AS 101: Architecture in Depression and War Shanken
UCB Spring, 2006
Final Project Options
1. Building Reception.
Golden Gate Bridge, Aki: 10
Chrysler Building, Brianne Lumley: 8
Pentagon, Elyse Wesendunk: 10
[Steven Purdy-Pentagon]: 8
U.N.-Claire (Elaine) Randlett (no paper topic handed in but she spoke with me): 7
Empire State Building-Claudia Sheehan: 8.5
Jefferson Memorial-Joni Zayicek: 8.5
Luis Ledesma, Johnson Wax Building: 9
Guggenheim, Claire Ferensowicz: 8.5
Falling Water-Caitlin Johnston: 10
Amina McCarthy-Rockefeller Center: 7.5
John Rodrigues-Supreme Court: 7
Christie Park-Levittown: 7
Matt Miccarelli-PSFS: 7
[Rebecca Scherer-Chrysler Building—changed to Hoover Dam]: 5
[Mega Khiang- Breuer houses and their fate]: 5
Zak Thomas-Quonset Hut.
Alice Hayden-1929 NY Regional Plan and Times Square: 8.5-changed to Waldorf-Astoria
2. Architectural Materials. This is a study of the history of a single, important building material in the 1930’s and 1940’s, including steel, concrete, plywood, bent wood, aluminum, linoleum, plastics, glass block, terracotta, and so forth. The Depression prompted experimentation in prefabrication and World War II provided a pivotal testing ground for new materials. Both altered the ways in which materials were produced, consumed, and marketed. This means that some of the primary literature would come in the form of trade catalogues, advertisements, trade journals, and so forth. An excellent paper on an architectural material would survey a range of primary literature, situate this within the secondary literature, and demonstrate an original argument about how the material took on different meaning in the period, coming into favor with key buildings or architects, or falling out of favor over time. Another approach would analyze the changing representation of these materials in advertisements or buildings themselves.
Yadira Ibarra-Glass Manufacturers/Glass: 9
Margaret Ocampo—Glass Block: 10
Owen Javellana-Plastic: 9
Anna Lau-Linoleum: 10
Nick Labounty-Aluminum (nothing handed in, but we spoke): 7
Carrie Bittle: Terracotta: 7
Eric Shin-plastic-representations in ads: 5
3. Architectural Products. Much like architectural materials, architectural products change over time, responding to social, economic, and cultural conditions. This paper would choose a manufacturer in the building trades and follow its advertisement and promotion, as well as the ways in which its product was used in important buildings, to create an original argument about the product. Again, this could be a study in changing representations of products in advertisements, trade catalogues, Sweet’s Catalogue and elsewhere. The secondary literature would likely come from advertising history as well as architectural history. Possible companies include: Revere Copper and Brass, Pittsburgh Plate Glass, General Electric Lamps, Libby-Owens-Ford Glass, U.S. Steel, Kawneer Windows, United States Gypsum, Westinghouse Electric, General Electric, etc. If you want to choose another company, it must be approved by Professor Shanken. It is strongly recommended that you consult with Professor Shanken, who has extensive lists of where these ads appear and knowledge of where one might find information on these companies.
Paul Jesseman: US Steel: 7
David Smart: Lighting (originally chose Aluminum, which I rejected)
4. Architectural Competitions.
Brenna Hackmeyer-PPG vs. Chicagoland (nothing handed in, but we spoke and she emailed me. She’ll need some help figuring out how to do this): 7.5
5. Architecture in the Archives. The C.E.D. Archives, run by Waverly Lowell, possesses a rich collection of materials from the period. The collection is particularly strong in New Deal, wartime, and postwar housing, but there are also other materials that might provide the raw material for a paper. The paper might focus on one project, studying it within the context of similar projects from the period, as well as the literature from the course. If you choose this project, you must have it approved and develop your idea with Professor Shanken.
Vernon DeMars-Casey Wright: 10
6. Master Plan. The 1930’s and 1940’s also witnessed a proliferation of master plans by cities hoping to rid themselves of slums and create a new urban order. This paper would explore a single urban plan in the context both of the architecture and urbanism of the period, asking questions about the role of housing, industry, the car, shopping, neighborhood development, the suburbs, civic centers, and so forth. It might include comparisons to the key plans of the day, the 1929 Regional Plan of New York and the 1942 London County Council plan, and it should demonstrate knowledge of the secondary literature on planning by situating the plan within the national or regional context of planning in the period.
Erik Larsen-Oakland Master Plan, 1930’s or 1940’s: 9.5
Katharine Meczka-Los Angeles: 8.5
Shelby Schneider: Radburn: 6
Sara Huey-[Elysian Park or Griffith Park]: 5
7. Biographical Paper.
Jessica Ramirez-Frank Lloyd Wright during the Depression: 9
John Dadourian-Mies and Steel: 10
Kaitlin Cullum-Mumford (nothing handed in, but she spoke with me): 7.5
[Veronica Webber-Mumford]: 6
John Acquadro-Richard Neutra: 8.5
Emiko Horner-Ralph Walker (nothing handed in, but she spoke with me late): 7
Chris Gurecki-FLW’s Autobiography (picked a non topic at first)--5
8. Architecture and Advertising. This paper would use representations of architecture in advertising to study the relationship between buildings and consumer culture. Since advertising agencies make ads, not architects, they provide a different window into architecture, and this offers a trove of primary materials to the observant, creative researcher. This paper would use these representations of architecture to create an original argument about architecture in the period, carefully situating it within the context of real buildings, writings, and imagined projects of the period, as well as within the secondary literature on advertising. This project must be approved by Professor Shanken.
Dawn Nott: 8.5
Jeannie Lee: Furniture?: 7
Nisha Maniktala: prefab house ads?: 6
This assignment has been handed out at the beginning of the semester in order to give you time to find materials. It is important to begin the hunting and gathering stage of the project quickly. You may want to search for a specific topic by flipping through some of the magazines of the period, such as Pencil Points, Architectural Forum, Architectural Record, or by consulting the Avery Index to examine the range of literature on a given topic.
Additional topics
Image of the Architect in 1930’s and 1940’s—Jennifer Kim: 9.5
Schools in the 1930’s and 1940’s-Kellie Mullin: 10
Recreation-Adam Vucurevich (he spoke with me, but didn’t hand anything in—he was thoughtful): 8
Greenbelt Towns: Amanda Fox: 8
Francis Avila-Corb, Mendelsohn, Neutra’s views of the U.S.
Mark Sheredy: Industrial Designers.
Casey Holt-S.F. Planning: 6.5
[Andrea Hinman-Peter Behrens]: 5: changed to comparison of Futurama, Democracity, and “The City,” by Mumford.
Ernie Macias (Broadacre City) 7
Non-Topics
Anne Wheatley: Timberline Lodge: 7
[David Smart-chose aluminum]: 5
[Zak Thomas-Steel]: 5