‘Architecture and Design’ Archives
Urban Renewal
Urban Renewal Refers, on one level, to a specific series of federal acts and programs enabling radical replanning of the physical fabric of American cities. In a broader cultural sense, urban renewal stands for a political movement and cultural attitude towards the redevelopment of old, dense cities and their new, predominantly African American [...]
Charles Eliot
Charles Eliot (1859–1897) Charles Eliot was born and educated in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and he practiced landscape architecture from 1887 until his death from spinal meningitis in the spring of 1897. His reputation rests on two key accomplishments. In 1891, he led the fight to establish Massachusetts’s Trustees of Public Reservations, [...]
City Planning
City Planning The term city planning originated in the United States during the Progressive Era, in 1907 or 1908, about the same time that town planning emerged in Great Britain and 17 years after Stadtebau had been introduced in Germany. In each country, these words expressed new hopes to achieve greater public control over the growth and [...]
American Bathroom
American Bathroom The American bathroom is understandably associated with body waste and dirt, as well as privacy even in public space. Architecturally bathrooms tend to be the most secluded spaces of the house; building codes do not require them to be naturally lit. Similarly, in many homes, the bathroom is the only room that can be locked. [...]
Thomas Archer
Thomas Archer ThomasArcher (1668?-1743), English architect, who, along with Nicholas Hawksmoor and Sir John Vanbrugh, was among the leading practitioners of the baroque style in English architecture. Archer was the most prominent architect of the English baroque to adopt the florid style pioneered by Italian architects Gianlorenzo Bernini and [...]
Maya Lin
Maya Lin Lin, Maya (1959- ), American architect and sculptor, noted for her design of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (1982) in Washington, D.C. The memorial is composed of two long, black granite walls that cut into the ground and meet at a 125 degree angle. As visitors approach the memorial down a sloping walkway that runs along each wall, they [...]
Building Acoustics
Building Acoustics An important element in a properly functioning building is correct building acoustics. Achieving a low level of background noise in a classroom, for example, will ensure that the teacher’s voice is audible; the sounds of an orchestra will be optimal in a concert hall with proper acoustics. The systematic study of room [...]
Computers and Architecture
Computers and Architecture To realize an example of architecture, the object must be described. However, this in itself is insufficient—the process of realizing the object must itself be supported. It is in both these dimensions that computers have been of benefit in the practice of architecture in the 20th century. The use of computers in [...]
Chrysler Building
Chrysler Building The Chrysler Building was designed by William Van Alen, completed 1930 New York City The Chrysler Building, designed by William Van Alen, stands 77 stories tall at Lexington Avenue between 42nd and 43rd Streets in Manhattan, and is considered one of the most famous and admired skyscrapers in the world. The Chrysler [...]
Architectural Competitions
Architectural Competitions Throughout the 20th century professional architectural competitions were a constant source of debate and controversy among those in the discipline. They were used as pedagogical tools, as means for determining excellence, as a method for awarding commissions, as battlegrounds of opposing ambitions, and as political [...]
