Download or read book The Architecture of Downtown Troy written by Diana S. Waite and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 2019-09-01 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tells the forgotten but surprising stories of the many handsome and significant buildings in downtown Troy, New York. Located about 150 miles north of Manhattan, on the east bank of the Hudson River, the city of Troy, New York, was once an industrial giant. It led the nation in iron production throughout much of the nineteenth century, and its factories turned out bells and cast-iron stoves that were sold the world over. Its population was both enterprising and civic-minded. Along with Troy’s economic success came the public, commercial, educational, residential, and religious buildings to prove it. Stores, banks, churches, firehouses, and schools, both modest and sophisticated, sprouted up in the latest architectural styles, creating a lively and fashionable downtown. Row houses and brownstones for the middle class and the wealthy rivaled those in Brooklyn and Manhattan. By the mid-twentieth century, however, Troy had dwindled in both prominence and population. Downtown stagnated, leaving building facades and interiors untouched, often for decades. A late-blooming urban-renewal program demolished many blocks of buildings, but preservationists fought back. Today, reinvestment is accelerating, and Troy now boasts what the New York Times has called “one of the most perfectly preserved nineteenth-century downtowns in the United States.” This book tells the stories behind the many handsome and significant buildings in downtown Troy and how they were designed and constructed—stories that have never been pulled together before. For the first time in generations, scores of Troy buildings are again linked with their architects, some local but others from out of town (the “starchitects” of their day) and even from Europe. In addition to numerous historic images, the book also includes contemporary photographs by local photographer Gary Gold. This book will inform, delight, and surprise readers, thereby helping to build an educated constituency for the preservation of an important American city. “Diana Waite has labored long to bring us the architectural history of Troy, which is said to have one of the most perfectly preserved downtowns in the United States. Great architects designed some of the city’s impressive buildings—Richard Upjohn, Leopold Eidlitz, Marcus T. Reynolds; but so did architects fairly early in their careers—such as George B. Post, who did the iconic flatiron Hall building on First Street, and the very visible Troy Savings Bank Music Hall. The book is also a wistful tour of the lost past—truly magnificent structures and sumptuous interiors that fell to the wrecking ball. And here are the stories behind major landmarks—such as the Approach staircase up to RPI (or down to Troy); the struggle to raise a monument at the center of the city to Troy’s fallen soldiers from three wars; and the complex installation of six major Tiffany windows in St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. The book is abundantly illustrated, with maps, and written in lively narrative style. Ms. Waite often quotes newspaper accounts of construction as it was happening, which vivifies her history.” — William Kennedy “Urban economist Edward L. Glaeser proclaims cities the triumph of humanity, both the ultimate expression of human culture and the engine that has propelled human progress. In this insightful and beautifully illustrated book, Diana Waite tells the story of one exceptional, mostly nineteenth-century example: Troy, New York. Troy is a rare gem, largely unspoiled by the forces that turned so many of America’s towns into wastelands of asphalt. As architects, planners, and policymakers struggle to define a twenty-first-century world that kicks the habits of our fossil-fuel-addicted modernity, that rediscovers how to make places for people, that builds strong communities, studying places like Troy takes on entirely new relevance. The Architecture of Downtown Troy paints a picture of the evolution of a historic town that provides valuable lessons for building the world of tomorrow.” — Carl Elefante, 2018 President, The American Institute of Architects “Diana Waite’s history of Troy’s downtown buildings describes the importance and diversity of this city’s distinctive architecture. Her clear narrative of Troy’s nineteenth-century growth, fires, early twentieth-century expansion, and its engagement of nationally recognized architects is excellent and supported by voluminous photographs. Troy is fortunate that twentieth-century ‘urban renewal’ occurred in a corner of the central business district, leaving intact so much of the city’s well-designed commercial, educational, and residential buildings. This new book presents an accurate, readable, and cohesive history of Troy. It is a must read.” — Matthew Bender IV “The pleasure of Troy isn’t discovering a single old building, but finding yourself lost among dozens of them. You may feel as if it were 1880, and you were strolling home to Washington Park, perhaps just for a change of collar.” — New York Times

Download or read book The Architecture of Downtown Troy written by Diana S. Waite and published by Rensselaer County Historical Society. This book was released on 2019-09-01 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the 2021 Antoinette Forrester Downing Book Award presented by the Society of Architectural Historians Winner of the 2020 Excellence in Historic Preservation Award presented by the Preservation League of New York State Located about 150 miles north of Manhattan, on the east bank of the Hudson River, the city of Troy, New York, was once an industrial giant. It led the nation in iron production throughout much of the nineteenth century, and its factories turned out bells and cast-iron stoves that were sold the world over. Its population was both enterprising and civic-minded. Along with Troy's economic success came the public, commercial, educational, residential, and religious buildings to prove it. Stores, banks, churches, firehouses, and schools, both modest and sophisticated, sprouted up in the latest architectural styles, creating a lively and fashionable downtown. Row houses and brownstones for the middle class and the wealthy rivaled those in Brooklyn and Manhattan. By the mid-twentieth century, however, Troy had dwindled in both prominence and population. Downtown stagnated, leaving building facades and interiors untouched, often for decades. A late-blooming urban-renewal program demolished many blocks of buildings, but preservationists fought back. Today, reinvestment is accelerating, and Troy now boasts what the New York Times has called "one of the most perfectly preserved nineteenth-century downtowns in the United States." This book tells the stories behind the many handsome and significant buildings in downtown Troy and how they were designed and constructed—stories that have never been pulled together before. For the first time in generations, scores of Troy buildings are again linked with their architects, some local but others from out of town (the "starchitects" of their day) and even from Europe. In addition to numerous historic images, the book also includes contemporary photographs by local photographer Gary Gold. This book will inform, delight, and surprise readers, thereby helping to build an educated constituency for the preservation of an important American city.

Download or read book Troy written by Don Rittner and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2007 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Founded by the Dutch Vanderheyden family in 1787, Troy is one of the most historic cities in the United States. It holds claim to being the birthplace of America's Industrial Revolution, the home of the collar and cuff industry, and a major manufacturer of iron products during the 1800s.

Download or read book Deer Stand Hill written by Laura Lee Corbett and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Specter of the Indian written by Kathryn Troy and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 2017-08-23 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores the significance of Indian control spirits as a dominating force in nineteenth-century American Spiritualism. The Specter of the Indian unveils the centrality of Native American spirit guides during the emergent years of American Spiritualism. By pulling together cultural and political history; the studies of religion, race, and gender; and the ghostly, Kathryn Troy offers a new layer of understanding to the prevalence of mystically styled Indians in American visual and popular culture. The connections between Spiritualist print and contemporary Indian policy provide fresh insight into the racial dimensions of social reform among nineteenth-century Spiritualists. Troy draws fascinating parallels between the contested belief of Indians as fading from the world, claims of returned apparitions, and the social impetus to provide American Indians with a means of existence in white America. Rather than vanishing from national sight and memory, Indians and their ghosts are shown to be ever present. This book transports the readers into dimly lit parlor rooms and darkened cabinets and lavishes them with detailed séance accounts in the words of those who witnessed them. Scrutinizing the otherworldly whisperings heard therein highlights the voices of mediums and those they sought to channel, allowing the author to dig deep into Spiritualist belief and practice. The influential presence of Indian ghosts is made clear and undeniable.

Download or read book Learn to Timber Frame written by Will Beemer and published by Storey Publishing, LLC. This book was released on 2016-05-03 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first guide to timber framing written specifically for beginners! Expert Will Beemer takes you through the entire process from start to finish, beginning with timber sourcing and ending with a finished building. Using full-color photos, detailed drawings, and clear step-by-step instructions, Beemer shows you exactly how to build one small (12ʹ x 16ʹ) timber-frame structure — suitable for use as a cabin, workshop, or studio. He also explains how to modify the structure to suit your needs and location by adding a loft, moving doors or windows, changing the roof pitch, or making the frame larger or smaller. You’ll end up with a beautiful building as well as solid timber-framing skills that you can use for a lifetime.

Download or read book New York s Historic Armories written by Nancy L. Todd and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2006-09-14 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the 2007 Excellence in Historic Preservation Award presented by the Preservation League of New York State Winner of the 2007 Building Typology Award presented by the Metropolitan Chapter of the Victorian Society in America New York's Army National Guard armories are among the most imposing monuments to the role of the citizen soldier in American military history. In New York's Historic Armories, Nancy L. Todd draws on archival research as well as historic and contemporary photographs and drawings to trace the evolution of the armory as a specific building type in American architectural and military history. The result of a ten-year collaboration between the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs, this illustrated history presents information on all known armories in the state as well as the units associated with them, and will serve as a valuable reference for readers interested in general, military, and architectural history. Built to house local units of the state's volunteer militia, armories served as arms storage facilities, clubhouses for the militiamen, and civic monuments symbolizing New York's determination to preserve domestic law and order through military might. Approximately 120 armories were built in New York State from the late eighteenth century to the middle of the twentieth, and most date from the last quarter of the nineteenth century, when the National Guard was America's primary domestic peacekeeper during the post–Civil War era of labor-capital unrest. Together, New York's armories chronicle the history of the volunteer militia, from its emergence during the early Republican Era, through its heyday during the Gilded Age as the backbone of the American military system, to its early twentieth-century role as the nation's primary armed reserve force.

Download or read book Cities Alive written by Michael W. Mehaffy and published by Off The Common Books / Sustasis Press. This book was released on 2017-10-09 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cities are experiencing a renaissance today, because we've begun to understand how they really work -- and we've begun to make them work better for people. This book is a lively, readable account of two revealing figures in the history of that renaissance: the urban economist Jane Jacobs and the architect Christopher Alexander. Their key insights have shaped several generations of scholars, professionals, and activists. However, as the book argues, this renaissance is still immature, and more must be done to achieve its promise -- especially in an age of rapid, often sprawling urbanization. The author is a noted scholar on both Jacobs and Alexander, and a participant in the development of the "New Urban Agenda," a historic United Nations agreement emphasizing the pivotal role of cities and towns in meeting the challenges of the future. As the book documents, Jacobs and Alexander played key roles in formulating the conceptual insights behind the New Urban Agenda, and they continue to offer us crucial implementation lessons for the years ahead. This book is ideal for students, professionals, government officials, activists, and anyone who is interested in the future of cities. The author, Michael W. Mehaffy, Ph.D., is currently Senior Researcher at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, and Director of the Future of Places Research Network. He is a popular educator, speaker and author with periodic appointments in seven graduate institutions in six countries, and a consultant in sustainable urban development with an international practice. This is his third book.

Download or read book Troy Designing a Historic Waterfront written by Andrew Francia and published by . This book was released on 2015-07-01 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Executive Summary: Troy Waterfront Project in New York was conducted by the Temple University Senior Landscape Architecture Studio during spring semester 2015. The project involved a comprehensive study of Troy's Downtown Waterfront from Green Island Bridge and the City Marina to Congress Bridge. The purpose was to develop creative design alternatives for revitalizing the waterfront. Important to the design was the integration of principles green infrastructure and best management practices. Historically, in the 19th century, due to the working nature of the Hudson River, Troy's Waterfront has not always accessible to pedestrian and recreational activities. Today, Troy is experiencing a renaissance revival spurred by growing nanotechnology and other industry developments. With increased economic development, there is a resurgence of the area.Temple students enthusiastically took the challenge to develop creative sustainable design solutions for Troy's Waterfront. Working through the harsh winter of 2015, the students conducted a comprehensive design process. They researched relevant case studies to inform the design process and performed an extensive site inventory and analysis of the project site. Students examined Troy's history; geology and soils; topography and water systems; zoning and land use; vegetation; wind and solar patterns; vehicular and pedestrian circulation, parking, and transportation; views; site materials and furnishings; and demographics. Students evaluated the constraints and opportunities of the existing site characteristics in relation to the projected use of the site. They created final designs that accommodated the project goals and objectives. As designers, Temple students aimed to create designs that would aid the City of Troy with inspiring ideas as they move forward with the waterfront development in the future.

Download or read book Downtown Troy Revitalization Program Master Plan written by John G. Waite and published by . This book was released on 1978 with total page 74 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Angels of Paris written by Rosemary Flannery and published by New York Review of Books. This book was released on 2012-11-06 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Angels are sculpted everywhere in Paris, not just on churches but in unexpected places: holding a lightning rod atop the Théâtre du Châtelet’s roof, adorning a seventeenth-century gilded sundial inside a courtyard at the Sorbonne, hovering above a railroad headquarters where a beautiful stone frieze features young angels flying in to work on the tracks. Subtly, subliminally, the angels are a part of the fanciful and romantic spirit of Paris. Angels of Paris is the first book to explore this intriguing and extraordinary subject. Angels of Paris features beautiful photographs taken from dawn to dusk, in all seasons, accompanied by text explaining the story behind the creation of each angel and of the location in which it is found. Organized chronologically, the book delves into the artistic trends and historic movements the angels reflect and the stories of the artists who created them and of those who commissioned them. Readers will learn about Paris’s history, buildings, and monuments through the abundant, beautiful, and surprising depictions of angels from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. Rosemary Flannery has found angels in friezes, plaques, and free-standing sculpture; on fountains and façades, clocks and sundials, monuments and mansions, rooftops and window frames. Angels of Paris is a unique way for lovers of Paris to learn more about the city in a new and unusual way.

Download or read book Victorian Structures written by Jody Griffith and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2020-03-01 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although Victorian novels often feature lengthy descriptions of the buildings where characters live, work, and pray, we may not always notice the stories these buildings tell. But when we do pay attention, we find these buildings offer more than evocative background settings. Victorian Structures uses the architectural writings of Victorian critic John Ruskin as a framework for examining the interaction of physical, social, and narrative structures in Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens, Adam Bede by George Eliot, and The Mayor of Casterbridge and Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy. By closely reading their descriptions of architectural structure, this book reconsiders structure itself—both the social structures the novels reflect, and the narrative structures they employ. Weaving together analysis of these three kinds of structure offers an interpretation of Victorian realism that is far more socially and formally unstable than critics have tended to assume. It illustrates how these novels radically critique the limitations, dysfunctions, and deceptions of structure, while also imagining alternative possibilities. This unique interdisciplinary approach emphasizes structure-in-time: while current conversations about structure focus on its static and fixed properties, this book understands it as various forces in tension, producing meanings that are always in flux. Victorian Structures focuses not only on the way structures shape our perceptions and experiences, but also, more importantly, on the processes through which those structures come to be constructed in the first place, and how they change over time.

Download or read book John Emmett Connors written by John Emmett Connors and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2012-08-01 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An artist’s appreciation of the Collar City, Troy, New York. Although he has traveled and painted throughout the world, John Emmett Connors has returned time and again to paint the houses, buildings, and neighborhoods of his hometown, Troy, New York. Collected here are his depictions of some of his favorite places in the Collar City and the surrounding area, including the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, the Frear Building, Oakwood Cemetery, the Melville House, and many others. Also included are his memories of growing up in Lansingburgh and his reflections on the ways in which the history and architecture of Lansingburgh and Troy affected his growth and development as an artist. Vito F. Grasso’s collaboration with Connors adds a distinctive voice to the artist’s recollections of his youth and his impressions of how the many familiar places of his childhood impacted his personal and professional development. The result is a visual and narrative account which transcends the skills of both the artist and the author and offers the reader a unique insight into the creative process. Anyone who loves art, architecture, or the city of Troy will find this a fascinating look into the deep connections that can be formed between an artist and a particular place. John Emmett Connors, a native of Troy, is known for his local and New York City street scenes. He studied artistic anatomy and painting on scholarship at the Art Students League of New York where he mentored under Robert Beverly Hale for four years and was awarded a Fine Arts Certificate of Completion. He also studied Sumi-e (Japanese brush painting) including studies in Japan. Vito F. Grasso is Executive Vice President of the NYS Academy of Family Physicians. He has a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the Graduate School of Public Affairs at the University at Albany, State University of New York and holds the certified association executive professional accreditation conferred by the American Society of Association Executives.

Download or read book Saving Troy written by William B. Patrick and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 2009-11-05 with total page 446 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A powerful account of the hazards, challenges, and dangers faced by America's first-responders.

Download or read book Building the Skyline written by Jason M. Barr and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016-05-12 with total page 457 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Manhattan skyline is one of the great wonders of the modern world. But how and why did it form? Much has been written about the city's architecture and its general history, but little work has explored the economic forces that created the skyline. In Building the Skyline, Jason Barr chronicles the economic history of the Manhattan skyline. In the process, he debunks some widely held misconceptions about the city's history. Starting with Manhattan's natural and geological history, Barr moves on to how these formations influenced early land use and the development of neighborhoods, including the dense tenement neighborhoods of Five Points and the Lower East Side, and how these early decisions eventually impacted the location of skyscrapers built during the Skyscraper Revolution at the end of the 19th century. Barr then explores the economic history of skyscrapers and the skyline, investigating the reasons for their heights, frequencies, locations, and shapes. He discusses why skyscrapers emerged downtown and why they appeared three miles to the north in midtown-but not in between the two areas. Contrary to popular belief, this was not due to the depths of Manhattan's bedrock, nor the presence of Grand Central Station. Rather, midtown's emergence was a response to the economic and demographic forces that were taking place north of 14th Street after the Civil War. Building the Skyline also presents the first rigorous investigation of the causes of the building boom during the Roaring Twenties. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the boom was largely a rational response to the economic growth of the nation and city. The last chapter investigates the value of Manhattan Island and the relationship between skyscrapers and land prices. Finally, an Epilogue offers policy recommendations for a resilient and robust future skyline.

Download or read book Interpretations on Behalf of Place written by Robert Mugerauer and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 1994-01-01 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, Mugerauer emphasizes the interplay between European continental philosophy and North American environments and architecture. Drawing on a keen understanding of conceptual trends in both scholarship and the design professions, he clarifies various competing philosophical visions and their considerably different perspectives on environment, place, and architecture. The book covers Derrida's deconstruction, Foucault's genealogy, Heidegger's originary thinking, and Eliade's hermeneutics in order to interpret cultural displacements and the possible recovery of "place," especially through interpretation of dwelling, sense of place, landscapes, architecture, planning, urban design, and technology. Mugerauer identifies a series of design principles that might facilitate mutual understanding.

Download or read book Covered Bridges and the Birth of American Engineering written by James C. Barker and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: