Lessons Learned . . . A Native American Architect’s Visual Journey Through Five Decades
My publisher sent me this very flattering review from Germany on the 300 full color page book on my experiences as an architect-planner. I created the book on the 50th anniversary of graduating from Georgia Tech and then flying off the next morning to an extraordinary experience, working in Sweden.
The original idea for the book came from an email that I received from the School of Architecture at Georgia Tech over a year earlier, inviting graduates from my generation to send photos and drawings of their work. My professional experiences have been SO diverse that no one would understand them. LOL One section would show urban design drawings for the revitalization of Downtown Asheville, NC. The next chapter would show my designs for the restoration of a Shenandoah Valley farmhouse, first constructed in the 1750s and a large goat cheese dairy complex.
You might find this thoroughly researched book review, interesting, if you want to understand how a series of seemingly unrelated experiences interwove over the decades, which are now enabling me to create a totally new understanding of the peopling of the Southeastern United States before Columbus.
Richard Thornton
“Many readers are probably at least vaguely familiar with Architect Richard Thornton’s name because of his appearance on several TV programs about his discovery of several, ancient stone ruins in the mountains of the State of Georgia. However, his professional career has been much more diverse and unique than merely ancient stone ruins. Ironically, his recognition that the Track Rock site was an Itza Maya Terrace Complex was because of a fellowship to do a travel-study in Mexico, while he was a Georgia Tech student. His recognition that the Track Rock Petroglyphs were identical to those in Bronze Age Sweden was because he worked in southern Sweden, immediately after graduation from Georgia Tech! That is where this book begins.
The book then takes you through the Newtown Movement, the Pedestrian Pathway Movement, the Back to Nature Movement, the Downtown Revitalization Movement, the Historic Preservation Movement and finally his focus on his Native American roots. Oh, did we mention that within those movements, Richard personally received an award from Chef Julia Child for the quality of his goat cheese? You will get see many photos of the goats, cheese-making and farm buildings that he designed! Then, seven years after he ceased making cheese, Richard began hand-making Mesoamerican and Creek style pottery in order to survive a recession.
Somewhere in between all these activities, he has found time to be the Architect for the construction or preservation of several hundred buildings in the Southeastern United States. This has been indeed an unusual career path. “Lessons Learned” contains 300 pages, on which are 762 photographs, architectural renderings and drawings. You will especially enjoy the photos of historic buildings from the 1700s and early 1800s, plus intimate portrayals of farm life.“
The Americas Revealed 