Building Lives: Constructing Rites and Passages

New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1999. First Edition. First Printing. good, good. 198, illus., notes, index, minor wear and soiling to DJ, minor paperclip marks and damage at pp. 191-193. Conception and birth, growth and maturity, aging and death--these are important moments in the human life story. They are also stages in the existence of a building, says the author of this unconventional history of the rituals and practices that surround built structures in America. Drawing on sources as varied as Masonic manuals, promotional brochures, janitorial contracts, tourist guidebooks, and religious texts, cultural historian Neil Harris explores the rites of building passage over the past one hundred and fifty years. In this generously illustrated volume, he offers fascinating new insights into the social and cultural roles of buildings. This book suggests that architecture is a performing art as well as a fine art. Harris provides entertaining accounts of building introductions and presentations; celebrations to endow buildings with personality; debates over the naming of buildings; and attempts to document the erection and aging of buildings. Observing the difficulty that people experience in saying goodbye to old buildings that feel like friends, he calls for ceremony to mark the end as well as the beginning of a building's life.