Any architects here?

[markus]

I'm looking for any online material on post-war European (or Japanese, for that matter) reconstruction, in particular ways in which the unique characteristics of those cities were preserved (or lost).

I've been Googling for hours, and everything I find seems to be inside the MUSE website, so I can't get in.

Also, I found this bibliography. If you have any knowledge on this subject, are any of these books particularly useful?

Lewis Mumford, The City in History (Recommended)
Philip L. Fradkin, The Great Earthquake and Firestorms of 1906: How San Francisco Nearly Destroyed Itself. (Berkeley: U. of California Press, 2005) F869.S357F735 (Required)
Bullock, Building the Post-war World: Modern Architecture and Reconstruction in Britain. NA 968.5.M64 B85 (2002) (Required)
Carl Smith, Urban Disorders and the Shape of Belief HN80.C5 S57 (1995) (Required)
Jeffry Diefendorf, In the Wake of War (HT 178.G4 054) (Required)

I want to work up a blog post for wetbankguide.blogspot.com if there are any valuable lessons (positive and negative) from the post-war experience in Europe toward the rebuilding of New Orleans.

Thanx.

[spindrifter]

1. Check whether your city or state has

an historic preservation commission. We have them (in Washington) at both the city and state level. They should have more reading matter than you would want to shake a stick at. You could also try contacting some of the national type planning companies, as they often deal with historic preservation issues not just with original plans for projects, but also in EIS work. Best of luck.