University of Vermont Historic Preservation Program

HP 200 - History of American Architecture

Robert McCullough

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HISTORY OF AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE
COURSE SYLLABUS, FALL 2011
Tuesday, 4:00 to 5:15; Thursday, 4:30 to 5:45
402 Williams

READINGS:  Required readings will be assigned from the following books, which should be purchased if possible.  The Goldberger book is out of print and has been placed on reserve at Bailey Howe Library. 

1.  Gelernter, Mark.  A History of American Architecture. Buildings in their Cultural and Technological Context.
2.  McAlester, Virginia, and Lee McAlester.  A Field Guild to American Houses.
3.  Goldberger, Paul.  The Skyscraper.

SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS.  Supplemental readings are not required but are offered as optional sources that provide greater depth regarding their respective topics and that served as key sources in the preparation of class lectures.   Although the Summerson book is not required, it is an excellent reference work and inexpensive, too.

1.  Jordy, William H.  American Buildings and their Architects. Progressive and Academic Ideals at the Turn of the Century. Vol. 4.  Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, 1976.
2.  Pierson, William H., Jr.  American Buildings and their Architects. The Colonial and Neo-Classical Styles. Vol. 1.  Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, 1976.
3.  Pierson, William H., Jr.  American Buildings and their Architects. Technology and the Picturesque, the Corporate and Early Gothic Styles. Vol. 2.  Garden City, NY: Anchor Books,      1976.
4.  Summerson, Sir John.  The Classical Language of Architecture.  Cambridge, Massachusetts: M.I.T. Press, 1963.

RESERVE READINGS:  All readings, required and supplemental, are on reserve at Bailey Howe Library.




INTRODUCTION: THE STUDY OF ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY AND ARCHITECTURAL STYLES.

Class and Date

1.  Tuesday,  August 30th:  Introduction.  A Thematic Approach to the Study of American Architectural History

2.  Thursday, September 1st:  Prehistoric, Ancient and Medieval America

     Readings:  Gelernter, Foreword, 1-34; McAlester, ix, 1-13, and 65-75.
     Supplemental:  Summerson, 1-56 and plates.



EUROPEAN ARCHITECTURAL VOCABULARY IN 17TH AND 18TH CENTURY AMERICA

Class and Date

3.  Tuesday, September 6th:  Colonial England

4.  Thursday, September 8th:  Colonial Holland, Germany, Sweden, France and Spain
     Drawing Assignment Due     

5.  Tuesday, September 13th:  Georgian - Early Period

6.  Thursday, September 15th:  Georgian – Early and Late Periods

7.  Tuesday, September 20th:  Colonial Remnants / Writing Architectural Descriptions

     Readings:  Gelernter, 35-96; McAlester, 21-61 and 75-151.
     Supplemental:  Pierson, Vol. 1, 1-201



THE ROOTS OF CLASSICISM IN AMERICA AND THE EMERGENCE OF AN ARCHITECTURE FOR A NEW REPUBLIC

Class and Date

8.  Thursday, September 22nd:  Classicism: Traditional or Federal

9.  Tuesday, September 27th:  Classicism; Idealistic or Jeffersonian

10. Thursday, September 29th:  Classicism: The Rational Phase     

11. Tuesday, October 4th:  Classicism: Greek Revival - A National Architecural Style
      Writing Assignment One Due

      Readings:  Gelernter, 97-139; McAlester, 152-197
      Supplemental:  Pierson, Vol. 1, 205-460



ECCLESIOLOGISTS, ROMANTICISM, AND THE PICTURESQUE

Class and Date

12. Thursday, October 6th:  Gothic Churches and the Ecclesiologists in America

13. Tuesday, October 11th:  Gothic Revival and the Picturesque Villa and Cottage

14. Thursday, October 13th:  Italian Villa and Italianate; Renaissance, Romanesque, and Egyptian Revivals; Octagon Mode

      Readings:  Gelernter, 139-165; McAlester, 197-237
      Supplemental:  Pierson, Vol. 2, 1-21, 91-455


15. Tuesday, October 18th:        MID-TERM EXAMINATION


ECLECTIC EXUBERANCE:  THE ARCHITECTURE OF AMERICAN ENTERPRISE

Class and Date

16. Thursday, October 20th:  The Battle of the Styles: Second Empire and High Victorian Gothic

17. Tuesday, October 25th:  The Romanesque of Henry Hobson Richardson

18. Thursday, October 27th:  Stick Style, Queen Anne, and late 19th Century Eclecticism

19. Tuesday, November 1st:  The Shingle Style

      Readings:  Gelernter, 166-189; McAlester, 238-317



URBAN ORDER AMID THE RISE OF COMMERCE

Class and Date

19. Thursday, November 3rd:  Classicism Reconsidered: Late 19th and Early 20th Century Classicism: The Ecole des Beaux Arts and Classical or Renaissance-Inspired
      Monumentality.

20. Tuesday, November 8th:  Period Revivals: English, Dutch and Spanish Colonial; English Tudor; French and Italian Renaissance; Spanish Eclectic; and Mission.

21. Thursday, November 10th:  Interludes and the Quest for a New Tradition: Chatequesque; Late Gothic and Jacobean Revivals; Eclecticism; and the buildings of Bertram G.
      Goodhue.

22. Tuesday, November 15th:  Tall Buildings: The Chicago School

23. Thursday, November 17th:  Tall Buildings:  New York and Corporate Urbanism
     
      Readings:    Gelernter, 190-214; McAlester, 318-385; Goldberger, 1-165
      Supplemental:    Jordy, Vol. 4, 1-177, and 314-374

24. Tuesday, November 22nd:  Thanksgiving Recess   

25. Thursday, November 24th:  Thanksgiving Recess   



THE EMERGENCE OF MODERNISM

Class and Date

26. Tuesday, November 29th:  Arts and Crafts and the American Bungalow
      Writing Assignment Two Due

27. Thursday, December 1st:  Art Deco and Streamlined Moderne

28. Tuesday, December 6th:  The Prairie School According to Frank Lloyd Wright

29. Thursday, December 8th:  International Style (Optional)

      Readings:  Gelernter, 214-292;
      Supplemental:  Jordy, Vol. 4, 180-313

30. Tuesday, December 13th    Final Exam
      4:30 P.M.


COURSE INFORMATION

EXAMINATIONS.  A mid-term examination and a final examination will be given during the semester.  Both exams will consist of slide identifications and essay questions requiring comparative architectural analysis of buildings.  There will be no make-up exams unless a student presents a bona fide reason for missing the regularly scheduled exam.

CLASSICAL ORDERS ASSIGNMENT.  Students will be asked to select any building on campus that employs a classical order (pedestal, column, and entablature) and sketch the specific details of that order, identifying the order and its various parts and moldings.  The due date is marked on the syllabus.  The images are taken from William Salmon’s Palladio Londinensis (1734), on reserve at Bailey Howe Library.  Please refer to that work if the written terms are not fully legible on your photocopy.

PAPERS.  Two papers, each no more than 1000 words in length and based upon criteria distributed by the instructor, will be required.  Papers must be typed and double-spaced and include illustrations.  The first paper focuses on building descriptions, the second on architectural analysis.  Due dates are marked on the syllabus.  Illustrations are required and should be neatly mounted and clearly identified.  Follow the format for footnotes and bibliography given in the Chicago Manual of Style.  Grades will be lowered by one point for each twenty-four hour period that the paper is late.

GRADES.  Grades will be based on the average of the two examinations and three assignments.  Attendance and class participation are also considered.  No additional work is assigned in order to raise a final grade.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.      A bibliography of readings for further study on each of the lecture topics will also be distributed to students.  This list should be considered as a beginning point for research concerning the topics identified and should be consulted during selection and preparation of the papers.

OFFICE HOURS.  Office hours will be announced by the instructor, but if these hours are not convenient, a special appointment can be scheduled.

SLIDE IMAGES.  Students may be asked to identify the buildings, dates of construction, and architects contained in the schedule of slides posted on the course web page.  The address is www.uvm.edu/~rmccullo.  A complete schedule of all slides presented during class periods will also be distributed in hard-copy form as a note-taking aid.  However, only those images contained on the web page will be required material.

FIELD TRIP.  A field trip to Rockingham and Bellows Falls, Vermont, and Harrisville, New Hampshire, the latter an early nineteenth century mill village, will be scheduled.   Attendance is voluntary but strongly encouraged. 

SUPPLEMENTAL CLASSES:  Voluntary review classes or classes covering supplemental material may be scheduled on various evenings during the semester, provided at least four students can agree on a specific date and time, giving me at least a week’s advance notice.   Typically, we can meet in Wheeler 101 during the early evening.