In 1961, reacting to U.S. government plans to survey, design, and build fallout shelters, the president of the American Institute of Architects, Philip Will, told the organization's members that "all practicing architects should prepare themselves to render this vital service to the nation and to their clients." In an era of nuclear weapons, he argued, architectural expertise could "preserve us from decimation."
In Fallout Shelter, David Monteyne traces the partnership that developed between architects and civil defense authorities during the 1950s and 1960s. Officials in the...