Architects, students of architecture, those in a position to build or commission buildings, and anyone who claims serious interest in the built environment should read and absorb Imerican Building: The Environmental Forces That Shape It. After more than fifty years its message is as timely and timeless as every.
James Marston Fitch is Professor Emeritus in the School of Architecture at Columbia University and Director Emeritus of its Graduate Program of Historic Preservation, the first of its kind in the United States, which he founded in 1964. He has served as the first curator of Central Park and was an editor of Architectural Forum and House Beautiful. For the last twenty years, he has been Director of Historical Preservation for the New
York City-based architectural firm Beyer Blinder Belle, widely acknowledged for their restoration of Ellis Island and Grand Central Terminal. He lives in New York City. William Bobenhausen is an architect and Adjunct Professor at the School of Architecture and Environmental Studies at the City College of New York and at the New
jersey Institute of Technology. He is the author of Simplified Design of HVAC Systems in the Parker/Ambrose series. He is Director of Sustainable Design with Steven Winter Associates in Norwalk, CT. He lives in
Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, where he has served as chairman of the Planning Board and Village Trustee.