Architecture of the United States

Developed from around 1630 with the arrival of Dutch colonists to

French Colonial developed in the settlements of the

Excavations at the first permanent English-speaking settlement, Jamestown, Virginia (founded 1607) have unearthed part of the triangular James Fort and numerous artifacts from the early 17th century. Nearby Williamsburg was Virginia's colonial capital and is now a tourist attraction as a well-preserved 18th-century town.

The New World population of 200,000 in 1657, ninety percent of whom drew from England, used the same simple construction techniques as those in their respective mother countries.^[11] These settlers often came to the New World for economic purposes, therefore revealing why most early homes reflect the influences of modest village homes and small farms. The appearance of structures was very plain and made with little imported material. Windows, for example, were extremely small. The size did not increase until long after the British were manufacturing glass. This was because the Venetians had not rediscovered the strictly Roman clear glass until the 15th century and it did not come to England until another hundred years later.^[12] The few windows that did exist on early colonial homes had small panes held together by a lead framework, much like a typical church's stained glass window. The glass that was used was imported from England and was incredibly expensive.^[13] In the 18th century, many of these houses were restored and sash windows replaced the originals. These were invented by Robert Hooke (1635–1703) and were made so that one panel of glass easily slid up, vertically, behind another.^[14]

Timber, especially white and red cedar, made for a great building resource and was readily abundant for the settlers in the English colonies, so naturally many houses were made of wood.^[15] As for decorative elements, as said before most colonial houses were built plainly and therefore most colonial house designs led to a very simple outcome. Although one subtle element of ornamentation that was used on the front door. The owner would take nails, think of an object or pattern to make with them, and nail that decoration onto the door. The more nails one had, the more extravagant and elaborate the pattern could become.^[16]

The most prized architectural aspect of the house was the chimney. Large and usually made of brick or stone, the chimney was very fashionable at this time, specifically 1600–1715. During the Tudor period in England, which lasted up until around 1603, coal became the popular material for heating the home. Before that, a wood fire was burned on the floor in the center of the house, with the smoke escaping only through windows and vents. With coal, this method could not suffice because the smoke was unacceptably black and sticky. It needed to be contained and the function of a chimney was to do just that.^[13]

The oldest remaining building of

Georgian architecture

The

In religious architecture, the common design features were brick, stone-like stucco, and a single spire that tops the entrance. They can be seen in

In 1776 the members of the Continental Congress issued the Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies. After the long and distressing American Revolutionary War, the 1783 Treaty of Paris recognized the existence of the new republic, the United States of America. Even though it was a firm break with the English politically, the Georgian influences continued to mark the buildings constructed. Public and commercial needs grew in parallel with the territorial extension. The buildings of these new federal and business institutions used the classic vocabulary of columns, domes and pediments, in reference to ancient Rome and Greece, which symbolize the democracy of the newfound nation. Architectural publications multiplied: in 1797, Asher Benjamin published The Country Builder's Assistant. Americans looked to affirm their independence in the domains of politics, economics, and culture with new civic architecture for government, religion, and education.

Federal architecture

In the 1780s the Federal style of architecture began to diverge bit-by-bit from the Georgian style and became a uniquely American genre. At the time of the War of Independence, houses stretched out along a strictly rectangular plan, adopting curved lines and favoring decorative details such as garlands and urns. Certain openings were ellipsoidal in form, one or several pieces were oval or circular.

The Bostonian architect

The Federal style of architecture was popular along the Atlantic coast from 1780 to 1830. Characteristics of this style include neoclassical elements, bright interiors with large windows and white walls and ceilings, and a decorative yet restrained appearance that emphasized rational elements. Significant federal style architects at the time include: Asher Benjamin, Charles Bulfinch, Samuel McIntire, Alexander Parris, and William Thornton.

Thomas Jefferson

Early buildings of the U.S. Federal Government in Washington, D.C.

Study of the south facade of the White House, ca. 1817 (Note the presence of central stairs and the absence of the Truman Balcony.)

United States Capitol, Washington, D.C., rebuilt 1815–1830, as it appeared during the early 19th century (prior to expansions and reconstruction of the dome)

The United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., is an example of uniform urbanism: the design of the capitol building was imagined by the French Pierre Charles L'Enfant. This ideal of the monumental city and neoclassicism. Several cities wanted to apply this concept, which is part of the reason why Washington, D.C., did. The new nation's capital should have the best examples of architecture at the time.

The White House was constructed after the creation of Washington, D.C., by congressional law in December 1790. After a contest, James Hoban, an Irish American, was chosen and the construction began in October 1792. The building that he had conceived was modeled upon the first and second floors of the Leinster House, a ducal palace in Dublin, Ireland which is now the seat of the Irish Parliament. But during the War of 1812, a large part of the city was burned, and the White House was ravaged. Only the exterior walls remained standing, but it was reconstructed. The walls were painted white to hide the damage caused by the fire. At the beginning of the 20th century, two new wings were added to support the development of the government.

The

The Washington Monument is an Obelisk erected in honor of George Washington, the first American president. It was Robert Mills who had designed it originally in 1838. There is a perceivable color difference towards the bottom of the monument, which is because its construction was put on hiatus for lack of money. At 555.5 feet (169.3 m) high, it was completed in 1884 and opened to the public in 1888.

South

Much architecture of the Deep South was developed in the context of the plantation economy. Plantation complexes in the Southern United States often featured European-derived styles for the slaveowners' houses, while housing for enslaved African Americans often drew upon vernacular building traditions.^[17]

Anglophone plantation owners often favored the Greek Revival style, featuring a neoclassical pediment with columns, as at Belle Meade Plantation in Tennessee, with a symmetrical columned porch and narrow windows.^[18] The domestic architecture in the South adapted the neoclassical model by supporting a mid-height balcony on the front without a pediment or entrance portico, such as at Oak Alley Plantation, in St. James Parish, Louisiana.^[19] These houses adapted to the regional climate and into the economy of a plantation with enslaved labor for construction.

In regions that had experienced French and Spanish colonization, such as the Gulf Coast, buildings were often constructed in Creole architectural styles.^[20]

Frontier vernacular

The

The Spanish and later Mexican Alta California Ranchos and early American pioneers used the readily available clay to make adobe bricks, and distant forests' tree trunks for beams sparingly. Locally made roof tiles were produced by the Mission Indians. As milled wood became more available in the mid-19th century the Monterey Colonial architecture style first developed in Monterey and then spread. The Leonis Adobe, Larkin House, and Rancho Petaluma Adobe are original examples.

Mid-19th century

Greek Revival

Greek revival style attracted American architects working in the first half of the 19th century. The young nation, free from Britannic protection, was persuaded to be the new Athens, that is to say, a foyer for democracy.

• 
  The Second Bank of the United States (1818) in Philadelphia, designed by William Strickland
• 
  The Fireproof Building, 1827, Charleston, South Carolina, by Robert Mills
• 
  Federal Hall, 1842, New York City, designed by James Renwick
• 
  The Tennessee State Capitol (1845–59) in Nashville, designed by William Strickland
• 
  The Ohio Statehouse, in Columbus, 1861, Henry Walters

Italianate

Gothic Revival

From the 1840s on, the

The great families of the east coast had immense estates and villas constructed in the style, with

New York City is home to

• 
  An Carpenter Gothic home (1860) in Braceville Township, Ohio
• 
  Richard Upjohn's entrance to Green-Wood Cemetery (1860s)
• 
  West Virginia Penitentiary (1867–1876), Moundsville, West Virginia
• 
  St. Mary's Catholic Church (1910), Indianapolis, Indiana
• 
  Raymond Hood's Tribune Tower (1925) in Chicago
• 
  Yale's Collegiate Gothic Sterling Memorial Library (1930)

Gilded Age and late 1800s

Late Victorian architecture

Following the American Civil War and through the turn of the 20th century, a number of related styles, trends, and movements emerged, are loosely and broadly categorized as "Victorian," due to their correspondence with similar movements of the time in the British Empire during the later reign of Queen Victoria. Many architects working during this period would cross various modes, depending on the commission. Key influential American architects of the period include Richard Morris Hunt, Frank Furness, and Henry Hobson Richardson.

After the war, the uniquely American

On the east coast the Queen Anne evolved into the

(1879–1881) using shingle clad asymmetrical facades.

While medieval influence rode high, in the second half of the 19th century, architects also responded to commissions for estate scale residences with

Château de Blois

for it.

Rise of the skyscraper

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The most notable United States architectural innovation has been the skyscraper. Several technical advances made this possible. In 1853,

Some of the most graceful early towers were designed by Louis Sullivan (1856–1924), America's first great modern architect. His most talented student was Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959), who spent much of his career designing private residences with matching furniture and generous use of open space.

Beaux-Arts and the American Renaissance

Main articles:

Albert Levy.^[21]

The Columbian Exposition also reflected the rise of American landscape architecture and city planning. Notable were the works of Frederick Law Olmsted, an already-prominent and prolific landscape architect who had designed the Midway Plaisance of the 1893 Exhibition, having previously designed New York's Central Park in the 1850s, the layout of the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., and many other works nationwide. Olmsted and his sons were also involved in the City Beautiful movement, which, as its name suggests, sought to aesthetically (and thus culturally) transform cities. The aspirations of the movement can be seen in the McMillan Plan for Washington, D.C.

As the century progressed, the Beaux-Arts influence would become somewhat more restrained, returning to its more Neoclassical roots. The

International Style

.

Early suburbs (1890–1930)

With the boom in the use of electric streetcars, the inner ring of suburbs developed around major cities, later to be aided by the advent of bicycles and automobiles. This boom in construction would result in a new, distinctly American form of house would emerge: the American Foursquare.

Arts and Crafts Movement

Main articles:

Arts and crafts movement

See also:

California Bungalow

• Greene and Greene – Gamble House (Pasadena, California), Robert R. Blacker House, Thorsen House
• Bernard Maybeck – Swedenborgian Church (San Francisco, California)
• Mary Jane Colter Buildings
• Julia Morgan – Asilomar Conference Grounds
• Lummis House
• Log home

Frank Lloyd Wright and the Prairie School

• List of Frank Lloyd Wright works by location
  • Taliesin East, Taliesin West
  • Robie House, Ennis House, Fallingwater, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

Catalog Homes

Main article:

Sears Catalog Home

Revivalism in the 20th century

The trend of reviving previous styles continued over from the 19th century. Many of the revivals beginning in the late 19th century on into the 20th century would focus more on regional characteristics and earlier styles endemic to the United States and eclectically from abroad, further influenced by the rise of middle-class tourism.

Mediterranean revival

Main article: Mediterranean Revival architecture

The early 20th century saw

Central Coast of California, designed by architect Julia Morgan. The San Francisco Bay Area estate Filoli, by Willis Polk, is in Woodside, California with the mansion and gardens now part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation

and open to the public.

the

A.E. Hanson

.

Spanish Colonial revival

Main articles: Mission Revival architecture and Spanish Colonial Revival architecture

The 1915

Panama-California Exposition the architecture by Bertram Goodhue and Carleton Winslow Sr. intentionally moved beyond the Mission Revival Style, from their studying Spanish Colonial architecture and its Churrigueresque and Plateresque refinements in Mexico. The project was a popular success, and introduced the Spanish Colonial Revival style

to many design professionals and the public in California and across the country.

George Washington Smith, based in Montecito and Santa Barbara, designed the detailed and integrated Andalusian Spanish Colonial Revival Casa del Herrero estate in 1926. Smith, Bertram Goodhue, Wallace Neff, and other notable architects created many 'Country Place Era' properties throughout California during this period. A civic example is the Santa Barbara County Courthouse and a commercial example the Mission Inn in Riverside, California.

Georgian revival

The Georgian style predominated residential design in the British colonial era in the thirteen Colonies. At the

balustrade

and a symmetrical arrangement, characteristic of the neoclassic style popular in Europe then.

In the early decades of the twentieth century when there was a growing nostalgia for its sense of order, the style was revived and adapted and in the United States came to be known as the Colonial Revival. From 1910–1930, the Colonial Revival movement was ascendant, with about 40% of U.S. homes built during this period in the Colonial Revival style.^[22] In the immediate post-war period (c. 1950s–early 1960s), Colonial Revival homes continued to be constructed, but in simplified form. In the present-day, many New Traditional homes draw from Colonial Revival styles.^[22]

Other colonials

• Colonial Revival architecture – American Colonial
  • Cape Cod style
• Dutch Colonial Revival architecture
• Tudor Revival architecture
• Pueblo Revival architecture

Exotic revivals

• Moorish Revival architecture, commonly used in Shriner temples and movie theatres.
• Mayan Revival architecture
• Egyptian Revival architecture

Style Moderne and the Interwar skyscraper

Main articles: Art Deco and Streamline Moderne

Skyscrapers as architectural battleground

One culturally significant early skyscraper was New York City's

art deco era. Other public concerns emerged following the building's introduction. New York City's 1916 Zoning Resolution setback law, which remained in effect until 1960, allowed structures to rise to any height as long as it reduced the area of each tower floor to one quarter of the structure's ground floor area.^[24] The Woolworth Building represents this type of building referred to as "wedding cake" skyscrapers.^[25]

Another significant event in skyscraper history was the competition for Chicago's

modernist design. An entry from Walter Gropius brought attention to the Bauhaus

school.

World's tallest buildings in the Interwar Era

The Woolworth Building, 1913

40 Wall Street

The Chrysler Building, 1930

New York's Empire State Building, 1931

Roadside architecture

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2011)

The automobile culture of the United States has spawned numerous forms of architectural expression peculiar to that country (or alongside Canada), often vernacular in origin, especially in Diners.

"Parkitecture"

Main article: National Park Service rustic

National Park Service rustic – sometimes colloquially called Parkitecture – is a style of architecture that developed in the early and middle 20th century in the

United States National Park Service (NPS) through its efforts to create buildings that harmonized with the natural environment. Since its founding in 1916, the NPS sought to design and build visitor facilities without visually interrupting the natural or historic surroundings. The early results were characterized by intensive use of hand labor and a rejection of the regularity and symmetry of the industrial world, reflecting connections with the Arts and Crafts movement and American Picturesque

architecture.

"Ducks"

Main article: Novelty architecture

Googie

Main article:

Googie

Miami Modern

Main article:

Miami Modern Architecture

Morris Lapidus pioneered the "Miami Modern" style, best seen in the Ritz-Carlton South Beach, which went through a $90 million renovation in 2019.^[26]

Post-War suburbs

See also: Ranch-style house, Split-level home, and Neo-eclectic architecture

The 1944

suburbs. Simultaneously praised for their quality of life^{[citation needed}

] and condemned for architectural monotony, these have become a familiar feature of the United States landscape.

Modernism and reactions

Further information: Modern architecture

Early Modernism

Interest in the simplification of the interior space and exterior

Lovell Health House in the Hollywood Hills

.

International style

Main article:

International style (architecture)

• 860-880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments
• Louis Kahn – Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Phillips Exeter Academy Library

Further information:

Mid-Century modern, Googie architecture, and Futurist architecture

• Richard Neutra – Von Sternberg House, Kaufmann Desert House
• Dulles International Airport
• Capital Records Building, Riverplace Tower, Equitable Life Building

Further information: Brutalist architecture and High-tech architecture

• Antoine Predock – CLA Building, Flint RiverQuarium, McNamara Alumni Center

European architects who emigrated to the United States before

International Style. The Lever House introduced a new approach to a uniform glazing of the skyscraper's skin, and located in Manhattan. An influential modernist immigrant architect was Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886–1969) and Walter Gropius (1883–1969), both former directors of Germany's famous design school, the Bauhaus

.

The Reliance Building's move toward increased window area reached its logical conclusion in a New York City building with a Brazilian architect on land that is technically not a part of the United States.

United Nations headquarters, 1949–1950, by Oscar Niemeyer

has the first complete glass curtain wall.

American government buildings and skyscrapers of this period have are a style known as

Federal Modernism

. Based on pure geometric form, buildings in the International style have been both praised as minimalist monuments to American culture and corporate success by some, and criticized as sterile glass boxes by others.

Skycraper hotels gained popularity with the construction of

Detroit which remains the tallest skyscraper hotel in the Western Hemisphere

.

Postmodernism

See also: Postmodern architecture

In reaction to the "glass boxes" issue, some younger American architects such as Michael Graves (1945– ) have rejected the austere, boxy look in favor of postmodern buildings, such as those by Philip C. Johnson (1906–2005) with striking contours and bold decoration that alludes to historical styles of architecture.

• Frank Gehry – List of works by Frank Gehry
  • Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame

Architecture as an American profession

Further information: Architect

Education and practice

The formal education and practice of U.S. architecture started in the early 19th century when

Georg Hegel, a fine art philosophy, by definition, that focused on aesthetics and intellectual purpose, rather than any practical function.^[28]

This is the basis in which

Ernest Boyer

and Lee Mitgang, a philosophy that advocated for:

1. leaving the practical nature of the profession to be learned outside of formal education;
2. architectural design to be conducted by a competitive method, with judgements by jury;
3. the study of design be continuous through school, and design problems should not be overly practical, but rather should stimulate the imagination through the study of great masters;
4. and an architectural curriculum include as broad a cultural background as time permits.^[27]

This philosophy does not mention scientific or social science research. This legacy has meant that today, fewer than 20% of the 115 accredited Schools of Architecture offer a Ph.D. program; in addition, only a handful more offer exposure to and experience in rigorous research within building science & technology centers and laboratory settings. According to Gordon Chong, the architectural profession having emphasized "looking back as a means for justifying design decisions for future design," there remains a significant imbalance in learning between experience, intuition, and evidence-based design.^[31]

There are currently over 83,000 members of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) estimates the number of architects licensed in the United States at 105,847. Architecture firms employ approximately 158,000 people in the United States (Bureau of Labor Statistics).^[32]

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 33 professions are identified as over 90% white, including architecture at 91.3% white.^[33] A number of allied professions are also over 90% white, including construction managers (91.8%), construction supervisors (91.8%), and cost estimators (93.9%), and related construction tradespersons including electricians (90.0%), painters (90.7%), carpenters (90.9%), cement masons (91.2%), steel workers (92.3%), and sheet metal workers (93.5%). The US labor force is 80% white.^[34]

See also

• Architectural sculpture in the United States
• Architectural style
• List of architectural styles
• Culture of the United States
• Hawaiian architecture
• America's Favorite Architecture
• Southern plantation architecture
• European medieval architecture in North America
• History of college campuses and architecture in the United States
• The Fountainhead (novel with a plot focusing on American Architecture)

References

1. ^ Chaney, Sheldon. "The New World Architecture" Tudor Publishing Company, New York, 1935, p. 14
2. ^ Sanford, Trent Elwood, The Architecture of the Southwest: Indian, Spanish, American, WW Norton & Company, Inc, New York, 1950
3. ^ Ring, Trudy, editor, International Dictionary of Historic Places: vol. 1, Americas, Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers
4. ^
   ISBN 978-1-61689-080-3
   .
5. ^ Reid, Mayne (1872). Osceola the Seminole, Or The Red Fawn of the Flower Land. New York: Carleton. p. 129.
6. ^ "Hudson River Valley Institute - Hudson Valley Architecture". 2016-08-08. Archived from the original on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
7. ISBN 978-0-8135-2867-0
   .
8. ISBN 0486219852
   .
9. ISBN 0-8173-1134-3
   .
10. ^ "French Creole Architecture". Louisiana Division of Historic Preservation. National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places. Retrieved 2008-08-02.
11. ^ Baker, John M.. American House Styles: A Concise Guide. (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1994.), 11.
12. ^ Glancey, Jonathan. Architecture. (New York: DK Publishing, 2006), 300.
13. ^ ^{a b} Baker, John M.. American House Styles: A Concise Guide. (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1994.), 20.
14. ^ Cragoe, Carol Davidson. How to Read Buildings: A Crash Course in Architectural Styles. (New York: Rizzoli International Publications Inc, 2008.), 177.
15. ^ Harrell, David Edwin. Unto a Good Land. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2005.), 30.
16. ^ Baker, John M.. American House Styles: A Concise Guide. (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1994.), 22.
17. OCLC 449853625.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link
    )
18. JSTOR 987684
    .
19. OCLC 1204137601
    .
20. S2CID 143018375
    .
21. ^ "American Victorian Architecture", by Arnold Lewis and Keith Morgan. Dover publications, 1975
22. ^ ^{a b} McAlester, p. 414.
23. ^ "Study for Woolworth Building, New York". World Digital Library. 1910-12-10. Retrieved 2013-07-25.
24. ^ "City of New York Board of Estimate and Appointment: Building Zone Resolution" (PDF). New York City. March 2004. Retrieved 2020-02-24.
25. ^ Bliss, Laura (2016-12-18). "New York City Zoning and the Fight for Sunlight". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2020-02-24.
26. ^ "A Design Lover's Guide to Miami and Miami Beach". Architectural Digest. 2020-03-10. Retrieved 2021-12-23.
27. ^
    ISBN 978-0931050596
    .
28. ISBN 978-0198238164
    .
29. ^ "Benjamin Latrobe | American architect". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2021-09-20.
30. ISBN 978-1-57958-434-4
    .
31. ^ Kaiser Permanente; Chong Partners Architecture; University of California, Berkeley (May 1, 2008). Developing an Evidence-Based Design Model that Measures Human Response: A Pilot Study of a Collaborative, Trans-Disciplinary Model in a Healthcare Setting (PDF). AIA College of Fellows: 2005 Latrobe Fellowship. pp. 3–5. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 25, 2012. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
32. ^ "AIA Pressroom: Facts, Figures and the Profession". Retrieved 17 May 2014.
33. ^ Thompson, Derek (6 November 2013). "The 33 Whitest Jobs in America". The Atlantic.
34. ^ "Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey – Demographics". Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Further reading

• ISBN 978-0-7506-2267-7
  . Cf. Part Six, Chapter 37.
• ISBN 978-1400043590
  .
• Reiff, Daniel D. Houses from Books. Penn State Press, 2001.
  ISBN 978-0-271-01943-7
  .
• Scully, Vincent. American Architecture and Urbanism. New Revised Edition. New York: Henry Holt, 1988.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Architecture of the United States.

• Historic American Buildings Survey at the Library of Congress
• American Institute of Architects, the national professional organization.
• Deerborn Massar Photography Collection at the University of Washington Library Architecture of the Pacific Northwest.
• The Center for Palladian Studies in America
• The Historyscoper - architecture/architects
• 1057 historic photographs of American buildings and architects; these are pretty-1923 and out of copyright.
• American Brutalism