The American Architect from the Colonial Era - Book Report/Review Example

The American Architect from the Colonial Era Introduction The book ' the American architect from the colonial era' to the present by Cecil D. Elliott starts by defining professionalism. Though the title suggests that the book is clearly about architecture, the author states that professions are found in every of study or work. Scholars have named the professional changes with difficult words like deprofessionalization. These names are not only used in architecture, but in many of the other professions as well. The author notices that change is a continuing process in almost of careers. It is from this point of introduction that the author directs the reader to her agenda. She introduces the history aspect of architecture, in the United States, to the reader's mind. This helps in guiding the reader's thought of the historical architecture projects in the United States form complicated bridges to skyscrapers. It makes one appreciate the changes, development and the results that architecture has brought in this magnificent country. Architecture is one of the cornerstones that reflect the progress of a country's transformation. By the end of this manuscript, the person who reads is taken through a trip of historical ideas involving architecture, the improvements or flaws of these ideas and the satisfaction that these and other new ideas have in regards to the architectural community. The book uses simple English for the interested reader who has no architectural background. This book helps the reader to familiarize with the architectural journey from the colonial era to the present, hence its name 'The American Architect from the Colonial Era to the Present.' The heading 'The American Architect from the Colonial Era to the Present' gives away the thought and information contained within the pages of this book (Elliot, 2003). The author is a person with significant interest in architecture. This is well understood when one goes through the pages. The author also notes that she has gone through many sources in the quest to get the information contained in this book. She states, Architecture is a large area to study, hence the hours to research and the development of architecture, needs patience, time and mostly passion. The reader gets the author's love of architecture as he or she goes through the book. However, the author lives out the architectural styles with an argument that, there are many sources that explain the styles used in architecture. She states, Ceccil D. Elliott takes the reader with a graceful pace to understand the beauty of architecture and its developments to the present. The history in this book is rich in information and plays a vital role in understanding the author's intention for the reader. From the context of the book, the author divides the history in potions- time periods- which simplifies the work of the reader and ensures that he or she is able to understand the progression of the book. Before 1800 (1st time period) The book reminds the reader about the colonial eras that were present in the world. The colonial masters had a hard time to establish colonies in places they did not benefit. The colonists came with attribute that they influenced the natives they found (Elliot, 2003). The colonialists built structures like churches and authoritative buildings to facilitate their stay. Spain, for example was a religious county. It influenced religion in the colonies, which resulted to the rise of numerous churches. In America, the architects were the mere carpenters, and masons. From the book, the reader learnt that the works of architecture grew from the use of a family unit to commercial and society based. The need for architecture rose. The buildings constructed faced many challenges. Elliot states, In this time period, the author creates a picture in the mind, in which the need to have better buildings. 1800 to the civil war Due to the need of architecture, the author uses the time period – 1800 to the civil war- as a time where architecture began to have meaning. The need for better buildings was met during this time period. Clients began having architectural projects. The masons and carpenters started gaining skills that would make them able to do both mason and carpentry work. According to the author, this was the defining moment of architecture. The government became clients as well. America's civil war did not stop the architectural need but in a way it increased it. Architectural ideas had been exchanged from different places in the world. Money became associated with architecture hence it created a new way of life. The creation of architectural contracts began in this time period (Elliot, 2003). The masons and carpenters dealt with more projects in comparison to earlier years. By the end of this time period, the reader gets the ideology that the author is trying to put across. Civil war to the First World War In the United States, only two thirds of the architects were native (Elliot 2003). This showed the growth of architecture. In this time period, the author tries to portray the growth of architecture. People migrated from Europe to America, in order to fulfill and satisfy the architectural need in America. People started learning architecture in both formal and informal ways. In Europe and America, people had started learning how to build and design buildings. This strengthened architecture as a profession. It is during this time period that women and African Americans started to be active in architecture (Elliot, 2003). This led to increased architectural competition. The government issued policies in order to govern this growing market. First World War to the present The First World War was caused due to differences in political views. This had a significant effect in the practice of architecture. Architects from the countries opposing the Americans suffered immense losses. However, the need to protect communities in a given geographical area led to the establishment of estates and mansions. The architectural ideas that were used in the past still play a crucial part in architecture today. From the book, the reader will understand the growth of architecture and appreciate the developments, despite the worldly phenomenon. Sources are crucial when writing a book, especially when most of the information you need is part of a country's, institution's or even community's history.. In this book, the author uses both primary and secondary sources to cite her work. Most of her sources, however, are primary sources. This creates an impression that she is well read and that she depended solely on the information she gathered while writing this book. She also uses a variety of sources in her work. This adds credibility to what she has written. Quotations that are used in this work are well justified. An example of this is where she is explaining how architecture was in 1755. she uses this quotation from an author who wrote in that century and compares it to some of the infrastructure in New Orleans currently. The author even goes on to compare the buildings in the 17th century, to those in the 18th century and even in the 21st century. It is clear that the author cites her work well, and her research is not far fetched. End notes are used to explain some concepts. An example of this is when the author explains the transformation of a carpenter to a house wright and in brackets; she explains who a house Wright is, when the word started being used, and when it was dropped. End notes are primarily used here to give additional information of details that may be unknown to the reader. The images used in this book are also particularly relevant to the topic of study. Some pages have the images at the top, and these images break the monotony of the seriousness that may come with just reading the book. The sources help the reader to understand the book in a more visual way. The images are also cited by the author, and each of them explained according to the history behind them. Sources are beneficial because they add on to already accumulated information in the same field of study. One author's interpretation may be different from another and all their opinions are valuable when writing a book, this is why getting different or similar viewpoints is necessary. They are also valuable when one is searching for historical information in a time-line that the author did not exist in. In this book for example, the author uses a lot of historical information from different sources, the sources range from the 1800's to the 2000's. Sources are also used to verify information. An opinion may seem insignificant unless there is backup information to make it credible. Information that has been verified by other sources and the same results obtained becomes reliable and clearer than the information without any sources. In this book, each topic that the author writes about is backed up by a variety of similar books. An example of this is when the author writes about women in architecture; she backs up her information with three sources that are about women in architecture. Organization The author uses sociology as a common ground for understanding. Her book is both chronological and topical. It is divided into four parts: before 1800's, the 1800's to the civil war, the civil war to world war one and world war one to the present. This becomes easy for the reader to understand what happened and in which period it happened. Events unfold according to how they did in reality. This is in comparison to having a book that events do not unfold in a chronological manner. Such information will be mixed up and hence confuse the reader. This book is also topical. Each time-line has different topics that explain the social issues that happened, and in which period they did. The greatest historical events in the United States of America are also discussed. Examples of some of these events are colonization, the great depression and world war one among many others. This organization genuinely appeals the reader because it is clearer and easier to understand for studying purposes. The target audience is college students, professors, lecturers, and anyone with interest in architecture. These are the people who will use this book to understand a topic that they are familiar with. This book was a thrilling read, because of the history of architecture it contains. Some of the concepts however, I felt were given more preference that they deserved. A person studying a different field would however find the book boring. The author employed a lot of sources for her information, but some topics that were discussed did not contain as many sources as the rest. In fact, the author did a fantastic job in explaining what each period meant for architecture. In the future, the author ought to include more topics and sources to be able to tackle most, if not all, the details that each historical period consisted of. Work Cited Elliot, C. (2003). The American Architect from the Colonial Era to the Present. New York: Jefferson North Carolina McFarland & company. Read More