Adaptive Reuse

Old buildings often outlive their original purposes. Adaptive reuse, or re-use, is a process that adapts

buildings for new uses while retaining their historic features. An old factory may become an apartment building. A rundown church may find new life as a restaurant... And a restaurant may

become a church.

Adobe

Adobe is a term widely used in the southwestern United States and Spanish speaking countries. Although the word is often used to describe an architectural style, adobe is actually a building material. Adobe "bricks" are usually made with tightly compacted earth, clay, and straw. However, construction methods and the composition of the adobe will vary according to climate and local customs. Sometimes an asphalt emulsion is added to help waterproof the adobe bricks. A mixture of Portland cement and lime may also be added, but these materials will add to the cost. In parts of Latin America, fermented cactus juice is used for waterproofing.

Antebellum Architecture

Antebellum means "before war" in Latin. The term Antebellum architecture refers to elegant plantation homes built in the American South in the 30 years or so preceding the Civil War. Antebellum is not a particular house style. Rather, it is a time and place in history. The features we associate with Antebellum architecture were introduced to the American South by Anglo-Americans who moved into the area after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Most Antebellum homes are in the Greek Revival, Classical Revival, or Federal style: grand, symmetrical, and boxy, with center entrances in the front and rear, balconies, and columns or pillars.

Architect

An architect is a licensed professional who organizes space. Architects design houses, office buildings, skyscrapers, landscapes, and even entire cities. Architects are trained in many areas, from historic preservation to structural engineering. Like doctors and lawyers, architects have completed university programs and lengthy internships. In most parts of the world, architects must pass a series of rigorous exams in order be licensed. In North America, the initials RA designate a registered, or licensed, architect.

1905-1930: Arts and Crafts (Craftsman)

Arts and Crafts, or Craftsman, houses have many of these features:•Wood, stone, or stucco siding •Low-pitched roof •Wide eaves with triangular brackets •Exposed roof rafters •Porch with thick square or round columns •Stone porch supports •Exterior chimney made with stone •Open floor plans; few hallways •Numerous windows •Some windows with stained or leaded glass •Beamed ceilings •Dark wood wainscoting and moldings •Built-in cabinets, shelves, and seating

A balustrade is a row of repeating balusters - small posts that support the upper rail of a railing. Staircases and porches often have balustrades.

Balustrade

1885-1925: Beaux Arts

Combining classical Greek and Roman architecture with Renaissance ideas, Beaux Arts was a favored style for grand public buildings and opulent mansions.

Professional Building Designers, or Home Designers, specialize in designing single family homes. In some cases, they may also design other light frame residential buildings, agricultural buildings, and decorative facades for larger buildings.

Unlike architects, Home Designers are not legally required to pass exams or receive special licenses. However, a designer who carries the title "Certified Professional Building Designer" or "CPBD" has completed training courses, practiced building design for at least six years, and passed a rigorous certification exam.

Professional Building Designers

1905-1930: Bungalow Styles

California Bungalows, Craftsman Bungalows, and Chicago Bungalows were variations of an affordable housing type that swept across America. Bungalow houses may relect many different architectural styles, and the word Bungalow is often used for any small 20th century home that uses space efficiently.

A buttress is a support--usually made of brick or stone--built against a wall to support or reinforce it. A flying buttress is a free-standing buttress attached to the main structure by an arch or a half-arch.

Buttress

A column is an upright pillar or post. Columns may support a roof or a beam, or they may be purely decorative. The lower portion of a column is called the base. The upper portion of a column is called the capital. The area which the column supports is called the entablature.

Column

A cupola is a dome-shaped ornamental structure placed on the top of a larger roof or dome. In some cases, the entire main roof of a tower or spire can be a cupola. More frequently, however, the cupola is a smaller structure which sets on top of the main roof.

Cupola

A custom home is one that is especially designed to meet the specifications of the person who commissioned it. Stock building plans are not custom designed; the same plan may be sold to many different people.

Custom home

Deconstructivism, or Deconstruction, is an approach to building design that attempts to view architecture in bits and pieces. The basic elements of architecture are dismantled. Deconstructivist buildings may seem to have no visual logic. They may appear to be made up of unrelated, disharmonious abstract forms.

Deconstructivism

A dormer is a window which is set vertically on a sloping roof. The dormer has its own roof, which may be flat, arched, or pointed.

Dormer

Earth sheltered, or underground, houses lie mostly beneath the ground surface. The surrounding soil provides natural insulation, making these houses inexpensive to heat and cool. The best location for an earth sheltered house is on a well-drained hillside. Windows facing the south or an overhead skylight will fill the interior with sunshine.

Earth sheltered

A floor plan is a simple line drawing showing rooms as though seen from above. Walls, doorways, and windows are often drawn to scale.

Floor plan

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.

The American Foursquare

A gargoyle is a sculpture or rain spout carved to resemble a grotesque creature or monster. Gothic cathedrals often have gargoyles.

Gargoyle

A geodesic dome is a sphere-like structure composed of a complex network of triangles. The triangles create a self-bracing framework that gives structural strength while using a minimum of material.

Buckminster Fuller ("Bucky") who conceived the concept of geodesic dome homes. Fuller's first patent for a geodesic dome was issued in 1954.

Geodesic domes are efficient, inexpensive, and durable. Plastic and fiberglass domes used for sensitive radar equipment in Arctic regions and for weather stations around the world. Geodesic domes are also used for emergency shelter and mobile military housing.

A manufactured home is one that is constructed almost entirely in a factory. The house is placed on a steel chassis and transported to the building site. The wheels can be removed but the chassis stays in place. A manufactured home can come in many different sizes and shapes. It may be a simple one-story "mobile home," or it can be so large and complex that you might not guess that it was constructed off site.

Manufactured home

Modernist architecture emphasizes function. It attempts to provide for specific needs rather than imitate nature.

Modernist architecture

Modernist architecture has these features: Little or no ornamentation Factory-made parts Man-made materials such as metal and concrete Emphasis on function Rebellion against traditional styles

Neoclassical, or "new" classical, architecture describes buildings that are inspired by the classical architecture of ancient Greece and Rome. A Neoclassical building is likely to have some (but not necessarily all) of these features:

Symmetrical shape Tall columns that rise the full height of the building Triangular pediment Domed roof

Neoclassical

New Urbanism is an approach to designing cities, towns, and neighborhoods. Although the term New Urbanism emerged during the late 1980s and early 1990s, the principles of New Urbanism are actually quite old. New Urbanist town planners, developers, architects, and designers try to reduce traffic and eliminate sprawl.

New Urbanism

Organic Architecture is a term Frank Lloyd Wright used to describe his approach to architectural design. The philosophy grew from the ideas of Frank Lloyd Wright's mentor, Louis Sullivan, who believed that "form follows function." Wright argued that "form and function are one." Organic architecture strives to integrate space into a unified whole. Frank Lloyd Wright was not concerned with architectural style, because he believed that every building should grow naturally from its environment.

Organic Architecture

A home that is stick-built is constructed on the building site, piece by piece. Manufactured and modular homes are not classified as stick-built because they are made mostly in the factory and then transported to the site.

A custom home and a home made according to stock building plans may both be stick-built, provided that they are constructed on the land where they will remain.

stick-built

Traditional stucco is a cement mixture used for siding. The cement is combined with water and inert materials such as sand and lime. Usually, wooden walls are covered with tar paper and chicken wire or galvanized metal screening. This framework is then covered with the stucco mixture. Sometimes, the cement mix is applied directly to specially prepared masonry surfaces.

Stucco

Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND), or Neotraditional Planning, is a New Urbanist approach to designing cities, towns, and neighborhoods. Traditional, or Neotraditional, planners, developers, architects, and designers try to reduce traffic and eliminate sprawl. Homes, shops, businesses, theaters, schools, parks, and other important services are placed within easy walking distance.

Traditional Neighborhood Development

The name Tudor suggests that these houses were built in the 1500s, during the Tudor Dynasty in England. But of course, Tudor houses in the United States are modern-day re-inventions and are more accurately called Tudor Revival or Medieval Revival. Some Tudor Revival houses mimic humble Medieval cottages - They may even include a false thatched roof. Other Tudor Revival homes suggest Medieval palaces. They may have overlapping gables, parapets, and beautifully patterned brick or stonework. These historic details combine with Victorian or Craftsman flourishes.

Tudor Revival Tudor style homes have many of these features: Decorative half-timbering Steeply pitched roof Prominent cross gables Tall, narrow windows Small window panes Massive chimneys, often topped with decorative chimney pots

Between 1906 and 1940, thousands of North American homes were built according to plans sold by mail order companies such as Sears and Montgomery Wards. Often the entire mail order house (in the form of labeled timbers) came via freight train. Other times, builders used local materials to construct homes according to the mail order catalog house plans. Catalog house plans by Sears, Montgomery Wards, Aladdin, and other companies were widely distributed in the United States and Canada.

Mail Order House

Modern Home No. C227 - "The Castleton" - from the Sears Modern Homes Mail Order Catalog, 1921