Building the Nation

This anthology offers a fresh perspective on America's built environment and its significance, exploring the voices that shaped its architectural history in Building the Nation.

This work moves beyond the conventional survey that typically guides readers through architect and style transitions. Instead, Building the Nation offers a novel perspective on the history of America's built environment and its significance to the American identity. It emphasizes how deeply intertwined the built environment is with our understanding of what it means to be American.

Through a diverse array of voices, both renowned and lesser-known, this anthology spans over two centuries of American history. It reveals that the quest to envision suitable buildings and land use has engaged all levels of society, not just architects and designers. Notable contributors include literary giants such as Mark Twain, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Edith Wharton, who reflect on the American approach to construction. Alongside these prominent figures are the voices of ordinary citizens from newspapers and magazines, who have persistently questioned the vision for American architecture and urban planning.

Building the Nation posits that American architecture is both a product of and an influence on the broader social, cultural, and political landscape. This anthology highlights seven recurring themes in American writing over the last two centuries, including the relationship between American and European architecture, the diversity of regions, the impact of nature, urban design, suburban growth, architecture's potential for individual reform, and the tension between tradition and the desire for renewal in a youthful nation.