French Quarter Manual

by Heard, Malcolm; Bernhard, Scott

• ISBN13: 9780878059881
• ISBN10: 0878059881
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1997-05-01
• Publisher: Univ Pr of Mississippi

Summary

In New Orleans the French Quarter packs itself into a little grid of a colonial town behind the levee of the Mississippi River. Established in 1718, the town received its gridded plan from a French military engineer in 1721. Most of the buildings standing today date from the nineteenth century, with eighteenth and twentieth century structures interspersed. This detailed architectural handbook describes how to "read" French Quarter architecture by determining a structure's "type," its component parts, and its style. The basic "types" are termed the French Colonial house, the Spanish Colonial house, the cottage, the town house, and the shotgun house. The basic "component parts" are doors, windows, shutters, balconies, courtyards. The styles are based upon decorative motifs common to distinctive historical periods (Federal, Greek Revival, Gothic, Italianate, etc.). Each reveals that the colonists' native architectural traditions were transformed into a set of structures adapted to the moist heat of semitropical Louisiana. With images of buildings, plans, and sections from the French Quarter's remarkable inventory, this guide illustrates how a succession of styles from the eighteenth to the twentieth century has been draped over a range of building types. Thoroughly indexed and cross-referenced, it will provide with equal satisfaction a start-to-finish "read," a search for specific information, or a concentrated browse. Illustrated with some 200 photographs and 50 line drawings, this handy manual will be essential for architects, historic preservationists, and general readers interested in the buildings of one of America's richest historic districts. Malcolm Heard is an architect and a teacher in the school of architecture, Tulane University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Grid on the River BY TYPE OR BY STYLE?
I Types of French Quarter houses
The French Colonial house
The Spanish Colonial house
The Cottage
The Town House
The Shotgun House
II An Illustrated Parts List: Components of French Quarter buildings	54	(64)
Doors and Doorways	56	(6)
Windows	62	(4)
Transoms	66	(2)
Mantels	68	(3)
Miscellaneous Hardware	71	(1)
Shutters	72	(4)
Tall Rooms	76	(2)
Stairways	78	(4)
Balconies and Galleries	82	(6)
Abat-vents	88	(2)
Dormers	90	(3)
Ironwork	93	(7)
Carriageways	100	(2)
Loggias	102	(2)
Courtyards	104	(6)
Service Buildings and Wings	110	(6)
The Cabinet/Gallery Assembly	116	(2)
III An Illustrated Glossary of Styles	118	(25)
French Colonial	121	(1)
Spanish Colonial	122	(2)
Federal	124	(4)
Greek Revival	128	(4)
Gothic Revival	132	(1)
Italianate	133	(1)
Egyptian Revival	134	(1)
Second Empire	134	(1)
Queen Anne	135	(1)
Beaux Arts	135	(1)
Craftsman	136	(1)
Early Twentieth Century Industrial/Commercial	136	(1)
Spanish Revival	137	(1)
Vieux Carre Revival	138	(2)
Twentieth Century Restoration	140	(1)
Modernism	141	(2)
THE LIMITS OF ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSIS	143	(11)
A Note on Construction	144	(6)
Threats to the French Quarter	150	(2)
Credits for Photographs and Drawings	152	(2)
Notes	154	(2)
Index	156