AIA Guide to Downtown Minneapolis


Book Description

Let architecture critic Larry Millett be your guide to downtown Minneapolis, whose architectural history displays the uniqueness of this far-from-identical "twin" city. AIA Guide to Downtown Minneapolis includes walking tours for Nicollet Mall, the Warehouse District, the central riverfront, and the Elliot Park and Loring Park neighborhoods. Each tour is copiously illustrated with current and historic photographs and paired with detailed maps. This deeply informative guidebook is perfect for tourists discovering the Twin Cities and residents exploring what is right next door. Larry Millett has written extensively about Twin Cities architecture, notably in AIA Guide to the Twin Cities, Twin Cities Then and Now, and Lost Twin Cities.




AIA Guide to the Twin Cities


Book Description

Get ready to discover the great architectural mecca that is Minneapolis and St. Paul. The first comprehensive, illustrated handbook of its kind, AIA Guide to the Twin Cities is the ultimate source to the architectural riches of the metropolitan area. Organized by neighborhood and featuring a wealth of sites--from the highest point on the Minneapolis skyline to the modest St. Paul bungalow vibrant with historical and architectural significance--this invaluable reference has it all: -Illuminating entries for more than 3,000 buildings -Behind-the-scenes details of the structures and their architects -Lively information about local history and regional styles -Highlights of important buildings nearly lost in time -Sixty easy-to-read maps that pinpoint the location of every structure -Dozens of planned walking and driving tours -Over 1,000 photos that illustrate significant buildings and features Retired Pioneer Press architecture critic Larry Millett has spent more than two decades researching and exploring the architectural heritage of the Twin Cities. Millett's AIA Guide to the Twin Cities is your ticket to the best tour in town. Sponsored in part by the American Institute of Architects Minnesota. Larry Millett has written extensively about Twin Cities architecture. His books include Lost Twin Cities, Twin Cities Then and Now, and Strange Days, Dangerous Nights (all MHS Press), as well as a series of mystery novels featuring Sherlock Holmes.




AIA Guide to the Minneapolis Lake District


Book Description

Thoroughly researched and meticulously written, this guidebook features more than 250 architectural wonders of wide-ranging styles in one of the lovliest neighborhoods in the Twin Cities.




AIA Guide to St. Paul's Summit Avenue and Hill District


Book Description

Thoroughly researched and meticulously written, this guidebook features more than 250 architectural wonders of wide-ranging styles in one of the loveliest neighborhoods in the Twin Cities.




History Lover's Guide to Minneapolis, A


Book Description

Minneapolis began at the Falls of St. Anthony, the sole waterfall on the Mississippi River. The cataract, the great hydrological engine, propelled the city's economic growth and physical expansion, and two distinct municipal identities emerged. A city of seasons, Minneapolis celebrates winter flurries and chills with ice skating and hot chocolate at the annual Holidazzle Festival. In the sultry midsummer heat, the Aquatennial brings swimmers and boating enthusiasts to the Chain of Lakes and the river. Landmarks, too, define the topography-Spoonbridge and Cherry, the Stone Arch and Hennepin Avenue Bridges, the Foshay Tower and the IDS Center. Join local authors Sherman Wick and Holly Day on a trip beyond the typical guidebook as they explore the architecture, parks and historical figures of the Mill City.




A Field Guide to American Houses


Book Description

The fully expanded, updated, and freshly designed second edition of the most comprehensive and widely acclaimed guide to domestic architecture: in print since its original publication in 1984, and acknowledged everywhere as the unmatched, essential guide to American houses. This revised edition includes a section on neighborhoods; expanded and completely new categories of house styles with photos and descriptions of each; an appendix on "Approaches to Construction in the 20th and 21st Centuries"; an expanded bibliography; and 600 new photographs and line drawings.




Downtown Minneapolis


Book Description

Downtown Minneapolis evolved from a collection of modest frame buildings on the banks of the Mississippi River to the high-rise center of a modern American metropolis. With a burgeoning milling industry powering the local economy, the early frame structures soon gave way to substantial brick and masonry buildings, lining the streets of a bustling 19th-century commercial district. Downtown continued to prosper during the early years of the 20th century, aided by advances in transportation and communications. The heart of the city held its own during the Great Depression and World War II, but the postwar era brought new challenges as a suburban boom threatened the city's economic foundation. Enterprising local leaders responded with innovative developments to meet these challenges, and a reinvigorated downtown took on a new role as the site of a dynamic new residential community, now home to nearly 40,000 city residents.




Paradise Planned


Book Description

Paradise Planned is the definitive history of the development of the garden suburb, a phenomenon that originated in England in the late eighteenth century, was quickly adopted in the United State and northern Europe, and gradually proliferated throughout the world. These bucolic settings offered an ideal lifestyle typically outside the city but accessible by streetcar, train, and automobile. Today, the principles of the garden city movement are once again in play, as retrofitting the suburbs has become a central issue in planning. Strategies are emerging that reflect the goals of garden suburbs in creating metropolitan communities that embrace both the intensity of the city and the tranquility of nature. Paradise Planned is the comprehensive, encyclopedic record of this movement, a vital contribution to architectural and planning history and an essential recourse for guiding the repair of the American townscape.




Downtown St. Paul


Book Description

Minnesota's capital city was given a lofty identity when young Catholic priest Lucien Gaultier built a modest log chapel in a wilderness clearing and named it for his patron saint. St. Paul's modern downtown would later take shape at this very site. In the mid-19th century, St. Paul's strategic location at the head of navigation on the Mississippi River was naturally suited as a way station for goods and a hub for settlers pouring into the Upper Midwest. While St. Paul had to relinquish its ranking as Minnesota's largest city to its twin, Minneapolis, the city remains at the center of state politics as Minnesota's state capital. Following World War II, a suburban boom weakened the business district, and downtown St. Paul fell into decline. Over the last 40 years, however, St. Paul's downtown has been reinvented as a major sports, entertainment, and cultural center.




University Avenue of the Twin Cities


Book Description

At the turn of 20th century, University Avenue emerged as a major transportation corridor, connecting Minneapolis and St. Paul. At the center of the corridor, the Midway district became one the Twin Cities' most prominent industrial hubs. And all along the 13-mile roadway, businesses serving the adjacent neighborhoods clustered around key intersections. But University Avenue fell into decline starting in the 1960s when a new interstate freeway, I-94, provided a speedier and more convenient way of moving between the two cities. I-94's economic blow was offset, at least in part, when new arrivals to Minnesota, many from Southeast Asia, injected fresh entrepreneurial energy into this aging transportation corridor. Today, University Avenue's historic role has been restored now that it serves as the route of a light-rail transit line connecting the downtowns of Minneapolis and St. Paul.