The Architecture of LSU Details the Origins and Evolution of Louisiana State University’s Distinctive Campus

“J. Michael Desmond’s book is itself a monument to the architecture of LSU. It is a delightful and engrossing history that delves into the little-known facts about the unique buildings that make Louisiana State University distinctive.”—Charles E. Schwing, former president of the American Institute of Architects

When viewed from the technical vantage point of an architect, the discerning eye of an artist, or sociocultural perspective of a historian, the remarkable buildings of Louisiana State University reveal not only a legacy that goes back to the Renaissance but also a primer of architectural principles that guided the creation of one of the most unique academic environments in the United States.

In The Architecture of LSU, author, professor, and architect J. Michael Desmond traces the university’s development, including a wealth of photographs, plans, drawings, and maps that underscore the contributions of key historical figures and the genealogies of the campus’s architecture and planning. By meticulously detcailing the origins and evolution of LSU’s architectural core and exploring the fundamentals of American college campus design, Desmond shows the far-reaching rewards of public environments that integrate natural and constructed elements to meet both practical and aesthetic goals.

J. Michael Desmond has taught architectural history and design for twenty-five years. An architect, he earned his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, his master’s degree of architecture in urban design from Harvard University, and his bachelor’s degree of architecture from LSU.

May 6, 2013
156 pages, 11 x 9 1/2, 25 color illus., 65 b&w illus., 150 line drawings
978-0-8071-4976-8
Cloth $59.95