Architecture - House Styles

Author

House Styles - good books?

Kris Krieger

2005-10-26, 7:21 pm

"3D Peruna" <w!h#a$r%o^l&d@w!e#i$r%d&n*e(s)s.com> wrote in
news:Z%u5f.21$RG4.7@fe05.lga:

[ snip ]

You'd posted the following as part of an answer to a post about house
style/floorplan webistes:

> As for styles of houses, there's a great book called "American House
> Styles: A Concise Guide" You can get it here:
> http://tinyurl.com/abj3m

I'm looking through Amazon.com but not seeing any sort of International
house stle guide. Does such a thing exist or is it just too large a
subject to summarize and offer in a "style guide" sort of format?

Thanks in advance!

Harvey Van Sickle

2005-10-26, 7:21 pm

On 26 Oct 2005, Kris Krieger wrote

> "3D Peruna" <w!h#a$r%o^l&d@w!e#i$r%d&n*e(s)s.com> wrote in
> news:Z%u5f.21$RG4.7@fe05.lga:
>
> [ snip ]
>
> You'd posted the following as part of an answer to a post about
> house style/floorplan webistes:
>
>
> I'm looking through Amazon.com but not seeing any sort of
> International house stle guide. Does such a thing exist or is it
> just too large a subject to summarize and offer in a "style guide"
> sort of format?

The latter, I'd say.

Traditionally, both theory and practice in American architecture has
been heavily style-based[1], and the "landscape" of house design in
many other countries lends itself to a different set of categories.

[1] I mean this as an analytical rather than critical assertion: there
are historical reasons for it.

--
Cheers, Harvey
Architectural and topographical historian

For e-mail, change harvey.news to harvey.van

3D Peruna

2005-10-26, 8:21 pm

"Harvey Van Sickle" <harvey.news@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:Xns96FBEAF034408whhvans@80.5.182.99...
> On 26 Oct 2005, Kris Krieger wrote
>
>
> The latter, I'd say.
>
> Traditionally, both theory and practice in American architecture has
> been heavily style-based[1], and the "landscape" of house design in
> many other countries lends itself to a different set of categories.
>
> [1] I mean this as an analytical rather than critical assertion: there
> are historical reasons for it.

I'd agree with Harvey's thought... Because of the "melting pot"-ness of
America, we have people who have come over with a variety of "styles" from
their home country. For instance, you'll find less "style" in the
individual countries because of the relative homogeneity of those countries.
What I observed in Finland (Ahmed alert) was a vernacular style that had
morphed over time, with a sprinkling of "modern" here and there. There
wasn't nearly the breadth of styles that you see here. I suspect that it's
much the same elsewhere... different styles are related to the people,
climate and geography in the rest of the world...unlike the US where we
build what we like regardless of the consequences. I do have a book, I'll
have to try and dig it up, called "Houses" and it's a view of houses from
around the world...but with an emphasis on "modern" which, in some way,
makes them all the same "style."

Kris Krieger

2005-10-26, 8:21 pm

"3D Peruna" <w!h#a$r%o^l&d@w!e#i$r%d&n*e(s)s.com> wrote in
news:wnT7f.189$0d3.179@fe06.lga:

>
> "Harvey Van Sickle" <harvey.news@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
> news:Xns96FBEAF034408whhvans@80.5.182.99...
>
> I'd agree with Harvey's thought... Because of the "melting pot"-ness
> of America, we have people who have come over with a variety of
> "styles" from their home country.

Yeah, style is not a very good word. Look? Type of visual and spatial
organization? anyhoo:

> For instance, you'll find less
> "style" in the individual countries because of the relative
> homogeneity of those countries. What I observed in Finland (Ahmed
> alert) was a vernacular style that had morphed over time, with a
> sprinkling of "modern" here and there. There wasn't nearly the
> breadth of styles that you see here.

True, but there is, for example, a manner of wood construction and building
design that many of the NorthEastern European peoples had somewhat in
common (with variations of course) - samples in Russia were collected onto
Kizhij island for instance. And there were Scandinavian variants.

It's sort of the way there was a certain way of putting up half-timber
houses in the 1500's and thereabouts. They had certain characteristics,
although three were of course variations.

So, for example, when you mention Finnish vernacular style, I don't have a
picture of that in my mind. So I was wondering about the existence of a
compilation just so that I could have a picture in my mind when I come
across mentions of various areas. It'd also be a good idea source-book,
I'd think. I have a coupld that sort-of approach that idea, but they're
mostly expositions of specific houses rathere than illustrations of
local/vernacular characteristics.

> I suspect that it's much the
> same elsewhere... different styles are related to the people, climate
> and geography in the rest of the world...

Exactly, which is important to know if one is, for example, trying to model
a scene or structure with at least reasonable accuracy. So, for example,
if I decide to build and try to sell a 3D model of a Swiss farmhouse, I
can't just stick a few half-timbers and brown wood onto a cube - there are
certain elements, organizational principles, and other characteristics that
would need to be included. Or if I want/need to create an illustrative
scene of an area or even a story that occurs in a given area.

It's also just a matter of mere curiosity. As above, to have a mental
image available if I run across mention of a geographical area. Also
because it simply interrests me to see the different solutions people came
up with to problems of the environment-dwelling interaction, and the part
that those solutions play in a local culture.

> unlike the US where we build
> what we like regardless of the consequences.

Well, on average, yeah, which is a good reason to have one's own place
built for a specific site (and climate).

> I do have a book, I'll
> have to try and dig it up, called "Houses" and it's a view of houses
> from around the world...but with an emphasis on "modern" which, in
> some way, makes them all the same "style."

Modern is good but you mentioned vernacular, and yup, that's more what I'm
wondering about in terms of a style encyclopedia.

BTW I did try to look up "Houses" but Amazon insists upon dropping the
plural and returning 84,832 results (anything with the word "house" in the
title)...

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