Nineteenth-century American Architecture- ARH 783
A Mountain of Stone in the Healing Garden: H.H. Richardson’s Buffalo State Hospital

Like two giant green mountain peaks the twin towers thrust out of the leafy canopy, seeming both monumental and manmade yet at the same time natural and harmonizing with the leafy canopy they seem to spring from. These are the towers marking Henry Hobson Richardson’s Buffalo State Hospital; a monument to 19th century hospital and healthcare design by one of the nation’s most preeminent architects. Known by many names over the years (among them the original name of the Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane, the Richardson Complex, the State Lunatic Asylum and now known as a part of the Buffalo Psychiatric Center) the Buffalo State Hospital marks many important trends in antebellum attitudes towards healthcare, safety concerns, the environment and the relationship that architecture had to the promotion of these causes. However, like most monumental public buildings, the Buffalo State Hospital reflects the synthesis and condensation of many different ideas, goals, thoughts and designs by several of the most preeminent figures of the 19th century including Dr. Thomas Kirkbride, Frederick Law Olmsted and Henry Hobson Richardson...

Methods in Architectural History- ARH 800
Two Good Neighbors: Buffalo, New York’s St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral and the Guaranty Building

Buffalo, New York is known as the “City of Good Neighbors,” and perhaps there are no more interesting neighbors than the Guaranty Building and St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral which stand facing each other at the intersection of Church Street and Pearl Street. These two buildings, although built at different times in Buffalo’s history, share many similarities, and can be viewed as monuments to the era in which they were built. Both buildings are manifestations of the aesthetics, the goals and ideals, and also the economy of the people in the city of Buffalo during the time in which they were designed and constructed, and together these structures create an interesting dialog about not only their form but their meanings as well.

“Form Follows Function”… and plat boundaries.

At first glance, the Guaranty Building and St. Paul’s Cathedral would seem to have little in common in terms of their design, shape, and even purpose. Adler and Sullivan’s Guaranty Building (1894-96) stands as a 13-story tower over Richard Upjohn’s St. Paul’s Cathedral (1849-52), the solid block form standing in stark contrast to the more delicate spires and towers of the Gothic cathedral. However, if one really investigates the forms beyond this first impression, many similarities begin to arise, and perhaps the buildings are not as dissimilar as they appear...

(Image courtesy David P. Silverman, Josef W. Wegner & Jennifer Houser

Wegner. Akhenaten and Tutankhamun: Revolution and Restoration.

1st ed. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology

and Anthropology, 2006: 59.)

Cities in History- ARH 771
Akhetaten: City of Religious Revolution or Architectural Reinterpretation?

Since he casts them [his rays] on me, in life and dominion continually forever, I shall make Akhetaten for the Aten my father in this place. I shall not make Akhetaten for him south of it, west of it or east of it. I shall not go upriver past the southern stele, nor shall I go past the northern stele downstream in order the make Akhetaten. I shall make Akhetaten, for the Aten, my father, on the eastern [side] of the river, the place which he himself made to be enclosed for himself by the mountain, on which he may achieve happiness and on which I shall offer to him. This is it!

Historians and archaeologists dealing with ancient Egypt for the past several hundred years have painted the pharaoh Akhenaten as a revolutionary and heretic in the landscape of New Kingdom religion, politics and art, introducing wildly different ideas of his own invention into a more traditional Egyptian society. He is often portrayed as a mad-man and a religious zealot with dreams of self-importance. The capital city he founded, Akhetaten (at present day Amarna), is likewise generally associated with being the king’s attempt to forge a radical new city, reflective of the new religious doctrine he established, and likewise reflecting innovative patterns of urban design and development. However, as new findings are made and new research is being done a better understanding of ancient Egyptian daily life and urbanism is slowly emerging, and these conceptions are beginning to be challenged. Existing as a city for only about 20 years and abandoned and destroyed shortly after Akhenaten’s death, the city presents a unique snapshot of ancient Egyptian urban life during the New Kingdom as the site was never reoccupied. The question archaeologists have begun to ask is whether the city of Akhetaten reflected these revolutionary new religious and social ideas in its architectural and urban form as compared to other New Kingdom cities or whether it can be seen as a part of a general pattern of city building, merely reinterpreting the existing forms and structures which occurred during this period...
 

(Image courtesy of ARTSTOR)

Indian Temple Architecture- ARAH 975
The Rise and Fall of the Sun Temple at Konarak: Myth, Construction and Form

There is a popular legend among the people of Orissa which recounts the tale of the Sun Temple at Konarak (please see original paper for myth)...

While it may be easy to regard this myth about the origins and destruction of the temple at Konarak as simply a whimsical story fabricated by the villagers in Orissa, there are certain aspects of this story which contain a kernel of truth. The Sun Temple at Konarak was the largest and most spectacular temple complex of those built at the pinnacle of medieval temple building in Orissa in about 1250 AD, and contrary to the myth, it appears to be visited and studied by people from all over India and from other places throughout the world from the time it was constructed up until the present day. The Sun Temple fascinated travelers and locals alike. This was not a forgotten temple complex, buried and abandoned like the myth suggests, even after it was no longer used in regular religious practices. The history of the Sun Temple at Konarak is almost as vibrant as the architectural and sculptural forms we still see today.
          Because of the present poor condition of the Sun Temple, the extent of stabilization and reconstruction efforts, it’s lack of visual record, and its status as being the last and finest example of Orissan temples, it is helpful to examine earlier temples built in the area which can help to illuminate the possibilities for reconstructing not only the form of the architecture, but also the functions of the various components of the temple complex. Religious canons dictated strict design guidelines regarding plan and form for temples, and while this perhaps limited their growth and development, there was certainly an evolution and progression found among the temples of Orissa which can help us recreate the appearance of the ruined deul...
 

(Image courtesy Laurinda S.Dixon. Bosch. London: Phaidon, 2003: 247)

The Architecture of Imperial Spain- ARH 786
The “extraño hombre en la pintura”: Works by Hieronymus Bosch from the Collection of Philip II

“I now wish to show that his [Bosch’s] paintings are not folly but books of great prudence and artifice, and should they be folly, then it is our own and not his. In short, it is a painted satire of the sins and delusions of mankind.”

Fray Jose de Sigüenza, a monk at the monastery of the Escorial held in high regard by Philip II, boldly declared this statement around 1600. Sigüenza in his two volume Historia de la Orden de San Jeronimo, a record of the life and death of the king, documented and inventoried the various works collected for use as devotional and religious use at the royal compound. Obviously intrigued by the characters and imagery in Hieronymus Bosch’s works, Fray Sigüenza devotes a large section of the Historia to his works. The extent of Philip’s collection of Bosch’s works indicates that the king was an ardent admirer of the Dutch artist, as he chose special locations for which is display these works not only at the Escorial but at other facilities in the holdings of the Spanish Crown such as the Alcazar of Madrid and the Casa Real del Pardo. Who was this Netherlandish artist working in a transitional period between the medieval and Renaissance sensibilities, and how did the king of Imperial Spain a generation after Bosch’s death come to be such an aficionado of his work? What was it about the strange, grotesque and almost pagan characters in many of the works that interested the devoutly Catholic king?...
 

(Image courtesy The Massachusetts Historical Society

Thomas Jefferson Papers)

The Architecture of Jefferson- ARH 980
“The Only Public Buildings Worthy Mention”: Jefferson’s Plans for the Architecture of Williamsburg

Thomas Jefferson’s dislike for much of the colonial and Georgian architecture in Virginia is well known. In his discussion on architecture in Notes on the State of Virginia, Jefferson is particularly brutal to the rough wooden residences of which he states “it is impossible to devise things more ugly, uncomfortable, and happily more perishable.” Public buildings fare little better in his discussion on Virginia architecture, and he notes that “the only public buildings worthy mention are the Capitol, the Palace, the College and the Hospital for Lunatics, all of them in Williamsburg.” Jefferson’s aversion to the architecture in Williamsburg is often thought to be due to it standing for the English political, social and architectural system, a notion reinforced by the relocation of the state capital from Williamsburg to Richmond under his tenure as governor in 1780.
           Despite his scathing critique of the state of architecture in Virginia and that of its capital Williamsburg, Jefferson must have seen some promise in the public buildings as he was involved in several projects aimed at redesigning, altering and expanding the existing fabric of the public buildings of Williamsburg. Buildings such as the Second Capitol, the Wren Building at the College of William and Mary and the Governor’s Palace helped to shape Jefferson’s notions of public architecture, and his drawings reflect his experiments with these existing structures. His projects share common goals and influences which would become hallmarks of Jefferson’s later architectural endeavors including the use of classical details, symmetrical arrangements and the importance of books in Jefferson’s design process...
 

20th/21st Century American Architecture- ARH 784
Production of Modernity: Building for the Pierce-Arrow Automobile Company

The dawn of the twentieth century saw the development of many facets of life in the United States including the rising popularity of machine technology, the need to create a ‘modern’ world and also the increasing prevalence of mass consumption and marketing of goods. This era in history established many of the trends and themes which would increasingly come to dominate American culture and life during the twentieth century, and the architecture that was created during this early period stands as a product of this new world of machines, modernity, fashion and consumption. One of the industries which exemplifies many of these themes is the early automobile industry. This automobile culture embodied the sped-up, motorized, exciting emotion of the early twentieth century, and this new industry required new types of architecture to build, design, market and display these new products. The George N. Pierce Company flourished in the early automobile industry as one of the premier luxury auto manufactures in the United States, catering to movie stars, foreign kings and royals, the wealthy and serving as the first vehicles of the Presidential fleet. The building types created for the automobile industry, having no real precedence to draw from, often created new types of forms and relationships using the latest building technologies, materials and organizational methods, trying to capture the spirit of the age. In an age where marketing became increasingly important for selling goods, the architecture that was created for the production and promotion of the Pierce-Arrow vehicles epitomized progress, technology and the attempt to capitalize on the spirit of the machine age…
 

(Image courtesy Charlotte Perriand: An Art of Living. Ed. Mary

McLeod. NY: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2003.)

Survey of Modern Architecture- ARH 703
Designing for the People: The Motivations of Charlotte Perriand

Recent scholarship in Modern architecture has looked back at the careers of women in architecture and design, often those who were overlooked and overshadowed by their male collaborators, in the attempt to find a “female” influence on a style characterized frequently as “masculine” in feeling. During a career which spanned most of the twentieth-century, Charlotte Perriand collaborated with many prominent designers, most notably Le Corbusier, and was generally unnoticed for many years. While one may want to categorize her work as feminist simply because she was a woman working in a male-dominated field, Perriand still works mainly in what was considered an acceptable arena for female designers- that of the domestic interior and furniture design. Yet within this traditional association of women in the decorative arts, Perriand attempted to bring a new emphasis on the middle-class to a field typically oriented towards catering towards a luxury market, seeking to create spaces, organizations and schemes which encouraged the collective transformation of daily existence for all…

Architecture of East Asia- ARH 762

The Gardens of Saihoji

Zen gardens have proven to be immensely popular not only in Japan, but throughout the world, and perhaps one of the most influential of these gardens is also one of the earliest, found at Saihoji located to the west of Kyoto. An inspiration to emperors, priests, designers, and tourists alike, the subtle complexity of the natural forms and elements which composed the gardens of the Saihoji temple grounds reflected new ways of thinking about landscape forms in Japan during the fourteenth-century. As a site which was continually recycled, redesigned and recreated, Saihoji reflected the changing notions in Japanese garden design through incorporating existing features and using them in new ways. The grounds would transform over the span of several hundred years, shifting from use as an early Shinto area into a Heian-style Paradise garden and finally into the Zen landscape for which it gained its greatest renown. Although most famously created as a Zen garden by one of Japan’s most revered Zen masters and garden designers, the priest Muso Soseki (also known as Muso Kokushi, meaning “teacher”), the actual features and design of the garden incorporate the site’s long and diverse religious history.

Arts & Crafts Architecture and Related Movements- ARH 989

“A business man with a literary attachment”:

Elbert Hubbard and The Business of Roycroft

If the American Arts and Crafts movement had a celebrity figure at the turn of the twentieth century, it was Elbert Hubbard. Although Hubbard drew inspiration from William Morris for his Roycroft community in East Aurora, NY, his Arts and Crafts community drew heavily from Hubbard’s own entrepreneurial spirit. While the English Arts and Crafts movement’s fundamentals focused on the equality of workers and hand craft traditions coupled with ambivalence towards the sales of the resulting products, Hubbard approached the Roycroft community in a different way. Some scholars and contemporaries alike viewed the Roycroft as a Utopian community; however the group ran more as a business venture, marketing the Roycroft brand, than as a social experiment. There is little doubt that the Roycroft community was in the industry of producing Arts and Crafts merchandise for an affluent, intellectual clientele, and many of the methods and ideas employed at the Roycroft were directly drawn from Hubbard’s years as a successful and innovative sales and marketing professional.

Americanesque: Exploring Modern Civic Identity at Buffalo City Hall
MA Thesis, Architectural History at the University of Virginia

In the wake of World War I, many cities across the country were bolstered by a growing sense of local civic pride and history and sought to represent these values through new architectural expressions. Beginning in 1920, Buffalo NY sought to express these new notions of modernity and identity through the creation of a monumental civic center at the core of the city. This project would evolve throughout the 1920s, culminating in the construction of a new City Hall as the centerpiece of the civic center. Built between 1929 and 1931 and dedicated in 1932, the new Buffalo City Hall designed by young architect John J. Wade became the embodiment of modern civic identity with three aspects- through exploring new ideas in zoning and planning which created new shapes and forms in the physical building structure, through the use of “local” Native American motifs to establish new associations with civic virtues like pride, abundance and honor, and through the depiction of the local industrial culture of the city through the use of industrial imagery, machine motifs and by associating the building as a whole with the concept of “machine precision.” The design of Buffalo City Hall sought to redefine civic meaning and identity through drawing on specific, local history not only with the use of Native American elements, but also through relating ornament, functionality and new technologies of the building to the machine culture which was the backbone of the city’s economy. At Buffalo City Hall it is possible to challenge the understanding of the term ‘Art Deco’ beyond its frivolous and purely decorative connotations and as a style which rejected any historical context. Buffalo City Hall is a modern expression reflecting these new ideas as a means of creating a new, progressive and forward-looking symbol of the city’s identity.