About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherOxford University Press, Incorporated

ISBN-100195114957

ISBN-139780195114959

eBay Product ID (ePID)664180

Product Key Features

Number of Pages392 Pages

LanguageEnglish

Publication NameCountry, Park and City : the Architecture and Life of Calvert Vaux

Publication Year1998

SubjectGeneral, Artists, Architects, Photographers, Parks & Campgrounds

TypeTextbook

AuthorFrancis R. Kowsky

Subject AreaTravel, Architecture, Biography & Autobiography

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height1.1 in

Item Weight37.7 Oz

Item Length10.3 in

Item Width7.3 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceCollege Audience

LCCN97-003780

Dewey Edition21

Reviews"A handsome effort to rescue from comparative oblivion the architect who shared--and sometimes more than equally--with Frederick Law Olmsted in the design of Central Park and other New York amenities."--The New York Times Book Review, "A handsome effort to rescue from comparative oblivion the architect whoshared--and sometimes more than equally--with Frederick Law Olmsted in thedesign of Central Park and other New York amenities."--The New York Times BookReview, "The first full-length account of the architect's life and work...ittreats him seriously, not only as a landscape designer but also as anarchitect."--New York Review of Books, "Scrupulously detailed...Kowsky's book is a work of serious scholarship. It is an important contribution to the history of the art and profession of landscape design, and to the context in which Vaux's more famous partner prevailed."--ARTnews "A handsome effort to rescue from comparative oblivion the architect who shared--and sometimes more than equally--with Frederick Law Olmsted in the design of Central Park and other New York amenities."--The New York Times Book Review "The fineness of detail in this exhaustive study will delight scholars...Students of the architectural history of New York will welcome the thorough discussion of individual commissions as well as the richness of Kowsky's insight into the personalities of professionals and patrons alike....Kowsky does real service...in demonstrating Clavert Vaux's rightful place beside Olmsted and other better-remembered designers as a major player in the shaping of New York....This will remain the definitive study Vaux's life and work."--The New York Times Book Review "Kowsky...has produced a definitive biography of Calvert Vaux's life and work that establishes beyond rebuttal his importance in the history of landscape design, and his impressive work as an architect as well....The wealth of detail in Kowsky's book is incredible and a more thorough account of an architect's life is difficult to imagine."--Tom Toles, Buffalo News "...the first full-length account of the architect's life and work...it treats him seriously, not only as a landscape designer but also as an architect."--New York Review of Books, "Francis R. Kowsky...gives us a richly detailed and meticulously researched account of Calbert Vaux....a model of careful scholarship..."--Landscape Journal, "Scrupulously detailed...Kowsky's book is a work of serious scholarship. It is an important contribution to the history of the art and profession of landscape design, and to the context in which Vaux's more famous partner prevailed."--ARTnews "A handsome effort to rescue from comparative oblivion the architect who shared--and sometimes more than equally--with Frederick Law Olmsted in the design of Central Park and other New York amenities."--The New York Times Book Review "The fineness of detail in this exhaustive study will delight scholars...Students of the architectural history of New York will welcome the thorough discussion of individual commissions as well as the richness of Kowsky's insight into the personalities of professionals and patrons alike....Kowsky does real service...in demonstrating Clavert Vaux's rightful place beside Olmsted and other better-remembered designers as a major player in the shaping of New York....This will remain the definitive study Vaux's life and work."--The New York Times Book Review "Kowsky...has produced a definitive biography of Calvert Vaux's life and work that establishes beyond rebuttal his importance in the history of landscape design, and his impressive work as an architect as well....The wealth of detail in Kowsky's book is incredible and a more thorough account of an architect's life is difficult to imagine."--Tom Toles,Buffalo News "...the first full-length account of the architect's life and work...it treats him seriously, not only as a landscape designer but also as an architect."--New York Review of Books, "The fineness of detail in this exhaustive study will delightscholars...Students of the architectural history of New York will welcome thethorough discussion of individual commissions as well as the richness ofKowsky's insight into the personalities of professionals and patronsalike....Kowsky does real service...in demonstrating Clavert Vaux's rightfulplace beside Olmsted and other better-remembered designers as a major player inthe shaping of New York....This will remain the definitive study Vaux's life andwork."--The New York Times Book Review, "Kowsky...has produced a definitive biography of Calvert Vaux's life andwork that establishes beyond rebuttal his importance in the history of landscapedesign, and his impressive work as an architect as well....The wealth of detailin Kowsky's book is incredible and a more thorough account of an architect'slife is difficult to imagine."--Tom Toles, Buffalo News, "Scrupulously detailed...Kowsky's book is a work of serious scholarship. It is an important contribution to the history of the art and profession of landscape design, and to the context in which Vaux's more famous partner prevailed."--ARTnews"A handsome effort to rescue from comparative oblivion the architect who shared--and sometimes more than equally--with Frederick Law Olmsted in the design of Central Park and other New York amenities."--The New York Times Book Review"The fineness of detail in this exhaustive study will delight scholars...Students of the architectural history of New York will welcome the thorough discussion of individual commissions as well as the richness of Kowsky's insight into the personalities of professionals and patrons alike....Kowsky does real service...in demonstrating Clavert Vaux's rightful place beside Olmsted and other better-remembered designers as a major player in the shaping of NewYork....This will remain the definitive study Vaux's life and work."--The New York Times Book Review"Kowsky...has produced a definitive biography of Calvert Vaux's life and work that establishes beyond rebuttal his importance in the history of landscape design, and his impressive work as an architect as well....The wealth of detail in Kowsky's book is incredible and a more thorough account of an architect's life is difficult to imagine."--Tom Toles, Buffalo News"...the first full-length account of the architect's life and work...it treats him seriously, not only as a landscape designer but also as an architect."--New York Review of Books, "The first full-length account of the architect's life and work...it treats him seriously, not only as a landscape designer but also as an architect."--New York Review of Books, "The fineness of detail in this exhaustive study will delight scholars...Students of the architectural history of New York will welcome the thorough discussion of individual commissions as well as the richness of Kowsky's insight into the personalities of professionals and patronsalike....Kowsky does real service...in demonstrating Clavert Vaux's rightful place beside Olmsted and other better-remembered designers as a major player in the shaping of New York....This will remain the definitive study Vaux's life and work."--The New York Times Book Review, "Scrupulously detailed...Kowsky's book is a work of serious scholarship.It is an important contribution to the history of the art and profession oflandscape design, and to the context in which Vaux's more famous partnerprevailed."--ARTnews, "...the first full-length account of the architect's life and work...it treats him seriously, not only as a landscape designer but also as an architect."--New York Review of Books, "Francis R. Kowsky...gives us a richly detailed and meticulouslyresearched account of Calbert Vaux....a model of carefulscholarship..."--Landscape Journal, "Scrupulously detailed...Kowsky's book is a work of serious scholarship. It is an important contribution to the history of the art and profession of landscape design, and to the context in which Vaux's more famous partner prevailed."--ARTnews, "Scrupulously detailed...Kowsky's book is a work of serious scholarship. It is an important contribution to the history of the art and profession of landscape design, and to the context in which Vaux's more famous partner prevailed."-- ARTnews "A handsome effort to rescue from comparative oblivion the architect who shared--and sometimes more than equally--with Frederick Law Olmsted in the design of Central Park and other New York amenities."-- The New York Times Book Review "The fineness of detail in this exhaustive study will delight scholars...Students of the architectural history of New York will welcome the thorough discussion of individual commissions as well as the richness of Kowsky's insight into the personalities of professionals and patrons alike....Kowsky does real service...in demonstrating Clavert Vaux's rightful place beside Olmsted and other better-remembered designers as a major player in the shaping of New York....This will remain the definitive study Vaux's life and work."-- The New York Times Book Review "Kowsky...has produced a definitive biography of Calvert Vaux's life and work that establishes beyond rebuttal his importance in the history of landscape design, and his impressive work as an architect as well....The wealth of detail in Kowsky's book is incredible and a more thorough account of an architect's life is difficult to imagine."--Tom Toles, Buffalo News "...the first full-length account of the architect's life and work...it treats him seriously, not only as a landscape designer but also as an architect."-- New York Review of Books, "Kowsky...has produced a definitive biography of Calvert Vaux's life and work that establishes beyond rebuttal his importance in the history of landscape design, and his impressive work as an architect as well....The wealth of detail in Kowsky's book is incredible and a more thorough accountof an architect's life is difficult to imagine."--Tom Toles, Buffalo News, "Scrupulously detailed...Kowsky's book is a work of serious scholarship. It is an important contribution to the history of the art and profession of landscape design, and to the context in which Vaux's more famous partner prevailed."--ARTnews"A handsome effort to rescue from comparative oblivion the architect who shared--and sometimes more than equally--with Frederick Law Olmsted in the design of Central Park and other New York amenities."--The New York Times Book Review"The fineness of detail in this exhaustive study will delight scholars...Students of the architectural history of New York will welcome the thorough discussion of individual commissions as well as the richness of Kowsky's insight into the personalities of professionals and patrons alike....Kowsky does real service...in demonstrating Clavert Vaux's rightful place beside Olmsted and other better-remembered designers as a major player in the shaping of New York....This will remain the definitive study Vaux's life and work."--The New York Times Book Review"Kowsky...has produced a definitive biography of Calvert Vaux's life and work that establishes beyond rebuttal his importance in the history of landscape design, and his impressive work as an architect as well....The wealth of detail in Kowsky's book is incredible and a more thorough account of an architect's life is difficult to imagine."--Tom Toles, Buffalo News"...the first full-length account of the architect's life and work...it treats him seriously, not only as a landscape designer but also as an architect."--New York Review of Books

IllustratedYes

Dewey Decimal720.9/2

SynopsisCalvert Vaux (1824--1895) designed Central Park and other parks in American cities with Frederick Law Olmsted. Trained in England as an architect, Vaux also planned buildings that mirrored the advance of urbanization in America. Museums, exhibition halls, model tenements, and dwellings, as well as many structures in Central Park, were among his designs. This book is an in-depth study of Vaux's life and work., After beginning his career as an architect in London, Calvert Vaux (1824-1895) came to the Hudson River valley in 1850 at the invitation of Andrew Jackson Downing, the reform-minded writer on houses and gardens. As Downing's partner, and after Downing's death in 1852, Vaux designed country and suburban dwellings that were remarkable for their well-conceived plans and their sensitive rapport with nature. By 1857, the year he published his book Villas and Cottages , Vaux had moved to New York City. There he asked Frederick Law Olmsted to join him in preparing a design for Central Park. He spent the next 38 years defending and refining their vision of Central Park as a work of art. After the Civil War, he and Olmsted led the nascent American park movement with their designs for parks and parkways in Brooklyn, Buffalo, and many other American cities. Apart from undertakings with Olmsted, Vaux cultivated a distinguished architectural practice. Among his clients were the artist Frederic Church, whose dream house, Olana, he helped create; and the reform politician Samuel Tilden, whose residence on New York's Gramercy Park remains one of the country's outstanding Victorian buildings. A pioneering advocate for apartment houses in American cities, Vaux designed buildings that mirrored the advance of urbanization in America, including early model housing for the poor. He planned the original portions of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History and conceived a stunning proposal for a vast iron and glass building to house the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. Especially notable are the many bridges and other charming structures that he designed for Central Park. Vaux considered the Park's Terrace, decorated by J. W. Mould, as his greatest achievement. An active participant in the cultural and intellectual life of New York, Vaux was an idealist who regarded himself as an artist and a professional. And while much has been written on Olmsted, comparatively little has been published about Vaux. The first in-depth account of Vaux's career, Country, Park, and City should be of great interest to historians of art, architecture, and urbanism, as well as preservationists and other readers interested in New York City's past and America's first parks., After beginning his career as an architect in London, Calvert Vaux (1824-1895) came to the Hudson River valley in 1850 at the invitation of Andrew Jackson Downing, the reform-minded writer on houses and gardens. As Downing's partner, and after Downing's death in 1852, Vaux designed country and suburban dwellings that were remarkable for their well-conceived plans and their sensitive rapport with nature. By 1857, the year he published his book Villasand Cottages, Vaux had moved to New York City. There he asked Frederick Law Olmsted to join him in preparing a design for Central Park. He spent the next 38 years defending and refining their vision ofCentral Park as a work of art. After the Civil War, he and Olmsted led the nascent American park movement with their designs for parks and parkways in Brooklyn, Buffalo, and many other American cities. Apart from undertakings with Olmsted, Vaux cultivated a distinguished architectural practice. Among his clients were the artist Frederic Church, whose dream house, Olana, he helped create; and the reform politician Samuel Tilden, whose residence on New York's Gramercy Park remains oneof the country's outstanding Victorian buildings. A pioneering advocate for apartment houses in American cities, Vaux designed buildings that mirrored the advance of urbanization in America, includingearly model housing for the poor. He planned the original portions of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History and conceived a stunning proposal for a vast iron and glass building to house the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. Especially notable are the many bridges and other charming structures that he designed for Central Park. Vaux considered the Park's Terrace, decorated by J. W. Mould, as his greatest achievement. An active participant inthe cultural and intellectual life of New York, Vaux was an idealist who regarded himself as an artist and a professional. And while much has been written on Olmsted, comparatively little has beenpublished about Vaux. The first in-depth account of Vaux's career, Country, Park, and City should be of great interest to historians of art, architecture, and urbanism, as well as preservationists and other readers interested in New York City's past and America's first parks., After beginning his architectural career in England, Calvert Vaux came to America in 1850 at the invitation of architect Andrew Jackson Downing. In 1852, he moved to New York City and asked Frederick Law Olmsted, the landscape architect, to join him in preparing a design for Central Park. During the next thirty-eight years in New York, Vaux defended and refined his vision of Central Park and pursued a distinguished architectural practice. After the Civil War, he and Olmsted led the nascent American park movement with their designs for parks in many American cities. And as a pioneering advocate for apartment houses in American cities, Vaux designed buildings that mirrored the advance of urbanization in America, including early model-housing for the poor. His works also include many Gothic and Palladian style dwellings, the original portions of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History, and a stunning proposal for a vast iron and glass building to house the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. Most notable, perhaps, are the many bridges and other structures that he designed for Central Park. This book is the first in-depth study of Vaux's life and work.

LC Classification NumberNA737.V4K68 1998