Sandra Davis Lakeman

Having written one book, I can corroborate that it ain't easy; writing a book is hard work. But not all books are labors of love. This one is, evident in the writing, the photographs, the drawings, and the structure and layout of the book. Lakeman, an architect, educator and photographer in California at the time of the book's initial publication in 1992 (mine is the second edition), crafted a book that is equal parts architecture, science, education, and photo guide, all centered on Italy and its undeniably beautiful piazzas. One of its most famous is located in Siena, Tuscany, which I visited as part of a semester in Italy during undergraduate architecture school, and which Lakeman focuses on. Unfortunately that visit happened on a rainy day, so I spent most of the time on a covered street sketching the piazza and the tower that acts like a sundial on other days. Perhaps the sense of missing out on something on my visit led me to buy this book that, as the cover makes clear, doesn't focus on purely sunny days. All of the environmental phenomena acting on the spaces of Italy are present — a splendid invitation to head back all these years later.… (more)