ARLH206 Heidi Lin Comparative Essay 4 PDF

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Comparative Essay 4...

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Comparative Essay #4 The Past and Innovation: Leading to the 20th Century Heidi Lin May 24, 2021 As time moves towards the 20th century, architects continued to look back into history and integrate the past with modern technologies, purposes, and ideals. Also, as the United States grew, American architects started to provide their own takes on the past and combining them with the newer and rapidly growing nation. Both Henry Hobson Richardson’s Mary Fiske Stoughton House and McKim, Mead & White’s Isaac Bell House were both important landmarks as eyewitnesses of the prospering American architecture. Mary Fiske Stoughton House and Isaac Bell House are similar in many parts: they were built around the same years, both were built in shingle style, and both were commissioned to be domestic houses. Being built in shingle style meant that the exterior of the houses looked Victorian and colonial. Unlike the Stoughton House, which underwent several alterations after Richardson’s initial design and construction, the Bell House remained the same since its construction and was innovative in combining different elements into its design. The Bell House had inspirations from old English, European, and some Japanese touches, whereas the Stoughton House was fairly colonial inside out. They might be similar from the exterior, but not the interior. Influences that the architects left through the Stoughton House and the Bell House were uncountable. The Stoughton House by H.H. Richardson was one of the first shingle style house built and its existence marked the beginning of the style. Although the house went through different alterations by different architects, it was still one of Richardson’s most wellknown designs. While the exterior is shingle, after the changes it went through, the interior became incoherent with the original design of Richardson. However, this does not take away the fact that it was a pioneer for colonial revivalism. The Bell House, on the other hand, was also designed to be shingle style, yet it was more famous for other elements. The house has a more opened floor plan that is usually found more in Japanese architecture. This created more freeing space compared to the traditional way of having closed-area rooms designated for specific purposes. The Bell House had more details from various cultures and time periods, such as bamboo-shaped columns located on the porch, stain glasses, and the reappearing chrysanthemum motifs found around the house. Mary Fiske Stoughton House and Isaac Bell House appeared to be similar from the exterior but not the interior. They are both celebrated for their success in recreating colonial designs and modern tastes. The Stoughton set a path for a new style for the United States and the Bell House managed to integrate elements from various times and culture, and creating a new image for the country....