Buildings of Massachusetts: Metropolitan Boston

Buildings of the United States

by Keith N. Morgan, Richard M. Candee, Naomi Miller

This latest volume in the Society of Architectural Historians' Buildings of the United States series analyzes the architecture, landscape, and planning patterns of the capital of Massachusetts and forty surrounding cities and towns that fan out from Boston Harbor. The term "metropolitan" here emphasizes both the range of the project and the importance of this area in introducing regional planning to the United States. Extensively illustrated with photographs and maps, and supplemented with a glossary and bibliography, the book assesses built form from initial colonial settlement in the 1630s through twenty-first-century additions to the Boston area landscape. The authors selected both exemplary and representative buildings and sites for inclusion. Here are structures of international reputation and buildings that characterize the vernacular housing patterns of the region. Because of the exceptional importance of the Boston area to the history of landscape architecture and city planning, those issues have been addressed in both the narrative introduction and the 640 entries. In contrast to other existing architectural guides, which do not move beyond central Boston and Cambridge, The Buildings of Massachusetts: Metro Boston canvasses the twelve sections of central Boston, its eight annexed neighborhoods, five sections of Cambridge (the district's second largest municipality), and forty surrounding communities have been examined. This volume has been designed to complement a second guidebook in the Buildings of the United States series that will focus on the buildings of Massachusetts from Cape Cod to the Berkshires.

688 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2009

About the author

Keith N. Morgan is an architectural historian, Professor of American and European architecture and Director of Architectural Studies at Boston University, where he has taught since 1980.

Reviews

[Christopher May · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book in the "Buildings of the United States" series by the Society of Architectural Historians on my shelf. This one is even more appealing and interesting than the first (Colorado). I cannot rate this series highly enough for any lovers of architecture looking to get a grasp of the architectural history of a state or, as is this case for this volume, a metropolitan area.

Boston is a beautiful city with a wonderfully diverse architectural history dating back to the colonial era. This book does an admirable job of covering that diversity -- from the era of the Paul Revere House to the Zakim Bridge. What I particularly like is the dedication spent detailing the history of both areas as well as the buildings themselves.

I consider this a worthy volume for the library of any Bostonian, or any out-of-state lover of architecture. Highly recommended.