April 2, 2010 New Library Publication Features Architecture of Dams

Press Contact: Audrey Fischer (202) 707-0022
Contact: W.W. Norton contact: Kevin Olsen (212) 790-4323

The United States boasts more than 2.5 million dams, from the massive federal projects like the Hoover and Grand Coulee dams built between the 1930s and 1970s to small, privately owned structures.

Published by the Library of Congress and W.W. Norton & Company, “Dams” by Christine Macy is a compendium of historic images of North American dams, emphasizing the unique design and engineering complexities of these impressive structures. The book is a singular reference for architects, designers, engineers, students and all those fascinated by the monumental presence of dams in America.

“Dams” is the eighth volume in the Norton/Library of Congress Visual Sourcebooks in Architecture Design and Engineering series. The series is a project of the Center for Architecture, Design and Engineering in the Library of Congress, directed by C. Ford Peatross. “Dams” joins “Public Markets” by Helen Tangires, “Barns” by John Vlach, “Canals” by Robert Kapsch, “Theaters” by Craig Morrison, “Lighthouses” by Sara E. Wermiel and “Bridges” by Richard L. Cleary. Also part of the series is a volume dedicated to the work of Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen (“Eero Saarinen: Buildings from the Balthazar Korab Archive”) edited by David G. De Long and C. Ford Peatross.

Illustrations in the Sourcebooks series are from the collections of the Library of Congress and thus the volumes serve as important portals to the collections for a wide range of users—from students and scholars to practicing architects, designers, engineers and preservationists.

Christine Macy is dean of the faculty of Architecture and Planning at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, where she lectures on architectural design and modern architectural history and theory. Her research-design partnership Filum focuses on lightweight structures and cultural landscapes. Her books include “Greening the City: Ecological Wastewater Treatment in Halifax,” “Architecture and Nature: Creating the American Landscape,” “Festival Architecture,” “Responsive Textile Environments” and “Free Labs: Design Build Project from Dalhousie University.”

Established by a bequest from the distinguished American architect Paul Rudolph, the Center for Architecture, Design and Engineering in the Library of Congress preserves and makes accessible to the public the Library’s rich collections in those subject areas. For more information, go to www.loc.gov/rr/print/adecenter/adecent/html.

“Dams,” a 460-page hardcover book with more than 800 illustrations, is available for $85 in bookstores nationwide and through the Library’s Sales Shop, Washington, DC 20540-4985, (888) 682-3557, www.loc.gov/shop/. An accompanying DVD contains high-quality downloadable images of all of the photographs and drawings in the book. It also offers direct links to the Library’s online, searchable catalogs and image files, including the hundreds of thousands of high-resolution photographs, drawings and data files in the Historic American Buildings Survey, Historic American Engineering Record and other collections.

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PR 10-062
2010-04-02
ISSN 0731-3527