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Architecture of the Cape Cod Summer: The Work of Polhemus Savery DaSilva: New Classicists | 
 enlarge | Author: Michael J. Crosbie
Creators: Cesar Pelli, Robert Venturi, John R. Dasilva
Publisher: Images Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: $90.00
Buy New: $52.71
You Save: $37.29 (41%)
New (10) Used (4) from $52.71
Avg. Customer Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 286220
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 264
Shipping Weight (lbs): 4.3
Dimensions (in): 11.5 x 11.2 x 1
ISBN: 186470280X
Dewey Decimal Number: 720
EAN: 9781864702804
ASIN: 186470280X
Publication Date: June 25, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
A monograph on the work on an American architecture firm, famous for capturing the essence of 'The American Summer'.
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| Customer Reviews:
A perfect gift September 24, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I was given this book as a gift and I have since spent many hours thumbing through the pages. The photographs, detailed architectural drawings and renderings give the reader an in depth understanding of each project. The architecture is both beautiful and inspiring. Any designer, architecture enthusiast or student will find this book a worthwhile addition to their collection.
Architecture as Art August 26, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Good architecture can enhance or destroy a natural vista and this monograph of the work of Polhemus Savery DaSilva demonstrates how the development of a piece of property does not mean destruction. The architecture is first rate and like all Images books the quality of the publication is exceptional.
The New Look of Summer on Cape Cod August 15, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is a great book! Below is an edited version of my article that appeared in The Cape Cod Chronicle, July 24, 2008:
"Inventive reinterpretations of historical elements" are major features of the houses of Polhemus Savery DaSilva Architects Builders (PSDAB), according to architect John R. DaSilva.
In this magnificent book 25 major works by the firm are collected into one handsome volume. The houses are pictured inside and out in over 400 color photographs, with site and floor plans included.
In his essay in the book, DaSilva outlines the firm's belief in architecture that recalls the past, "rather than literally re-creating it."
"I always wanted to be an architect" DaSilva said during a recent interview. He followed his dream to Princeton and Yale. He married architect Sharon McGinnis DaSilva (now a senior designer at PSD) whom he met when both were working at Venturi, Rauch and Scott Brown.
The decades following the Civil War were the period of America's "first real `summer,'" DaSilva writes. In the introduction, Michael Crosbie, who writes extensively about architecture for such publications as "Architectural Record," compares our time to the earlier period. "It harkens back to the age of grand houses by the sea..."
Take Pepperwood, a 7,500-square-foot house which DaSilva designed (his wife collaborated) in Chathamport. "The client asked for a large house, but one that would not overwhelm the more modest suburban Capes and colonials of its post-war neighborhood," Crosbie writes.
In speaking of his designs, DaSilva frequently mentions great architects of the past. In the case of Pepperwood he evokes John Soane and Edwin Lutyens, who was known for adapting traditional architectural styles in the early years of the 20th century. "The interior of this house is, in many ways, informed by the kind of things they did," he says.
Playfulness and wit are traits that "make our projects fresh," DaSilva says. At Pepperwood this is expressed by repeating the gambrel roof shape of the front elevation throughout the house in whimsical details.
DaSilva proved his versatility as a designer when he took on a radically different project-- a municipal restroom. "This was a challenging project," he says. It's on Chatham's town green. "Putting the rest rooms there, you don't want it to look like a camp structure." DaSilva used, of all things, a Greek temple as his model. "It's a simplified and more abstract version." (On the morning after the grand opening someone strung toilet paper across the portico with "Acrapolis" on it - the firm took this as a compliment!) PSDAB designed the building pro bono.
Do PSDAB projects share common elements? DaSilva believes so. He mentions the firm's fastidiousness in orientation that takes advantage of natural lighting. While every site differs, "we try to have every major room have two exposures," he says.
"Architecture" took about a year and a half to put together. Now, DaSilva says, "I want to put this book aside and create the work to go into volume two."
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