Drafting Culture: A Social History of Architectural Graphic Standards by George Barnett Johnston (review)

BOOK REVIEWS George Barnett Johnston. Drafting Culture: A Social History ofArchitectural Graphic Standards. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2008, 285 pp., 99 black-and-white photographs, hardcover, $39.95, ISBN-13: 978-0262101226. ARRIS 8o § VoLUME 21 2010 The scope and value of George Barnett Johnston's Drafting Culture: A Social History ofArchitectural Graphic Standards is somewhat obscured by the book's evocative tide-which unintentionally implies a narrow focus. But, while the book is indeed about the production of Architectural Graphic Standards and its place in the history of architectural technical literature, it is also about so much more. Johnston very effectively embraces a broader agenda: an investigation of the culture of architectural practice and its place within American social and architectural history. Although Johnston uses the book's organization and chapter structure to explore the primary theme of the practice of architecture in the early twentieth century, he also delves into several secondary themes. These include architectural education outside of the academy, the role of architectural publications in architectural practice, the contemporary approach to urban design and housing , and the production of drafting "bibles." Johnston organizes these topics such that the individual chapters may, in fact, be read independently-allowing for the examination of each topic individually . But, when read as a whole, the chapters establish the intellectual context needed to understand the production and importance of Architectural Graphic Standards. Following chapter one's brief introduction and definition of "drafting culture," chapter two offers an overview of architectural practice in the early twentieth century, as seen through the eyes of the draftsman. This theme is continued in chapter three, where the subject is explored relative to the early history of Pencil Points magazine. Here, the reader gains insight into the editorial structure of this important American architectural publication. Chapter four contains a biography of architect Frederick I. Ackerman, the employer of Charles George Ramsey and Harold Reeve Sleeper, the authors of Architectural Graphic Standards. Ackerman 's career is also of interest because of his active participation, along with Clarence Stein and Henry Wright, in the critical examination of American cities. Chapters five and six contain a thorough examination of the book's origins, its several revised editions, and its life after the death of its authorsa story largely told in the context of architectural practice in the 1950s and 1960s. When added together , the chapters constitute a unique history of the profession and of architectural practice in the first half of the twentieth century. While this broad scope is one of the book's strengths, it raises the question: who was the intended audience? When it is set alongside works like The Architect: Chapters in the History ofthe Profession , edited by Spiro Kostof (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1977) and From Craft to Profession : The Practice ofArchitecture in Nineteenth Century America by Mary N. Woods (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999), Johnston shows us a familiar picture, but from a very different vantage point: the perspective of the draftsman. By focusing on the practitioner/draftsman and his intellectual tools, Johnston has made a significant contribution to our understanding of architectural practice. It is unfortunate that the book's title hides this broader history from its prospective audience. Beyond the question of the tide, only two other criticisms may be offered. The first is a modest level of repetition of material between several of the chapters, which may be an unavoidable consequence of the book's structure and its quasi-independent chapters. The second is the more serious absence of a bibliography. Johnston is meticulous in the detail provided in his copious endnotes; however, it is impossible to grasp the full sweep of the resources used in the book's production and the absence of a bibliography makes the book diffiBOOK REVIEWS cult to use-especially by students and/or younger scholars seeking to follow Johnston's footsteps. The decision to eliminate the bibliography was likely made by the publisher, so there is hope that a future edition may rectify this problem. However, these criticisms do not take away from the fact that Johnston's book is a significant contribution to the history of the architectural profession. It serves as an...