 Barnet
Schecter is a Manhattan-based writer and historian. His interest in
architecture, urban planning, and urban history evolved from his first
career, as a sculptor. He holds a B.A., magna cum laude, from Yale
University and an M.F.A. from Queens College, CUNY. His writing has
appeared in The Times Literary Supplement (London), The New
York Observer, Metropolis, The Village Voice, The
Washington Post, Terra Nova (MIT Press), and other
publications.
In addition to conducting historical walking tours and boat excursions
in New York, he has lectured at Columbia's Graduate School of
Architecture, the Gotham Center, the Museum of the City of New York, and
the Brooklyn Historical Society, among numerous other venues and
appeared in two History Channel documentaries on the American
Revolution.
Sculpture, architecture and urban planning are, of course,
related arts since all are concerned with three-dimensional design, with
the relationships of volumes in space. Any city, considered as a single
form, is a sculpture on a grand scale. Barnet Schecter’s engagement
with the similarities between these disciplines began in 1981, when he
spent a semester studying sculpture at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in
Milan. (He still speaks fluent Italian, as well as some French, Spanish
and Russian). He traveled widely in Italy and found inspiration in the
juxtapositions of ancient and modern architectural elements in the large
cities as well as in the perfectly preserved medieval hill towns.
Particularly when seen from a distance, in their entirety, the towns
have strong sculptural qualities. However, their formal unity, unlike a
piece of sculpture, is the result of slow accretion, of individual
buildings added over time—under the influence of myriad religious,
social and political forces.
This interest in the complex
human forces that shape the built environment has influenced Barnet
Schecter’s writing ever since. He returned to the States and wrote
his history thesis at Yale about a medieval square that is preserved
today in the center of Milan, Italy’s most cosmopolitan city. He
then moved to New York in 1986 and subsequently began writing about the
particular influences that shape this city. His book about New York in
the American Revolution is a natural outgrowth of his interests and
experiences: In it he recreates the human story of the 18th century
battles, while locating them in the fabric of the modern city. The book
provides a walking tour of the historic sites that have been preserved
or marked, while the main narrative also enables the reader to imagine
those that haven't.
Similarly, his forthcoming book, The Devil's Own Work, includes
an extensive walking tour of Civil War New York.
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