A Visual Journey of American Architecture

Fire escapes as a reflection of physical urbanity and the human condition

Cocoa, Florida – WEBWIRE – Monday, November 20, 2017

the art of fire escapes is born out of urban leaders placing more value in their profit at the expense of the safety and well-being of their workers and the future occupants of their capitalistic machines.

Fire escapes are very important component of a building’s design, especially in urban areas. But in recent years, fire escapes in America have been decodified as an acceptable solution for a second means of egress by many building codes and authorities having jurisdiction… Architect Peter J. Lagomarsino explores the beauty and functions of this dying feature of American architecture in twenty-five cities in America in his book The Fire Escape: A Visual Survey (Second Edition).

An architect and photographer, the author captures images that highlight fire escapes that are frozen in time, “waiting for their removal by a follow on urban renewal.” The author analogizes the similarity of fire escapes and the frailty of human life, observing that although form followed function, the fire escapes’ codified demise ironically mimics the human condition mirroring our eventual individual and collective ends, all while they serve to protect us from our own.

Lagomarsino adds that the art of fire escapes is born out of urban leaders placing more value in their profit at the expense of the safety and well-being of their workers and the future occupants of their capitalistic machines.

The Fire Escape: A Visual Survey (Second Edition) was featured in LitFire Publishing’s booth at the 33rd Miami Book Fair last November 12 to 19, 2017.

The Fire Escape: A Visual Survey (Second Edition)
Written by Peter J. Lagomarsino
Kindle | $2.99
Paperback | $21.99
Hardcover | $34.99

Book copies are available at LitFire Publishing, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online book retailers.

About the Author

Peter Lagomarsino has been a senior architect for more than twenty years. He has been an architectural photographer for three decades. He attended the Charles E. Daniel Center for Building Research and Urban Studies at Clemson’s Villa in Genoa, Italy, for his master’s degree. He also has a passion for painting.

More information about the author and his work at www.urbanformsstudio.com

( Press Release Image: https://photos.webwire.com/prmedia/50387/216869/216869-1.jpg )