Excellence Award Spotlight: The Architecture of Downtown Troy
The Architecture of Downtown Troy: An Illustrated History by Diana S. Waite is one of this year’s Excellence in Historic Preservation Award winners. This post is part of an in depth series exploring all of the 2020 Award winners.
Since 1984, the Preservation League has been awarding excellence in historic preservation by recognizing exemplary restoration projects, ·dedicated individuals and organizations, and important publications. And while most of the nominations the League receives every year fall into that first category, this year the jury was excited to honor a publication as well, thanks to the excellent new book by Diana S. Waite, The Architecture of Downtown Troy: An Illustrated History.
In their nomination, SUNY Press included a quote from Carl Elefante, the 2018 President of The American Institute of Architects that really resonated.
In this insightful and beautifully illustrated book, Diana Waite tells the story of one exceptional, mostly nineteenth-century example: Troy, New York. Troy is a rare gem, largely unspoiled by the forces that turned so many of America’s towns into wastelands of asphalt. As architects, planners, and policymakers struggle to define a twenty-first-century world that kicks the habits of our fossil-fuel-addicted modernity, that rediscovers how to make places for people, that builds strong communities, studying places like Troy takes on entirely new relevance. The Architecture of Downtown Troy paints a picture of the evolution of a historic town that provides valuable lessons for building the world of tomorrow.
The beauty of preserving our past lies in how we bring it into the future. The places we save are not static – and that evolution really comes through in the Architecture of Downtown Troy. Like many post-industrial cities, Troy’s heyday had passed by the early twentieth century. Both its prominence and its population began to decline, and although many buildings were lost to urban renewal, a great deal more were preserved.
A photograph of the author, Diana S. Waite, walking down the street in Troy, NY.
The Architecture of Downtown Troy features full color photographs by local photographer Gary David Gold. Pictured here, clockwise from top left: Hart-Cluett residence and Van Schoonhoven residence, 57 Second Street; G.V.S. Quackenbush and Company building — now home to the Tech Valley Center of Gravity; Troy Savings Bank; Congregation Berith Sholom
In recent years Troy has seen a resurgence, with a renewed interest in investing in this important American city. The remarkably intact downtown with its gorgeous storefronts and homes, has certainly been one of Troy’s biggest draws. Diana Waite spent nearly a decade working on this book, and that dedication shows. The Architecture of Downtown Troy is impeccably researched, telling compelling stories of the significant buildings that make up Troy’s downtown. It’s also a book beautiful enough to leave on your coffee table, featuring a combination of archival images and new photography by Gary David Gold
For those who have never been to Troy, it might inspire you to make a trip to see one of America’s most perfectly preserved 19th-century downtowns.
The publication team included: Diana S. Waite, Author | Mount Ida Press; Elizabeth Marsh, Researcher I Mount Ida Press; Constance Timm, Graphic Designer l Market Street Group; Gary David Gold, Photographer; James Peltz, Associate Director and Editor-in-Chief | SUNY Press; Jenn Bennett-Genthner, Production Editor | SUNY Press; Staff and Volunteers of the Hart Cluett Museum (formerly Rensselaer County Historical Society)