·       08 - The Chicago School and the Architecture of the American City

·        24th March 2023

·        Before introducing the typology of the American skyscraper, we need to talk about the context and historical conditions of the American cities, consequence of the recent colonization.

·       The matter of land division

·        The first land division was established with the Land Ordinance of 1785, dividing the land in squares ignoring the natural conditions. This criterion was first applied on the large scale and then dividing the cities in blocks, that became affordable properties for sale on the market.

·        Today, the American cities are the result of this first urbanization happened at the beginning of XIX century. The new cities first developed according to the European example: in New Amsterdam, the former nucleus (on the left) shows a clear European taste but then, with the expansion of the urban centre, the annexed territories were organized according to a rigid grid.

·        This strict division is typical of American cities and distinguishes them from the examples of European urbanization.

·        Another distinguishing feature is that some of the lots remain public property, while the others are put on the market without limitation of selling. The public ones give quality to the private ones surrounding it, as they host public spaces and most of the times green areas.

·        It is the first point of break between American and European urbanization.

·       The development of the infrastructures

·        The second important point during the process of urbanization was the development of the system of infrastructures, starting from the naval ones.

·        The aim of the first channels was to connect the Southern and Northern parts of the country, but also the areas of the huge Northern lakes. These lakes needed a direct link to the main ports of the New England and Manhattan, and ultimately Europe.

·        In Manhattan there is the Hudson River that in 1840s was connected to the Niagara Falls through an artificial channel. The great ships could arrive to the Canadian lakes through this channel.

·        This happened in parallel with the growing economic competition among the American and Canadian cities. The Niagara Falls were actually an obstacle for the Canadians trades, that they couldn't actually solve, declaring the supremacy of the Americans.

·        On the other side, these connections touched the southern part of the Michigan Lake connected with the river passing through Chicago through the Illinois-Michigan Canal (1848).

·        The second great infrastructure developed in the late XIX century is the railing system.

·        Chicago, again, was the major point of convergence of this link.

·       The distinction North/South

·        The third important point that describes the situation of America post-colonization is the civil war between the industrial North and the feudalistic South. The economic dynamic of the Northern America was not compatible with the southern idea of production, based on agriculture and slavery. Is not difficult to understand that, for this reason, the American industrial revolution was leaded by the North, and coincided with an urbanistic revolution that mainly interested these areas of the country.

·       Main technological innovations

·       The Balloon Frame

·        One of the most important technological innovations from the XIX-century-America, and that still today characterize the American architecture is the Balloon Frame.

·        The Balloon structure is a structure in timber invented by George Snow. It is a system used in residential architecture, known for being very simple and realized with raw materials that need no particular technology or skill labour.

·        It is a building system easily to be assembled, without employing complex joints. For its efficiency, it rapidly spread around the continent. The pieces could be transported from one side of the country to the other without high costs.

·        In addition, it is a flexible technology that opens up to many possibilities of modification and enlargement, always starting from a trilithic system of timber columns and pitched roof.

·        As said, this system is still used nowadays.

·        However, it was subject to many different reinterpretations:

·        Ex. Gropius house, Massachusetts → the architect built his own house using balloon structure

·        Ex. Robert Smithson, Learning from Letchworth

·        Ex. Gordon Matta-Clark, Splitting → he divided the house in two parts starting his activity of deconstruction

·        This way of constructing somehow reflects the mentality of American citizens and architects and will influence the Chicago school