This book covers the history of architecture in Virginia, from the early colonial period to the present. It aims to bring the architectural process to life, pairing the architects' own drawings with photographs of the finished buildings, and concludes a nationwide search that uncovers some 200 early architectural drawings from 1719 to 1870. The long tradition of architecture in Virginia began with the earliest structures at the Jamestown settlement in 1607 and continues today with some of the most advanced buildings yet completed anywhere. The state boasts representative works by nearly every major American architect - William Buckland, Ralph Adams Cram, Alexander J. Davis, Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue, Richard Morris Hunt, Minard Lefever, Robert Mills, Richard Neutra, John Russell Pope, James Renwick, William Strickland, Thomas U. Walter, Stanford White, Eero Saarinen and Frank Lloyd Wright among them.
In its legendary landmarks - Mount Vernon, Monticello, the Virginia Capitol in Richmond, the James River plantation mansions, Washington National Airport and Dulles International Airport - as well as in the homes, churches, stores and office buildings across the state, Virginia's architecture is a mirror of the many expressions of America's built environment. "The Making of Virginia Architecture" invites the reader on a journey through the eye and mind of the architect, from the very drawings that give shape and form to the idea, through the tracks and traces found in long-lost letters, office records, architects' drawings and other primary sources. Many of the architectural drawings are works of art in themselves, such as those of B. Henry Latrobe and Alexander J. Davis. Others - such as the almost crude drawings of Thomas Jefferson, with their notes and erasures - fall into the category of rare documents, showing the thought processes of a highly original designer, albeit an unskilled draughtsman.
As the book compares the architectural idea to the finished buildings, it brings history to life through the people and patrons behind Virginia's architecture and through the changing tools and technology of the architect, from the first rough sketch on the back of a handwritten contract to the complex wonders of the computer printout.