The Missions of Northern Sonora
198 pages, 8 1/2 x 10 1/4
Paperback
Release Date:01 May 1993
ISBN:9780816513567
The Missions of Northern Sonora
A 1935 Field Documentation
Edited by Buford L. Pickens
SERIES:
The University of Arizona Press
The Spanish missions founded by Padre Eusebio Kino in Sonora, Mexico, during the 1690s and early 1700s are historical as well as architectural marvels. Once self-supporting villages with central churches, the missions stand today as monuments to perseverance in the face of a hostile New World.
These "Kino Missions" were surveyed in 1935 by the National Park Service to prepare for the restoration of the mission at Tumacacori, Arizona, then a National Historic Monument. That report, which was never published, provided insights into the missions' history and architecture that remain of lasting relevance. Perhaps more important, it documented these structures in photographs and drawings—the latter including floor plans and sketches of architectural detail—that today are of historic as well as aesthetic interest.
This volume reproduces that 1935 report in its entirety, focusing on sixteen missions and including two maps, 52 drawings, and 76 photographs. With a new introduction and appendixes that place the original study in context, The Missions of Northern Sonora is an invaluable reference for scholars and mission visitors alike.
These "Kino Missions" were surveyed in 1935 by the National Park Service to prepare for the restoration of the mission at Tumacacori, Arizona, then a National Historic Monument. That report, which was never published, provided insights into the missions' history and architecture that remain of lasting relevance. Perhaps more important, it documented these structures in photographs and drawings—the latter including floor plans and sketches of architectural detail—that today are of historic as well as aesthetic interest.
This volume reproduces that 1935 report in its entirety, focusing on sixteen missions and including two maps, 52 drawings, and 76 photographs. With a new introduction and appendixes that place the original study in context, The Missions of Northern Sonora is an invaluable reference for scholars and mission visitors alike.
Buford L. Pickens is a fellow of the American Institute of Architects; he has been a practicing architect in private practice. Former positions he has held include Director of the School of Architecture at Tulane Univerity and Dean of the School of Architecture at Washington University as well as a teacher at Ohio University, Wayne State University, the University of Minnesota, and in Florence, Italy. He has served on committees concerned with the protection of historic buildings in New Orleans, in the State of Missouri, and in St. Louis County, Missouri. He has also had significant involvement with the Historic American Buildings Survey and with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Pickens has contributed to three books and is author of nearly four dozen articles on architecture and architectural history publishing in professional journals. Today he lives in Webster Groves, Missouri, and is a Professor Emeritus in Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis.
