History of American Vernacular Architecture & Landscapes Art History 457 (Spring 2010) Tuesdays & Thursdays, 1:00-2:15 (Elvehjem Building, Chazen Museum of Art, L150) Professor Anna Andrzejewski Office: Conrad A. Elvehjem Building (Chazen Museum of Art), Room 210 Department Phone: 262-9183 E-mail: [email protected] Office Hours: Wednesdays, 1-3, or by appointment Course Description: This course will examine an array of American vernacular buildings and landscapes from the colonial period to the present and consider what they can tell us about the past (and potentially the present). By vernacular, I refer to ordinary or everyday spaces and places that people encounter daily (houses, workspaces, institutional buildings) but rarely think about critically. Because these environments often were (and are) ordinary (that is, not high-style, not designed by architects, landscape architects, professional designers, etc.), traditional art historical frameworks that focus on stylistic categories or maker's biographies prove rather ineffective in interpreting them. Thus, this course will look at recent work by scholars from the fields of anthropology, history, American studies, cultural geography, landscape architecture and history, folklore, and material culture to construct frameworks that help us understand the significance that vernacular environments have had for their makers and users. In so doing, we will also consider question the need for the category of “vernacular,” as the approaches we discuss may be brought to bear upon any aspect of the built environment. A all-day field trip to the rural landscapes of southwestern Wisconsin and field projects in Madison are required as part of the course, as are visits by noted scholars of Wisconsin vernacular architecture and landscapes. Course Objectives: There are several interrelated objectives for the course—some descriptive and some interpretive. It will be obvious to many students from the first day of class that vernacular buildings and landscapes deviate significantly from high-style or architect-designed examples. This doesn’t mean these spaces are necessarily inferior to more famous designed examples—just different! Furthermore, understanding these buildings as historical and cultural evidence necessitates that we think of them in ways beyond their style and/or maker’s biography. Thus a major goal of this course will be to have students acquire a working vocabulary that can help them describe vernacular buildings and landscapes (and really ANY built environment) in meaningful ways. Learning appropriate terminology will help students recognize and understand vernacular environments in a way that does not judge them relative to “high style” ones and allows us to seem them as complex forms of architectural and historical evidence. A second objective of the course involves learning approaches and methodologies (from the disciplines listed above and potentially others) that help us make meaning out of ordinary buildings and landscapes that we encounter daily. Through a series of essays written by scholars working in the fields of American vernacular architecture and landscape history, we will discuss & evaluate the usefulness of various approaches to understanding the American built environment in all of its diversity. We will also have the opportunity to apply approaches through hands-on research conducted during the last third of the course. While a semester-long course in American vernacular architecture and landscapes cannot be comprehensive (and this course doesn’t pretend to be), a third goal of the course is that students will gain a foundational understanding of the history of vernacular buildings and landscapes in the United States as they evolved through time—with a focus (particularly in the last third of the course) on the vernacular architecture and landscape of Madison. Because there is no one book that covers this history in its entirety, this knowledge will be gleaned through class discussions (based on selected readings) that will occur during the semester.

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Course Requirements: Success in the course is contingent upon the student's attending class sessions, participating in class discussions and activities, keeping up with readings, completing a series of writing assignments, and preparing for quizzes and presentations. Students who come to all class periods, actively participate in class activities and discussions, and regularly engage with the material (that is, prepare at least FIVE hours outside of class per week CONSISTENTLY through the semester) will earn the highest grades in the course. PLEASE NOTE: THERE IS NO FINAL EXAM FOR THIS COURSE. Graduate student requirements vary somewhat from that of undergraduates, as described below. Reading assignments. There are two kinds of readings for the course. 1) TEXTBOOKS (available at the University Bookstore and on reserve at the Kohler Art Library). It is possible that you may wish to share one or both books with classmates. •

Thomas Carter and Elizabeth Collins Cromley, Invitation to Vernacular Architecture: A Guide to the Study of Ordinary Buildings and Landscapes. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2005. ISBN: 1572333316 - REQUIRED

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Gabrielle M. Lanier and Bernard L. Herman, Everyday Architecture of the Mid-Atlantic: Looking at Buildings and Landscapes (Baltimore & London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997). ISBN: 0801853257 - RECOMMENDED

2) COURSE READER FOR PURCHASE. Other required readings have been compiled into a READER, which is available for purchase from BOB’S COPY SHOP, 616 University Ave. You are expected to purchase a copy of the reader, keep up with the readings (assigned for each class period), and come to class prepared to discuss the material ON THE DAY they are listed on the CALENDAR. The reading load for this course is heavy, largely because we have a great deal to cover in a very short amount of time. Because of the heavy reading load, assignments have been scaled back—but that means you are expected to read assigned texts by the due date, and you will be graded on participation (see below). Also, you should be aware that the readings & the lectures rarely overlap; if you miss class, you should get the notes from someone else because the readings do not duplicate lecture material (and vice-versa). To assure that students are keeping up with reading assignments, they will be asked to submit two (2) one-page précis (article summaries) on readings in the READER; each précis must be submitted by the date for which it is assigned (no exceptions). Guidelines for these précis are included in the course READER. Quizzes. There will be two non-cumulative quizzes: the first on Tuesday, February 16 and the second on Thursday, March 11. Quiz questions will consist of a mix of short answer and short essay questions (some of which will likely involve slides) that engage with topics discussed in class or in the assigned readings. These quizzes may take up the majority of the class period on the days on which they are held. Format will be discussed in advance. Field Trip. Students are TO MAKE EVERY EFFORT to attend an all-day field trip to southwestern Wisconsin to be held on Friday, April 16th. If you cannot go, you should make arrangements with the Instructor for an alternative assignment, or drop the course. This trip, led by Arnold Alanen, Professor of Landscape Architecture, will take us to the driftless region around Mineral Point, Argyle, Wiota, and New Glarus. Our focus will be on ethnic building traditions and how they make up this complex landscape in rural southwestern WI. The bus will leave at approximately 8:00 a.m. and will return to Madison by 5:30 p.m. Cost of the bus is FREE thanks to a generous grant from the Chipstone Foundation. Students have the option of bringing their lunch, although those interested in having a vernacular Cornish lunch are invited to join the Instructor for pasties at the Red Rooster in Mineral Point (cost approximately $5). The field trip will provide an excellent summation of our discussions from the first part of the semester, and show applications in a real-world setting. IF YOU HAVE MANDATORY EXERCISES (I.E., MIDTERMS) IN YOUR

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OTHER COURSES, YOU SHOULD NOT ATTEND THE FIELD TRIP; please speak with the Instructor about alternative assignments. A short (3-4 page) response paper will be required upon return from the field trip (due no later than Tuesday, April 27). The paper should focus on what the student learned on the trip, and tie that acquired knowledge to themes/issues discussed in the course. Guidelines will follow at a later date. Final Projects – TBA. This year, we will be coordinating with staff from the Division of Historic Preservation, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, on group projects related to the vernacular buildings and landscapes of Madison. It will offer students a chance to go “in the field,” to look at actual buildings and landscape features, and also learn the basics of conducting research on them. This is exciting in several ways. First, it offers students a chance to actually conduct original research. Second, it represents the “Wisconsin Idea” in the sense of involving the educational mission of the university with the broader public. Third, it allows us to work with the State Historical Society to gather data on historic buildings and landscapes. And finally, students’ research will become part of the permanent record. Data will be collected for archiving at the Division of Historic Preservation, and, in addition, will form the basis for part of a conference to be held in Madison in 2012 for the Vernacular Architecture Forum. The precise nature of the activities and the location for this research will be announced later. For now, you need to know a few things. First, you will be working in teams to gather data. This is because these activities will be new to most of you, and also because safety is a primary concern. As you will be walking around looking at buildings, I would feel better if you did it together. Second, you will be responsible to get around Madison to conduct the research. Regardless of which location is ultimately chosen for your research, you will need to get there, with your team members. You will also have to conduct research, some of it off campus (downtown at the courthouse). Because of these complications, several class periods will be devoted to research time for you to conduct these tasks. Your final grade for the “group work” will be based on participation in activities in the neighborhood, contribution towards research conducted elsewhere, and a brief group presentation on your findings. Also, your experience in the field will contribute toward your last written assignment: a short (3-4 page) research proposal. For this proposal, you will be asked to write about some aspect of your group project that interests you, and describe – using knowledge gleaned in class – how you would go about conducting a larger research project. This proposal will require you to conduct little, if any, research. The idea is to use ideas you have gleaned over the course of the semester to consider how you would pursue independent research beyond this course on something that interests you. Students can propose to work on a single building, a feature of a building, a particular architectural style, building materials/technology, landscape design, or a theoretical issue of interest to them. The idea is to pick something you LIKE, and explore how you would continue to think about it beyond this course. These proposals are due no later than the last day of class. Class Participation. As the CALENDAR below indicates, considerable portions of this class are devoted to CLASS DISCUSSION, which is appropriate for a 400-level course. All students should participate in class discussions on a regular basis and participate fully in the final project. To that end, a hefty percentage of your grade will be based on class participation. TO THOSE WHO FEAR SPEAKING UP IN CLASS: I feel your pain—but part of a liberal arts education involves learning to engage in meaningful intellectual dialogue. If the cat has persistently got your tongue, you may wish to meet with me OUTSIDE of class to talk one-on-one about the material or write “response papers” to improve your participation grade (though nothing can make up for complete lack of verbal participation). You may consult with me periodically to gauge how you are doing in terms of your participation grade. If the class is consistently reticent to engage in discussion, the Instructor will ask that students submit response papers EACH WEEK to be graded as part of class participation. Students’ grades in class participation will be determined on a mix of factors, including (but certainly not limited to) regular attendance in class. Regular participation in class discussions, which includes asking SYLLABUS, PAGE 3

questions of the professor or your peers (especially during PRESENTATIONS) and responding to queries by the professor or your classmates, will figure into this grade. Should the Instructor need to assign response papers at any point in the class, these will count toward the class participation grade as well. Distribution of Grading (UNDERGRADUATES*): Quizzes 2 précis (article summaries) Field Trip Analysis Final Project – Group Work Research Project – Proposal Class Participation

20% (10% each) 10% (5% each) 15% 15% 15% 15% 100%

*Graduate students will be evaluated slightly differently. Grading Scale: The grade scale will follow University standards, but might vary given grading results: 94100, A; 89-93, AB; 84-88, B; 79-83, BC; 74-78, C; 65-73, D, 64 and below, F. Attendance/Make-up Policy: Each student is expected to attend all class sessions. Failure to attend class regularly will result in a failing grade. If you cannot attend class on a quiz day OR on a day when a paper is due, you must contact me by phone (e-mail does not count) BEFORE the class period you will miss to discuss alternative arrangements. Please note: sending an email does not constitute my acceptance; you must talk to me in advance. Failure to comply with this policy will result in a grade of “0” for the quiz or paper in question Communications Policy: I welcome questions and I am eager to discuss any thoughts you have related to material covered in class. Please visit me during office hours, or make an appointment to see me. Feel free to try to contact me by email, but recognize that email may not always be relied upon as a method of communication. If you have something important to discuss, you should CALL rather than use e-mail. Important issues include anything relating to the following: missing more than one class period in a row, missing a quiz, handing in a paper late, requesting a reconsideration of a grade, or ANY QUESTION RELATING TO GRADES OR YOUR PERFORMANCE IN THE COURSE. My policy is to only discuss issues involving grades in person or on the phone (not EMAIL); this is for everyone’s privacy protection. This includes requests to reconsider FINAL grades. Please understand—sending an e-mail stating that you are handing in a paper late or missing a quiz DOES NOT constitute an excuse or imply acceptance on my part. To get permission, you need to call or speak with me in person. Special Needs and Accommodations: If you have special educational needs (i.e., trouble with timed written quizzes), you should register at the McBurney center and contact me DURING THE FIRST TWO WEEKS OF CLASS to make arrangements. For help with your writing, you are encouraged to contact the Writing Center, 6171 Helen C. White Hall, tel. 263-1992. In addition to one-on-one consultations, they also offer non-credit classes of one or a few sessions each, to help you with a range of writing issues such as “the ten most important things to know about academic writing,” and “writing resumes and cover letters.”

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CALENDAR (* all assignments/topics are subject to change at Instructor’s discretion *) All readings (indicated by bullets below) not in Lanier & Herman (textbook) are in the READER unless otherwise noted UNIT 1:

PRELEMINARIES TO STUDYING VERNACULAR SPACES

WEEK 1:

COURSE INTRODUCTION

1/19

Course Introduction; Getting Acquainted

1/21

Discussion: What is vernacular architecture/landscape & how do we study it? • Camille Wells: “Old Claims and New Demands: Vernacular Architecture Studies Today,” Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture 2 (1986): 1-4. • Henry Glassie, Excerpt on “Vernacular Architecture,” from Material Culture (Indianapolis: University of Indiana Press, 1999), 227-31 • Dell Upton, “The VAF at 25: What Now?” in Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture 13, No. 2 (2007): 7-13. • Peirce F. Lewis, “Axioms for Reading the Landscape: Some Guides to the American Scene,” in The Interpretation of Ordinary Landscapes: Geographical Essays, ed. D.W. Meinig (New York: Oxford University Press, 1979), 11-32. • Paul Groth, “Frameworks for Cultural Landscape Study,” in Understanding Ordinary Landscapes ed. Paul Groth & Todd Bressi (New Haven & London: Yale, 1997): 1-21.

WEEK 2:

VERNACULAR 101

1/26

Lecture: Anatomy of Vernacular Buildings and Landscape • Gabrielle Lanier & Bernard L. Herman, “Introduction” in Everyday Architecture of the Mid-Atlantic, 1-7 (textbook) • REVIEW diagrams in READER & familiarize with vocabulary • Review FIELD FORM – WisDOT

1/28

Lecture and Discussion: Field Documentation of Historic Buildings & Landscapes • *Before coming to class you try to fill out both pages of the FIELD FORM (WisDOT) for the building you live in – be prepared to discuss! • Lanier & Herman, Everyday Architecture of the Mid-Atlantic, 316-40. • REVIEW the “Guide to Formal Analysis of Buildings & Landscapes” (READER) • Review HALS guidelines at the following URL: (http://www.nps.gov/hdp/standards/HALS/HALSHistoryGuidelines.pdf)

WEEK 3:

BUILDING MATERIALS & TECHNOLOGIES

2/2

Lecture: Building in Wood, Earth, & Stone • Lanier and Herman, Everyday Architecture of the Mid-Atlantic, 61-118.

2/4

Discussion: Using Building Technologies/Materials to Plot Cultural Process • Fred Kniffen, “Folk Housing: Key to Diffusion,” in Common Places: Readings in American Vernacular Architecture (1986), 3-26. CONT NEXT PAGE • Fred Kniffen and Henry Glassie, “Building in Wood in the Eastern United States: A Time-Place Perspective” in Common Places, 159-81. SYLLABUS, PAGE 5

•

William H. Tishler, “Stovewood Architecture,” Landscape 23 (1979): 28-31.

WEEK 4

MATTERS OF “STYLE” IN VERNACULAR BUILDINGS

2/9

Lecture: The Parade of Styles & its Limitations • Lanier and Herman, Everyday Architecture of the Mid-Atlantic, 119-76.

2/11

Discussion: Alternative Ways for Understanding “Style” in Vernacular Environments • Dell Upton, “Holy Things & Profane,” from Holy Things & Profane: Anglican Parish Churches in Colonial Virginia (1986), 101-62 • Edward Chappell, “Looking at Buildings,” Fresh Advices (November 1984), i-vi.

UNIT 2:

READING TYPES & FORMS OF VERNACULAR BUILDINGS & LANDSCAPES

WEEK 5

DOMESTIC ENVIRONMENTS I

2/16

QUIZ #1; Lecture: Vernacular House Forms through the Civil War • Lanier & Herman, Everyday Architecture of the Mid-Atlantic, 10-45, 51-60.

2/18

Lecture, cont.; Discussion: The Generation of Domestic Forms • Thomas Hubka, “Just Folks Designing: Vernacular Designers & the Generation of Form,” Common Places (1986), 426-32. • J. Ritchie Garrison, “Carpentry in Northfield, Massachusetts: The Domestic Architecture of Calvin Stearns and Sons, 1799-1856,” Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture, IV, ed. Thomas Carter and Bernard L. Herman (Columbia: Univ. of Missouri Press), 9-22. • *must submit 1st précis by this date

WEEK 6

DOMESTIC ENVIRONMENTS II

2/23

Lecture: Vernacular Housing AFTER the Civil War • Lanier & Herman, Everyday Architecture of the Mid-Atlantic, 45-59

2/25

Discussion: Houses & Popular Culture • James Garvin, “Mail Order House Plans & American Victorian Architecture,” Winterthur Portfolio16 (1981): 309-334. • Gwendolyn Wright, “The Progressive Housewife & the Bungalow,” from Building the Dream: A Social History of Housing in America (1981), 158-76. • Pam Simpson, “Stone for the Masses: Concrete Block in the Early Twentieth Century,” from Cheap, Quick & Easy: Imitative Architectural Materials, 1870-1930 (1999), 9-29.

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WEEK 7

THE AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPE

3/2

Lecture: The Farm Landscape ƒ Lanier and Herman, Everyday Architecture of the Mid-Atlantic, 177-225.

3/4

Lecture/Discussion: The Farm Landscape, CONT. • Allen G. Noble & Hubert G.H. Wilhelm, “The Farm Barns of the American Midwest,” from Barns of the Midwest (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1995), 1-23 • Allen G. Noble, “The Diffusion and Evolution of the Silo,” in Wood, Brick, and Stone: The North American Settlement Landscape. Volume 2: Barns and Farm Structures (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1984), 69-80.

WEEK 8

VARIETIES OF VERNACULAR FORMS

3/9

Lecture: Variety of Urban Forms • Lanier and Herman, Everyday Architecture of the Mid-Atlantic, 225-77. • Richard Longstreth, “Compositional Types in American Commercial Architecture,” Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture 2 (1986): 12-23. • *must submit 2nd précis by this date

3/11

QUIZ 2; Lecture: Urban Landscapes, Landscape Ensembles, & the Landscape of the Highway • Dolores Hayden, “Urban Landscape History: The Sense of Place & the Politics of Space,” in Understanding Ordinary Landscapes, eds. Paul Groth & Todd W. Bressi (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997), 111-33. • Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, Steven Izenour, Learning from Las Vegas: The Forgotten Symbolism of Architectural Form, revised edition (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1977), excerpted pages. • Wayne Curtis, “Belle Epoxy,” Historic Preservation (May-June 2000): 32-39. • Karal Ann Marling, “Tall Tales, Trademarks, and the Great Gatsby: Midwestern Space Defined,” and “The Great American Roadside: Tourist Sculpture in Minnesota,” from The Colossus of Roads: Myth and Symbol along the American Highway (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1984), 1-5 & 40-63. • Charles G. Zug III, “Folk Art and Outsider Art: A Folklorist’s Perspective,” in The Artist Outsider: Creativity and the Boundaries of Culture, Michael D. Hall & Eugene W. Metcalf, Jr., eds. (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian, 1994), 145-60. • Michael Kimmelman, “By Whatever Name, Easier to Like,” New York Times (February 17, 1997).

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WEEK 9

Researching the Vernacular in Madison – Tools and Methods

3/16

Workshop: Sources for Conducting Research on Vernacular Architecture

3/18

Meeting with Division of State Historic Preservation staff re fieldwork; location TBA • Carter/Cromley, Invitation to Vernacular Architecture (BEGIN READING THIS)

WEEK 10

Vernacular Madison

3/23

Lecture: Madison’s History & Development

3/25

Discussion: Issues in Madison’s Vernacular Architecture Readings: TBA (will be posted as PDF’s)

March 27 – April 4 – NO CLASS -- SPRING RECESS WEEK 11

LEARNING FROM THE WI LANDSCAPE

4/6

Introduction to the Landscape of Southwestern WI • Michael P. Conzen, “The European Settling and Transformation of the Upper Mississippi Valley Lead Region,” in Robert C. Ostergren and Thomas R. Vale, eds., Wisconsin Land and Life (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1997), 163-89. ( • John C. Hudson, “The Creation of Towns in Wisconsin,” in Ostergren and Vale, Wisconsin Land and Life, 197-220. • Chad David Moffett, “Cheese Factories in the Southwestern Wisconsin Landscape, 1870-1920,” MA Thesis, UW-Madison (2000), 45-61. • William H. Tishler, “Built From Tradition: Wisconsin’s Rural Ethnic Folk Architecture,” Wisconsin Academy Review (March 1984): 14-18. • Newspaper clippings on some buildings we will visit

4/8

NO CLASS – FIELD TRIP ON FRIDAY, April 16 • Review ONLINE FIELD TOUR at :http://www.materialculture.wisc.edu/DrivingTour/WebSite/index.html

WEEK 12

Research Week I

4/13

Fieldwork for Group Projects

4/15

Fieldwork for Group Projects

Required all-day field trip, Friday, April 16th – to southwestern WI

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WEEK 13

Research Week II

4/20

Fieldwork for Group Projects

4/22

Fieldwork for Group Projects

WEEK 14

Group Project Reports

4/27

Group Meeting with Instructor **Field Trip Response Paper due

4/29

Group Presentations

WEEK 15

CLOSING THOUGHTS

5/4

Conclusion: The Vernacular Today

5/6

Meet to submit data gathered in field & project proposal

THERE IS NO FINAL EXAM FOR THIS COURSE Have a great summer!

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