In the early 20th century, there was no better example of a classic American downtown than Los Angeles. Since World War II, Los Angeles's Historic Core has been "passively preserved," with most of its historic buildings left intact. Recent renovations of the area for residential use and the construction of Disney Hall and the Staples Center are shining a new spotlight on its many pre-1930s Beaux Arts, Art Deco, and Spanish Baroque buildings.

During the first half of the twentieth century, Los Angeles grew into a sprawling metropolis. As suburbs developed, demonstration homes and housing exhibitions brought innovative architectural and interior design styles. Displays like the California Home and Garden Exhibition showcased the latest in timesaving appliances, modern furniture and cutting-edge building techniques meant to represent the future and ideals of Southern California living. Model and tract home exhibitions like those ...

The world-famous Miracle Mile in Los Angeles was shaped into a great commercial and cultural district by the city's tremendous urban expansion in the early twentieth century. Its origins along Wilshire Boulevard are directly related to the twin LA booms in auto travel and real estate ventures. Once the home of such famous stores as the May Company, Silverwood's, Coulter's and Desmond's, as well as Streamline Moderne and Art Deco architecture, Miracle Mile has boasted the La Brea Tar Pits a...

This illustrated Travel Guide is designed for optimal navigation on eReaders and other electronic devices. It is indexed alphabetically and by category, making it easier to access individual articles. Articles feature information about attractions, landmarks, districts, transportation, cultural venues, dining, history and much more. Addresses, telephones, hours of operation and admissions information are included. The guide is complimented by clearly marked maps that are linked to city att...

This illustrated Travel Guide is designed for optimal navigation on eReaders and other electronic devices. It is indexed alphabetically and by category, making it easier to access individual articles. Articles feature information about attractions, landmarks, districts, transportation, cultural venues, dining, history and much more. Addresses, telephones, hours of operation and admissions information are included. The guide is complimented by clearly marked maps that are linked to city att...

**“‘The Intimate City’ is a joyful miscellany of people seeing things in the urban landscape, the streets alive with remembrances and ideas even when those streets are relatively empty of people.”—Robert Sullivan, New York Times Book ReviewFrom the New York Times architecture critic, his celebrated walking tours of New York City, now expanded, covering four of the five boroughs and some 540 million years of history, accompanied by some of the people who k...

The secret smart travelers turn to when facing a dizzying choice of what to do and see is to establish their own personal relationship with a city. Yo, New York.

Our illustrated travel guide will take you to Chicago, Illinois.Chicago is the home of the blues and the truth of jazz, the heart of comedy and the idea of the skyscraper. Here, the age of railroads found its center, and airplanes followed suit. Butcher of hogs and believer in progress, it is one of the world's great cities, and yet the metropolitan luxuries of theater, shopping, and fine dining have barely put a dent in real Midwestern friendliness. It's a city with a swagger, but...

There is no better way to see America than on foot. And there is no better way to appreciate what you are looking at than with a walking tour. Whether you are preparing for a road trip or just out to look at your own town in a new way.Each walking tour describes historical and architectural landmarks and provides pictures to help out when those pesky street addresses are missing. Every tour also includes a quick primer on identifying architectural styles seen on American streets.

Hailed as "extraordinarily learned" (New York Times), "blithe in spirit and unerring in vision," (New York Magazine), and the "definitive record of New York's architectural heritage" (Municipal Art Society), Norval White and Elliot Willensky's book is an essential reference for everyone with an interest in architecture and those who simply want to know more about New York City. First published in 1968, the AIA Guide to New York City has long been the definitive g...

The story behind the massive white block letters set into a steep Los Angeles hillside—and the city and culture they represent: "Terrific."— San Francisco ChronicleTo so many who see its image, the Hollywood sign represents the earthly home of that otherwise ethereal world of fame, stardom, celebrity—the American and worldwide aspiration to be in the limelight, to be, like the Hollywood sign itself, instantly recognizable.How an ad...

The history, heritage, and architectural significance of Toronto's most notable theatres and movie houses. Movie houses first started popping up around Toronto in the 1910s and '20s, in an era without television and before radio had permeated every household. Dozens of these grand structures were built and soon became an important part of the cultural and architectural fabric of the city. A century later the surviving, defunct, and reinvented movie houses of Toronto's past are filled with ...