Architecture in Colonial and Post-

Colonial America
Clint Jun A. Maturan
Influences
The study of the progress of architecture in new country, untrammeled with
precedent and lacking the conditions obtaining in Europe, is interesting; but
room is not available for more than cursory glance.

During the eighteenth century (1725-1775) buildings were erected which have
been termed “colonial” in style, corresponding to what is understood in England
as “Queen Anne” or “Georgian”.

In the “New England” States wood was the material principally employed, and
largely affected the detail. Craigie House, Cambridge (1757), is typical of the
symmetrical buildings. It has elongated Ionic half-columns to its façade,
shuttered sash windows the hipped roof and the dentil cornice of the “Queen
Anne” period; the internal fittings resembling those of Adam and Sheraton.

Economically and Socially the most advanced nation of the continent was the
U.S.A., where a sense of national identity had been reinforced by the war with
Britain of 1812-14. By 1840 the country’s trade was worth 250 million dollars per
year, almost half being earned by New York. Cotton of Louisana and extensive
coal and iron resources of Pennsylvania.
Influences

The presidency of Andre Jackson

gave impetus to wider democratic
ideals and greatly encouraged
individual enterprise. The westward
movement being dramatically
accelerated by the discovery of
gold in California in 1848.

Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States.

Influences
The coming to power in 1861 of an anti-slavery government under Abraham
Lincoln (1809-65) brought to a head the rivalry between the more dynamic
Northern States and cotton producing Southern States, with their long-
established plantation system based on slavery, and kindled the tragic civil war
(1861-65), during the course of which, in 1863, slavery was abolished. The victory
of the Northern States, and of the union, was decisive for the future of the
country and encourage industrial development, which in turn greatly increased
the rate of immigration generally, the period following the civil war was one of
continuing commercial expansion, an age offering great opportunities and high
material rewards to individual industrialist, bankers, farmers, and railway owners.
This situation, clearly reflected in the architecture of the time, continued until the
financial crash of 1929 and ensuing depression. The opening up of the country
by railways was essential to development, and the continent was finally
transverse by rail from coast to coast in 1869. Alexander Graham Bell’s invention
of the telephone in 1876 further facilitated communications across the vast
country which, in 1865, had been linked to Europe by trans-Atlantic cable. Finally
the mass production of the motor car between the two world wars further
extended communications and movement.
Influences

As far as industry is concerned, Canada’s development was much less rapid,

her economy being based almost entirely on the export of lumber and
wheat.

Like Canada, the countries of South America relied on the export of natural
products rather than on manufacturing, and opening of the Panama Canal in
1914 was great significance in the development of the countries of the
Pacific Coast.
Character
European influence in both North and South America remained strong
throughout the period, although materials, local skills, social customs and
especially climatic conditions played their part, and buildings continued to
posses strong regional characteristics.

In the U.S.A. itself, a conscious striving for a truly ‘national’ architecture

became evident soon after the war of independence, and architecture in
that country can be considered as passing through three broad and loosely
phases:

a.) Post-Colonial
b.) First Eclectic Phase
c.) Second Eclectic Phase
Character
a.)Post-Colonial (1790-1820)
Architecture of this period moved away from the English Georgian idiom which
had become established along the eastern seaboard of the country Neo-classic
elements were introduced.

b.) First Eclectic Phase (1820-1869)

During this period the revived Greek style was predominant receiving a more
whole-hearted acceptance that it did in England and developing specifically
American characteristics. The Gothic and Egyptian styles found some popularity
but compared with the Greek revival, these were minor streams.

The type of timber – framing known as the ‘baloon – frame’ came into use
during this period and revolutionized timber construction. As its name suggest,
rather than relying on an essentially post-and-lintel construction, the ‘baloon-
frame owes its strength to the walls, roofs, etc., acting as diaphragms.
Comparatively light timber sections are employed which are nailed together, floor,
and ceiling joist, forming ties, the whole stiffened by the external timber
sheathing.
Character

This period saw considerable developments in the use of cast-iron as

a building material.
Character
c. ) Second Eclectic Phase (1860-1930)
American architecture achieved international significance
during this period and followed two main streams. The first
related to the Gothic revival and initiated as a Romanesque
revival with H.H. Richardson as its first important exponent,
gained considerable momentum and reached great vigor
and vitality in the work of Louis Sullivan. In some respects
the movement in its later stages can be equated with that
of the arts and crafts in Britain and it culminated in the
work of Frank Lloyd Wright.

The second stream was more academic in character.

Influence by the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris its
architecture inspired by the great periods of the past, the
Italian and French Renaissance, ancient Greek and Roman
and late Gothic.
Character

Two important and influential exhibitions belongs to this period; the

centennial expositions 1876, Philadelphia and the world’s Columbian
exposition (Chicago 1893).

The period is noteworthy for structural experiment and achievement.

The Skyscraper, often regarded as America’s greatest single
contribution to architectural development, was a product of this
phase and was closely related to metal frame construction the non-
load-bearing ‘curtain wall’ and the lift or elevator. The period saw
also the establishment of many schools of architecture in the U.S.A.,
the first at Massachusetts Institutes of Technology in 1868, under
W.R. Ware.
 Examples (Domestic Buildings)

The WHITE HOUSE, Washington D.C. (1792-1829)

the official residence of the

president of the U.S.A. was designed
by James Hoban, an Irish architect,
in the English Palladian Style. After
damage sustain in the war of 1812,
it was restored and considerable
restoration has been carried out in
the present century. The porticoes
were designed by B.H. Latrobe.
James Hoban (c. 1758 – December
8, 1831) was an Irish architect, best
known for designing the White
House in Washington, D.C.
 Examples (Domestic Buildings)
Frank Lloyd Wright (born Frank Lincoln
Wright, June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was
an American architect, interior designer,
writer and educator, who designed more
than 1000 structures and completed 532
works.
Robie House, Chicago (1908)
by Frank Lloyd Wright, is
dominated externally by its strong
horizontal lines which seem to make
it almost one with the land on which
it is built. Constructed of fine, small
brick with low-pitched hipped roofs,
the house is planned in an open and
informal manner, interesting use
being made of changes of level
internally, the flowing internal spaces
being generated by a central core
containing staircase and fireplaces.
 Examples (Domestic Buildings)

Monticello, near Charlottesville, Virginia (1793)

Was designed by Thomas Jefferson

third person of the U.S.A. For his
own use. The first house, and
elegant example of colonial
Georgian, was completely remodeled
in a free and imaginative Palladian
Thomas Jefferson (April 13 [O.S.
April 2] 1743 – July 4, 1826) manner.
was an American Founding
Father, the principal author of
the Declaration of
Independence (1776) and the
third President of the United
States (1801–1809).
 Examples (Domestic Buildings)

BILTMORE, Ashville, North Carolina (1890-5)

by R.M. Hunt, the first American

architect to be trained at the Ecole
des Beaux-Arts in Paris, in style of
Richard Morris Hunt (October an early French Renaissance
31, 1827 – July 31, 1895) was an
American architect of the chateau.
nineteenth century and a
preeminent figure in the history
of American architecture. Hunt
was, according to design critic
Paul Goldberger writing in The
New York Times, "American
architecture's first, and in many
ways its greatest, statesman.
Examples (Domestic Buildings)

STOUGHTON HOUSE, Cambridge, Mass (1882-3)

by Mckim, Mead and White, is a

timber-framed house, its walls
clad externally with wood
shingles providing an important
example of the so-called ‘Shingle
style’.
 Charles Follen Mckim Stanford White
(August 24, 1847 – (November 9, 1853 –
September 14, 1909)[1] June 25, 1906) was an
was an American Beaux- American architect and
Arts architect of the late partner in the
19th century. Along with architectural firm of
Stanford White, he McKim, Mead & White,
provided the architectural the frontrunner among
expertise as a member of Beaux-Arts firms.
the partnership McKim,
Mead & White.

William Rutherford Mead

(August 20, 1846 – June 19,
1928) was an American
architect, and was the
"Center of the Office" of
McKim, Mead, and White, a
noted Gilded Age
architectural firm.
Examples (Domestic Buildings)
STOUGHTON HOUSE, Cambridge, Mass (1882-3)
An external cladding of wood Shingles over a timber frame became popular in domestic building
during the second half on the 19th century. Internally, the plan arrangement shows a loosening and
foreshadows the ‘Free Plan’, to be developed later by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Examples (Domestic Buildings)

WINSLOW HOUSE, RIVER FOREST , Illinois (1893)

The first important work of Frank

Lloyd Wright, is a simple structure,
basically symmetrical, but its hipped
roof, wide projecting eaves and
emphatic horizontal lines foreshadow
the architect’s later work and what was
to become known as the ‘Praire
House’.
Examples (Domestic Buildings)

TALIESIN EAST, Spring Green,

Winscosin (1911)

by Frank Lloyd Wright

 Examples (Religious Buildings)

The First CHURCH of CHRIST

SCIENTIST, BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA
(1910-12)
By Bernard Maybeck, provided an
article to the antidote to the epidemic
of old-Spanish-Mission revivalism,
which was threatening to engulf
architecture in California. It uses natural
materials, and owes something to the
vernacular tradition of the west coast
of America.
Bernard Ralph Maybeck (February 7,
1862 – October 3, 1957) was an American
architect in the Arts and Crafts
Movement of the early 20th century. He
was a professor at University of California,
Berkeley.
 Examples (Religious Buildings)
Henry Hobson Richardson
(September 29, 1838 – April 27, 1886) was
a prominent American architect who
designed buildings in Albany, Boston,
Buffalo, Chicago, Pittsburg, and other cities
TRINITY CHURCH BOSTON,
Massachusets
(1872-7)
By H.H. Richardson, is one of the key
monuments of American architecture.
The design, chosen competition,
although basically Romanesque in
character, is handled in a master full
and imaginative way. A Greek cross
plan, the building is dominated by a
square central tower with round corner
turrets, and is constructed mainly of
red granite, the rock-faced texture of
which is exploited. Internal decoration
in encaustic colour was carried out by
J.F. Lafange, while the west porch was
added in 1897 to the designs of
Shepley, Rutan, and Coolidge.
Examples (Religious Buildings)
UNITY TEMPLE, OAK PARK, ILLINOIS
(1905-7)

by Frank Lloyd Wright, is

characterized by the sturdy simplicity of
its external massing, on which the
design relies rather than eclectic detail.
In the building, the architect displayed
a knowledge of and sympathy with the
natural qualities of materials, which are
here exploited both externally ( in the
pebble-faced concrete of the walls) and
internally (in the sand-lime plaster work
and natural details)
Examples (Educational, Civic and Public Buildings)
The STATE CAPITOL, Richmond, Virginia
(1789-98)
by Thomas Jefferson, was based on a
Roman temple prototype, the Maisan
Carree, Nimes. An ionic order was used
by Jefferson, while for the Fenestration
of the “cella” he had recourse to
Palladian formulae. The building is
regarded as the first truly Neo-classic
monument in the U.S. and had much
influence on later American buildings,
Classical temple forms, were adapted
for banks, schools and other buildings,
accommodation being sometimes
ruthlessly crammed into the cella in
order to retain, at all costs, the external
lines of the antique form
Examples (Educational, Civic and Public Buildings)
Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe (May 1,
1764 – September 3, 1820) was a
British neoclassical architect who immigrated to
the United States and is best known for his
design of the United States Capitol, along with
his work on the Old Baltimore Cathedral or The
Baltimore Basilica, the first Roman Catholic
Cathedral constructed in the United States
Thomas Ustick Walter, born
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was an
American architect, the dean of
American architecture between the
1820 death of Benjamin Latrobe and
the emergence of H.H. Richardson in
the 1870s.
The UNITED STATES Capitol, Washington
D.C.
seat of the United States government, has
become, with its crowning dome, one of the
world’s best known planned on Palladian
lines with a central rotunda; this has
survived in essentials, despite numerous
modifications and additions. After the war,
B.H. Latrobe was responsible for rebuilding
the structure. Between 1851 and 1867
additions were made by Thomas Ustick
Walter who designed the flanking wings
and great dome over the central rotunda,
and was constructed largely of cast iron,
with an internal diameter of 30 m and a
total height of 68 m.
Examples (Educational, Civic and Public Buildings)

The NATIONAL ACADEMY of DESIGN, NEW

YORK
(1862-5)
by P.B. Wight , Venetian (Gothic in style
and making full use of polychrome masonry
patterning, shows the indfluence of the
writings of John Ruskin.

Peter B. Wight (1838–1925) was a 19th-

century architect from New York City who
worked there and in Chicago.
Examples (Educational, Civic and Public Buildings)

The PUBLIC LIBRARY, BOSTON, Massachusetts

(1887-93)
by Mckim, Mead and White is beautifully
detailed buildings, representative of the best
in the academic stream of late 19th and 20th
century architecture in America.
 Examples (Educational, Civic and Public Buildings)

The LINCOLN MEMORIAL WASHINGTON, D.C.

(1911-22)
By Henry Bacon, is in the form of an
unpedimented Greek Doric peripteral temple, set
on a high podium and surmounted by a simple
attic. Executed in white marble, its detail is
superlatively refined and in its scholarship and
execution marks a peak in academic architecture.

Henry Bacon was an American Beaux-

Arts architect who is best remembered
for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington,
D.C., which was his final project
Examples (Educational, Civic and Public Buildings)

The CHAPEL and Post Headquarters, U.S.

Military Academy, West Point, N.Y.
romantically sited on a steep encarpment over
looking the Hudson River, are the work of Cram,
Goodhue and Ferguson, and provide examples of
academic architecture in Gothic style.

Ralph Adams Cram (December Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue was an

16, 1863 – September 22, 1942) was
a prolific and influential American
architect of collegiate and
ecclesiastical buildings, often in
the Gothic Revival style.
American architect celebrated for his work in
neo-gothic design. He also designed notable
typefaces, including Cheltenham and
Merrymount for the Merrymount Press
Examples (Educational, Civic and Public Buildings)

The Temple of Scottish Rite, Washington D.C.

(1916)
A masonic temple design by John Russel Pope, is
in the same tradition as the Lincoln memorial.
Externally, it takes the form of a reconstruction of
the Mausoleum Halicarnassos, but is somewhat
ponderously handled.

John Russell Pope was an American architect whose firm is widely

known for designing of the National Archives and Records
Administration building, the Jefferson Memorial and the West Building
of the National Gallery of Art, all in Washington, DC.