
• ISBN-13: 978-1885254702
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 10 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,262,507 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FINALLY----a long, gorgeous, color-photo Richardson book!!, August 31, 2000

By	bruce horner (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This is just the kind of big, sumptuous, exhaustive book that Richardson has always deserved. Part coffee-table book, part monograph----entertaining, informative, great to look through. I grew up near Boston and Richardson's churches, train depots, and libraries were a part of the background until I took a close look at Trinity Church and realized that the same person who designed THAT designed all these other structures as well. Richardson not only revived Romanesque architecture but pointed the way to modernism. He was a pivotal figure who didn't live long enough. This well-produced book does him justice.

7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quintessential Richardson, December 29, 1999

By	Scott J. Tilden (Connecticut) - See all my reviews

Anyone interested in Romanesque architecture and American architecture would be interested in this book. The quality of the images are outstanding as is the text. The book describes Richardson's complete artistic career and his numerous buildings in New England, Chicago, and throughout the U.S.