This course examines American architecture from the first colonial settlements through Postmodernism. Because a building’s style is inextricably influenced by its context, architectural developments will be analyzed in relation to their historical, cultural, social, and regional milieux. The lecture and discussion based course will begin with an overview of major themes and developments in American architecture, a discussion of the challenge of identifying
architectural styles, and an introduction to the formal, structural, and ornamental characteristics of buildings and corresponding vocabulary to facilitate students’ ability to interpret, analyze, and describe historic buildings. The course will move through an in-depth review of major developments and themes in American architecture with opportunities for questions, discussion, and independent research. Beyond a simple survey, the course will study significant buildings and designers to facilitate a deeper understanding of specific styles, periods of development, relationships between buildings, and architects’ influences upon one another. Major buildings of each period will be
used as case studies to illustrate these themes and to examine the formal aspects of composition and construction that define buildings as products of particular places and times. Students will develop the ability to think, read, and write critically about American architecture, with the aim of developing a fluency in the architectural and historical vocabularies required for professional historic preservation practice.