To try something new Jess and I have decided to do mini book reviews and/or recommendations for architectural reading. The books will be written by non-Malcolmite folk! (Oh, don't worry, we'll still promote our own publications too!)Here's how it will work - we will give a short description of an architectural book, article or other publication and our readers can look them up, read them, and then return to the blog to comment on the reading. We hope to start a dialogue about architectural writings this way.
Book 1: We'll start with an easy one, Looking at Architecture in Canada by Alan Gowans.
This book provides an introduction to Canadian architectural history in a manner that is accessible for anyone. I must admit that it mainly deals with Quebec and Ontario, especially in terms of providing architectural examples, but the written expression is witty, which makes the book an enjoyable read. I think Gowans is best classified as a social historian who deals with architecture, which makes his perspective somewhat more interesting. With that said, my one criticism is that, for this book anyway, Canadian history begins with contact and the author does not deal with First Nations pre-contact construction, but rather refers to it as 'stone age'.
I'll let our readers take it from there! I hope to see comments soon!
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