KARYA ILMIAH
THE CULTURAL MEANING OF AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE
oleh : RUMONDANG MIRANDA MARSAULINA, SP., MSi
FAKULTAS KEGURUAN DAN ILMU PENDIDIKAN UNIVERSITAS HKBP NOMMENSEN MEDAN 2010
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PREFACE
This article depicts the ways American ideal values has influenced in developing the art of American architecture manifested by Americans‘ attitudes to always tend to bring the passion of ideal architecture styles into reality, yet at the same time emphasize pragmatism through making the building structure serve their daily needs. Written based on the description qualitative research using the library research designed to survey the written materials from some related references, this article discusses the stages where Americans have undergone to find their own cultural identities mirrored in the development of architectural design styles. The material written in this text can be exploited as the content of a different method in teaching English-speaking countries‘ culture, like America to the English learners. The description of the integrated elements of architecture, technology, and art to unfold American culture through its history of building styles can increase their awareness and appreciation of the culture from the countries of target language, associating it with their own cultural heritage and becoming more confident in acquiring the language they intend to master. The writer recognizes that the writing needs continuous reviews. Hence, critiques from the readers of this article are always warmly welcomed.
Medan, August 2010
The writer,
Rumondang Miranda Marsaulina, SP. MSi
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE i
TABLE OF CONTENTS ii
I. INTRODUCTION 4 I.1. Background 4 I.2. The Purpose of Writing 6 I.3. The Focus of Writing 6 I.4. Approach 7
II. HOW AMERICAN VALUES AFFECTS ITS ARCHITECTURE SPIRIT 8 II.1. A Brief History of American Architecture Styles 8 II.2. American‘s Manifest Destiny In Exterior Design 10 II.3. Timeline of The American‘s Building Style 11
III. AMERICAN VALUE PERSPECTIVE IN THE EARLY AMERICAN 20 BUILDING III.1. Early American Colonial House Styles 21 III.2. American Pragmatic Values In Early Construction 22 III.3. American‘s Tolerance Spirit-Mirrored Color Schemes 23 III.4. The Seeds of American‘s Cultural Diversity In European 24 Influenced Style III.5. American‘s High Culture-Found Design 26 III.6. The Colonial Revival Style 26
IV. THE AMERICAN’S INDUSTRIAL AND URBAN CULTURE 29 IMPACT IV.1. Urban Modern American Estates 30 IV.2. What Post Modernist Architecture Era Reveals 33
V. AMERICAN VALUES AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS 35 V. 1. American‘s New Perspective of Ecology In Building Designs 36 V.1.1. The Sustainability Era 36 V.1. 2.Sustainable Architecture In a Pluralist Universe 38 V.1.3. The New American Perspective‘s Language For Educating American‘s Zeitgeist Building Styles
VI. CONCLUSION 43
REFERENCES 45
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I. INTRODUCTION
I.1. Background
The art of American architecture always develops based on the pragmatism tradition combined with the spirit of tolerating new things and pluralism together with the passion to produce uniquely creative designs. The history began when the first colonists were arriving in North America. The early settlers coming from the well-educated middle class ranks in England were always thirsty of the memories of their traditional architecture; nonetheless, they also found that they should be pragmatic and efficient due to the capital and skilled labors shortage as well as the problem of the wilderness they ought to face on frontiers.
To illustrate, the early pilgrims recognized as the Puritan people in Guilford,
Connecticut, built a three-feet thick stone wall house for their priest in 1639. Another example was ―the Old Ship Meeting House‖ constructed by the Separatist in 1681.
Despite its English traditional designs imitation, it was adapted to meet their needs of a church, a hall, and a shelter. Almost all of the buildings were simply furnished and utilized, reflecting the Puritans‘ strong awareness of the urgency to design their places in the new world as practically and efficiently as possible. That was why not only should their houses be comfortably living home, but it had also to serve them as a fortress against
Indians attack and animals threat.
Meanwhile, immigrants in South were people who had turned from the rags in their countries of origins to the rich and honored men encouraging them to build the dreaming houses they once not be able to afford in their old land. Once they felt they had been prosperous enough, they had concentrated on constructing castles designed as identical as the residence of the monarch in homeland. For example, the ―Bacon Castle‖ established similarly to the English castle style around 1655 can be regarded as the representation of
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South style buildings. It is a brick castle built by putting the snail‘s shell roof an imitation of ―Flemishan style‖ on it. This style will remind every person seeing it of the decoration inside the Montacute House built 70 years earlier in Somerset, England.
As the end of the 17th century approached, the Northern people had the tendency to emulate ―the new classical English style‖ very popular in England at the time. The new styled buildings were constructed by emphasizing comfort, convenience, and privacy for people living in it. The houses were painted white or yellow or red. They were built with separate rooms for sleeping, cooking, dining, and so on. Fireplaces in living quarters became smaller and more efficient, for they were only used for heating.
To the Northern people, ―the new classical English style‖ was adapted to their surroundings and climate as well as puritan influence resulting in less ornamentation and smaller scale. Though the society had gradually turned from pure pragmatic and functional-minded people to those illuminated by sophisticated things of the era, they continued to be efficient and pragmatic since they had still faced source shortages like the lack of skilled craftsmen. For the reason, they constructed simple and multifunctional houses to fit themselves to the condition they had to face, yet in expressing their sentiments they still made some efforts to preserve the original structures of buildings in the homeland.
In matter of building material use, for instance, they continued to use old parts considered useful of their buildings. For instance, an owner of a 17th century-exquisitely- decorated edifice in the suburban of Boston, Massachusetts, preferred renovating upstairs and outer part of the building to destroying the whole structures in order to replicate the new style. The concept which emphasizes efficiency and pragmatism despite the passion of realizing ideal models becomes the root of the art of American architecture.
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This descriptive-qualitative writing based on library research depicts how some of
American ideal values has influenced in developing the art of American architecture manifested by Americans‘ attitudes to always tend to bring the passion of ideal architecture styles into reality, yet at the same time emphasize pragmatism through making the building structure serve their daily needs.
I.2. THE PURPOSE OF WRITING
This article was written to reveal out if there was a connection between American values as well as traditions and the evolution of the country's building and home style designs. The scientific writing contains the American‘s process of values and tradition establishment reflected through the transformation of American architecture from the times the early settlers landed their foot on the new land to the nation-wide green movement striving for more environmentally conscious structures which has spawned the era of pluralism-friendly sustainable architecture. Finally, it aims to dilate people‘s mind to have a better vision of the presence of multiethnic culture which is lasting influence on the American life style.
I.3. THE FOCUS OF WRITING
The writing focuses on examining if the American cultural values have been proven to have directed the development of American‘s building styles. It also concentrates on elaborating the American‘s cultural values or virtues and tradition that has contributed to the development of American domestic architecture by surveying the detailed historical recorded on the timeline of American‘s art of architecture in numerous literary works.
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I.4. APPROACH
The article is a descriptive-qualitative writing based on library research design. The research conducted is by a survey type. The data collected was from the written materials giving findings on how several American ideal values and traditions have influenced in the development of American architectural styles. The data taken was also from the sources which helped the writer to examine whether the Americans‘ attitudes and virtues always tended to bring the passion of ideal architecture styles into reality, yet at the same time emphasized pragmatism through making the building structure serving their daily needs.
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II. HOW AMERICAN VALUES AFFECT ITS ARCHITECTURE SPIRIT
II.1. A BRIEF HISTORY OF AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE STYLES
The architecture of American buildings began during the 17th century, when their forefathers came to North America. The settlers brought with them varied building techniques from their homeland. Being creative and adapting to the climate, skills and available building materials, they set out building-quality construction which varied among the different settlements.
In the South the mansions depicted Roman and Greek design. In New Orleans for instance, the French government indeed sent skill architects to produce the quality of buildings as those in France while the Spanish settlers in the Southwest borrowed the style of the Native Americans upon building the adobe structures of their homes. At the same time, the New England went about building gabled buildings with Gothic inspiration.
Toward the beginning of the 18th century, Americans who just won their independence from the Britain Monarch and whose two of founding fathers President‘s
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson that were very interested in architecture and influential in the planning and building of Washington, DC desired to establish an identity completely separated from their former British colonizers. President Thomas Jefferson in particular had put enormous effort in manifesting the passion into the American‘s unique structures of architecture creation for he had considered American-English classic architectural patterns would remind them of British monarch tyranny. Thus, he addressed to the Renaissance and Ancient Roman architectures as references to develop the new architecture of America.
To create a unique American architecture and to express reality of America condition, Jefferson mixed Renaissance and Ancient Roman styles harmoniously with
American wild nature views. To illustrate, he set up his house, Monticello, as if it were
Page 8 of 49 part of Charlottesville, Virginia hills enabling people inside the building to enjoy farmlands along the hills on the east side and widely waving forest on the west side.
Jefferson also modeled the University of Virginia building to Pantheon structure in
Rome. He applied American’s efficiency and pragmatism traditions by developing 10 pavilions not only as classes but also as flats for professors of the university. Like his house, he established the university he named as ―an academic village‖ in harmony with the surrounding environment. In the same way, Jefferson introduced a Roman Temple design called ―Maison Carree‖ of Nimes, France to construct the House of Representative building in Virginia.
The Americans named the Jefferson‘s design‖ the Republicanism Architecture.‖ It inspired an American architect, Henry Walters, to construct the House of Representative building in Columbus, the state of Ohio. It had become the inspiration of various styles of architecture art of USA government offices as well. Finally, ―the Republicanism
Architecture‖ reflecting Americans‘ to be unique idealism while shows the tendency of being down-to-earth was considered the first original design of American architecture and had commonly been used to shape Americans houses.
Furthermore, an architect named Alexander Jackson Davis set up a house which was a perfect imitation of ―English country lodge style‖ in 1858. The style was the design of ―Gothic Revival‖ which became the dominant style for country houses in England during the Queen Victoria era. The Gothic Revival Houses or the English Country Lodges were built of stone in which their interior and exterior reminded people of the romance of medieval age. Moreover, the high demand for quickly constructed buildings combined with the abundance of fine timber and the strong carpentry tradition in America had encouraged other American architects to build the ―English country lodge style‖ of wood greatly facilitated by the introduction of the steam-powered scroll. This adapted structure
Page 9 of 49 was named as the ―Carpenter's Gothic‖ style. It is chiefly distinctive by its profusion of sawn details.
Along with the growth of American economy resulting in the increase of middle class and urban industrial population, ―the Republicanism Architecture‖ style was replaced by new designs suitable with the need of the new population. For the middle class population, dreaming to live in places out of big cities while at the same time expecting to be able to access the cities easily because of their mobile activities, the architect Llewellyn Haskell created a ―West Orange real estate‖ model. The estate was, at the beginning, developed in the suburban of New Jersey. In designing the architecture of his estate, Haskell had the road constructed harmoniously with the land contour and the wood planted surrounding the road to create green environment.
By the second half of the 19th century, the trend of modern design was to use steel, cast iron and concrete to construct buildings. It was during this time the skyscrapers began to be built. Glass and steel towers sprung up throughout the USA. Early American designs then were replaced by the strong architectural statement of glass and steel.
Then by the 1960′s in the 20th century American houses changed to have attached garages, front porches went out of style. It was during this time that family rooms were the gathering place, replacing the formal living room.
II.2. AMERICAN MANIFEST’S DESTINY IN EXTERIOR DESIGN
Paradis (2011) built a concept in the web of www.architecturalstyles.com that exterior styles are a product of deeper cultural values that represent a particular place and time. Back when the spread of cultural ideas and fashions across the country was slower, certain architectural styles remained in vogue for multiple decades or longer, and often revealed a distinctly regional identity. By the Victorian Era of the mid-to-late nineteenth
Page 10 of 49 century, multiple styles became simultaneously popular and readily available throughout the United States, ushering in what historians refer to as the ―Eclectic Era‖ of architecture, when Americans had their choice of numerous modern or revival styles.
This co-existing fascination with so-called ―period styles‖ and early modernism continued unabated until the Great Depression. Relatively little building construction took place between 1929 and 1945. Not until after World War II did America see another national building boom, by which time automobile suburbs, modern-era housing and office towers were the rule.
America‘s modern era of functionalism and a general aversion to historic references dominated the built environment from the 1940s through the 1980s. The familiar ―glass box‖ office tower and ubiquitous suburban ranch house are still powerful symbols of this anti-stylistic era when ―form followed function‖. Changes were brewing by the 1970s, however, leading America to react against modern architecture and planning practices.
Historic styles became gradually popular once again, coinciding with the now-booming historic preservation movement. Colonial Revival elements adorned otherwise modern ranch houses, and by the 1990s a vague ―postmodern era‖ was in full swing.
II.3. TIMELINE OF THE AMERICAN’s BUILDING STYLES
Styles inspired by the wide variety of ethnic and cultural diversity in America‘s landscape have been as following:
1. Colonial
More than simply the design elements, Colonial architecture refers to the time period
in American architecture, between the early 1600s, when the first colonists began to
build settlements and 1776, the year the colonies declared their independence from
England.
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Economical, refined and basic, the colonial designs reflect the buildings practices
of America‘s early settlers. Although Colonial architecture is often thought of as
stately and symmetrical with an orderly arrangement of windows, it actually comes
in several sizes, shapes and styles reflecting the diverse cultural traditions of the
English, Dutch, Spanish and French.
2. Georgian
Fanciful and royal, the Georgian architecture was styled in honor of the first three
monarchs of England, all of whom were named George. Formal and majestic
Georgian homes are known for their refined and symmetrical design with paired
chimneys and a decorative crown over the front door.
Another unique feature is the orderly row of five windows across the second story.
With sport side-gabled roofs, Georgian houses are two to three stories high, and
constructed in brick. Besides symmetry, this kind of architecture is symbolized by
rich classical detail such as large Greek or Roman style columns, elaborate
entryways with beautifully arched windows resting atop them and elegant
ornamentation.
Georgian is among the most long-lived styles of American building forms, still
popular for new townhouses or suburban homes into the 21st century. Named after
King George III of England, the style was inspired primarily by two early high-
style examples in colonial America: namely, the Wren Building, 1695, at the
College of William and Mary; and the Virginia Governor‘s Palace in
Williamsburg, VA. The style reflected the order and symmetry of Renaissance
ideals, made popular by architect Sir Christopher Wren in England after 1650.
In the English colonies, style was beginning to matter by the late 1600s and the general level of prosperity was increasing. These factors led to the wide-scale adoption of
Page 12 of 49 the Georgian style from Maine to Georgia. Curiously, Pennsylvanians continued building
Georgian row houses until the Civil War, while New Englanders had abandoned Georgian style mostly by 1800.
3. Gothic Revival
Although this style was never popular as Greek or Italianate styles, it became popular
in the mid 1800s and remained the popular on demand style for churches nationally
right up through the 1940s (WWII) due primarily to its association with European
ecclesiastical architecture.
The style was largely influenced by English romanticism and intricate wooden
millwork. It was characterized by Gothic windows with distinctive pointed arches and
featured exposed framing timbers and steep vaulted roofs with cross-gables. They also
included extravagant features such as towers and verandas.
Gothic Revival was mostly promoted as a rural style for early suburban, country
houses; its unique designs typically did not fit standard city lots. This design was the
most abundant in the northeastern U.S. between 1840-1860 for houses, which were
usually constructed a wood-frame form referred to as Carpenter Gothic.
4. Greek Revival
Considered to be a subset of the larger Neo-classical period, Greek Revival became
the dominant style in America between especially 1820-1850. It was consequently
referred to as the ―national style‖ due to its popularity. Further west, simplified
versions of the style have been dubbed as the ―Territorial style‖ in early Western
towns, such as Santa Fe, NM or Tombstone, AZ. The style diffused westward with
settlers (especially New Englanders, across upstate New York), and is considered to
have been the first American architectural style to reach the American West Coast.
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As for inspirations and beginnings, Thomas Jefferson designed his rural home at Monticello near Charlottesville, VA in 1770. The future President is considered by some to be the last great Palladian architect, to be heavily influenced by the Renaissance- era‘s Andrea Palladio. Monticello is clearly a simplified version of Palladio‘s Villa Capra
(La Rotonda), located outside Vicenza, Italy.
Jefferson believed in architecture as a symbol, and he despised Williamsburg due to its English origins. The reason was that revolutionaries were attempting to distance themselves from the British both politically and symbolically. In short, colonial
Williamsburg represented colonial exploitation. During his five years in France, Jefferson learned of Roman architecture and its symbolic association with Greek democracy.
Inspired from Europe, he had designed and built the Virginia State Capitol, considered to be the first building of the neoclassical movement in either U.S. or Europe by 1785. To Jefferson architecture was a form of visual education in support of democratic ideals.
The Greek Revival movement became widely accepted throughout the early U.S. as a symbol of the new democracy. Greek place names, street names, and temple-front architecture became dominant throughout the Northeast and into the Midwest. Curiously,
Pennsylvanians adopted the Greek Revival style only in minimal ways, preferring instead the tradition of the Georgian row house, right up through the Civil War. In the American
South it became popular for urban townhouses as well as the now-famous plantation manors that mark the countryside with their full-length porticos and classical columns.
5. Prairie House
This is one of the few indigenous American styles, developed by a creative group of
Chicago architects known collectively as the Prairie School. Frank Lloyd Wright is essentially the ―father‖ of the Prairie style, and the acknowledged master of the prairie
Page 14 of 49 house. Wright proclaimed that the style had been inspired by the belief that ―Democracy needed something better than a box‖.
Wright‘s prairie style focused specifically on midwestern regionalism, with its horizontal, open floor plans representing the expansive prairie region. Though avoiding historical stylistic trends of the competing revival styles, the prairie style made subtle use of Japanese architecture, specifically its use of horizontal space, flowing interior spaces; low-pitched, hipped roofs with broad eaves, and long bands of windows that apparently invoke the idea of Japanese screens : small, patterned panel glass. Though short-lived in the U.S., this is the first American style to be taken seriously in Europe (McAlester &
McAlester ).
This American architectural style peaked between the years 1900s and 1920s and focused on modest homes that blended the natural beauty of the Midwestern landscape. It consists of two main styles – boxy and symmetrical or low-slung and asymmetrical and the materials used are brick and clapboard. It has low-pitched gable roofs with eaves extending well beyond the walls, creating an effect that allows it to blend with the scenery.
Other details included pronounced overhangs, stone belts to accentuate the horizontal designs, rows of casement windows, one-story porches with massive square supports as well as stylized floral and circular geometric terra-cotta or masonry decorations around doors, windows, and cornices.
6. Shingles Victorian
This American architectural style was used widely in cottages along the trendy, wealthy North-eastern coastal towns of Long Island and Newport in the late 19th century.
Wide porches, unadorned doors, windows, and cornices, steeply pitched roof lines are symbolic of this style. Continuous wood shingles cover the entire surface of the home,
Page 15 of 49 giving it a cohesive look. Some unique features in this style include dormers, recessed balconies, and side towers with bell or conical roofs structured under the shingles.
7. Victorian
Victorian architecture in America originated in the second half of the 19th century, when America was identifying new approaches to building and design. Victorian styles include Second Empire, Italianate, Stick, and Queen Anne among others. Advances in modern technology ensured the incorporation of ornamentation such as brackets, spindles, and patterned shingles into the Victorian designs.
8. Art Deco
The Art Deco style was an echo of the Machine Age and became popular in the
1920s. The style strove for a modern and artistic expression to complement the machine age, emphasizing the future rather than the past which latter turned to the style‘s principal characteristic.
It was stylized by geometric decorative elements and a vertically oriented design.
Towers and other projections above the roofline enhance the vertical emphasis of this style while flat roofs, metal window casements, and smooth stucco walls with rectangular cut- outs are symbolic of the Art Deco exterior. Facades are marked with zig-zags and other stylized floral, geometric and sunrise motifs. A distinctly urban style, Art Deco in
American architecture was used widely and popularly for commercial buildings during this period.
As the first widely popular style in U.S. to break with revivalist tradition represented by Beaux-Arts and period houses, the Art Deco uses a style of decoration that was applied to jewelry, clothing, furniture, handicrafts, and – in this case – buildings. Industrial designers used art deco motifs to decorate streamlined cars, trains, kitchen appliances, and many other machine-age innovations. Art Deco takes its name from the Exposition
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Internationale des Arts Decoratives and Industriels Modernes, held in Paris 1925. This
event was billed as a showcase for works of ―new inspiration and real originality‖.
Both Art Deco and its cousin, Art Moderne, were rarely used for houses; they were
more common for commercial buildings and skyscrapers, and occasional institutional
buildings. The styles were most popular in New York City and other large metropolitan
areas that continued to grow during the 1930s and 40s. Though relatively rare compared to
other more popular styles, both Art Deco and Art Moderne spread widely throughout the
country into large city and small town alike.
9. International
By the late 1920s, American architects and clients were increasingly persuaded that
European modernism was both visually progressive and structurally sound. After
WWII, American interests were characterized by a confident, enthusiastic desire to ―get on
with the business of progress‖. Pragmatic utilitarianism became the driving force
throughout America.
Commercial architecture became an increasingly important form of public relations:
the building provided an image for a corporation desiring to promote itself. The ideas of
the earlier International style that emerged in the 1920s and 30s were still potent, and thus
the style flourished during the first major building boom, 1948-49. The leading architect
and proponent of the style after the War was Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who believed in
structural honesty and designed some of the earliest glass and curtain-wall office towers of
the 1950s.
European architects initiated the modern style of architecture in the 20th century.
Using materials such as concrete, glass and steel, it was devoid of ornamentation or
decoration. The architectural landscape in the international style introduced the idea of
Page 17 of 49 exposed functional building elements such as elevator shafts, ground-to-ceiling plate glass windows, and smooth facades.
Even more radical than art deco or art moderne, the international ―style‖ was promoted as a solution for those who scorned art deco. However, as well as the Art Deco, the style were rarely used for houses and more common for commercial and institutional buildings through the 1970s. Except for houses, international-style forms completely dominated American architecture from the 1950s through the late 1970s. This (anti-) style epitomized the height of the modern movement in the United States and Europe. For instance, the World Trade Center towers (c.1974) in New York City represented the height of the International-style office tower of the 1970s, literally, as still does the (former)
Sears Tower in Chicago.
10. Tudor
This architecture was initiated in the 1920s and 1930s, but continues to remain a popular architectural style in suburbs across the United States even today. It is characterized by half-timbering on bay windows and upper floors with facades that are pronounced by one or more steeply pitched cross gables. Patterned brick or stone walls, rounded doorways, multi-paned casement windows, and large stone chimneys are also some of the features of this architectural style.
11. Contemporary
Contemporary-style homes became hugely popular between 1950 and 1970. There were two types of contemporary American architecture – the flat-roof type and the gabled roof type. These were characterized by odd-sized and often tall windows, lack of ornamentation, and unique mixtures of wall materials like stone, brick, and wood. Both types of designs were one-story tall and designed to incorporate the surrounding architectural landscape into their overall look.
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During the 20th century, the European refugee architects had contributed to enliven the art of American architecture as well. They introduced ―international style‖ regarded flexible design used anywhere. The design of the house is characterized by asymmetrical compositions, cubic shapes, decoration shortage, and the use of metal and glass. It was usually supported by eight iron pillars. Inside the house, there was a universal room divided into four groups of usage.
However, the style did not meet Americans idea of being in harmony with nature.
The structure of the house has made people living in it feel uncomfortable because of the heat. Thus, Philip Johnson, an American architect, had renovated the style from 1945 to
1946. He set up a glass house at the corner of a stage shaped terrace that lied on the top of a small hill so that the house could be covered by emetic trees.
Presently people increasingly long to live with traditional design for the lasting value not only for the present but in the future. Quality construction does not become tired or outdate, rather the elegant design will age gracefully. Good buildings will increase in value over time instead of decrease.
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III. AMERICAN VALUE PERSPECTIVE IN THE COLONIAL AMERICAN BUILDING
The Early American design style is rooted in the independent spirit of the first colonists; it was inspired by the natural materials in the new environment and the traditions of the countries from which the the early settlers came. According to American art history sources, around 1650, the very first 17th century early American homes of the settlers were one-room homes that served multi-purpose functions of living, dining cooking and sleeping. For example, there was a single fireplace that served heating and cooking functions. The foremost Early Americans‘ house designs mirror the first settlers‘ trying to protect themselves from the harsh elements, dangerous wild animals, and attacks by Native Americans.
When they eventually felt a degree of security with regard to these dangers and uncertainties, they started to develop an interest in enhancing their abodes and structures, and devoted more determined efforts in the direction of aesthetics and comfort in their new found country.
Later on around 1675, two rooms of colonial homes were constructed with a central fireplace and chimney. The central fireplace had two openings, each facing one room. The two room homes, just as the earlier one room home styles, had attics that were accessible through very steep stairs leading from a tiny hallway at the entrance. Their entrance doors were positioned centrally on the longer exterior wall with window openings on the sides opening into each room.
After 1725, many more complex home designs were introduced. The four room home designs followed the two room houses around 1750. A central corridor or hallway was created that ran the full depth of the structure. A wooden staircase led upstairs from the hallway to the rooms above. An initial attempt was made to fashion a central fireplace
Page 20 of 49 and chimney, but this later proved clumsy and impractical. Eventually, they found that a two chimney features worked out better and was much more effective in four room homes, with each chimney serving two rooms.
III.1. EARLY AMERICAN COLONIAL HOUSE STYLES
The North of the United States had settlers who were mainly religious enthusiasts, while the South was inhabited with wealthy plantation owners who lived like lords, acquired rare breed horses, travelled in their coaches-and-six, and had slave labour till their thousands of acres of farm land obtained by royal grant. The cultural virtue differences then had played important role in the choice of designing homes and buildings in each area.
In New England, as opposed to places like Virginia and Pennsylvania; inhabitants did not have much appreciation for the arts, architectural styles and decorative forms for either the interior or exterior of their buildings. Initially, all houses of the earliest
American art periods were built with wood and had wood planks erected as internal dividing walls. It was not until the very early years of the 18th century that walls made of rectangular panels was introduced and became the popular choice for building construction.
The New England Colonial home design styles of 1700 were called the salt-box houses and were typical of the provincial style. They had extra rooms added to the back of the earlier home styles of the two room homes, just like add-on structures, with the roof structure sloping down towards the building's rear to cover the homes extension.
History of art records explains that the very first settlers from England that berthed on American shores built residential structures (more like huts or wigwams) out of mud, clay, wood bark and tree branches. Roofing materials was thatch. Even though these first
Page 21 of 49 structures can hardly be categorized as decorative period arts, yet it is good to make mention of the fact that they may be considered as an art in itself, something fashioned to serve a very vital necessity, as 'art is life'.
On the other hand, the homes in Virginia and the southern regions had home styles that had additions of rooms on the sides which invariably visually increased the size and width of the building. The southern Colonial houses, especially the homes in the Carolinas and Virginia were better planned and elaborately crafted with aesthetically pleasing interiors, because the southerners were far ahead and more advanced in the appreciation of the decorative arts than their Northern brothers. Houses built in the Southern states were erected in brick, as early as 1670, and many of the grand homes showed evidence of a people with a taste for the decorative arts and the use of classic architectural features in their building interiors.
By the 1730's, southern Colonial houses were built almost always for grand entertaining and comfortable living. Their appreciation of the decorative arts saw them having their home styles with beautiful entrance halls and elaborate sweeping stairways.
These were their most important interior design features (McRae, 2011).
III.2. AMERICAN PRAGMATIC VALUES IN THE EARLY CONSTURCTION
In the Early American Period of the 17th century, practically all buildings in both
Virginia and New England were constructed using wood, but around 1680, other building materials were found and incorporated into their forms. For example, oyster shells, though not available in abundance in many regions was used for making lime to use as a form of plaster. Stone was also used to build, but without mortar. However, such stone structures proved to cause excessive dampness within the interior.
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Homes and public buildings were constructed from local woods and stone. This use of natural materials also influenced the interiors. Furniture was carved from local woods, fabric woven from raw materials such as cotton and wool, and pottery made from earthen materials such as clay and pewter. Ladderback and slat back chairs and benches carved from woods found locally.
III.3. AMERICAN’s SPIRIT-TOLERANCE COLOR SCHEMES
Early settlers did not have the advantage of going to the local hardware store for a can of paint, but they did bring color into their homes. Dyed fabrics for curtains and brightly colored quilts for beds added charm and were, of course, of practical use. As
America became a more advanced civilization, the ability to expand on design grew proportionately.
As early as the 18th century, homeowners painted their wood trim in pale colors that coordinated with the lighter colors of plaster walls. Wood planks were used in flooring and stained to resemble the dark rich color of oak or walnut or the paler shades of pine or maple. It was fabrics, though, that brought color into the home. Made from natural materials, fabrics were brightly colored; deep reds and blues, rich purples and sunny yellows in quilts, bed linens, upholstered chairs, couches and window treatments made the colonists' homes cheery and aesthetically pleasing.
Those types of early designs allow the whoever the residents are to delve into the
American‘s early pattern of thought. The use of natural materials, the bold color scheme and the eclectic mix of styles makes the Early American style design uniquely American and easily recognized. Early American home furnishing and decor reflect the mixing and melding of many national styles, just as America represents the melding of many nations.
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III.4. THE SEEDS OF AMERICAN CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN EUROPEAN- INFLUENCED STYLE
As elaborated on the previous pages, the variety of architectural style and designs of the American home was influenced by the various cultures of the European settlers. The first recorded white men who came to North America with the idea of staying were some
French Huguenots in 1564. They built a triangular palisade, which they named Fort
Caroline, on an island in the St. Johns River, in Florida. The island itself has washed away now.
The North American ethnic building traditions have always fascinated travelers and have inspired scholars to research and define America‘s architectural roots. When the
th settlers arrived in the 17 century, they brought building techniques and forms from their homelands; however, prior to their arrival, the Native American people had been constructing buildings on this continent for thousands of years, all preceding English,
Spanish, French, Dutch, German, Swiss, Irish, Russian, Belgian, Czech, Danish, Finnish,
Norwegian, Swedish, and other European influences.
Colonial architecture was adapted to the landscape, the climate, and the availability of building materials. According to Edwin Tunis, a well-known artist, illustrator and muralist, once a settler had his own lot, the next step was to put a feasible house on it, which meant he had to put the house together himself with what help he could get. Due to the lack of trained builders and artisans and the general poverty of the settlers, they had to cut the trees and shape the lumber before construction could begin.
Over the centuries after the European arrival, each of the European colonies in North
America developed its own building tradition. Their transplanted European building traditions were gradually reshaped and redefined. They emerged as distinctly American building traditions by the early 19th century. The innovations in technology and the spread of railroads made possible the rapid growth of the Midwest and the West. Building parts,
Page 24 of 49 manufactured in the East, could be ordered from catalogs and shipped west by rail. By the
th th late 19 and early 20 century, however, a preference for traditional English, French, and
Spanish architectural structures was defined by a desire for historical forms that gave social status and family heritage.
The prominence of neo-classical architecture in America after 1860 can be credited to the influence of the École des Beaux-Arts, where both European and American architects were trained. École des Beaux-Arts, the French national school of fine arts in
Paris, was founded in 1648 as the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture; however, its title was changed in 1793 when it merged with the Académie d‘Architecture, founded in 1671. Students there are prepared through various courses to compete for the Prix de
Rome, which provides admission to the Académie de France à Rome. Besides its extensive collection of plaster casts of antiquities, the École des Beaux-Arts is known for its superb collection of old master drawings and for its exhibitions.
To elaborate, European cultural values has affected from the simply carved bench to the upholstered wingback chair, Early American decor has, and still does, include a multitude of styles. Influenced by English design, Jacobean furniture is large in scale with rounded corners and layered carving. The Shaker influence inspires simple, clean lines and minimal carving. The French bring a rustic appeal with what is now called French
Country; the influence is seen in the country blue so often identified with Early American style. Even the Scandinavians from the northern regions of Europe helped shape the design, adding painted chests and chair backs to the
Through the years the ethnic and cultural diversity has evolved into such a mixture of home design and landscape layouts that no one can be entirely sure what the dominating neighborhood ethnic theme is anymore. What is referred to the European influences in shaping the dynamics of American‘s art of architecture is an eclectic styles, a
Page 25 of 49 merge of Classical Greek and Roman into Gothic-Romanesque combined with Victorian exterior with the elements of Baroque Renaissance to the Modernism.
As a result, it would not be surprising to see an example of a Spanish patio surrounded by a small Japanese garden fenced by the nicest Tudor brick building ever constructed outside of Manchester, England. Such diversity is appealing in finding out what is around this or that corner and discovering how the European architectural styles influenced the structural design of the ―new world‖.
III.5. AMERICAN’s CULTURE-FOUND DESIGN
Not standing continuing differences and the persistence of colonial loyalties, a high culture that transcended local peculiarities began to develop in the early eighteenth century. This high culture was predicated upon the rise of hereditary fortunes in every colony and the sustained dominance of these families in high political office.
Men of wealth educated their sons at colonial colleges or in England, where students not only met their peers from other colonies but gained a taste for the writings, theater, and consumption patterns of wealthy English families. They made sure their daughters knew all the genteel female skills, from music to sewing.
Thus, the rich became "cultivated," building large houses, adorning their homes with the most fashionable furnishings, holding genteel assemblies, and patronizing the arts. Wherever a gentleman traveled in the colonies, he was sure to find similarly cultivated men.
III.6. THE COLONIAL REVIVAL STYLES
American character and integrity embodies traditional early American architecture.
The elegant lines speak volumes about the values and priorities of its forefathers. The
Page 26 of 49 choice of the best materials and design will prove a long term investment, increasing in value throughout the years.
Throughout the evolution, Early American designs with American ‗classic‘ furniture or colonial stuff like from the pilgrims such as the use of a small chest in the living room had remained quite popular into the 1950s and even the 60s. Such style is called ―Colonial
Revival‖.
The continuous popularity of the Colonial Revival in America since the 1870s and had spanned 1880-1940 is due to a number of factors. Patriotism or nationalism is certainly a significant reason. The ethical argument – that furniture and architecture from a more virtuous time has an inherent moral superiority – is also important. In terms of aesthetics, much of the attraction to colonial architecture is a result of its ―correct‖ proportions and adherence to classical principles.
Then the economics has also entered into the equation. The world-famous American consumer economy did not really start until about 1953. Colonial reproduction furniture began to be mass marketed to the public in the 1880s. While intended to denote handcraftedness, the pieces were inexpensive precisely because they were machine-made.
Small inexpensive houses in various colonial styles were also marketed to the mass public in the early twentieth century.
The Colonial Revival house, also known as ―modernized colonial‖ for its combination of historic appearance with modern functionality, peaked in popularity in the
1930s and had been very strong in America in the immediate aftermath of WWII. Indeed, the Colonial style has never stopped being a part of the American landscape. since the stlye rises the feeling of comfort and being at home sweet home. These simple houses were almost infinitely variable and required neither the ornamentation of the previous century nor the expensive materials of the budding modernist movement. In fact, the
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Colonial Revival achieved its most enduring popular acceptance in the domestic sphere.
The home became the center of everything associated with the Colonial Revival. As a writer stated in 1899 in Kueber (2009) : ―The American home is the object to which we may well give our best thoughts and make it the place where religion and civilization shall dwell together.‖
The importance of the American home apparently really solidified during around this turn of the century period as masses of folks started to rise above hardscrabble. The two concepts – Colonial Revival and the iconic, emotional attachment Americans as a nation developed to the meaning of ―home‖ in America — converged in this period.
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IV. THE AMERICAN’s INDUSTRIAL AND URBAN CULTURAL IMPACT ON ITS ARCHITECTURE
During the industrial development in America, times were changing at a rapid pace.
New advancements in technology brought about new tools, and new building products were coming available to a hungry construction industry faster than ever before (Paulsen,
2008). Rapid urbanization, an outgrowth of rapid industrialization, during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, created new challenges and opportunities in American life.
However, at the same time the industrial revolution was an era of advances in technology for a man with the creative genius and knowledge of engineering to try new techniques. Using the landscape and architectural features, one can study the variety of ways that urban designers responded to the development of visually apparent class distinctions in American society, to overcrowding, and to shrinking amounts of available land in urban areas. In determining architects' solutions, the opportunities that the industrial age offered in the form of raw materials, tools, labor, money, and innovation had certainly affected.
When speaking of the industrial revolution and the effects of new building materials, one of the greatest and most innovative architects to ever live was Franklin Lloyd Wright.
The man is most likely the most well-known of all architects. Wright wanted a different style from the heavy victorian style, popular in his day, he wanted to develop a unique
American style of architecture. Franklin Wright, (Secrest, 1998) "was of the opinion that a home should be in harmony with the landscape surrounding it". He believed that the buildings should blend into their setting. Not invisible, more like very visible only it would look like the building was there because it belonged in the place that it was, because it was part of the surroundings. He favored a form of architecture known as organic, that was described by Gluek (2007) as, "architecture that promotes harmony, between humans and the natural world"(N.Y.Times).
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In 1901 his prairie house idea took hold. He used a lot of plywood and glass in the construction of these low slung, horizontal line homes. There were minimal wall partitions for openness, and plywood was the key to the abundance of built in accessories that became very popular. By creating such design plan, he wanted to deliver his point of view that a home should be built and centered around the family unit. The glass and plywood incorporated Frederick Robie house in Chicago in 1908 is an excellent example of many of his open homes or praire house.
It was also the period that the skyscraper emerged as such a significant genre in
American architecture due to the fact that in a time of industrialization and urbanization home life was not clean and unsafe, tenants were over-crowded, and skyscraper for the first time built up not long.
IV.1. URBAN MODERN AMERICAN ESTATES
In the meantime, American architects customized ―the tile roof style‖ to provide housing for urban class society or working class people in big cities. This style was a model of a beach house built by putting roof tiles on a house in which the houses were orderly geometrical constructed along the shore. It had been previously used to form the structure of rich people‘s beach houses. It was selected as the architecture for working class people‘s houses since it could economize spaces, abbreviate distance between a house and a main street, and trap even the weakest wind blows. The first modified style known as ―the duplex‖ was erected in Hopedale, Massachusetts, in 1910.
In addition to the creation of the latest housing architecture, American architects had also established modern style buildings for commercial purposes. The style for ―the commercial building‖ model was dominated by the application of the Italian style. The structure of the buildings was divided into three floors. The ground floor was used for
Page 30 of 49 stores and people traffic whereas offices were set up in middle floor. The upper floor was utilized with public facilities and installed by elevator and water tanks. Those commercial buildings were made of cheap but modern materials such as glass and iron. They were also utilized by recent facilities like ―elevators for visitors‖ which were operated by exploiting vapor. The windows commonly have one or two panes and frequently are arched with decorated crowns. Paired and triple windows can be seen. Porches and small entry porches are almost always present. The ―commercial model‖ was first erected in Haughwout city,
1857, by John Gaynor. Such commercial buildings had been getting larger in use constructed throughout NY, for instance the development of ―The Guaranty Building‖ in
Buffalo, 1895 and throughout Chicago between 1880 and 1890. It was applied to the construction of school buildings, libraries, and city halls, too.
During the end of the 19th century, the exploration American architects on a wide range of inspiration evoked by changing reality had resulted in creation of some recent architecture designs. Frank Lloyd Wright, one of some famous architects of the period, created a conversion from a country side into a city named ―Broadacre City.‖ The city concept was created by Wright to fulfill his vision for the ideal multi-centered, low density, and auto-oriented suburbia. The concept included private cars and low-density development. In the city, families would be accommodated on lots of one-to-five acres while "urban" areas have at least 15 people per acre population density. It showed a network of super highway linked to a regular grid of arterial roads. The major intersections, as points of access and concentration, were the natural sites of large buildings such as malls, churches and other mass civic and cultural life institutions.
Schools and houses were to occupy zones separate from highways and their associated commercial districts. Houses were built of brick and wood by their owners in any style they wished. Each family enjoyed access to small farms, orchards and recreation areas, yet
Page 31 of 49 with light industry and other urban facilities all within 10 to 20 miles of their houses. In other words, Broadacre City was an estate where Americans might live in romantic isolation and reunion with the soil while at the same time enjoy urban economic opportunities and recreations.
Meanwhile, McKim, Mead and White pioneered the development of ―town house‖, a complex of six houses‖, set up in big cities. The model was firstly built in Madison
Avenue, NY City. At the same time, the Republicanism architecture concept‘s living harmoniously with nature became popular again inspiring the creation of ―Prairie Style‖.
Prairie houses were characterized by low, horizontal lines meant to blend with the flat landscape around them. Typically, these structures were built around a central chimney, consisted of broad open spaces and deliberately blurred the distinction between interior space and surrounding terrain. The house was designed in a way that sunlight could not overheat the inside part of the house during spring and summer while the house would be kept warm and comfortable during fall and winter. The W.W. Willits house, built in
Highland Park, Illinois in 1902, was the first prairie style house. In addition, ―the
Symbolism-Associationism style that was revival of Colonial style was so firmly established throughout the United States that it had become the default style of architecture and home furnishings. Based on the design, the houses were plainly rectangular shaped and had hipped roof. The walls of the houses were colored plain white which symbolized purity. The living room of the house was usually decorated with simple pieces of furniture like Chippendale things signifying virtue and spinning wheels as well as candle molds that symbolized the industrial craftsmanship such as spinning wheels and decorated the living room. This ―Symbolism Associationism‖ style was also used to be structured by deconstructing plain and old farmhouses into beautiful homes. Elaborate flower gardens helped symbolize a fanciful picture of the past. An American architect,
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Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue, made many efforts to apply this style when he was erecting the House of Republic building in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was a structure of a high tower soaring in the middle of the wheat plain. Thus, not only had the architecture of American houses been changed, but also the structures of the country‘s government office buildings had.
IV.2. WHAT POST MODERNIST ARCHITECTURE ERA REVEALS
Architecture of the Post Modern era is often referred to the building designs constructed throughout 1960s. Architecture, like nearly everything in the 60s, was a contrast between established norms versus individualism and self expression. In public structures and private housing of the affluent, architecture of the 60s was moving away from long held rules. The change to architecture in moderate housing was less related to style than to how it melded with, and was impacted by, the surrounding environment. City planning also became essential due to burgeoning population growth.
As the 60s trends for individual expression and informality surfaced in architecture, a breach between accepted standards and creative design grew. A new generation of architects emerged, forming a communication network that promoted and expanded the exchange of ideas outside academia. This new breed of architects proposed that architecture was more than the creation of isolated structures but that it required social and environmental considerations as well. Use of space age technology, real and envisioned, coupled with the new concepts of complex architecture, led the way toward environmentally and ecologically focused design.
The 70s were eventful, often chaotic, years. The unpopular Viet Nam War caused social, political and economic distress. By the mid 70s the energy crisis and resulting economic recession added to social change that would last throughout the decade.
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Globally, the style of major architecture projects in the 70s was experimental and unconventional. Individualism and extremism prevailed. The impact in the US on home architecture was less extreme but no less dynamic.
The end of the Vietnam War brought an increased demand for new housing. The increasing violence in cities and the basic 70s return to nature trend increased the movement to suburbs and rural areas. Although the architecture of new homes of the 70s changed little externally, internal design reflected the latest technology. Increased energy costs and awareness of the need for energy conservation advanced the use of energy efficient products and development of alternate sources, such as solar and wind.
A new direction for architecture in the 70s was the trend toward restoration and rehabilitation of existing buildings. Economic constraints and increased awareness of environmental issues caused demand for architecture plans for restoration of old houses, barns, schoolhouses etc for homes. Multi unit housing and businesses were created in empty warehouses, factories, train stations and other large buildings. Desire for revival and reintegration created a new trend in the common architecture of the decade.
Postmodern architecture is generally characterized by an unrelated and exaggerated use of historical styles, or imitated reproductions of older buildings. The current rise of postmodern historicism has coincided with a revived interest in traditional town planning practices known as ―neo-traditional‖ development, or more generally, the New Urbanism.
A return to city centers in high-rise, mixed-used lofts and condos is now occurring, and hundreds of neo-traditional neighborhoods are under construction or are already completed, with designs that variously emphasize walking, mass transit, mixed uses, community livability, public space, and — hopefully — affordability. The next issue is what America‘s coming major cultural interest will be and how the built environment will reflect that interest.
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V. AMERICAN VALUES AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS
According to architect for the government's public buildings Robert Peck commissioner for the Public Buildings Service at the General Service Administration
(GSA) and recipient of the Notre Dame School of Architecture's Henry Hope Reed Award in March 2011, the power of public architecture and space has become important part in dictating a cultural attitude. Every design should be done with a purpose.
He, for instance always asks to himself what is unique about public buildings in
America. At the nation's beginning, Peck (2011) said there was "an explicit dialogue" about the style of architecture that would best reflect the values of the American people.
The founding fathers of the United States chose a style that "spoke to the country's reverence of classical learning. That decision evident in the early architecture of the nation's capital.
In matter of styling the art of public building‘s architecture, the pyramids, great churches of the Middle Ages and the Parthenon were among evidence that the messages and values of society were intrinsically connected to the buildings that were constructed.
Something that big, that monolithic, clearly says something about the civilization's values.
In the U.S. itself, courthouses, part of the judicial branch of government, are typically constructed with intricate details and grandeur to emphasize the majesty of the law.
The idea of a national connection to public buildings can be enlightened by the common fact that ever since the first colony was crafted, someone needs no have to be a monarch to be in a room worthy of a monarch. In America those spaces belong to everyone. Thus, at the present moment, a rekindling of American values in American architectural design is needed.
Architecture has always been about more than buildings because those buildings say something about its society and the people in it. Therefore, the government should not
Page 35 of 49 have an official style; rather they should take their own best architects that reflect the values and attitude of respective society.
V.1. American’s New Perspective of Ecology In Building Designs
V.1.1. The Sustainability Era
The emergent environmental movement in response to the fear of American-style urbanization referring to as space struggle or housing struggle through street violence has raged the debates between deep green architects who are environmental fundamentalists and light green ones as the realists in their ecological-approach building designs. Together with ecologist and eco-socialist individuals and institutions as the clients, they have wrestled in ways in which architects conceptualize social and ecological issues searching for the kind of architecture that can solve the grand problems of environmental degradation and social injustice.
The debates that characterize develops about what a green building is come up from a plea for architects/ designers and building scientists to expand the variables of design practice itself through designing and developing environmental futures that are not only technologically possible but also socially desirable. To illustrate, by the late 1980s, ecological practitioners began to imagine an ‗‗ecological skyscraper‖ replacing skyscraper as the degenerate American architectural form associated with urban decay and banking industry that were starved for spaces.
After decades of intense effort and another taken twenty years of patient planning, more debate, design, and redesign by designers, architects, individuals, and organizations, a tectonic shift in design thinking has occurred: sustainability is now becoming a mainstream. Some might even say it has become a societal design norm. The scope of the
Page 36 of 49 debate is presently about sustainable architecture and how to reconnect issues of technological change with the social and cultural contexts within.
The green architecture literature that aims to engage the search for more sustainable architecture with debates about culture and nature in the social sciences has reached epic proportions in the thought that it is imperative to explore sustainable architectures in the plural, which more means as a matter of situationally specific interpretation than of the setting of objective or universal goals. In order to do so, it must be drawn upon a wider set of disciplinary sources and begun to connect architectural debate to theory and practice in the humanities and social sciences.
What has become issue as Hajer points out that environmental questions analysis in terms of ‗‗quasitechnical decision-making on well defined physical issues‖ misses the essentially social questions that are implicated in these debates. Analyzing discourses of environmentalism ‗‗as a specific ensemble of ideas, concepts, and categorizations that are produced, reproduced, and transformed in a particular set of practices and through which meaning is given to physical and social realities‘‘ allows Americans to view green buildings as representations of alternative ecological visions, or material embodiments of
the competing discourses that make up the green buildings debate. Tracing the resonances and dissonances between each of these discourses supports John Dryzek‘s argument that
‗‗... language matters, that the way we construct, interpret, discuss, and analyze environmental problems has all kinds of consequences.‘‘
Andrew Feenberg points out that Western house has increasingly become an
‗‗elaborate concatenation of devices,‘‘ the center of ‗‗electrical, communications, heating, plumbing, and of course, mechanized building technologies. They are now much more than ‗‗an efficient device for achieving goals,‘‘ and domesticated environment or the experience of warmth and light.
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The "green" efforts range from finding ways to more efficiently use unused office- space to efficiently using a building's natural environment, like the Tom Maine Building in San Francisco which has no air conditioning, but was constructed with a particular ventilation design that would allow it to stay cool the majority of the year.
V.1.2. Sustainable Architecture in a Pluralist Universe
As pluralism indicates that no one perspective may lay claim to epistemic, moral or rational authority, the task of establishing sustainable architecture style in the U.S. is to fit within the diversity in ways of seeing and practicing sustainable, green, regenerative, or ecological architecture, to recognize the relationship between democratic participation or alternately called ‗‗ecological citizenship,‘‘ and the resolution of environmental problems for the common belief that environmental problems will not be solved without substantial civic participation.
In doing so, American building designers have been influenced by David
Schlosberg‘s proposal for a ‗‗critical pluralism.‘‘ For Schlosberg, ‗‗Environmentalism‘‘ is simply a convenience—‗‗a overcome simply by liberal tolerance but by what he calls
‗‗agonistic respect,‘‘ which makes it tactically possible for those who may hold thoroughly allergic metaphysical beliefs—deep ecologists and ecological modernists, for example—to act together in achieving a particular limited goal, if not a totalizing utopian order. By responding to Schlosberg‘s call to ‗‗acknowledge‘‘ and ‗‗recognize‘‘ the diversity of practices that might point to alternative sustainable futures, they may begin to chart an agenda for future research that would challenge the orthodox isolated categories of building design, building science, social science, and industrial ecology and ‗‗engage‘‘
in critical trans disciplinary research.
The discourses concerning ‗‗civic environmentalism‘‘ initiated by Dewitt John,
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William Shutkin, Andrew Light, and Craig Hanks which recognize the relationship between democratic participation and the resolution of environmental problems have in common the belief that environmental problems will not be solved without substantial civic participation or alternately called ‗‗ecological citizenship.‘‘ Related concepts have been explored for some years in the European Union by Lucien Kroll, Peter Hubner, Peter
Blundell Jones, and others.
In North America, it was Donald Schon‘s proposal for ‗‗reflective practice‘‘ pioneered this direction. From the point of geographical frame, however, the concept must not be applied too rigidly as there are other European traditions of thought that connect strongly to American pragmatism. Richard Rorty points to Wilhelm Von Humboldt‘s argument that any form of social organization must pursue ‗‗human development in its richest diversity,‘‘ while David Schlosberg highlights the pluralist philosophy of Isaiah
Berlin and his argument that recognition of multiple points of view and the
incommensurability of values is not relativistic. Bruno Latour has also sought to dis- tinguish the productive effects of ‗‗constructivism‘‘ from the destructive effects of
‗‗deconstructivism,‘‘ emphasizing how ‗‗everywhere, building, creating, laboring means to learn how to become sensitive to the contrary requirements. To the exigencies, to the pressures of conflicting agencies, none of them are really in command.
The approach is then to design sustainable buildings as sociotechnical artifacts constructed and reconstructed in situationally specific contexts. The use of the term
‗‗technology‘‘ here is an expansive one. It means by it not only the artifacts associated with sustainable architecture—solar collectors, wind generators, biomass boilers, and the like—but also the knowledge required to construct and use these artifacts, as well as the
cultural practices that engage them. This stance echoes that of Andrew Feenberg, who has similarly explored these approaches and emphasized the need to avoid the essentialist
Page 39 of 49 fallacy of splitting technology and meaning and to focus instead on the ‗‗struggle between different types of actors differently engaged with technology and meaning.‘‘ For
Feenberg, the contexts of technology include such diverse factors as ‗‗relation to vocations, to responsibility, initiative, and authority, to ethics and aesthetics, in sum, to the
realm of meaning.‘‘ Wrapped up in each technological artifact, or in the case of
Americans‘ architectural interests, each building, are an assembly of ideologies, calculations, dreams, political compromises, and so on.
Based on the David Schlosberg‘s opinion on Haraway‘s epistemology which ultimately stands on the shoulders of the ‗‗radical empiricism‘‘ proposed by the American pragmatist William James at the turn of the twentieth century and Richard Rorty‘s description of ‗‗anti-representationalist,‘‘ that one should not view knowledge as a matter of getting reality right, but rather as a matter of acquiring habits of action for coping with reality,‖ the future American building style design is highly expected as a result of learning ‗‗how to see‘‘ from the limitations of a particular place since it is the only way to appreciate human complicity in and responsibility for constructing and reconstructing the world. And that has been always American‘s ideals to fulfill, to be the pioneer in everything meant to shape and reshape the world order. That eventually reconstitutes norms as new ways of living—in this case, new modes of constructing and inhabiting tall buildings.
The types of ecologically-based architectural design that have rolled on America is a mirror how the pluralist consciousness of Americans combine with their pragmatist view to gain the most beneficial.
Hence, the sustainable design era in America remarkably diverse constellation of pragmatist tradition and pluralist awareness refuses to view green buildings as merely
Page 40 of 49 differently configured technical structures but as pluralist practices, often competing and
contested, of design and development.
V.1.3. The New American Perspective’s Language For Educating American’s Zeitgeist Building Styles
Introducing the related discourses of critical pluralism and participatory design into architectural education is, then, a way of renovating practice itself over time. The pedagogical practices of Sergio Palleroni, Bryan Bell, and Sam Mockbee demonstrate the growing linkages between environmental sustainability and civic engagement. Alternative modes of engaging citizens in architectural production are, then, an agenda item for further research.
The public engagement in the design of sustainable communities includes the social construction of urban ‗‗story lines‘‘ which are ‗‗something like a meta-conversation—a shared way of making sense of the past and speculating about what might become true in the future. ‘‘It is by exploring these stories, through ‗‗public talk,‘‘ that we will better guide the making and remaking of sustainable cities. As Andrew Jamison has suggested,
‗More fluid terms are needed: dialectical, open-ended terms to characterize the ebbs and
flows, nuances and subtleties and the ambiguities of environmental politics.‘‘ There is a need for ‗‗statements that are open rather than doctrinaire‘‘ and statements that
‗‗conscript‘‘ rather than alienate. We must encourage a debate in which ‗‗discourse is
never-ending, and solidarity is forever creating new networks and mosaics.‘‘
Finally, the existing social systems of reward and penalty can be modified to stimulate new modes of architectural production that might alternately be described as reflective practice or grounded research. In this way, debates about sustainable architecture may be constantly reshaped by the experience of practice, while practice
Page 41 of 49 might be reframed by the public talk advocated above.
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VI. CONCLUSION
The art of architecture, in general, reflects the values of the architect, the financial backer, and the society-at-large at the time of its creation. One can learn of the cultural values and social condition in America at the turn of the century by observing the styles of the buildings and sites.
The lantern slides for example illustrate a variety of socioeconomic environments.
The collection records environments of lower and middle class Americans along with the estates and mansions of wealthy members of society. The lantern slides that represent turn of the century slum areas date from the period just before the creation of housing projects.
They show the poverty and lack of sanitation that the new living environments were intended to relieve. While they were meant to condemn such conditions, they offer people a rare glimpse of the lives of poor families at the beginning of the twentieth century.
American Design encompassing early American furniture to the space capsules of the twentieth century and the cinema of today is believed to continuously have reflected the spirit of individualism and freedom applied to the designs the Americans see and use each day. American Design is not afraid of pushing the envelope or jettisoning convention in favor of something that is better and more functional. American style of architecture is the process of American people‘s work progress whose identity was shaped by the independence land ownership provided and whose ideology was characterized by individualism, democracy, and equality of opportunity.
Early American Designs were generally a copy of what was seen in Europe. The ancestors used materials and applied their own necessities to create something totally unique. During the early twentieth century many designers and artists began to break with the traditions of Europe and develop styles that were uniquely American. Architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright, artists such as Jasper Johns, and musicians such as Aaron Copland
Page 43 of 49 developed design and art that was truly American. These designs were based on
Americans‘ needs, land and history. It was here, that European influences coalesced with
African and colloquial styles to make a style that is American‘s genuine.
The evolution of American‘s early architecture designs to the sustainable period living in pluralist scene reveals the shift from a traditional, circular path of thought to the evolution of a linear experience brought on by the modern world. Hence, the mixture between pragmatism tradition and idealism of beauty and the tradition of tolerance or pluralism have continually influenced on Americans‘ way in designing their homes and premises.
In conclusion, the art of American architecture can be deemed as a manifestation of contradictions, which in this case, a contradiction between pragmatism-efficiency and hopes of realizing the dream of progress into reality. Integrated with their progressive oriented attitude, the art of American architecture also always reflects the fusion of the memory and new explorations. Meanwhile, the modified international style proves that
Americans‘ pragmatism and efficient attitude become a balance of any innovation introduced.
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REFERENCES
From textbook:
Arensberg, Conrad M and Arthur H. Niehoff. ―American Cultural Values‖, in The
Nacirema: Readings on American Culture ed. James P. Spradley and
Michael A. Rynkiewich. Little, Brown & Comp. 1975, p363-378
Baker, John M. American House Styles: A Concise Guide. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. 1994 p. 11
Beck, Ulrich. Ecological Politics in the Age of Risk. Cambridge: Polity Press.1995
Bell, Bryan. Good Deeds, Good Design: Community Service Through Architecture. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. 2004
Calloway, Stephen (ed). The Elements of Style: An Encyclopedia of Domestic Architectural Detail. Buffalo: Firefly Books, Inc. 2005.
Carley, Rachel. The Visual Dictionary of American Domestic Architecture. New York: Henry Holt and Co. 1994.
Fischer, David. Albion‘s Seed: Four British Folkways in America. New York: Oxford University Press. 1989.
Foster, Gerald. 2004. American Houses: A Field Guide to the Architecture of the Home. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
Hajer, Marteen. The Politics of Environmental Discourse: Ecological Modernisation and the Policy Process. Oxford University Press. 1995.
Haraway, Donna. ‗‗Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective,‘‘ in Andrew Feenberg and Alastair Hannay, eds., Technology and the Politics of Knowledge.Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.1995
H. Gordon, ‗‗Sustainable Design Goes Mainstream,‘‘ in D.E. Brown, M. Fox, and M.R. Pelletier, eds., Sustainable Architecture: White Papers. New York: Earth Pledge Foundation.2000.
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