Built in Boston: City and Suburb, 1800-1950

by Douglass Shand-Tucci, Walter Muir Whitehill (Foreword)

"So brimful of scholarship and eloquence it challenges comparison with those works on a level with Walter Muir Whitehill, David McCord, and Samuel Eliot Morison. . . . A classic". -- Robert Taylor, Boston Globe

Genres: Architecture

296 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1978

Reviews

[Jenae · Rating 4 out of 5]

A challenging and enjoyable read! The author is very knowledgeable and writes at an academic level but with such passion and tone for detail that it didn't feel onerous. I had to look up architecture terms fairly frequently, not being of that discipline, but his use of the correct terms went a long way to being able to visualize the buildings or features he described. I appreciate the inclusion of so many drawings, sketches, and pictures; the visual aids are thoroughly discussed in the text but it is incredibly helpful to me to be able to refer back and forth between picture and words (see above re: not an architect).

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book outlining the architectural development of Boston over the last couple hundred years. The pall cast by the last twenty years of relatively lame developments(this was pre-Simmons, Stata, Office Da, etc.) is quite evident - finishing off with a sketch of that horrendous Machado/Silvetti dorm in Allston that, amazingly, even failed to live up to the rendering.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book from a superb course I took at Boston University on the architechture of Boston. May not be that interesting if you can't go to Boston to see the examples cited in this book.

[Msimone · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the definitive book of architecture in Boston. Carry it with you as you walk through the old parts of town and learn about who the tastemakers of urban residences were and the families of privilege who engaged them.