20世纪初，斯波坎因其建筑质量和在1889年毁灭性大火后令人印象深刻的重建方式而在西方备受赞誉。克特兰·凯尔西·卡特（Kirtland Kelsey Cutter）因其“罕见的建筑力量和设计天赋”而获得了这座城市独特个性的主要赞誉从镀金时代到大萧条，他卓越的职业生涯使他得以对一种折衷建筑形式的演变进行引人入胜的研究，这种建筑形式是在从边境定居点向现代城市过渡期间，对丰富的区域和历史影响的必然反应。
卡特的影响不仅限于斯波坎——西雅图、华盛顿的其他地区、俄勒冈州、爱达荷州和蒙大拿州。他还负责东部的建筑，甚至英国的一座。财政问题结束了他在西北部的职业生涯后，他63岁在南加州重新开始工作，并在那里担任建筑师，直到1939年79岁去世。
亨利·马修斯（Henry Matthews）对卡特的整个作品进行了全面的研究，并提供了大量的照片和插图。这本书基于对西北部和加利福尼亚州的详尽研究，揭示了对卡特及其同事的影响，建筑设计和施工的过程，以及建筑师和委托他的许多人之间的关系。对马修斯的研究特别有用的是收集了290套图纸，以及卡特图书馆的办公室账目、信件和书籍——这些材料由东华盛顿州历史学会获得。他还采访了前助理和客户，他们对这位建筑师和卡特的工作方式提供了宝贵的见解。此外，这位建筑师的许多住宅、酒店、俱乐部和商业建筑仍然屹立不倒。
这本书大大增加了对西方城市和地区历史的理解。但是卡特在许多风格上的实验和他作品的想象力使得这项研究超越了地域限制，揭示了国家趋势。
1999年华盛顿州图书奖得主
Kirtland Cutter: Architect in the Land of Promise
In the early years of the twentieth century, Spokane was singled out for praise in the West for the quality of its architecture and the impressive way it had rebuilt after the devastating fire of 1889. Major credit for the city’s distinctive character was extended to Kirtland Kelsey Cutter for his “rare architectural force and genius for design.” His remarkable career, stretching from the Gilded Age to the Great Depression, allows a fascinating study of the evolution of an eclectic form of architecture that was an inevitable response to rich regional and historical influences during a time of transition from frontier settlements to modern city.
Cutter’s influence was felt beyond Spokane–in Seattle, other areas of Washington, and in Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. He was also responsible for buildings in the East and even for one in England. After financial problems ended his career in the Northwest, he began anew at age sixty-three in southern California, and worked there as an architect until his death in 1939 at age seventy-nine.
Henry Matthews presents a comprehensive study of the whole body of Cutter’s work, with ample photographs and illustrations. The book is based on exhaustive research in both the Northwest and California, revealing the influences on Cutter and his associates, the processes at work in the design and construction of the buildings, and the relations between the architect and the many people who commissioned his work. Particularly useful to Matthews’s research was a collection of 290 sets of drawings, as well as office accounts, letters, and books from Cutter’s library–materials acquired by the Eastern Washington State Historical Society. He also was able to interview former assistants and clients, who provided valuable insights on the architect and the way Cutter worked. In addition, many of the architect’s residences, hotels, clubs, and commercial buildings are still standing.
This book adds significantly to an understanding of Western urban and regional history. But Cutter’s experimentation in many styles and the imaginative nature of his work make for a study that goes beyond regional limits and sheds light on national trends.
Winner of the 1999 Washington State Book Award
OR
