Architectural History and Criticism Commons^™

On Cities And Designers: A Baalbeck Story, Marwan Ghandour

Marwan Ghandour

Twentieth-century masterplans of Baalbeck tourism and fantasies of modernism and classical antiquity are privileged over the present everyday. How can an alternative be envisioned?

Reflections On The Red Sea Style: Beyond The Surface Of Coastal Architecture, Nancy Um

Nancy Um

In 1953, a British architect named Derek H. Matthews introduced the idea of “The Red Sea Style” in print, with a modest article of that title. Although brief and focused on a single site, this article proposed that the architecture around the rim of the Red Sea could be conceived of as a coherent and unified building category. Since then, those who have written about Red Sea port cities have generally accepted his suggestion of a shared architectural culture. Indeed, the houses of the region’s major ports, such as Suakin in modern-day Sudan, Massawa in Eritrea, Jidda and YanbuΚ al-BaΉr …

Spatial Negotiations In A Commercial City: The Red Sea Port Of Mocha, Yemen During The First Half Of The Eighteenth Century, Nancy Um

Nancy Um

The city of Mocha in Yemen was one of the most important Red Sea ports of the early modern Arab world, handling the trade of spices, textiles, metals, local aromatics and coffee beans. This essay examines the urban structures that governed the needs and practices of merchants in the city during the first half of the eighteenth century. Drawing on contemporary Arabic chronicles, archival European trade documents, historical photographs, and field work in the city, it documents the conspicuous absence of a network of public trade structures, like the urban khan, the expected locus for trade in an Arab city …

“Mocha: Maritime Architecture On Yemen’S Red Sea Coast.” In ‘Architecture That Fills My Eye’: The Building Heritage Of Yemen. Exh. Cat. Ed. Trevor H.J. Marchand, 60-69. London: Gingko Library, 2017., Nancy Um

Nancy Um

No abstract provided.

From The Port Of Mocha To The Eighteenth-Century Tomb Of Imam Al-Mahdi Muhammad In Al-Mawahib: Locating Architectural Icons And Migratory Craftsmen, Nancy Um

Nancy Um

This article introduces and analyzes the tomb of the Qāsimī Imām al-Mahdī Muhammad (r. 1686-1718) in the village of al-Mawāhib, northeast of Dhamār. Unlike many of the mosques and tombs associated with the other Zaydī imams of Yemen, al-Mahdī’s mausoleum has never been published, but merits close examination. While most historians consider his imamate to have been an era of both religious and political decline, this period was marked by increased cross-cultural interaction and artistic production. In particular, the tomb of al-Mahdī features unique decoration above its mihrāb and a remarkable wooden cenotaph. In order to explain the meaning and …

Greenlaw’S Suakin: The Limits Of Architectural Representation And The Continuing Lives Of Buildings In Coastal Sudan, Nancy Um

Nancy Um

Despite its ruined modern state, the coral-built architecture of the island city of Suakin on Sudan's Red Sea coast is well known to scholars of vernacular architecture. Its enduring reputation may be attributed to the copious documentation of its houses, mosques, and public buildings that appeared in the 1976 publication The Coral Buildings of Suakin by the artist Jean-Pierre Greenlaw. This paper considers the visual project of Greenlaw and its legacy, with a focus on the intertwined relationship between the processes of architectural documentation, the writing of architectural history, and the directives of preservation during the last years of British …

Preserving Brutalism Through Color Theory.Pdf, Marissa Gudiel

Marissa Gudiel

The Beginning Student Of Design: Architectural Frames Of Reference, Gregory S. Palermo

Gregory Palermo

There they are, every Tuesday and Thursday -- two hundred minds seeking perspective on the means by which to access architecture: to think about it, look at it and analyze it, engage in discussions about it, and experience it. Student interests and capabilities are varied because in addition to being required for pre-architecture students, this is a university general studies course -- a threshold into the adventure of architecture! This paper addresses the content and methods of introducing architectural frames of reference to the beginning student of design in the challenging large lecture learning environment. Canon and skepticism. Five frames …

Architecture Ethics Justice, Gregory S. Palermo

Gregory Palermo

The title of this talk includes no conjunctions and bears no punctuation in order to heighten the conception of the simultaneity, the unitariness of three conceptions that we often perceive as disparate realms. As I put together these remarks, I have begun to think in terms of shaping a more complete paper with this same title – entering into a territory (perhaps presumptively!) not unlike Heidegger’s “Building Dwelling Thinking” of his earlier period -- which is not a dissimilar associative lead. Today though is not the time for a tightly argued philosophical statement regarding the premises of such a conflation.

Translating Knowledge Into Design: Collaborations Between Studio And Cultural Inquiry, Mikesch Muecke, Jamie L. Horwitz

Mikesch Muecke

"The role that bathing plays within a culture," Siegfried Gideon writes, "reveals the culture's attitude coward human relaxation. Ir is a measure of how far individual well-being is regarded as an indispensable part of community life."' ln many parts of the world today, and for many centuries, baths that rely on mineral springs, geysers, heated water, steam or dry hear were designed for the regeneration of local populations without a nod coward utopian dreams, or the exclusivity of private spas. Unlike the contemporary US, public thermal baths in Germany are central ro the economy of"curing towns" and paid for by …

Welcome To Fabulous Las Vegas: Contestations From Gambling To Water Rights, Mikesch Muecke

Mikesch Muecke

Let me dwell for a moment on the fabulous aspects of the city and its environs. The word ‘fabulous’ derives from the Latin fabula which gives us the English ‘fable’, a short narrative that provides an edifying or cautionary point. Fables can be pedagogical instruments. When Denise Scott-Brown, Robert Venturi, the late Steven Izenour et al took a first—second—look in 1968, they insisted in their formal analysis of the Las Vegas strip to postpone judgment, i.e. they proposed to view the space through a dispassionate lense, assembling analytic maps while resisting the temptation to judge the Strip based on an …

A Period Examination Through Contemporary Energy Analysis Of Kevin Roche’S Fine Arts Center At University Of Massachusetts-Amherst, L Carl Fiocchi Jr

L. Carl Fiocchi

Studies of buildings belonging to a subset of Modernist architecture, Brutalism, have included discussions pertaining to social and architectural history, critical reception, tectonic form and geometry inspirations, material property selections, period technology limitations, and migration of public perceptions. Evaluations of Brutalist buildings’ energy related performances have been restricted to anecdotal observations with particular focus on the building type’s poor thermal performance, a result of the preferred construction method, i.e. monolithic reinforced concrete used as structure, interior finish and exterior finish. A valid criticism, but one that served to dismiss discussion that the possibility of other positive design strategies limiting energy …

Architecture That Bows.Pdf, Andreas Luescher

Andreas Luescher

Umass Amherst Campus Master Plan Sustainability Chapter, Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham, Nariman Mostafavi, Mohamad Farzinmoghadam, Kylie A. Landrey, Somayeh Tabatabaee Pozveh, Ezra Small, Ted Mendoza, Jason J. Burbank, Robert Ryan, Dennis Swinford, Niels La Cour, Alexander Stepanov

Ludmilla D Pavlova

The UMass Amherst Campus Master Plan Sustainability Chapter articulates the manner in which the Campus Master Plan 2012 principles translate into specific recommendations for campus systems development in support of future smart growth. It summarizes the current physical campus-scale planning projects that Facilities & Campus Services have completed during and after the Master Plan process, and incorporates other operational and educational initiatives that have engaged our campus community as we plan for sustainability. The CMP Chapter is organized in three major sections: i) sustainability overview; ii) campus master plan systems; iii) current initiatives; and iv) next steps. The first section …

El Turismo En Pátzcuaro (México). Percepciones Del Visitante Extranjero Entre 1880‑1920, Eder García

Eder García

Architecture And Systems Ecology: Thermodynamic Principles Of Environmental Building Design, In Three Parts, William Braham

William W. Braham

Modern buildings are both wasteful machines that can be made more efficient and instruments of the massive, metropolitan system engendered by the power of high-quality fuels. A comprehensive method of environmental design must reconcile the techniques of efficient building design with the radical urban and economic reorganization that we face. Over the coming century, we will be challenged to return to the renewable resource base of the eighteenth-century city with the knowledge, technologies, and expectations of the twenty-first-century metropolis.

This book explores the architectural implications of systems ecology, which extends the principles of thermodynamics from the nineteenth-century focus on more …

Unit Of Luminous Flux: Mario Botta's Centre Dürrenmatt Neuchâtel, Andreas Luescher

Andreas Luescher

This paper examines the Centre Dürrenmatt Neuchâtel (CDN), which opened in 2000, as the site of a “dialogue” between the ideas and practice of Switzerland’s best-known Italian-speaking architect and designer, Mario Botta, and the country’s best-known German-speaking playwright, Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921-1990). The CDN becomes a double portrait of two Swiss artists, separated by parole but not Sprache. Both felt peripheral to Swiss society, yet each was a product of the cantonal principle of strong regionalism aerated by the Federation’s facilitation of cosmopolitanism aligned in an environmental ecology that literally and figuratively mixed their respective media: the concrete for the ephemeral …

Embodying Law In The Garden: An Autoethnographic Account Of An Office Of Law, Matilda Arvidsson

Dr Matilda Arvidsson

Based on an autoethnographical study of the office of the tingsnotarie this article questions the relation between the ethical self and the act of taking up a judicial office, employing the question of how I can live with (my) law. While the office and the ethical self are kept apart, often by recourse to persona, I make a case for the attendance to the self in examinations of ethical responsibility when pursuing an office of law. I propose that the garden, and in particular the practices and notions of (en)closure, (loss of) direction, cultivation, (dis)order, authorship and care-for-the-other which are …

"Temple Pro Tempore": The Salt Lake City Endowment House, Lisle G. Brown

Lisle G Brown

The Salt Lake City Endowment House, built of adobe, was located on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah. It served as a temporary temple during the construction of the Salt Lake Temple. It was completed in 1855 and razed in 1889. Using original floor plans, photographs, maps, and descriptions by persons who participated in its sacretodal activities, the author recreates its exterior and interior appearance. Floor plans and elevations of the building, prepared especially for the paper, are also included. The events leading to is destruction are chronicled. Finally, the author discusses the building’s influence on subsequent Mormon temple …

Concepts Of Space In Urban Design, Architecture And Art, Nicholas N. Patricios

Nicholas Patricios

The contributions that have been made by psychologists, anthropologists and others to the revision of our traditional concepts of space demand, in the author's view, a new approach to urban design, architecture and art. These contributions suggest that two basic categories of space must be distinguished: the physical and the mental. Mental space is shown not to have a one-to-one correspondence with the space that is part of the physical world, due to the mediation of various psychological and cultural factors. A concept of space may be said to originate in an observer's mind and is a structure that is …

Baltimore After The War Of 1812: Where Robert Mills Met His Waterloo And When James A. Buchanan Broke The Bank, Garrett Power

Garrett Power

In 1815 Baltimore City was boom town. Its militiamen had repulsed the British sea invasion and presaged an end to the War of 1812. Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo in 1815 signaled an end to European wars. Freedom of the seas had been restored. The Baltimore “Clipper” was the best sailing ship on the ocean. Baltimore looked to become the country’s leading exporter of grain, flour, and tobacco. Merchant James A. Buchanan, a partner in one of the country’s greatest shipping firms, had been named President of the Baltimore Branch of the Second National Bank of the United States. Civic leaders …

Unearthing St. Augustine's Colonial Heritage: An Interactive Digital Collection For The Nation's Oldest City, Thomas R. Caswell

Thomas Caswell

Future Of The Library? Turning Conflicting Pressures Into Compelling Opportunities, Ludmilla D. Pavlova-Gillham, Jay Schafer, Shirley Dugdale

Ludmilla D Pavlova

Many institutions are scrutinizing library space as a potential space bank in times of tight capital resources, while librarians are seeking ways to shift lesser-used collections into storage, create more user space, and improve services. Accomplishing these tasks at University of Massachusetts Amherst's Du Bois Library, a 26-story tower, posed a particular challenge. The library's master plan needed to explore compatible uses, partners for integrated services, and identify opportunities to repurpose space for university needs as well as the library's future vision. Learning Outcomes: 1.Recognize functions compatible with future libraries and their mission. 2.Identify forces prompting change in research libraries …

Art-Itecture: Exploding The Boundaries Between Art And Architecture, Lauren Gallow

Lauren L. Gallow

In his 1970 book Experimental Architecture, Archigram co-founder Peter Cook writes, “In this century there have been several occasions when science, technology and human emancipation have coincided in a way that has caused architecture to explode.” This image of an exploding architecture can be read in several ways: as a challenging of architecture’s disciplinary boundaries, as a new idea of architecture altogether, or as a building literally exploding into fragmented pieces because of its perceived obsolescence. No matter the specific interpretation, Cook’s statement captures a widespread yet often overlooked trend of the twentieth century wherein architects and artists attempted to …

Staging Nationalism At The Crystal Palace: Prince Albert's "Model Dwelling House", Lauren L. Gallow

Lauren L. Gallow

At the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London, British nationalism was staged both inside and outside the walls of the Crystal Palace. Inside, industrial products from around the world were put on display to celebrate the wonders of modern industry. Perhaps a more important purpose of the exhibition, however, was to establish British national pride through comparison to other nations. Britishness inside the Crystal Palace was defined by the nation’s primacy in industry—an identity that hinged on the exhibition of the commodity. Outside the Crystal Palace, a subset of this British identity was also being demonstrated. Near the southeast corner …

Artículo Político Campaña Electoral 2011, Pablo Rosser

pablo rosser

Artículo de opinión del autor, como miembro del PSOE en Alicante.

How Research Blogging Improves Urban History, Adam Arenson

Adam Arenson

This article explains why researchers should maintain a research blog for a project in development, especially if it is an urban-history or preservation issue.

Owen Jones And The Conventionalization Of Ornament, John Kresten Jespersen Ph.D.

Kresten Jespersen

Owen Jones, an architect and theorist of ornament, is best remembered as an ornamenter of distinction. His theory and practice of conventional ornament, his powerful color, and his original forms which had their origins in the ornament of the Alhambra substantiate the claim that he was the greatest ornamenter of his age. The book analyzes the theory of conventionalization as it applies to ornament, color, architecture and interior design. In particular, the book explores repose as the psychological and spiritual outcome of his ornament.

British Civic Architecture In The United States Of The Ionian Islands, Nicholas Patricios

Nicholas Patricios

On 5th November 1815 the United States of the Ionian Islands was established under British protection through signature of the Treaty of Paris. British Residents were subsequently stationed on each of the seven Ionian Islands off the west coast of Greece as governors of each Island. During the Protectorate period, 1815-1864, the Residents carried out numerous public works from public buildings and structures to roads and harbors. The most prolific Resident was Charles Napier in Kefalonia. The civic architectural style of the public buildings and structures designed by British architects and engineers was inevitably Neo-Classical, ironically a new style for …

Jonson London And Urban Space.Pdf, Adam Zucker

Adam Zucker