Architecture and Town Planning in Colonial North America (3 Vol. Set) Review

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(More customer reviews)Wow. Where do I start?
If you are an art or architectural historian, and you consider yourself a member of the so-called "colonial mafia" (you know who you are), this work is indispensable. Its swath of interest includes all colonial settlements in North America (excluding Mexico) - Spanish, French, British, Russian, Dutch, Swedish, German, and African. The quality of research is world class. The text is rich with detail, but not so esoteric as to put off a serious general reader. Spread over three beautifully bound volumes, these books present the architectural history of colonial settlements in North America as both an extension of the home country in a pure, rustic form that evolved and refined over time as the colonial elite used architectural expression to distinguish itself, but also as those cultures assimilated new forms appropriate to the physical conditions of the "New World." The results were something new. It's an awesome presentation both in width and depth of study, and it appreciates architecture as a culturally central art form.
Sure, there are some small holes, as another reviewer has noted, but the magnificent scope of this project makes it impossible for the author to cover every possible town, city, style and period. And while there's a nice chunk for British North America (as is expected), don't think the author made his studies of the other colonial societies filler or framing material for the English. In fact, one of the best things about these books is that they treat the colonial experiments of many other European countries with fine detail and profound insight. The author does go out on a limb sometimes with an opinion or two that can leave you scratching your head. For example, his post-dating Middleburg Plantation in South Carolina from 1699 to the "late 18th century" comes across as a bit of a hunch rather than being supported by solid evidence. Examples such as this are rare.
Another nice feature is that Kornwolf finds value in structures that other scholars and various landmark societies have largely ignored. This is particularly true in his treatment of Virginia. There's more there than Wilson and Loth have told you about.
This is no casual book for placing on your living room furniture, but an important and canonical work in its genre that deserves reserved space in your library. It's worth every cent.
I should note that these books are not an architectural catalog, per se. Don't expect AIA-style building entries. The entire work is narrative, supported by a huge collection of 3,000 monochrome illustrations, most from other sources, including photographs, plans, maps and other graphics. The entire book considers perhaps 2,000 structures in the United States and Canada.
Another point to remember, particularly for plantation lovers: While not neglecting important rural sites, these books are about the urban development of the continent, and focus heavily on town architecture. The discussion is not limited to domestic architecture either, but includes comprehensive studies of important public buildings.

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An extraordinary work, unparalleled in its breadth and depth of detail, this three-volume set offers the first comprehensive history of architecture and town planning throughout colonial North America, from Russian Alaska to French Quebec, to Spanish Florida and California, to British, Dutch, and other settlements on the East Coast. Across this vast terrain, James Kornwolf conjures the outlines of the constructed environment as it emerged in settlements and communities, in structures and sites, and in the flourishes and idiosyncrasies of the families and individuals who erected and inhabited colonial buildings and towns. Here as never before readers can observe the impulses and principles of colonial design and planning as they are implemented in the buildings and streets, harbors and squares, gardens and landscapes of the New World.Incorporating more than 3,000 illustrations, Kornwolf's massive work conveys the full range of the colonial encounter with the continent's geography, from the high forms of architecture through formal landscape design and town planning. From these pages emerge the fine arts of environmental design, an understanding of the political and economic events that helped to determine settlement in North America, an appreciation of the various architectural and landscape forms that the settlers created, and an awareness of the diversity of the continent's geography and its peoples. Considering the humblest buildings along with the mansions of the wealthy and powerful, public buildings, forts, and churches, Kornwolf captures the true dynamism and diversity of colonial communities -- their rivalries and frictions, their outlooks and attitudes -- as they extended their hold on the land. His work conveys for the first time the full scale, from intimate to grand, of their enduring transformation of the natural landscape of North America.