Why read Architects of an American Landscape?

Book cover of Architects of an American Landscape: Henry Hobson Richardson, Frederick Law Olmsted, and the Reimagining of America's Public and Private Spaces

Book description

A dual portrait of America’s first great architect, Henry Hobson Richardson, and her finest landscape designer, Frederick Law Olmsted―and their immense impact on America

As the nation recovered from a cataclysmic war, two titans of design profoundly influenced how Americans came to interact with the built and natural world around…

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Architecture

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Why read it?

1 author picked Architects of an American Landscape as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Kathleen Stone

Author

As a Bostonian, I live near Trinity Church, one of Henry Hobson Richardson’s masterpieces, and the Emerald Necklace, a prize piece of Frederick Law Olmsted’s legacy.

I thought I had an innate feel for the men’s work. Still, I learned so much from reading this book – about their individual lives, their collaboration, and how they, individually and in concert, used their work to express a vision of America.

After the Civil War, when the country was redefining itself, these two were significant contributors to the built and natural environment.

This is a highly readable dual biography. The book balances…

From Kathleen's 3 favorite reads in 2023.