"I recommend to every Architect, designer and those who have a passion for New York to own this magnificent book...there is no better on the extraordinary Beaux Arts of New York." -Lemeau, Decorator's Insider "This great, beautiful, glossy, polychromatic slab of a book more than does justice to an epic period in architecture when some of the world's most luscious buildings were designed for some of the most unpleasant people in American history." - Timothy Brittain-Catlin, World of Interiors "New York would be little more ...
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"I recommend to every Architect, designer and those who have a passion for New York to own this magnificent book...there is no better on the extraordinary Beaux Arts of New York." -Lemeau, Decorator's Insider "This great, beautiful, glossy, polychromatic slab of a book more than does justice to an epic period in architecture when some of the world's most luscious buildings were designed for some of the most unpleasant people in American history." - Timothy Brittain-Catlin, World of Interiors "New York would be little more than another faceless glass-and-steel city were it not for its Gilded Age buildings and institutions... An American Renaissance: Beaux-Arts Architecture in New York City, written by Phillip James Dodd with photography by Jonathan Wallen, is a gilded embrace of this legacy."- The Critic The Gilded Age, also referred to as the American Renaissance, is an era associated with unparalleled growth, technological advancement, prosperity, and cultural change. Spanning from the 1870s to the 1930s, it marks the first time that the titans of American finance and industry had more wealth than their European counterparts. As the centre of this dynamic economy, New York City attracted immigrant workers and millionaires alike. It was not enough for the self-appointed elite to just build their own grand ch�teaux and palazzos along Fifth Avenue-collectively they dreamed of creating a new metropolis to rival the great cultural capitals of London, Paris, and Rome. To flaunt their newly acquired wealth they needed an architecture dripping in embellishment and historical reference. Enter the Beaux-Arts. This book, which has been painstakingly researched and beautifully photographed over many years, takes a close look at 20 of the finest examples of Beaux-Arts architecture in New York City. While showing public exteriors, its focus is on the lavish interiors that are associated with the opulence of the Gilded Age-often providing a glimpse inside buildings not otherwise viewable to the public. While some of the buildings and monuments featured are world-renowned landmarks recognisable and accessible to all, others are obscure buildings that history has forgotten. Set amid the magnificent achievements of an American Renaissance, this book recounts not only the fascinating stories of some of New York's most famous and significant Beaux-Arts landmarks, it also recalls the lives of those who commissioned, designed, and built them. These are some of the most acclaimed architects, artists, and artisans of the day-Daniel Chester French, Cass Gilbert, Charles McKim, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Louis Comfort Tiffany, and Stanford White-and some of the most prominent millionaires in American history-Henry Clay Frick, Jay Gould, Otto Kahn, J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, and the ubiquitous Astor and Vanderbilt families. Names that-as Julian Fellowes (the acclaimed director of Downton Abbey) notes in the Foreword-"still reek of money." Excerpt from the Introduction
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Seller's Description:
New. -Written by a leading international authority of Classical architecture, as both architect and renowned educator of design-Outlines a comprehensive analysis of contextual theory and history that is referenced against contemporary studies and projects-Showcases glorious architectural examples across the entire city visually with lavish illustrations and rich full-color photography, which are accompanied by informative and explanatory textsIn the history of the United States, the Gilded Age, a term first coined by Mark Twain, is associated with an era of unparalleled growth, prosperity and cultural change--mansions in Newport; F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby; and the creation of the modern metropolis that we now recognize as New York City. Spanning from the 1880s to the 1930s, this period is also fittingly referred to as the American Renaissance....And just like in the Italian Renaissance, an elite group ruled New York. These were the titans of American finance and industry whose unprecedented, and unchecked, power and wealth was supreme in the land--Astor, Carnegie, Morgan, Rockefeller, and Vanderbilt. To this wealthy elite, it was not enough that the city merely be the nation's financial capital. Their collective dream was to create a new city, a new metropolis that would also become the nation's cultural capital. Simply put, their dream was to create a new 'Paris on the Hudson'--and to do that they needed architecture rich in grandeur, full of historical reference, and dripping in embellishment, to flaunt their wealth and power to the world. Enter the Beaux-Arts style.