America's Architectural Roots : Ethnic Groups That Built America

by Upton, Dell

• ISBN13: 9780471143499
• ISBN10: 0471143499
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1987-01-01
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

"American Ethnic Building Traditions Blend Memory and Experience in Varying Proportions." Dell Upton Which ethnic groups introduced the log cabin as a lasting symbol of the American frontier? Who helped turn the front porch into an American institution? Which immigrants built saunas to recall Old World traditions? Where did we get neat, whitewashed row houses, barn paintings and stuccoed arches that now tell us where to find tacos and tortillas? All of these pieces in America's architectural mosaic came from the varied and industrious ethnic groups that built America. Native peoples, settlers before the Revolution and 19th-century immigrants each contributed their own building patterns to help create what we call American architecture. But each ethnic tradition was changed by the experience of building in America - adapted to new terrains and materials, different climates, existing forms and styles. In the process, a distinctive new architecture developed, one whose multifaceted origins can be traced just as clearly as can ethnic customs in language and food. America's Architectural Roots is the first book to explore the ethnic derivations of American buildings with such a broad scope. The contributions of 22 groups are highlighted in this fascinating overview that provides an important new way of looking at the buildings that surround us. Groups covered include: Afro-Americans Belgians Chinese Czechs Danes Dutch English Finns French German-Russians Germans Hawaiians Irish Japanese Mexicans Native Americans Norwegians Russians Spanish Swedes Swiss Ukrainians

Author Biography

America's Architectural Roots is the first book to explore the ethnic derivations of American buildings with such a broad scope. The contributions of 22 groups are highlighted in this fascinating overview that provides an important new way of looking at the buildings that surround us. Groups covered include:

Afro-Americans
Belgians
Chinese
Czechs
Danes
Dutch
English
Finns
French
German-Russians
Germans
Hawaiians
Irish
Japanese
Mexicans
Native Americans
Norwegians
Russians
Spanish
Swedes
Swiss
Ukrainians

Table of Contents

Introduction	7	(9)
Dell Upton
INDIGENOUS GROUPS
Native Americans	16	(20)
Peter Nabokov
Bob Easton
Eastern Woodlands-Great Lakes
Southeast
Great Plains-Plateau
Southwest
California
Arctic-Northwest Coast
Native Hawaiians	36	(6)
Ray Morris
PRE-REVOLUTIONARY IMMIGRANTS
Afro-Americans	42	(6)
John Michael Vlach
Dutch	48	(6)
Dell Upton
English	54	(8)
Cary Carson
French	62	(6)
Jay D. Edwards
Germans and Swiss	68	(6)
Edward A. Chappell
Irish	74	(6)
Henry Glassie
Russians	80	(6)
Anatole Senkevitch, Jr.
Southeastern Spanish	86	(6)
Kathleen Deagan
Southwestern Hispanics	92	(8)
Joe S. Graham
19TH-CENTURY IMMIGRANTS
Belgians	100	(6)
Charles F. Calkins
William G. Laatsch
Chinese	106	(6)
Christopher Lee Yip
Czechs	112	(6)
David Murphy
Danes	118	(6)
Thomas Carter
Finns	124	(6)
Matti Kaups
German-Russians	130	(6)
Michael Koop
Japanese	136	(6)
Ronald K. K. Lee
Midwestern Germans	142	(6)
William H. Tishler
Norwegians	148	(6)
Darrell D. Henning
Swedes	154	(6)
Lena A:son Palqvist
Ukrainians	160	(6)
John C. Lehr
Contributors	166	(3)
Further Reading	169	(8)
Information Sources	177	(6)
Index	183