"Let us listen to the counsels of American engineers. But let us beware of American architects!" declared Le Corbusier, who like other European architects of his time believed that he saw in the work of American industrial builders a model of the way architecture should develop. It was a vision of an ideal world, a "concrete Atlantis" made up of daylight factories and grain elevators.In a book that suggests how good Modern was before it went wrong, Reyner Banham details the European discovery of this concrete Atlantis and examines a number of striking architectural instances where aspects of the International Style are anticipated by US industrial buildings.

While tracing the important developments in industrial architecture over a one-hundred-year period, she demonstrates that as the United States became an industrialized nation, the goals pursued in industrial architecture remained straightforward and constant even as the means to achieve them changed.

This comprehensive guide provides the reader with basic information of the most common types of structures, sites, and objects encountered in industrial archaeology. These include bridges, railroads, roads, waterways, several types of production and extraction factories, water and power generating facilities, and others. Each chapters contains a brief introduction to the technology or features of each class of installation, illustrations with characteristics that help identifying important elements of the type, and a glossary of common terms. Two chapters offer valuable guidance on researching industrial properties and landscapes. For students, avocational archaeologists, and cultural resource management surveys, this volume will be an essential reference.