Georgetown, capital of Guyana, on the northeast coast of South America,
has been described as 'the Venice of the West Indies', and its elegant
canals and bridges, lush tropical vegetation and handsome buildings make
it a place of great beauty. The city's architecture is essentially
colonial, having been molded by the French, Dutch, British and Spanish
during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Built in a classical
style reinterpreted by local craftsmen and realized largely in the
region's plentiful wood rather than more durable brick and stone, these
buildings are now suffering from neglect and the ravages of the hot,
humid climate. Some are being carefully preserved and maintained, but
many more are disintegrating or being demolished to make way for
development, much of it in glass and concrete. This book documents those
colonial buildings, some of which have disappeared even since they were
photographed. Compton Davis begins by giving a brief history of
Georgetown itself, describing the influences that resulted in its
charming and characteristic architecture, and explaining the various
house types that are to be found in the city. The main part of the book
is organized geographically, dividing the city into its various
districts and describing the notable houses to be found in each.
Photographs of the buildings and their particular features are
accompanied by short descriptive and historical texts. During the thirty
years since the project began, a number of the buildings have
disappeared - some destroyed by fire and others by decay, and some more
recently demolished and replaced by concrete structures. The photographs
have become a historical document and visual archive that charts the
transformation of the building culture of Georgetown during the late
nineteenth and twentieth centuries, from its original colonial wooden
structures to an international style based on glass and concrete. The
photographs also commemorate the elegant colonial garden city that
Georgetown once was, as well as celebrating the Guyanese craftsmen and
builders who helped to shape it. This beautiful book, lovingly
photographed and researched over several decades, will appeal to
architecture lovers everywhere, as well as to those interested in
colonial history, the visual history of South America and the history of
building in wood. It will also appeal to conservationists and
preservationists and anyone interested in the protection of vulnerable
buildings.
