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American Architect-Midterm
The colonial architecture in America consisted of various building designs that were associated with immigrants who established settlements. The settlers included Spanish, French, Dutch, and English, who were referred to as Georgian. The immigrants impacted the building designs primarily since their imposed their styles on the natives. These styles were evident in government buildings, residential houses, and churches from 1600 to 1799. Colonial architecture was more conspicuous in New England. However, even in French settlements, they embraced the use of wooden posts to construct sheltering porches. The building’s opening incorporated Spanish techniques such as wood framing used on the door and the window. These buildings were built with standardized bricks from the wood mold provided by the Spanish. For example, the Palace of the Governors, Santa Fe, consisted of a visible front portal and wooden posts.
French settlers established their settlement in Quebec City and Montreal. They found permanent villages there. They used wood to build their homes. These wooden buildings had flared eaves in 1785. Most of the timbers used for construction were from cedar trees due to their resistance to termite attacks. Also, they raised their houses to create a veranda for relaxation. For example, the Cahokia Courthouse along Mississippi is a perfect example of of a building supported by wooden posts (Roth, 215)
English settlers in America resorted to building huts with charcoal burners for warmth. They were built on hillsides with Wigwams. They also used framed doors and made chimneys evident from a distance using twigs from wattle trees. As time went by, these huts were replaced with better furnished rectangular houses in 1654. They consisted of interwoven twigs and roofed with thatch from reeds. For example, the Capen House in 1644 was made of hardwood timbers and consisted of wooden frames (Roth, 217).
The architecture and urban planning were done both in rural and urban areas. This was evidenced from the 17th Century. The planning was characterized by a grid pattern that appeared as the layout and a section of lines. Urban areas such as Boston and Massachusetts experienced a population explosion. This created a basis upon which the authorities had to employ democracy to address rapid population growth. This culminated in better planning of the urban areas to open them up for the mercantile activities that were thriving at an alarming rate. People, therefore, needed more houses as well as structures to carry out business.
From the 17th to 18th Century, most urban cities such as Boston and Philadelphia were planned in a circular appearance and surrounded by walls for protection and seclusion from the outside. Therefore, the new urban planning came to transform these cities from circular to having rectangular-like shapes with streets meeting at certain intersections at 90-degree angles. This set a precedent for other cities to emulate Philadelphia, which was very attractive. The town’s proper organization was a clear manifestation of democracy since it was done willingly as per the people’s wish. The people endorsed that planning and became much more prevalent (Stilgoe, 9).
Grid layouts became more popular and enhanced the evolution of urban planning. Ultimately, due to the people’s free will to embrace this transition, they were able to come up with new practical and flexible grids that characterized the new planning. This went ahead to been legislated and finally became an enactment that the authorities enforced to guide the planning of other cities. This resulted in American cities’ transformation in various aspects such as political, economic, and social. This led to the widespread adoption of the grid system in guiding the architecture and the planning of urban centers, which as an embodiment of democracy (Stilgoe, 13).
The house and landscape were some of the most evident characteristics of architectural history. The perception of a landscape tends to change as the individual becomes used to it. The most memorable house is that of slaves at Tuckahoe, Goochland County. This gives a more precise depiction of how slaves’ life looked like—the size of the places where slaves lived varied in size and quality. The house was a big one with partitions. It was built with logs and painted with whitewash. The bed was the only better item in the slave house.
The building was allowed to have a landscape that comprised of walls. A space of regular intervals separated them to create a room for the development of the surrounding area. Space allowed slaves to socialize. Those who chose to rear chicken and dogs were allowed to use this space for that purpose. Slaves also engaged in minor economic such as growing crops to supplement their diet and exchange surplus with what they never exchanged. The slave quarter also determined the degree upon which slaves would sit (Dell, 11).
White landscape served the purpose of ensuring that the community operated as a whole. The visitor’s passage was enhanced by this landscape which acted as the barrier by making terraces appear higher than they were in reality. It enabled planters to move within the family of slaves and do business within the churchyard just before the beginning of Sunday service. This landscape allows for different social grouping with other characters and various physical appearances to be inte4grated into the landscape. The white landscape achieved its purpose during the movement from one group to another.
On the other hand, the black landscape enabled slaves to respond as audiences in the planter landscape. This helped slaves to pass at will, unlike in the white landscape. In this black landscape, there were no barriers at all compared to the white landscape, which had a wall that showed how terraces appeared higher than they were (Dell,16).
Technology played a crucial role in shaping the built environment. Firstly, it began with the Beaux-Arts and German polytechnic model that sought to address the buildings’ aesthetic and technical elements. The French model introduced painting to add aesthetic value to the buildings, while Germans introduced engineering to construct buildings. This led to the formation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT to integrate French and German models.
The history of Architecture in North America is credited with Beaux’s contribution –Arts a French model and German polytechnic school. These two expanded the architectural skills, which helped to transit from the traditional model, which focused mainly on the building designs. This created the need for MIT, a joint institution for both French and German models. This introduced the discipline of Architecture in the American society informed the foundation upon which technology transformed built environment with aesthetic value in it (Lewis, 6|)
Additionally, these models were also closely related to the British model, which emphasized apprenticeship. It was not more different than German polytechnic schools and Beaux-Arts, which was a French-based model. Although they had claimed to be skilled in the previous years of the 19th Century, the North American universities embraced professional architecture. William Ware is credited with architectural programs to integrate technology into the built environment. He achieved this through introducing drawing instructions as well as arts in the building and construction industry. This led to exposure to architectural expertise. Apprenticeship was advanced to incorporate a wide range of skills that were instrumental in perfecting the building industry. This led to the overall adoption of science and technology, which resulted in attracted buildings and the built environment at large (Lewis,18)
The designed space and landscape were based on how specific infrstrural projects such as bridges and tall buildings were constructed in North America. The categorization of bridges and skyscrapers provides a good insight into which the history of the relationship between space and landscape can be well understood in America. The technology used in this development of bridges and skyscrapers must have been sophisticated (Nye, 87).
American Universities, notably MIT, developed the technology used in building both the bridge and skyscrapers. The reading has clearly shown the history of how the two components were designed. It explains the historical background of engineering in North America. Therefore, the article sought to acquaint the reader with how limited space was addressed by technology to build skyscrapers in America. This was birthed by advancement in the field of engineering.
Work cited
Lewis, James The Battle between Polytechnic and Beaux-Arts in the American University. 1920
Nye, David. “American technological sublime.” Nye, David (eds). Chapter 3: Bridges and Skyscrapers: The Geometrical Sublime. Pp (77 – 107). Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1994, Print
Roth, Leland.American culture. United States History.NA705.R669. 2016
Stilgoe, John R. Common Landscape of America, 1580 to 1845. Yale University Press, 1982.
Upton, Dell.“White and black landscapes in eighteenth-century Virginia” Places 2.2 (1984).