“Seaside teaches us that there is another kind of growth—growth that occurs in concentrated, walkable settlements instead of an endlessly dispersed sprawl.”
—The Boston Globe
Seaside is a world-famous Florida Panhandle beach village created by small-town planning pioneers and renowned architects. It is a fascinating, beautiful example of urban design, hailed by experts everywhere as a marvel of concept and style. Even England’s Prince of Wales has called Seaside “a model of humane urban planning.” The creators of Seaside developed it around the fundamental idea that a community is forged by a social, pleasant design—thus, the picket fences on all structures decreed in the Seaside Code. The fences that range so dazzlingly in form and style are required not only for their aesthetic appeal, but also for their unique ability to define space within the community. Steven Brooke captures it all in stunning detail in the photographic journey Seaside Picket Fences.
Through his close friendship with Seaside founder Robert Davis, writer and photographer Steven Brooke has gained unique insight into the thinking and planning that gave birth to Seaside. In Seaside, Seaside Notecards, and Seaside Postcard Book, Brooke’s nearly two hundred lush, color photographs take the reader from the earliest pioneer stages of the town to its development as an emerging cultural and intellectual center. In Seaside Picket Fences, we view the community constructed on the belief that “our lives are unalterably affected by our architectural surroundings.”
About the Author
Steven Brooke is an internationally acclaimed architectural photographer and has received the National Honor Award for Photography from the American Institute of Architects. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Brooke is an adjunct professor at the University of Miami. He lives in Miami with his wife, architect Suzanne Martinson, and their son, Miles.
Other books featuring Steven Brooke’s photography and/or writing include Seaside, The Majesty of Natchez, The Majesty of Natchez Postcard Book, Historic Washington, Arkansas, The Gardens of Florida, and Louisiana Gardens, all published by Pelican.