MA L2 - USA

White City

The main venue of the Chicago World Fair, exemplifying neo-classical architecture with symmetrical layouts and columns.

Genuine American Style and Key Design Principles (3)

Architecture evolved in the U.S., moving away from European influences to create designs with the following principles:

(1) Organic Architecture: in response to the local environment

(2) Minimalism & Ornamentation: rejection of excess, focus on structural integrity and natural materials.

(3) Structural expression: materials and forms that reflect function

Key promoters of distinct American identity (3)

(1) Emerson: criticized the use of foreign style in American architecture, advocating for a coherent style with its environment and not opposing it.

(2) Whitman: believed America to be a young nation that needed to differentiate itself from “old Europe”.

(3) Thoreau: in his journal entries, he valued simplicity and practicality, promoting the idea that anyone could build their own homes, free of excessive ornaments.
(Eg. Hut at Walden Pond)

3 milestones in the history of modern American architecture

(1) Richardson - 19th Century

(2) Sullivan - 19/20th Century

(3) Wright - 19/20th Century

Richardsonian Romanesque

An architectural style developed by Henry Hobson Richardson that is characterized by simple geometric forms, clear volumes and a focus on local materials.

Richardson viewed as one of the fathers of American architecture. His style of ornamentation and overall aesthetic studied in European schools (first time looking at American architecture).

The Trinity Church

Richardson - The Trinity Church, Boston (1872-77)

• Features Romanesque elements (arches, almost symmetrical layout, asymmetrical Parsonage - symbolizing modernity).

• Adaption of romantic walkways, it is deformed and introduced as an element of contemporary design.

• Material based on aesthetic qualities

• Minimalization of ornaments: they follow structural logic structural elements achieve ornamental value

Ames Gate Lodge

Richardson - Ames Gate Lodge, North Easton (1881-82)

• Worked closely with Olmstead (landscape architect) - architecture and landscape work together to create good architecture.

• Designed with natural stones found on site -architecture should blend harmoniously with its landscape using local materials to anchor the building to the ground, their environment.

• The form was determined by the program.

• The “umbrella roof” sits on the House like a hat, with the chimney made of boulders, anchored to the ground (soil)

• Ornamental qualities of materials

Glessner House

Richardson - Glessner House, Chicago (1885-87)

• Use of single material (granite) creating a unified, geometric facade with an emphasis on the structural integrity of the design.

• Clear cut volumes different size of stones - variation

• Plays with symmetries: the position and angle at which you look at the house determines the aspect of the façade - weight added to the left side it is countered with the weight of the lateral facade (visual counterweight).

• No basement (sits directly on American soil) front door is at street level.

• Openings above shoulder height - highlights shelter provided

• Heavyweight appearance: presence in landscape

• Ornamentation is provided through structure (arches)

Marshall fields wholesale store

Richardson - Marshall fields wholesale store, Chicago (1885-87)

• Arched windows scaled down organically in upper stories. (Grandparents, parents, children).

• Unified material to create cohesive, organic aesthetic.

• Mechanical VS Organic:  detailing an ornamentation was direct contrast to the mechanical nature of typical designs at the time.

• Richardson viewed as one of the fathers of American architecture. His style of ornamentation and overall aesthetic studied in European schools (first time looking at American architecture).

 

Wainwright Building

Sullivan - Wainwright Building, St. Louis (1890-92)

Meeting the main conditions of American commercial architecture, determined by: elevators, steel frame construction, conditions of commercial labor.

Introduced the tripartite theory, dividing the building into three sections, each designed according to its function (visible from the outside).

(1) Basement: ground floor with shops and large windows.

(2) Middle section: The goal was to express vertical dynamics of high rise buildings and respond to the conditions of commercial labor through the use of repeating motifs: Identical small windows - equal office spaces - no management no rules - creates a democratic structure in the office (equality, everyone has the same small office and works together in the context of the building).

(3) Attic: heavy roof slab closes off the vertical dynamics of the building + circular ornaments representing the turning of the elevators.

 

Sullivan’s Design Strategy

Form should follow function

Integrate structural elements with ornamentation to reflect prupose

Prairie School

Prairie School - End of 19th Century

A movement in architecture focused on residential buildings that harmonize with the surrounding landscape, prominently represented by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Wright, influenced by Sullivan and Japanese architecture, developed his own approach to architecture - Focus on creating organic designs that harmonize with the environment.

(1) Building with Froebel toys - architecture as a composition of simple geometric forms

(2) Theory of pure design - patterns and principles not tied to a historical phase

(3) Japan - graphic art and architecture, Wright proposed it as a model for American architecture style.

Destruction of the Box

Wright’s plan in steps:

(1) Aimed to eliminate rooms as boxes- resulted in open floor plan

(2) Roofed house to reinforce the idea that houses are composed of the enclosure of four screens + umbrella roof

(3) Disrupt the walls and volumes to a certain degree

- walls reduced to constructive skeleton

- Combination of volumes to replace the box

- Chimney at core = social center

Robie House

Wright - Robie House, Chicago (1908-10)

- open floor plan, horizontal lines, integration with landscape

- hallmark of Wright's Prairie style, emphasis on horizontal, flowing spaces

- Roof appeared flat, mirroring flatness of the floors below

- chimney at center

- open structure, large windows

Unity Temple

Wright - Unity Temple, Chicago (1905-08)

An example of an organic approach was reduced to a structural skeleton, resulting in a pure, open interior space.

Emerson's Group

A collective that included Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, and Henry David Thoreau, aiming to promote independent American culture and architecture.

Henry David Thoreau

A philosopher and poet who advocated for functional, unornamented architecture, exemplified by his simple hut at Walden Pond.

Walden Pond

The site where Henry David Thoreau built a simple house to demonstrate functional living without ornamentation.