The Architecture of Diplomacy: Building America's Embassies (ADST-DACOR Diplomats & Diplomacy)

Jane C. Loeffler

ISBN 10: 1568981384 / ISBN 13: 9781568981383

Published by Princeton Architectural Press, 1998

About this Item

Signed hardback book (306 pages) illustrated with decorated endpapers and vintage photographs. Inscribed and signed by author on title page. Dust jacket shows light rubbing/scuffing. Bookseller since 1995 (LL-6-middle-L) rareviewbooks. Seller Inventory # RVB02091803

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Architecture of Diplomacy: Building ...

Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press

Publication Date: 1998

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Very Good

Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good

Signed: Inscribed by Author(s)

Edition: 1st Edition

About this title

Synopsis:

The Architecture of Diplomacy explores the often innovative architectural design of America's embassies, the partisan governmental battles that made them possible, and the political ramifications of their construction.
Beginning with the inception of the U.S. embassy building program in 1926, and continuing through the 1996 competition for a new embassy in Berlin, The Architecture of Diplomacy examines a remarkable yet little-known chapter in architectural history. It focuses on the 1950s, when modernism became linked with the idea of freedom and the State Department's Office of Foreign Buildings Operations began to showcase modern architecture in its embassies. Architects could build abroad in styles never sanctioned at home, resulting in unusual and sometimes outlandish designs intended to express an "open" America overseas. Indeed, the embassy building program was part of the nation's larger effort to establish and assert its superpower status following World War II. Terrorist threats and espionage scandals also shaped the worldwide building program, and continue to affect it today.
The Architecture of Diplomacy features the stories behind the Rio de Janiero and Havana embassies by Harrison & Abramovitz, Ralph Rapson's designs for Stockholm and Copenhagen, Gordon Bunshaft's work in Germany, Eero Saarinen's constructions in London and Oslo, and Edward Durell Stone's embassy in New Delhi. Other architects involved in the program included Arquitectonica; Pietro Belluschi; Marcel Breuer; Walter Gropius; Kallmann, McKinnell & Wood; Richard Neutra; and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
The Architecture of Diplomacy is part of the ADST-DACOR Diplomats and Diplomacy series.

About the Author:

Author Jane C. Loeffler obtained access to original correspondence, drawings, and photographs that have never been published. This title is a must-read for anyone interested in American foreign policy and the intersection of architecture a