American Architecture 1607-1976

This panoramic survey of American architecture will serve a variety of readers interested in American architectural, cultural, and social history as a source of information and insight on development of man-made landscape in United States.The book--illustrated with nearly 300 halftones and over 50 line drawings--provides a long perspective on social and environmental factors that shaped American building and delineates both assimilation of European influences (from Lord Baltimore's London-imported row houses to work of Mies van der Rohe) and growth of native innovations (from climate-adapted houses of New England to close-to-the-land prairie houses of Frank Lloyd Wright).Marcus Whiffen wrote first eight chapters of book, covering period from Jamestown settlement of 1607 to year 1860; Frederick Koeper then carries history from Civil War period to present in final eight chapters.Some highlights: A comparison of early Southern and New England domestic architectural arrangements--The introduction of Spanish style into Southwest, a style that had already superseded Old-World models through its Mexican transmutation--The influence of Wren and his contemporaries on churches and mansions along Eastern Seaboard--The seminal work of Peter Harrison--The vogue of Palladianism--The eclectic architectural practice of Thomas Jefferson--The buildings of Bulfinch in Boston and elsewhere--The contributions of such immigrants as Charles L'Enfant, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, and William Thornton to nation's new capital and Capitol--The Greek revival and Gothic, Romanesque, and Picturesque reactions to it--The appearance of Second Empire in New York--High Victorian architecture as a reflection of Ruskinian high-mindedness--The emergence of H. H. Richardson and Richard Morris Hunt--The rise of skyscraper--The Beaux-Arts period and return to classical discipline and order--Frank Lloyd Wright and the elimination of box--Art Deco and Streamline Moderne--The impact of European modernism from 1930s--Reactions against International Style: Expressionism and Neo-Expressionism, Neo-Formalism (also known as Neo-neo-Classicism), Brutalism--The new emphasis on geometry in 1970s as seen in recent Chicago skyscrapers and work of I. M. Pei and Louis Kahn--Signposts of future possibilities.