{"product_id":"improbable-metropolis-houstons-architectural-and-urban-history-hardback-9781477320198","title":"Improbable Metropolis; Houston's Architectural and Urban History (Hardback) 9781477320198","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eImprobable Metropolis\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eHouston's Architectural and Urban History\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eBarrie Scardino Bradley (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9781477320198, University of Texas Press\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eHardback, published 2 June 2020\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e412 pages, 189 color photos, 120 b\u0026amp;w photos, 11 color and 20 b\u0026amp;w illus., 5 color and 6 b\u0026amp;w maps\u003cbr\u003e27.9 x 21.6 x 4.1 cm, 1.928 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eBradley conveys [the story of Houston through its buildings and places] in an even and accessible writing style...\u003ci\u003eImprobable Metropolis\u003c\/i\u003e is a visual treat...the book object would hold its own on any Houstonian’s coffee table.\u003c\/div\u003e (Cite Magazine) \u003cdiv\u003eThroughout \u003ci\u003eImprobable Metropolis\u003c\/i\u003e, Bradley intertwines Houston’s two dominant and diverging narratives of southern gentility and aggressive economic policies to reveal an often contradictory and yet incredible architectural history that challenges our assumptions about the generative principles of a metropolis.\u003c\/div\u003e (ARRIS) \u003cdiv\u003e[\u003ci\u003eImprobable Metropolis\u003c\/i\u003e] is big, beautiful and comprehensive...starting with the startling book jacket, which shows the downtown skyline from an unexpected angle at night, it is a feast for the eyes...I cannot imagine how much labor went into this magnificent book.\u003c\/div\u003e (Austin American Statesman) \u003cdiv\u003eBradley has spent a lifetime dedicated to architecture, planning, and historic preservation in Houston and her encyclopedic knowledge of the city makes this ambitious work possible. The text is richly accompanied by a wealth of color maps and photographs that increase the depth of documentation...\u003ci\u003eImprobable Metropolis\u003c\/i\u003e provides further argument that Houston should not be treated as a regional subject, but one that reflects the central importance of private capital, rather than public planning, in shaping the modern American city.\u003c\/div\u003e (Buildings \u0026amp; Landscapes: Journal of the Vernacular Architecture Forum) \u003cdiv\u003eAlthough Houston has been the fourth-largest city in the United States since 1969, it does not receive the scholarly attention from historians that its size deserves; Bradley’s handsome volume helps rectify this neglect...Bradley’s deep familiarity with her subject will enthrall lay readers and will inspire specialists to enrich Houston’s story by exploring numerous topics further.\u003c\/div\u003e (Journal of Southern History)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e2021 Good Brick Award Winner from Preservation Houston\u003cbr\u003e 2020 Ron Tyler Award for Best Illustrated Book on Texas History and Culture from Texas State Historical Association\u003cbr\u003e 2021 Summerlee Book Prize (Nonfiction), Center for History and Culture of Southeast Texas and the Upper Gulf Coast at Lamar University\u003cbr\u003e 2022 San Antonio Conservation Society Publication Award, San Antonio Conservation Society (SACS)\u003cbr\u003e 2022 Julia Ideson Award, Friends of the Texas Room, associated with the Houston Public Library\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Beautifully illustrated,\u003ci\u003e Improbable Metropolis\u003c\/i\u003e is one of the few books to use architecture and urban planning to explain the growth of a major world city, and the only one of its kind on Houston or any other city in Texas.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Just over 180 years ago, the city of Houston was nothing more than an alligator-infested swamp along the Buffalo Bayou that spread onto a flat, endless plain. Today, it is a sprawling, architecturally and culturally diverse metropolis. How did one transform into the other in such a short period? \u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eImprobable Metropolis\u003c\/i\u003e uses the built environment as a guide to explore the remarkable evolution that Houston has undergone from 1836 to the present. Houston’s architecture, an indicator of its culture and prosperity, has been inconsistent, often predictable, sometimes bizarre, and occasionally extraordinary. Industries from cotton, lumber, sugar, and rail and water transportation, to petroleum, healthcare, biomedical research, and aerospace have each in turn brought profit and attention to Houston. Each created an associated building boom, expanding the city’s architectural sophistication, its footprint, and its cultural breadth. Providing a template for architectural investigations of other American cities, \u003ci\u003eImprobable Metropolis\u003c\/i\u003e is an important addition to the literature on Texas history. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003ePreface\u003cbr\u003e Introduction\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 1. Bayou City, 1830–\u003cbr\u003e1865\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 2. Magnolia City, 1866–\u003cbr\u003e1899\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 3. Progressive Houston, 1900–\u003cbr\u003e1919\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 4. Energy Capital of the World, 1920–\u003cbr\u003e1939\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 5. Golden Buckle of the Sunbelt, 1940–\u003cbr\u003e1959\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 6. Space City, 1960–\u003cbr\u003e1979\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 7. H-Town, 1980–\u003cbr\u003e1999\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 8. Petro Metro, 2000–\u003cbr\u003e2017\u003cbr\u003e Epilogue\u003cbr\u003e Notes\u003cbr\u003e Bibliography\u003cbr\u003e Index\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"University of Texas Press","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52590957592856,"sku":"9781477320198","price":31.77,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/improbable-metropolis-houstons-architectural-and-urban-history-hardback-9781477320198","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}