A Guide to Baltimore Architecture

Baltimore is a hard city to get your hands around. It's the quintessential image of urban decay; poor, crime-ridden, but also surprisingly hospitable and absolutely crammed with exceptional historical architecture. Poverty, in this case, has proved to be the best preserver, and most of Baltimore's lovely old churches and public buildings are still with us in their somewhat decrepit state. Despite the public image, any enthusiast of American architectural history has to love Baltimore. This book summarizes the history and significance of these sites. It largely ingores Baltimore's modern structures (Myerhoff, Harborplace, Eisenhower Library, etc...), and there are even some conspicuous gaps in the presentation of the historic ensemble. The Lyric Opera House, for example, is completely absent. Pimlico, ditto. Memorial Stadium? Also, this book was published in 1997, which makes it rather dated and downright ancient in the world of architectural surveys. Time for a new edition. And fill in those holes! Those issues aside, this book is better than the vast majority of the urban architectural surveys out there. It includes a photograph of every structure, along with a concise essay describing its history and distinguishing features. It includes biographies of important Baltimore architects and and nice introductory chapter to set the historical context. It's well done.

Excellent, accessible book filled with quality information