American Architecture

11 Key excerpts on "American Architecture"

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  Ornamenting the »Cold Roast«

  The Domestic Architecture and Interior Design of Upper-Class Boston Homes, 1760-1880

  • Dorothee Wagner von Hoff(Author)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • transcript Verlag

    (Publisher)

  Domestic Architecture in America An American version of domestic architecture is an eclectic gathering of various styles and trends that European settlers influenced in individual ways. “Ameri-can settlers brought with them the building traditions of their home countries, so that the earliest architecture in the colonies reflected quite accurately the vernac-ular building traditions of the region of Europe where the settlers, or more accu-rately, the builders among them, had come from.” 1 As time passed and new set-tlers imported new architectural styles into the colonies, homes were being built and designed according to what was already known. The changes occurring in Europe were directly transferred into the American sphere and made available to newly settled and to well-situated citizens. Yet, although the American domestic landscape was continuously influenced by the designs being produced across the ocean, an American style did eventually evolve and did not allow itself to be entirely influenced by trends from abroad, national or international political situ-ations, or cultural ramifications that were previously deemed as the only ones appropriate and suitable for a nation stemming from the mother country. American domestic architecture evolved from an architecture that was im-ported from Europe, restored it according to geographical and cultural margins, and lastly sold and exported it as a distinct American lifestyle commodity. All the while, “Political rivalries aside, in aesthetic matters England was not consid-ered a foreign culture, but nurturing parent to America’s.” 2 As time went by and wars for freedom were fought, an evolution occurred within domestic architec-ture in America that endured a much longer fight for independence than any of 1 Janet W. Foster, The Queen Anne House: America’s Victorian Vernacular (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2006), 10.

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  Building the Nation

  Americans Write About Their Architecture, Their Cities, and Their Landscape

  • Steven Conn, Max Page, Steven Conn, Max Page(Authors)
  • 2016(Publication Date)
  • University of Pennsylvania Press

    (Publisher)

  The Beer Can by the Highway . What Kouwenhoven noticed about Americans was our fascination with speed, with force and with motion. In this piece, he sees an American Architecture embodied in, among other things, vernacular designs that express structural tensions and competing forces.

  We may ask what is “American” in architecture and design because we want to establish their continuity with buildings and objects of the past. And if this is our motive in asking the question we will, of course, be most interested in those buildings and objects whose structure and aesthetic effect are clearly related to, and thus comparable with, those of their predecessors in the Western tradition. We will concern ourselves, that is, with architecture in its textbook sense, as a fine art which has developed continuously, with local and national variants, throughout the Western world.

  If we approach the question in this way, taking “architecture” to mean churches, government buildings, and palaces (for princes or merchants), and taking “design” to include what the nineteenth century lumped as “Industrial Art” (manufactured objects to which one could apply “arts and crafts” decoration, such as pottery, textiles, bijouterie, and the printed page), we will probably conclude that the “American” quality is catholicity. We can find in the United States an imitation of almost any architectural style or decorative mannerism which ever existed in any other nation. And when we have done so, all we shall have demonstrated is what we already knew: that Americans came from everywhere, and brought with them the traditions—architectural and decorative as well as social and religious—of which they were the heirs. We shall have learned what is English or Spanish or German about our architecture and our design, and therefore how they relate to the Western tradition; but we shall know as little as ever about their “American” quality, if such there be. . . .

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  Modernist America

  Art, Music, Movies, and the Globalization of American Culture

  • Richard Pells(Author)
  • 2011(Publication Date)
  • Yale University Press

    (Publisher)

  Wright, who cultivated his fame as tenaciously as 64 did Jackson Pollock or Andy Warhol, perceived that architecture could be both an advertisement for one’s own outsized personality and a day-dream of an alternative life. And he created idiosyncratic dwellings that could potentially serve as the basis for new types of communities in the United States as well as abroad. Thus, just as foreign filmmakers landing in Hollywood in the 1920s and 1930s adjusted their talents to the requirements of the movie studios, so foreign architects, most of them refugees, tailored their principles to the values of America’s pioneer architects, and to the urban and suburban culture in which the American master builders instinctively thrived. As a result, the global impact of the modernist ar-chitecture that first transfigured Chicago and New York rested on quintessentially American ideas. The Urban Silhouette in America From the beginning, the hallmark of American Architecture was its eclecticism. America’s builders borrowed ideas and techniques from everywhere, as did their counterparts in all the other arts. Then they adapted these foreign styles to the necessities of America’s burgeoning urban civilization. No one cared about authenticity, not in a country—as Henry Adams noted—that worshiped multiplicity. The nineteenth-century American cityscape was littered with neoclassical banks and court-houses, Romanesque railroad stations, universities and churches with pseudo-Gothic spires, and stately homes that imitated Georgian man-sions or French châteaus. Even the statues of the nation’s heroes ap-peared more Greek than American. This was not, however, simply a matter of ransacking the archi-tectural past to beautify the American present. What American engi-neers and designers tried to do was integrate the glories of earlier cultures with the new technologies of the modern world.

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  Handbook of Historical Sociology

  • Gerard Delanty, Engin F Isin, Gerard Delanty, Engin F Isin(Authors)
  • 2003(Publication Date)
  • SAGE Publications Ltd

    (Publisher)

  Architecture has been an important site of nation-building projects, thus expressing par-ticularism in a much more specific sense. As suggested above, the development of the nation-state was often accompanied by a strong desire for state representations of the nation. State-led projects that attempted to codify an existing (or create a new) national identity often used architecture to embody the nation code, 4 and this usually meant modifying universal architectural styles to specific, or particular, national contexts. Culture generally, and architecture specifically, had a central role in defining the nation code in the modern age, as the development of nation-states necessi-tated the state giving a tangible form to an abstract ‘cultural community’ or nation. As a result of this, architecture became one of the most important ways that nations came to know and recognize themselves. In many ways architecture is a discourse that is particularly open to national codifica-tions through the modification of universals. The role of architects in designing such mon-umental, national buildings is to impose, through particularistic cultural references, for example, a ‘national style’. Architecture has often represented universalistic expressions of civilization and has frequently transcended the particularism of national cultures. Clearly, without modification (or particularization), universal architectural aesthetic styles such as Baroque, Classicism, Gothic or Modern do not distinguish one nation code sufficiently from any other. In the era of nation-state building it is clear that states encouraged the development of distinctive architectural styles to codify the nation. As a result of these tensions, the history of architecture as a built expression of national identity is a long and compelling one.

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  Information Resources in the Humanities and the Arts

  • Anna H. Perrault Ph.D., Elizabeth S. Aversa, Sonia Ramirez Wohlmuth, Cynthia J. Miller, Cynthia F. Miller(Authors)
  • 2012(Publication Date)
  • Libraries Unlimited

    (Publisher)

  The period between 1500 to 1700 starts in Japan and works its way to England and then back to the Far East so that the reader gets a real sense of the economic, political, religious, and technological forces at work around the world that shaped architecture. Ching is the author of several works on architecture among them, Architecture: Form, Space, and Order (Wiley, 2007) and Design Drawing (Wiley, 2010). 11-225 Greenwood Encyclopedia of Homes Through American History. Thomas W. Paradis, ed. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2008. 4 vols. This set covers ten historical periods of housing in the United States, beginning with the homes of Colonial America in 1492 and ending with homes of the suburban era in the 1970s. Entries cover the homes from a historical, social, and political perspective. 11-226 Grove Encyclopedia of Classical Art and Architecture. Gordon Campbell, ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007. 2 vols. This work offers more than 1,000 articles concentrating upon all aspects of the arts during the Greco- Roman periods. The publication combines information from Grove Art Online (entry 11-14) with updated entries (45,000 entries by over 6,700 contributors). Included are abbreviations, a thematic index in Vol. 1, a cumulative index in Vol. 2, and illustrations. 11-227 Historical Dictionary of Architecture. Allison Lee Palmer. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 2008. This historical overview of architecture includes cross-referenced entries for significant people, build- ings, styles and movements, and materials. Also included is a chronology of architectural develop- ments and bibliography to guide the reader to additional sources. As it is one volume, the coverage is not in-depth, but is well suited to be a personal handbook or a quick reference tool. 11-228 Icons of American Architecture: From the Alamo to the World Trade Center. Donald Langmead. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Press/ABC-CLIO, 2009.

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  The Gilded Age

  • Joel Shrock(Author)
  • 2004(Publication Date)
  • Greenwood

    (Publisher)

  The Neoclassi- cal designs certainly played strongly on the metaphors of empire, power, and culture of imperial Rome. Louis Sullivan and others in the Chicago School were horrified with this return to ostentatious Neoclassical de- sign. Other famous architects, however, like Daniel Burnham, Richard Morris Hunt, and the nation's most prestigious architectural firm Mc- Kim, Mead, and White (Charles Follen McKim, William Rutherford Mead, and Stanford White) all worked to create the awe-inspiring White City. Burnham would become a major figure in classicism of the Amer- ican Renaissance and an influential city planner; he spawned the City Beautiful movement. Courthouses and Capitols Perhaps the most visible public buildings to the average American, however, was not skyscrapers or the White City but county courthouses and state capitols. Influenced by Greek Revival, Romanesque Revival, and Neoclassical styles, county courthouses, and on a larger scale state capitols, capped with domes or impressive towers, were the massive monuments to the power of the United States as it conquered Native Americans and asserted its power and influence throughout the world. 1 RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECTURE The United States experienced a dramatic need for housing during the Gilded Age as the population exploded with massive immigration and migration from the countryside to cities. A wide array of architects and builders responded with new types of residential living from company towns to tenements to new apartments. As the new leisure culture ex- panded in this era, more Americans also sought the amenities in their homes that made their lives easier or more pleasant. Middle-class Amer- icans in particular imbued their homes with special philosophical sig- Architecture 65 nificance as a refuge from the turmoil of the world and as signs of their class status.

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  Architectural Research Addressing Societal Challenges Volume 2

  Proceedings of the EAAE ARCC 10th International Conference (EAAE ARCC 2016), 15-18 June 2016, Lisbon, Portugal

  • Manuel Jorge Rodrigues Couceiro da Costa, Filipa Roseta, Susana Couceiro da Costa, Joana Pestana Lages, Manuel Jorge Rodrigues Couceiro da Costa, Filipa Roseta, Susana Couceiro da Costa, Joana Pestana Lages(Authors)
  • 2017(Publication Date)
  • CRC Press

    (Publisher)

  Fig. 1 ), the issues of preservation of historical heritage, debated for over two centuries in Europe, have been addressed over time in different ways. In a country characterized by a strong spirit of innovation and given the dominant position of economics in public and private choices, the transformation of the building heritage had less to do with scrupulous attitudes than in the Old World. Nevertheless recently we can notice a growing awareness, demonstrated by greater integration between environmental protection and urban planning (Mugayar Kühl 2007: 139), also in terms of sustainable development (Stubbs & Makaš 2011: 473–74). We can clearly see that the results of preservation are strongly conditioned by the intense connection between the private and public sectors (Rosina & Corbin Murphy 2002: 55).

  Reflections on architectural history and on historical heritage preservation were at a crucial point in the 1960’s and 1970’s, also illustrated by the birth of the National Historic Preservation Act in 1966 and the successive territorial conservation registers and commissions (Longstreth 1999: 326). During this period scholars and American professionals looked at the European experiences (Figs. 2–3), as demonstrated by the Getty Conservation Institute’s effort to publicize European ideas in the USA (Mugayar Kühl 2007: 139).

  With regards to the different context and architecture, attitudes differ: in America, aspects like national identification, symbolism and historical narration, as well as economic interest are more important than the authenticity or the historical value of the building. In American culture a restored and preserved building has no intrinsic value as layering of history, and it is ‘disconnected’ from the flow of time. Architecture is seen “as a tool for illustrating history” (Fiorani 2013: 17); at the same time, a historical building which does not have a symbolic and patriotic value, is susceptible to transformation, replacement or demolition.

  American thought has long been influenced by a rigid idea of preservation, basing the classification and evaluation of cultural heritage only on style, function and symbolism. Nevertheless, it should be pointed out that recently a new focus on the issue of preservation of existing buildings is emerging. Indeed, “today increasing numbers of high-caliber students in doctoral as well as master’s programs are giving serious consideration to the field” (Longstreth 1999: 332). The recent awareness in dealing with the theme of preservation and restoration is indeed evident in the university programs of the main American schools of architecture, analysis of which highlights how students are faced with the issues of authenticity and testimonial value of historical heritage, with a more critical attitude towards preserving historical buildings than in the past.

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  Architectural Design and Drawing

  • (Author)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • The English Press

    (Publisher)

  ________________________ WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ________________________ Chapter-5 Architectural Style Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture. In architectural history, the study of Gothic architecture, for instance, would include all aspects of the cultural context that went into the design and construction of these structures. Hence, architectural style is a way of classifying architecture that gives emphasis to characteristic features of design, leading to a terminology such as Gothic style. Classical architecture ________________________ WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ________________________ Classical architecture is a mode of architecture employing vocabulary derived in part from the Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, enriched by classicizing architectural practice in Europe since the Renaissance. Classical architecture has inspired many more recent architects and has led to revivals such as neoclassical architecture from the mid-18th century and the Greek Revival of the 19th century. Archaeological use The Casa das Fontes in the ancient roman city of Conímbriga, Portugal. Classical architecture can be divided into: • Greek architecture before Alexander the Great • Hellenistic architecture • Roman architecture Only Greek architecture in the time before Alexander (who died in 323 BC) carries an authentic, ethnic designation. The ancient Greeks were notoriously dismissive of barbaroi – those who spoke Greek non-natively or not at all. The incredible conquests of Alexander and the subsequent application of a veneer of Greek city states to a base of Egyptian, Semitic, and Iranian populations produced an important change.

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  Know All About Architectural Design

  • (Author)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • The English Press

    (Publisher)

  ________________________ WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ________________________ Chapter-6 Architectural Style Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture. In architectural history, the study of Gothic architecture, for instance, would include all aspects of the cultural context that went into the design and construction of these structures. Hence, architectural style is a way of classifying architecture that gives emphasis to characteristic features of design, leading to a terminology such as Gothic style. Classical architecture ________________________ WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ________________________ Classical architecture is a mode of architecture employing vocabulary derived in part from the Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, enriched by classicizing architectural practice in Europe since the Renaissance. Classical architecture has inspired many more recent architects and has led to revivals such as neoclassical architecture from the mid-18th century and the Greek Revival of the 19th century. Archaeological use The Casa das Fontes in the ancient roman city of Conímbriga, Portugal. Classical architecture can be divided into: • Greek architecture before Alexander the Great • Hellenistic architecture • Roman architecture Only Greek architecture in the time before Alexander (who died in 323 BC) carries an authentic, ethnic designation. The ancient Greeks were notoriously dismissive of barbaroi – those who spoke Greek non-natively or not at all. The incredible conquests of Alexander and the subsequent application of a veneer of Greek city states to a base of Egyptian, Semitic, and Iranian populations produced an important change. Though speaking Greek remained the touchstone of whether one was a member of civilized

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  Architecture of the United States

  • (Author)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • The English Press

    (Publisher)

  ________________________ WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ________________________ Chapter-2 Federal Architecture Central Pavilion, Tontine Crescent , Boston, 1793-1794, by Charles Bulfinch Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the United States between c. 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815. This style shares its name with its era, the Federal Period . In the early Republic, the founding generation consciously chose to associate the nation with the ancient democracies of Greece and the republican values of Rome. Grecian aspirations informed the Greek Revival, lasting into the 1850s. Using Roman architectural vocabulary, the Federal style applied to the balanced and symmetrical version of Georgian architecture that had been practiced in the American colonies new motifs of Neoclassical architecture as it was epitomized in Britain by Robert Adam, who published his designs in 1792. The ________________________ WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ________________________ classicizing manner of constructions and town planning undertaken by the federal government was expressed in federal projects of lighthouses and harbor buildings, hospitals and in the rationalizing urbanistic layout of L'Enfant's Washington DC and in New York the Commissioners' Plan of 1811. Julia Row, New Orleans, 1830s: Federal townhouses with commercial space behind the ground-floor arcaded windows In two generations during which a gentleman's education included the ability to draw up an idiomatic classical elevation for craftsmen who were themselves trained in the classical vocabulary, and where masons and house carpenters on their own produced a refined vernacular architecture, this American neoclassical high style was the idiom of America's first professional architects, in the generation of c. 1800, men such as Charles Bulfinch, architect of the Massachusetts State House, Boston, or Minard Lafever

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  Know All About Culture of the United States (Volume-2)

  • (Author)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • Learning Press

    (Publisher)

  ________________________ WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ________________________ Chapter- 2 Architecture of the United States The architecture of the United States demonstrates a broad variety of architectural styles and built forms over the country's history of nearly three centuries. Architecture in the United States is as diverse as its multicultural society and has been shaped by many internal and external factors and regional distinctions. As a whole it represents a rich eclectic and innovative tradition. Pre-Columbian Cliff Palace, an ancient dwelling complex in Colorado. The oldest structures on the territory that is now known as the United States were made by the Ancient Pueblo People of the four corners region. The Tiwa speaking people have inhabited Taos Pueblo continuously for over 1000 years. The related Chacoan civilization ________________________ WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ________________________ built extensive public architecture in northwestern New Mexico from CE 700 - 1250 until drought forced them to relocate. Another related people, now best known through the Cliff Palace and neighboring structures in Mesa Verde National Park, created distinctive cliff dwellings in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona from the 12th through to the 14th century. A longhouse at the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia Other Native American Architecture is known from traditional structures, such as long houses, wigwams, tipis and hogans. Images by Theodor de Bry of local Algonquian villages Pomeiooc and Secoton in what later became coastal North Carolina survive from the late 16th century. Artist and cartographer John White stayed at the short-lived Roanoke Colony for 13 months and recorded over 70 watercolor images of indigenous people, plants, and animals. ________________________ WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ________________________ The remote location of the Hawaiian Islands from North America gave ancient Hawaii a substantial period of precolonial architecture.

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