Historic preservationists author guidebook to Columbus architecture

Friday, August 29, 2008

Business First of Columbus - by Brian R. Ball

 

A guide to Columbus architecture by two preservationists has hit the shelves.

 

Ohio University Press this month published the 320-page AIA Guide to Columbus by preservation consultants Jeffrey Darbee and Nancy Recchie.  The book documents 160 buildings and building groups, including residences, offices, churches, a bridge and a cemetery.

 

The executive director of the American Institute of Architects’ chapter in Columbus said the book takes a “neighborhood approach,” with properties grouped by location.

 

“It’s the definitive guide for architecture in Columbus,” said AIA Columbus head Gwen Berlekamp.  “We’re looking at it as a tool for anybody visiting the city who wants to learn what we’re doing locally.”

 

http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2008/09/01/newscolumn1.html

And here's two places where you can get it...

 

AMAZON.COM

http://www.amazon.com/AIA-Guide-Columbus-Jeffrey-Darbee/dp/0821416855

 

OHIO UNIVERSITY PRESS / SWALLOW PRESS (Includes chapter excerpts)

http://www.ohioswallow.com/book/The+AIA+Guide+to+Columbus

 

 

 

 

 

Well, they put one of my favorite Columbus buildings on the cover (courthouse), so that's a good selling point!

I was at the bookstore last week and got to read through some of it. Its a very interesting and informative book! Lots and lots of information! I would highly recommend this to anyone interested in architecture, Ohio, and/or Columbus!!!

New book offers building-by-building tour of Central Ohio

By Richard Ades, The Other Paper

Published: Thursday, September 11, 2008 - 3:32 AM EDT

 

You get the feeling Jeffrey Darbee and Nancy Recchie walk along a city street the way a botanist walks through a forest.  They’re so curious about their surroundings that every stroll results in fresh revelations.  “We take daily walks, and we’re still discovering new things,” said Recchie, sitting with Darbee, her husband of the last three decades, in their Downtown home.  “And these are paths that we’re used to, that we’ve walked for years.”

 

The two co-own Benjamin D. Rickey & Co., a consulting firm that specializes in historic-preservation issues. As a result, they’ve become experts on the kind of architectural details that separate buildings from different eras.

 

That’s the kind of knowledge they hope to pass on to the public with the new book they’ve co-authored, The AIA Guide to Columbus. Featuring maps, photos and descriptions of individual buildings, it’s designed to help even casual observers understand a little more about what they’re seeing as they walk around Columbus—just as if Darbee and Recchie were walking along with them.

 

http://www.theotherpaper.com/articles/2008/09/11/arts/doc48c842fb63842981516519.txt

cool news. i love the aia books.

 

City richer for its unusual buildings

Sunday, September 14, 2008 - 3:22 AM

By JOE BLUNDO, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

I've seen the spire of the Pontifical College Josephinum thousands of times.  But did I know I was looking at a pinnacled turret with late Gothic revival influences?

 

Not until I read the AIA Guide to Columbus (Ohio University, 232 pages, $40), a new book on local architecture by historic preservation consultants Jeffrey T. Darbee and Nancy A. Recchie.  It's a comprehensive survey of buildings we often take for granted.

 

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/life/stories/2008/09/14/1A_BLUN14_--_for_sept._14_ART_09-14-08_E1_0HB95HT.html?sid=101

 

For a slideshow of the buildings mentioned in this article, go to http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/multimedia/daily_slideshows/2008/09/BLUN14.html