New Title From Former Head of Architecture at MIT Explains Why We Are Drawn to and Comfortable in Certain Places

People & Places, the Myers's new book, explains why people feel drawn to, and comfortable in, certain places. The New York Times Book Reviews Editor Emerita, Rebeccan Sinklern, says, "this is a very personal work by two people of great passion and intelligence. It will touch the hearts and minds of a great variety of readers and reach a broad mainstream audience." Their website: www.peopleandplacesbook.com We have a media kit on-line here and images of cover art and the authors' photo.

Boston, MA (PRWEB) October 18, 2006 -- People & Places: Connections Between the Inner and Outer Landscape, a new title from Peter E. Randall Publisher, explores the connections between people and places. The unique perspective that arises out of the co-authors' separate backgrounds as architect and social worker provides a groundbreaking treatise on the effects of place on people. This book was created for those engaged in making places --- urban planners, housewives, architects, politicians, builders, students, or simply those people who want to understand their deep connection to a place or places. "The mark of the Myers' creativity is that they make you view your ordinary surroundings in a new and extraordinary way," states Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Dean Emeritus, Kennedy School, Harvard University, Cambridge.

This title offers us a look into the future of design. Through the study of what makes a person, drawing on Erik H. Erikson's work, the book explores our early and lifelong needs and then relates these needs to places. "The authors lead us through Erikson's stages of maturation to tease out how a work of architecture transmits its message," says Professor Thomas Vietoriszn, Urban Planning Program, Columbia University. Rebecca Sinkler, Editor Emerita of the New York Times Book Review describes the new title as "Psychiatric social worker and architect bring two diverse lives to bear on one subject: the connections between the inner and outer space. These connections we may have felt intuitively, but have never seen expressed. The ages of man and womankind, the struggle to mature, the rewards of growing up, all these are magically brought to bear on our habitat, our earth and dwelling place."
    
The Myers suggest that, as we look to the future, we need to value the past so we can make harmonious and continuous communities that are places for people in the future. The new title shows how places and people are tied together by describing the design process of three different types of places. Finally, it looks to the present state of place making, its precedents from the past, and the rapid cultural changes that leave us without precedents for the postindustrial electronic age. The Myers suggest that, as we look to the future, we need to value the past so we can make harmonious and continuous communities that are places for people in the future.
    
John Myer, FAIA, is a former Head of Architecture at MIT, a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy, and started the Arrowstreet Inc. architectural firm in Boston. Notable among his many buildings are the Boston Architectural Center and the Library at Marlboro College; John was co-head, with Kevin Lynch of the design team for Boston's Government Center and the Boston waterfront. More recently, he designed the Massachusetts State Archives. Co-author Margaret Myer, LICSW, taught at Harvard, was on the faculty at Tufts NE Medical Center, and practiced at Cambridge Hospital.
    
The Myers divide their time between Tamworth, NH and Hanover, NH at present, as they have retired from teaching. The building of their Tamworth home, called Pasture House, is a featured project in the book. This is a fantastic dwelling, which has a passive solar design that never drops below 50 degrees in the winter.
    
There is an event schedule for John and Margaret Myer, at the couple's web site http://www.peopleandplacesbook.com/, which offers more information on this important new title.

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