Driving into work at my windowless office at Colorado College, I heard a good NPR piece on Ed Ruscha. Twenty Six Gasoline Stations was published fifty years ago. I always have been thrilled by the concept and execution of that book, and will claim it as an influence on the American Houses and The Way We Live Now series that post on AL from time to time. I wonder if Ruscha and John Brinckerhoff Jackson had any influence upon each other. They were both fascinated by their contemporary American landscape, and by the idea of the vernacular landscape. Jackson as a geographer was interested in patterns of settlement and land use, Ruscha maybe more interested in objects, which happened to be buildings....but there is a lot of overlap between the two.
Great stuff Peter. Brinckerhoff Jackson is always terrific. The landscape of auto travel in the US is amazing. I have always wanted to do a piece on the kitch dinosaurs, lobsters, and assorted effigies hovering over roadside restaurants and truck stops. My best, Rosemary
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