Book Review: The American Statehouse: Interpreting Democracy's Temples

Authors

Robert C. Ripley, Nebraska State Capitol

Date of this Version

2004

Document Type

Article

Comments

Published in Great Plains Quarterly 24:1 (Winter 2004). Copyright © 2004 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

Abstract

Employing three conceptual frameworks or lenses, Charles Goodsell provides an illuminating examination of the singular American architectural creation called the statehouse. He uses these lenses to offer a social interpretation of the architecture of our fifty state capitols. The first lens seeks concepts or values embedded within the building proper. The second looks at the impact of a statehouse on current political behavior. Finally, his third lens provides the broader impressions these buildings have on society in general.