Architectural & Construction: September 2007

Sunday, September 30, 2007

1965 - Present: Neo-mediterranean

Picture Dictionary of House Styles in North America and Beyond

Details from Spain, Italy, and other Mediterranean countries combine with North American ideas to create contemporary Mediterranean or Neo-mediterranean homes.

Photo: Jupiterimages Corporation

Spanish and Italian details mingle with contemporary styling in Neo-mediterranean style homes.

Neo-mediterranean is a Neoeclectic house style that incoporates a fanciful mix of details suggested by the architecture of Spain, Italy, and Greece, Morocco, and the Spanish Colonies. Realtors often call Neo-mediterrean houses Mediterranean or Spanish.

Neo-mediterranean houses have many of these features:

Low-pitched roof
Red roof tiles
Stucco siding
Arches above doors, windows, or porches
Heavy carved wooden doors

A Neo-mediterranean home may resemble the much earlier Spanish Revival style. However, Neo-mediterranean homes are not careful recreations of Spanish Colonial architecture. If you remove the romantic decorative details, a Neo-mediterranean home is more likely to resemble a no-nonsense, all-American Ranch or Raised Ranch .

1965 - Present: Neoeclectic

Picture Dictionary of House Styles in North America and Beyond

If your home was built recently, chances are it incorporates many styles. Architects and designers call this new stylistic mix Neoeclectic, or Neo-eclectic.

Photo © Jackie Craven

Colonial windows, a Queen Anne turret, and a hint of classical columns combine in this Neoeclectic home.

A Neoeclectic home can be difficult to describe because it combines many styles. The shape of the roof, the design of the windows, and decorative details may be inspired by several different periods and cultures.

Features of Neoeclectic Homes:

Constructed in the 1960s or later
Historic styles imitated using modern materials like vinyl or imitation stone
Details from several historic styles combined
Details from several cultures combined
Brick, stone, vinyl, and composite materials combined

About Neoeclectic Houses

During the late 1960s, a rebellion against modernism and a longing for more traditional styles influenced the design of modest tract housing in North America. Builders began to borrow freely from a variety of historic traditions, offering Neoeclectic (or, Neo-eclectic) houses that were "customized" using a mixture of features selected from construction catalogs. These homes are sometimes called Postmodern because they borrow from a variety of styles without consideration for continuity or context. However, Neoeclectic homes are not usually experimental and do not reflect the artistic vision you would find in a truly original, architect-designed postmodern home.

Critics use the term McMansion to describe a Neoeclectic home that is over-sized and pretentious. Coined from the McDonald's fast food restaurant, the name McMansion implies that these homes are hastily assembled using cheaply-made materials and a menu of mix-and-match decorative details.

1930 - 1945: Art Moderne

Picture Dictionary of House Styles in North America and Beyond

With the sleek, streamlined appearance of a modern machine, Art Moderne architecture expressed the spirit of a new, technological age.

Photo © the homeowner

Art Moderne Home, from "House Helpline" #1142

Art Moderne houses have many of these features:

Asymmetrical
Horizontal orientation
Flat roof
No cornices or eaves
Cube-like shape
Smooth, white walls
Sleek, streamlined appearance
Rounded corners highlighted by wraparound windows
Glass block windows
Aluminum and stainless steel window and door trim
Mirrored panels
Steel balustrades
Suggestion of speed and movement: Horizontal rows of windows or stripes
Little or no ornamentation
Open floor plans

About the Art Moderne Style

It's easy to confuse Art Moderne with Art Deco, but they are two distinctly different styles. While both have stripped-down forms and geometric designs, the Art Moderne style will appear sleek and plain, while the slightly earlier Art Deco style can be quite showy. Art Moderne buildings are usually white, while Art Deco buildings may be brightly colored. The Art Deco style is most often used for public buildings like theaters, while the Art Moderne style is most often found in private homes.

Origins of Art ModerneThe sleek, rounded Art Moderne style originated in the Bauhaus movement, which began in Germany. Bauhaus architects wanted to use the principles of classical architecture in their purest form, designing simple, useful structures without ornamentation or excess. Building shapes were based on curves, triangles, and cones. Bauhaus ideas spread worldwide and led to the Moderne or International Style in the United States. Art Moderne art, architecture, and fashion became popular just as Art Deco was losing appeal. Many products produced during the 1930s, from architecture to jewelry to kitchen appliances, expressed the new Art Moderne ideals.

Art Moderne truly reflected the spirit of the early twentieth century. Expressing excitement over technological advancements, high speed transportation, and innovative new construction techniques, Art Modern design was highlighted at the 1933 World Fair Chicago. For homeowners, Art Moderne also proved to be a pragmatic style because these simple dwellings were so easy and economical to build.

Smart Solutions for Small Spaces

Look for Furnishings That Contain Other Furnishings

With housing prices soaring, energy costs increasing and baby-boomers facing empty nests, many people are moving to smaller spaces. To make a compact space live large, look for furnishings that serve several purposes. Here are some suggestions to get you started.You know those Russian nesting dolls; you open one up and find another inside? Look for furniture that does the same thing. I love coffee tables that conceal stools or cushions underneath. While the Pottery Barn model above was recently discontinued, other companies offer similar designs.

Sleep sofas are practical, but costly. Futons are inexpensive, but clunky. Here's two alternatives that are both affordable and stylish. • The Kiel Futon looks like a conventional sofa. Drop the two side panels on the back and you've got a chic, modern-looking loveseat. Drop the center panel and--voila!--it's a bed that measures a comfortable 80 inches long and 49 inches wide. The Kiel Futon is available in the central and western U.S. at Scandinavian Designs, Dania and Plummers stores for just $349. • The Flip Flop convertible sofa from CB2 is a smart-looking sofa with two back cushions that can drop down separately or together, giving you a sofa, chaise or bed with just a flick of the wrist; $999.

Design Your Own Custom Carpet or Area Rug with FLOR Modular Tiles

If you lived through the 1970s, then you’ll remember carpet tiles as the bottom-feeder of the floorcovering kingdom—aqua and orange pieces of felted rubber that attracted stains and withering stares in equal measure. So I was skeptical when I heard about InterfaceFLOR carpet tiles—that is, until I saw them.

Carpet Tiles for the 21st Century

Fun, affordable, and altogether beguiling, this new generation of carpet tiles is designed in an arresting array of hip colors, patterns and textures, letting you create a customized area rug or wall-to-wall carpet for a fraction of the cost of a woven piece.

Each FLOR carpet tile measures 19.7 inches square and is secured in place by four peel-and-stick adhesive tabs, so there’s no gluing. The tabs are low-tack, so if you don’t like what you’ve done you can move the carpet tiles around (the adhesive won’t damage the surface underneath). And if a square gets soiled, you simply pull it up and replace it. Best of all, FLOR starts at less than $10 per square, with most designs priced in the teens. That means you can create a 5-by-8-foot carpet for as little as $150.

Design It Yourself

FLOR sells prepackaged designs, but the fun of FLOR is designing a carpet yourself. The user-friendly Web site, flor.com, includes a gallery of ideas to get you started, plus a design tool that lets you plan your carpet right on the computer, so you can see what the finished product will look like before you order. And if you need more assurance, you can order a packet of up to eight carpet swatches for only $5. Once you’ve made your selection, you can order your carpet tiles online or purchase them from a local retailer (there’s a list on the FLOR Web site). Then all you have to do is install your carpet and step back to admire your handiwork. Rarely has high design been so fun and so affordable.

Martha Was Here

FLOR's partnership with the Doyenne of Domesticity has produced a new collection: Martha Stewart Floor Designs with FLOR. Stewart's designs take this company to the next level, with subtle, sophisticated colors and a range of textural patterns that add graphic punch without hitting you over the head. There's even a few kooky designs tossed in. The carpet tiles appear to be a bit more pricey than comparable FLOR tiles, but with great looks starting at just $12.99 a tile, it's--dare I say it?--a good thing.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

1860 - 1890: Stick Style

Picture Dictionary of House Styles in North America and Beyond: Stick Style.

Stick Style Victorian houses have exposed trusses, "stickwork," and other details borrowed from medieval times.

The Physick House in Cape May, New Jersey is a hallmark example of the Stick Style. Brackets and stickwork suggest medieval building techniques.

The house shown above is an early and especially fine example of Victorian Stick architecture. The exterior walls are ornamented with "stickwork," or decorative half-timbering. The house also has brackets, rafters, and braces. These details are not necessary structurally. They are decorations that imitated architecture from the medieval past.

On first glance, you might confuse Stick houses with the later Tudor Revival Style. However, most Tudor Revival houses are sided with stucco, stone, or brick. Stick Style houses are almost always made with wood.

Victorian Stick Style homes have these features:

Rectangular shape
Wood siding
Steep, gabled roof
Overhanging eaves
Ornamental trusses (gable braces)
Decorative braces and brackets
Decorative half-timbering

About the Stick Style:

The most important features of Stick Style houses are on the exterior wall surfaces. Instead of three-dimensional ornamentation, the emphasis is on patterns and lines. Because the decorative details are flat, they are often lost when homeowners remodel. If the decorative stickwork is covered up with vinyl siding or painted a single solid color, a Stick Style Victorian may appear plain and rather ordinary.

The Palliser Company, which published many plan books during the Victorian era, called stick architecture plain yet neat, modern, and comfortable. However, Stick was a short-lived fashion. The angular and austere style couldn't compete with the fancy Queen Annes that took America by storm. Some Stick architecture did dress up in fancy Eastlake spindles and Queen Anne flourishes. But very few authentic Stick Style homes remain intact.

Learn More About Victorian Stick Architecture:

Victorian House Plan Books.
Many of the early house plan catalogs featured Stick Style houses.

Related Styles:

1855 - 1885: Second Empire (Mansard) Style

Picture Dictionary of House Styles in North America and Beyond.

With tall mansard roofs and wrought iron cresting, Second Empire homes create a sense of height.

With their high mansard roofs, Second Empire houses suggested European majesty.

Second Empire homes usually have these features:

Mansard roof
Dormer windows project like eyebrows from roof
Rounded cornices at top and base of roof
Brackets beneath the eaves, balconies, and bay windows

Many Second Empire homes also have these features:

Cupola
Patterned slate on roof
Wrought iron cresting above upper cornice
Classical pediments
Paired columns
Tall windows on first story
Small entry porch

Second Empire buildings with tall mansard roofs were modeled after the the opulent architecture of Paris during the reign of Napoleon III. French architects used the term horror vacui - the fear of unadorned surfaces - to describe the highly ornamented Second Empire style. Second Empire buildings were also practical: their height allowed for additional living space on narrow city lots.

In the United States, government buildings in the Second Empire style resemble the elaborate French designs. Private homes, however, often have an Italianate flavor. Both Italianate and Second Empire houses tend to be square in shape, and both can have U-shaped window crowns, decorative brackets, and single story porches. But, Italianate houses have much wider eaves... and they do not have the distinctive mansard roof characteristic of the Second Empire style.

Learn more:

1840-1880: Gothic Revival (Wood)

Picture Dictionary of House Styles in North America and Beyond: Gothic Revival

Builders borrowed church-like details to construct affordable wooden versions of the Gothic Revival style. To learn about Gothic Revival houses, read below.

Victorian Gothic Revival homes have pointed windows and other details borrowed from medieval Gothic cathedrals.

The earliest Gothic Revival homes were constructed of stone and brick. The Gothic Revival style imitated the great cathedrals and castles of Europe. However, few people could afford to build grand masonry homes in the Gothic Revival style. In the United States, the ready availability of lumber and factory-made architectural trim lead to a distinctly American version of Gothic Revival. Wood-framed Gothic Revival homes became America's dominant style in the mid-1800s.

Wooden homes in the Gothic Revival style have many of these features:

Steeply pitched roof
Steep cross gables
Windows with pointed arches
Vertical board and batten siding
One-story porch

New machines invented during the Victorian era made it easy and affordable to add scrolled ornaments, lacy bargeboards, "gingerbread" trim, and other decorative details. Heavily decorated wood-frame cottages in the Gothic Revival style are often called Carpenter Gothic.

To learn about Gothic Revival architecture constructed from stone, see
Victorian Gothic House Styles: (Masonry) >>

For more photos of Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, see
Victorian Gothic House Styles: History and Pictures >>

Bagsværd Church

Denmark
Built in 1973-76, Bagsværd Church was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jørn Utzon.

Photo © Bent Ryberg/Planet Foto

Bagsværd Church

Commenting on his design for the Bagsværd Church, Jørn Utzon wrote:

"At an exhibition of my works, including the Sydney Opera House there was also a drawing of a small church in the centre of a town. Two ministers representing a congregation that had been saving for 25 years to build a new church, saw it and asked me if I would be the architect for their church. There I stood, and was offered the finest task an architect can have - a magnificent time when it was the light from above that showed us the way." According to Utzon, the genesis of the design went back to a time when he was teaching at the University of Hawaii and spent time on the beaches. One evening, he was struck by the regular passage of clouds, thinking they could be the basis for the ceiling of a church. His early sketches showed groups of people on the beach with clouds overhead. His sketches evolved with the people framed by columns on each side and billowing vaults above, and moving toward a cross.

More about Jørn Utzon

The Mark Twain House (1874 / 1881)

The Hartford, Connecticut home of American author Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

Before he became famous for his novels, Samuel Clemens ("Mark Twain") married into a wealthy family. Samuel Clemens and his wife Olivia Langdon asked the noted architect Edward Tuckerman Potter to design a lavish "poet's house" on Nook Farm, a pastoral neighborhood in Hartford, Connecticut.

The Mark Twain House is elaborately decorated with patterned brick and ornamental stickwork.

Edward Tuckerman Potter was known for designing grand Romanesque churches, but his design for the Clemens home was bright and whimsical. With brilliantly colored bricks, geometric patterns, and elaborate trusses, the 19-room mansion became a hallmark of what came to be known as the Stick Style of architecture. After living in the house for several years, the Clemens hired Louis Comfort Tiffany and Associated Artists to decorate the first floor with stencils and wallpapers.

Taking the pen name Mark Twain, Samuel Clemens wrote his most famous novels in this house, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The house was sold in 1903. Samuel Clemens died in 1910.

The Mark Twain Home in Hartford, Connecticut is often described as an example of Gothic Revival architecture. However, the patterned surfaces, ornamental trusses, and large decorative brackets are characteristics of another Victorian style known as Stick. But, unlike most Stick Style buildings, the Mark Twain house is constructed of brick instead of wood. Some of the bricks are painted orange and black to create intricate patterns on the facade.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

American Foursquare

Picture Dictionary of House Styles in North America and Beyond
The Foursquare style, sometimes called the Prairie Box, can be found in nearly every part of the United States.

Simple Foursquare houses were built in brick, stone, stucco, concrete block, or wood.

American Foursquare houses usually have these features:

Simple box shape
Two-and-a-half stories high
Four-room floor plan
Low-hipped roof with deep overhang
Large central dormer
Full-width porch with wide stairs
Brick, stone, stucco, concrete block, or wood siding

About the Foursquare House Style:
The American Foursquare, or the Prairie Box, was a post-Victorian style that shared many features with the Prairie architecture pioneered by Frank Lloyd Wright. The boxy foursquare shape provided roomy interiors for homes on small city lots. The simple, square shape also made the Foursquare style especially practical for mail order house kits from Sears and other catalog companies.

Creative builders often dressed up the basic foursquare form. Although foursquare houses are always the same square shape, they can have features borrowed from any of these styles:

Queen Anne - bay windows, small towers, or "gingerbread" trim
Mission - stucco siding and roof parapets
Colonial Revival - pediments or porticos
Craftsman - exposed roof rafters, beamed ceilings, built-in cabinetry, and carefully crafted woodwork

Learn More About the Foursquare House Style:

American Foursquare Floor PlansFrom the pages of Sears and Aladdin mail order catalogs, illustrations, descriptions and floor plans for American Foursquare style homes.

Picking Colors for a FoursquareA well-chosen selection of trim and accent colors can draw attention to architectural details and disguise design flaws. Here are some pointers for painting an American Foursquare.

Foursquare Photos Our photo gallery of American Foursquare homes submitted by readers.
The Prairie Style With its low, paramid shaped roof, the Foursquare form is a variation on the linear style pioneered by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Craftsman Style Many Foursquare homes have "Craftsman" details.

Prairie Style

Picture Dictionary of House Styles in North America and Beyond

Frank Lloyd Wright revolutionized the American home when he began to design "Prairie" style houses with low horizontal lines and open interior spaces.

The Frederic C. Robie House in Chicago is widely considered Frank Lloyd Wright's finest example of the Prairie style. It was built in 1909.

Prairie style houses usually have these features:

Low-pitched roof
Overhanging eaves
Horizontal lines
Central chimney
Open floor plan
Clerestory windows

About the Prairie Style:
Frank Lloyd Wright believed that rooms in Victorian era homes were boxed-in and confining. He began to design houses with low horizontal lines and open interior spaces. Rooms were often divided by leaded glass panels. Furniture was either built-in or specially designed. These homes were called prairie style after Wright's 1901 Ladies Home Journal plan titled, "A Home in a Prairie Town." Prairie houses were designed to blend in with the flat, prairie landscape.
The first Prairie houses were usually plaster with wood trim or sided with horizontal board and batten. Later Prairie homes used concrete block. Prairie homes can have many shapes: Square, L-shaped, T-shaped, Y-shaped, and even pinwheel-shaped.

Many other architects designed Prairie homes and the style was popularized by pattern books. The popular American Foursquare style, sometimes called the Prairie Box, shared many features with the Prairie style.

In 1936, during the USA depression, Frank Lloyd Wright developed a simplified version of Prairie architecture called Usonian. Wright believed these stripped-down houses represented the democratic ideals of the United States.

Famous Prairie Houses by Frank Lloyd Wright

1893: William Winslow ResidenceRiver Forest, Illinois. Although this house uses ornamentation in the fashion of Louis Sullivan, it also shows elements of the new Prairie style. The house is a symmetrical rectangle.
1901: Frank W. Thomas HouseOak Park, Illinois. Widely considered Wright's first Prairie Style house in Oak Park, and one of his earliest uses of stucco.
1902: Arthur Heurtley HouseOak Park, Illinois. This low, compact house has variegated brickwork with vibrant color and rough texture.
1909: Robie Residence (shown above) This Frank Lloyd house in Chicago is widely considered Wright's finest example of the Prairie style.

More About the Prairie Style

Spanish Mission House Style

Picture Dictionary of House Styles in North America and Beyond

Historic mission churches built by Spanish colonists inspired the turn-of-the-century house style known as Mission, Spanish Mission, or California Mission.

Spanish Mission style houses have stucco walls, arches, and other details inspired by the Spanish mission churches of colonial America.

Spanish Mission style houses have many of these features:

Smooth stucco siding
Roof parapets
Large square pillars
Twisted columns
Arcaded entry porch
Round or quatrefoil window
Red tile roof

About the Spanish Mission Style:Celebrating the architecture of Hispanic settlers, Spanish Mission (or, California Mission) style houses usually have arched dormers and roof parapets. Some resemble old Spanish mission churches with bell towers and elaborate arches.
The earliest Mission style homes were built in California, USA. The style spread eastward, but most Spanish Mission homes are located in the southwestern states. Deeply shaded porches and dark interiors make these homes particularly suited for warmer climates.
By the 1920s, architects were combining Mission styling with features from other movements.

Mission houses often have details from these popular styles:

When describing furniture, the terms Mission and Craftsman are used interchangeably.
Learn more about Mission architecture:

California Mission Studies AssociationThis Web site is a good source for exploring the old Colonial missions that inspired Victorian mission style architecture.
California Mission HistoryWeb site with history, maps, photos, and links for California's colonial era Mission architecture.

Mission Style House Plans and Photos:

Cotswold Cottage

Picture Dictionary of House Styles in North America and Beyond
With roots in the pastoral Cotswold region of England, the picturesque Cotswold Cottage style may remind you of a cozy storybook house.

Cotswold Cottage: This subtype of the Tudor Revival style may remind you of a picturesque storybook cottage.

Other names for the Cotswold Cottage style :

Storybook Style
Hansel and Gretel Cottage
Tudor Cottage
English Country Cottage
Ann Hathaway Cottage

Cotswold Cottage houses have many of these features:

Sloping, uneven roof, sometimes made of pseudo-thatch
Brick, stone, or stucco siding
Very steep cross gables
Prominent brick or stone chimney, often at the front near the door
Casement windows with small panes
Small dormer windows
Asymmetrical design
Low doors and arched doors
Small, irregularly-shaped rooms
Sloping walls in rooms on upper floor

About the Cotswold Cottage house style

The small, fanciful Cotswold Cottage is a popular subtype of the Tudor Revival house style. This quaint English country style is based on the cottages built since medieval times in the Cotswold region of southwestern England. A fascination for medieval styles inspired American architects create modern versions of the rustic homes. The Cotswold Cottage style became especially popular in the United States during the 1920s and 1930s.

The picturesque Cotswold Cottage is usually asymmetrical with a steep, complex roof line. The floor plan tends to include small, irregularly-shaped rooms, and the upper rooms have sloping walls with dormers. The home may have a sloping slate or cedar roof that mimics the look of thatch. A massive chimney often dominates either the front or one side of the house.

Cotswold Cottage Building Plans

Sears Mail Order Plan

Cotswold Cottage PhotosThese homes from our House Helpline series have features of the Cotswold Cottage style:

Read About Cotswold Cottages

Buildings of the CotswoldsAuthor Denis Moriarty explores the Cotswold region of England and looks at the cottages, manor homes, and humble farm buildings that inspired America's Cotswold Cottage style. Color and black-and-white photos show architectural details. (compare prices)
Storybook Style: America's Whimsical Homes of the TwentiesDuring the 1920s, architects with a flare for drama tried to capture the flavor of medieval England and Europe. Half timbered and turreted, pinnacled and portcullised, the homes they built combined features from many traditions, including the picturesque Cotswold style. (compare prices)

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Residential Steel Framing Handbook

Description

The steel frame ``how-to'' for wood-builders. The use of steel in residential construction is hot. So if your expertise lies in conventional wood frame construction, you'll definitely want to pick up the Residential Steel Framing Handbook. Robert Scharff and the editors of Walls & Ceilings Magazine take you step-by-step through each stage of the construction process--from preconstruction preparation to interior finishing--delivering all the in's and out's of building houses with steel. Jam-packed with over 350 illustrations and photographs, it's the perfect on-the-job training manual for you and your crew: sound proofing; insulation; calculating load strength; special tools and equipment; drywall and other interior finishes; building codes and zoning regulations; material specifications and selection; connectors and fasteners; steel floor framing; stell framed roofs; and much more.