rev.12.29.01
Arch 488/AH488
American Architecture
Instructor: Clausen
Winter 2002
M-W 10:00 - 11:20; 322 Gould
Office hrs: Weds, 1:30-3:30, rm 222, Art Bldg, or by appt.
tele: 543-0935
home page: http://faculty.washington.edu/mlc
email: mlc@u.washington.edu
COURSE WEB SITE: http://online.caup.washington.edu/courses/ArchW00/Arch488/index.html
CITIES/BUILDINGS DIGITAL IMAGE DATABASE: http://content.lib.washington.edu/cities
Course requirements:
-weekly readings, lectures/discussions (participation expected);
-two 4-5 pg analytic (NOT RESEARCH) papers
-midterm, final.
Evaluation:
papers 1/3
exams 2/3
Disabled Student Services: If you would like to request academic accommodations due to a disability, please contact Disabled Student Services, 448 Schmitz, 543-8924 (V/TDD). If you have a letter from Disabled Student Services indicating you have a disability that requires academic accommodations, please present the letter to the instructor to discuss the accommodations you might need for class.
Required texts:
Berkeley, Ellen Perry. Architecture: A Place for Women, 1989
Roth, Leland. Concise History of American Architecture, 1979
Sorkin, Michael. Variations on a Theme Park, 1992
Stern, Robert. New Directions in American Architecture, 1977
Venturi, Robert. Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture, 1966, 1977
Upton, Dell. Architecture in the United States, 1998
These are the basic texts. There are also several articles
or chapters from books to be read as part of the required reading. Suggested
readings are optional for those who want more on a particular topic. All
readings are on reserve in the architecture library. Assignments are uneven
in length and number, and competition for books/articles on reserve is keen,
especially around exam and paper times, so plan ahead.
LECTURE/DISCUSSION SCHEDULE AND READINGS (schedule may change, so keep abreast)
Jan.7 - Introduction to course; methodological matters: the Canon and its Critics
Required:
Roth, Concise History of American Architecture, , preface, xxv-xxvi
Upton, Architecture in the United States, 11-16
9 - Native American traditions
Required:
Roth, 1-27
Nabokov and Easton, Native American Architecture, (plates only; text, especially pp. 11-50,
recommended for those who are interested)
Suggested:
Rappaport, Amos.
Sturtevant, William, Handbook of North American Indians, v. 7: Northwest Coast, (Wayne
Suttles, volume editor), 1990 (major source on Native American architecture; compare
his, or their, perspective with Nabokov's. It's very different.)
Krinsky, Carol Herselle. Contemporary Native American Architecture, 1996.
Berlo and Phillips, Native North American Art, 1998.
14 - Colonial Beginnings
Required:
Roth, 28-52
Upton, 17-55 (on the American House as icon)
Suggested:
Pierson, William. American Buildings and Their Architects: The Colonial & NeoClassical Styles, 22-
60; 61-201 (especially recommended for those in preservation)
16 - Revolutionary Years [Thomas Jefferson; Bulfinch, etc]
Required:
Roth, 53-84
Upton, 56-105 (communities)
Suggested:
Pierson, American Buildings, 205-460
Palladio in America, Electa Editrice, Milano, 1976; Rizzoli, NY, 1978
Jan. 21 - HOLIDAY
23 - 19th c. industrialism (factories, railroad stations, bridges; iron as building material)
Required:
Roth, 85-125
Upton, 107-147 (the natural environment)
Suggested::
Roth, America Builds, 50-68, 99-108, 151-171
Condit, American Building: Materials & Techniques, 76-113
Meeks, C. Railroad Stations: An Architectural History, 1956, reprinted in the 1970s
Trachenberg, Alan. Brooklyn Bridge: Fact and Symbol
28 - Revivalism; mid-century architecture and technology
Required:
Roth, 126-171
Upton, 149-185 (technology)
Suggested:
Roth, America Builds, 263-271
Condit, American Building, 114-168
Fein, Albert. Frederick Law Olmsted and the American Environmental Tradition, 1972
Jackson, John Brinckerhoff. American Space. The Centennial years: 1865-1876, 1972
30 - Henry Hobson Richardson
Required:
Ochsner, H. H. Richardson: Complete Architectural Works, 1982 (plates)
Suggested:
Meister, Maureen, ed. H.H. Richardson: The Architect, His Peers, and Their Era. 1999
Breisch, Kenneth. Henry Hobson Richardson and the Small Public Library in America, 1997.
O'Gorman, H. H. Richardson. Architectural Forms for an American Society, 1987
Stebbins, "Richardson & Trinity Church - Evolution of a Building," Journal of the Society of
Architectural Historians, December 1968, 281-298
Wilson, Richard Guy et al, The American Renaissance 1876-1917, Brooklyn Museum, NY, 1979
Feb. 4 - MIDTERM
6 - The Tall Office Building, and Louis Sullivan
Required:
Roth, 172-227
Upton, 187-245 (on money in American architecture. Ie. what drives it)
Suggested:
Willis, Carol. Form Follows Finance, 7-101
Bruegmann, Robert. The Architects and the City. Holabird and Roche of Chicago, 1997
Sullivan, "The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered," (1898), in Roth, America Buildings:
Source Documents in American Architecture & Planning, 340-346
Menocal, Architecture as Nature: The Transcendentalist Idea of Louis Sullivan, 1981 (excellent
study of Sullivan's theory)
Andrew, Louis Sullivan and the Polemics of Modern Architecture, 1985 (a less sympathetic, revisionist
view of Sullivan's contribution to modernism, from a postmodernist perspective)
Albanese, Catherine L. Nature Religion in America, frm the Algonkian Indians to the New Age, 1990
Landau and Condit, Rise of the New York Skyscraper, 1865-1913, 1996
Zukowsky, Chicago Architecture 1872-1922, 1987 (plates are excellent, as are some of the essays)
Condit, Chicago School of Architecture, 1964 (outdated, but a classic)
Morrison, Louis Sullivan: Prophet of Modern Architecture, 1935 (another old classic)
11 - FIRST PAPER DUE (see assignment at end of syllabus)
McKim Mead & White, and Beaux-Arts Classicism; Grand Central Terminal
Required:
Roth, McKim Mead & White 1879-1915, 1977 (plates)
Nevins, Deborah. Grand Central Terminal, 1982 (plates; text strongly recommended for those in
preservation)
Suggested:
Drexler, The Ecole des Beaux-Arts, MoMA, 1975
Summerson, The Classical Language of Architecture, 1963 (essential reading for anyone in
in architecture)
Van Slyck, Abigail A. Free to All: Carnegie Libraries and American Culture, 1890-1920, 1995
Woods, Mary N. From Craft to Profession. The Practice of Architecture in 19th c. America, 1999
13 - Arts & Crafts Movement, and the West Coast (Maybeck, Julia Morgan, Greene & Greene)
Required:
McCoy, Five California Architects, 1975 (plates)
Suggested:
Longstreth, On the Edge of the World. Four Architects in San Francisco at the Turn of the
Century, 1983
Boutelle, Sarah. Julia Morgan, Architect, revised and updated, 1995
Clark, Robert Judson, ed. The Arts & Crafts Movement in America, 1876-1916, 1972
Bowman, Leslie Greene. American Arts & Crafts. Virtue in Design, LA Cnty Museum of Art, 1990
Feb. 18 - HOLIDAY
20 - bungalows; Frank Lloyd Wright and the Prairie School
Required:
Wright, "In the Cause of Architecture," Writings & Buildings, 181-196; "The Destruction of the Box,"
ibid, 284-289
Riley et al, Frank Lloyd Wright Architect, MoMA, 1994, 8-57 and plates (rest of text, highly
recommended, esp. essay by Frampton)
Suggested
King, Anthony D. The Bungalow. The Production of a Global Culture, 2nd ed., 1995
Siry, Joseph. Unity Temple. Frank Lloyed Wright and Architecture for Liberal Religion, 1996
Levine, Neil. The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, 1996
Clausen, "Frank Lloyd Wright, Vertical Space and the Chicago School's Quest for Light," JSAH,
March 1985, 66-74.
Lancaster, Clay. The American Bungalow, 1880-1930, 1985
25 - Emerging Modernism in the U.S.
Required:
Roth, 228-273
Hitchcock & Johnson, The International Style, 1932 (plates; text highly recommended)
Clausen, "Belluschi and the Equitable Building," JSAH, June 1991, 109-129.
Suggested
Hines, Thomas S. Richard Neutra 1892-1970, 1999
Sheine, Judith, ed. R.M. Schindler: 10 Houses, 1998
Steele, James. Rudolph M. Schindler, 1999
Solomonson, Katherine. The Chicago Tribune Tower Competition. Skyscraper Design and Cultural
Change in the 1920s, 2001
Tauranac, John. The Empire State Buildings. The Making of a Landmark, 1995
Robinson & Bletter, Skyscraper Style (esp. plates)
Greif, Depression Modern (esp. plates)
Krinsky, Rockefeller Center, 1978
Cheney, Sheldon. The New World Architecture, 1935 (an old classic)
Stern, Robert A.M. George Howe. Toward an American Architecture, 1975 (basically this thesis under
Scully at Yale)
Roth, America Builds, 454-472
27 - Post-war Modernism (Miesien aesthetics; case study houses; American embassies and the State Dept;
suburbanization & the central city; shopping center development; Critical Regionalism)
Required:
Roth, 274-332
Clausen, "Northgate Shopping Center: Paradigm from the Provinces, JSAH, May 1984, 144-161.
Suggested
Crawford, "The World in a Shopping Mall," in Sorkin, Variations on a Theme Park, 3-30
Longstreth, Richard. Citiy Center to Regional Mall. Architecture, the Automobile, and Retailing in Los
Angeles, 1920-1950, 1997
Kowinski, Willam S. The Malling of America. An Inside Look at the Great Consumer Paradise, 1985
McCoy, Ester. Case Study Houses 1945-1962, 1977
Smith, Elizabeth A. T. History & Legacy of the Case Study Houses, 1989
Albrecht et al, The Work of Charles & Ray Eames: A Legacy of Invention, collected essays, 1997
Loeffler, Jane C. The Architecture of Diplomacy. Building America's Embassies, 1998
Robin, Ron. Enclaves of America. The Rhetoric of American Political Architecture Abroad. 1992
Garreau, J. Edge City. Life on the New Frontier, 1991, ix-15, 265-301 (on southern California)
Katz, Peter. The
New Urbanism, 1994, ix-xvi
Frampton, Kenneth.
"Towards a Critical Regionalism," in Hal Forster, The Anti-Aesthetic.
Essays on
Postmodern Culture, 1983, 16-30.
22 - Brutalism
Required:
Stern, New Directions in American Architecture, 7-80
Suggested
Banham, R. The New Brutalism (British perspective)
Mar. 4 - Louis Kahn: an alternate modernism
Required:
Brownlee & DeLong, Louis I. Kahn: In the Realm of Architecture, 1991, 20-49 and plates
Upton, 247-283 (on the "art" of architecture)
Suggested:
Goldhagen, Sarah Williams. Louis Kahn's Situated Modernism, 2001
Ronner, H. et al, Louis I. Kahn. Complete Works 1935-1974, (plates)
6 - The Sixties: the city, urban renewal, historica preservation. Grand Central Terminal, and the Pan Am
Building. Christopher Alexander and the role of theory. The New York Five
Required:
Stern, New Directions, 80-136
Blake, Peter. Form Follows Fiasco: Why Modern Architecture Hasnıt Worked, 1964 (plates; text
recommended)
Christopher Alexander, Notes on the Synthesis of Form, 1964, 1-11
Five Architects, New York, 1985 (plates; text recommended)
Suggested:
Jacobs, Jane. Death and Life of Great American Cities, 1961
Alexander, A Pattern Language, 1977
Mar. 11 - SECOND PAPER DUE (see assigment, end of syllabus)
I.M. Pei, "A Place to Be" (film, National Gallery, Washington, DC)
Suggested:
Wiseman, I.M. Pei, 1990
13 - Robert Venturi and the Postmodern backlash: Michael Graves & the Portland Public Service Building;
Frank Gehry, Deconstruction, and beyond
Required:
Roth, 333-359
Venturi, Complexity & Contradiction in Architecture, 1-40 (or as much as you can)
Von Moos, Venturi, Rauch & Scott Brown. Buildings and Projects (plates)
Jencks, The Language of Post-Modernism, 1972 (plates; text recommended)
Wheeler, Arnell & Bickford, Michael Graves 1966-1981 (plates)
Dal Co & Forster, Frank O. Gehry. The Complete Works, 1998 (plates)
Johnson, Philip and Wigley, Mark. Deconstructivist Architecture, MoMA, 1988 (plates)
Suggested:
Philip Johnson, "Seven Crutches of Modern Architecture," in Johnson, Philip Johnson: Writings,
1979.
Papadakis et al, Deconstruction.
Omnibus Volume, Rizzoli, 1989
Cook, Peter &
Rand, George. Morphosis: Buildings & Projects, Rizzoli, 1989
(plates)
Ibelings, Supermodernism and the Globalization of Architecture, 1998, 1-32.
March 18 - FINAL, 8:30-10:20am
BRING BLUE BOOKS AND PEN, PLEASE!
PAPERS: two are required; these should be double-spaced, typed, and follow the regular procedures for an academic paper. They will be graded according to the following criteria: how original the thinking, how carefully reasoned and thoughtful your points, how well organized your argument, how clearly and carefully written (spelling, grammar, choice of words, organization of ideas, correct use of footnotes and bibliography, proofreading). For these papers, neither research nor a background in the field of architecture is required. What you do need is time and the ability to think for yourself.
PAPER #1 - building analysis
a) In a 4-5 page paper, describe and analyze one of following four buildings on campus: Gould Hall, Kane Hall, the Faculty Club, or the Physics Building. Describe the building simply and clearly, and analyze it in terms of function (utilitas), structure (firmitas) and aesthetics (venustas). How does the building look (description), and why does it look that way (analysis)? This is not a research paper, but you might want to start with basic facts about the building, such as when it was built, what its purpose was, who the architect was, etc. Be sure to consider: the site, materials, the plan (disposition of internal spaces, circulation system), the occupants and their needs, lighting, relationship of the building to other buildings on campus, as well as other factors you deem critical for understanding the building.
PAPER #2 - Other Voices - Women, African-Americans, and other minorities in American architecture, plus other methodological concerns
In a 4-5 page paper, summarize succinctly the following four articles. Aim at covering four aspects: the subject, author's thesis or aim, pitfalls or shortcomings of the article (what it ignored or failed to do), and its significance. How do the perspectives of the authors compare? What issues do they raise, both about the architectural profession AND about the way architectural history has been conceived and taught?
Upton, Dell. "Architectural History or Landscape History," Journal of Architectural Education, 44/4, August
1991, 195-199;
Upton & Vlach, eds. Common Places. Readings in American Vernacular Architecture, 1986, Intro, 3-26;
Berkeley, Ellen Perry. Architecture: A Place for Women, intro, and essays by Grossman & Reitzes, Edelman,
Franck, and Scott Brown;
Travis, Jack. African-American Architects, 1992, introduction.
Suggested related readings:
Pluntz, A History of Housing in New York City, 1990
Wilson, W.J. The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, Underclass and Public Policy, 1987
Bishir,
C. W. "Yuppies, Bubbas, and the Politics of Culture," in Carter &
Herman (eds), Perspectives
in
Vernacular Architecture, III, 1989, 8-15
Williamson, R. American Architects and the Mechanics of Fame, 1991
Nochlin,
L. "Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists [Architects]?", in
Nochlin, Women, Art and
Power, 1988.
Hughes, Francesca. The Architect. Reconstructing Her Practice, 1998
EXAMS - These are aimed at comprehension, not memorization. Both midterm & final follow the same format: three comparisons between buildings which will be fully identified. You'll be given the basic factual information about the name of bldg, architect, date, place, then asked to compare them on specific points. For example, both House A and House B were built within a decade of each other, both in the same region. How do they compare? Focusing on what you believe (based on what you've learned) to be the significant factors, what specifically do they have in common? How do they differ? (That both buildings have doornobs is probably not signficant; that both of them are designed to serve the same purpose probably is.)
Rather than testing your ability to memorize information (since that you can easily look up, once you know the resources), this type of exam evaluates your ability to think: to discriminate between important issues in architectural history, and those less so; it also tests your ability to synthesize what you've learned; and finally, it tests your ability to express your thoughts clearly and succinctly, in a manner that reveals your comprehension of the material.
RESERVE BOOKS (all books are on two-hour reserve, Architecture Library, Gould Hall)
Alexander, Christopher. Notes on the Synthesis of Form, 1964.
Berkeley, Ellen Perry. Architecture: A Place for Women, 1989
Blake, Peter. Form Follows Fiasco. Why Modern Architecture Hasnıt Worked, 1964.
Brownlee and DeLong, Louis I. Kahn. In the Realm of Architecture, 1992.
Carter & Herman (eds), Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture, III
Deconstruction, MoMA, NY, 1989
Dal Co and Forster, Frank O. Gehry. The Complete Works, 1998
Drexler, Arthur. The Ecole des Beaux-Arts, MOMA, 1975.
Five Architects, New York, Oxford University Press, 1985.
Forster, Hall. The Anti-Aesthetic. Essays on Postmodern Culture. 1983
Hitchcock, H.R. and Johnson, Ph. The International Style, MOMA, 1932.
Ibelings, Supermodernism and the Globalization of Architecture, 1998
Jencks, Charles. The Language of Post-Modernism, 1972.
Johnson, Philip and Wigley, Mark. Deconstructivist Architecture, MoMA, NY, 1988
Moos, Stanislas von. Venturi, Rauch & Scott Brown. Buildings & Projects
Nabokov, Peter & Easton, Robert. Native American Architecture, 1989
Nevins, Deborah. Grand Central Terminal, 1982
Ochsner, Jeffrey. H.H. Richardson: Complete Architectural Works, 1982.
Papadakis, Andreas, Cooke, Catherine, and Benjamin, Andrew. Deconstruction. Ominbus Volume, 1989.
Pierson, Wm. American Buildings & Their Architects, v. 1 and 2
Riley, Terence (ed). Frank Lloyd Wright. MoMA, NY, 1994.
Robinson & Bletter. Skyscraper Style.
Roth, Leland. America Builds: Sources & Documents in American Architecture and Planning, 1983.
Roth, Leland. Concise History of American Architecture, 1979
Roth, Leland. McKim Mead & White 1879-1915, 1977
Scully, Vincent. American Architecture & Urbanism
Sorkin, Michael. Variations on a Theme Park, 1992
Stern, Robert. New Directions in American Architecture, revised edition, 1977.
Travis, Jack. African-American Architects, 1992
Upton, Dell. Architecture in the United States, 1998
Upton & Vlach, eds., Common Places. Readings in American Vernacular Architecture, 1986
Venturi, Robert. Complexity & Contradiction in Architecture, 1966
Wheeler, Arnell & Bickford, Michael Graves, 1988-1981
Woods, Mary N. From Craft to Profession. The Practice of Architecture in 19th c. America, 1999
Wright, Frank Lloyd. Writings & Buildings, 1960.
Zukowsky, John. Chicago Architecture 1872-1922, 1987.
Recommended Bibliography - Gender Issues
Within the past 10-15 years, there has been an increasing number of books published on American domestic architecture which acknowledge gender issues. Among some of these:
Adams, Annmarie. Architecture in the Family Way. Doctors, Houses and Women. 1870-1900. 1996
Beecher, Catherine and Stowe, Harriet Beecher. American Woman's Home, 1869 (reprinted 1975)
Foy, Jessica H. and Schlereth, Thomas J., American Home
Life 1880-1930. A Social History of Spaces and
Services. 1992.
Hayden, Dolores. Redesigning the American Dream. The Future of Housing, Work and Family Life, 1984.
Hayden, Dolores. The Grand Domestic Revolution: A History
of Feminist Designs for American Homes,
Neighborhoods, and Cities, 1981.
Reed, Christopher (ed), Not At Home. The Suppression of Domesticitiy in Modern Art and Architecture. 1996.
Wright, Gwendolyn. Building The Dream. Social Housing in America, 1981.
On women in the architectural profession:
Berkeley, Ellen Perry. Architecture. A Place for Women, 1989. (required reading
Toy, Maggie. TheArchitect. Women in Contemporary Architecture, 2001.