After a brief review of Native American and Colonial architecture, the course will move through the stylistic experimentation that paralleled industrialization in the 19^th century. Time will be spent investigating the complicated rise of modernism and the battle of styles which took place in the early 20^th century, of which Cranbrook’s founder George Booth was a significant regional player. We will then move toward the interwar period, when American modernism blossomed with an influx of European immigrant architects, like our own Eliel Saarinen. This will be followed by a close look at the age of heroic archtect-designers at the midcentury, to which Cranbrook Academy of Art alumni were significant contributors. Finally, the course will examine reactions against modernism later in the century, and conclude by evaluating where architecture in America is today within the context of our history.

Lectures will introduce major themes and theories that have shaped American architecture, while remaining focused on individual buildings and their architects. The course will analyze both the icons of architecture history and introduce you to less familiar people and places who have shaped the American landscape.

WEEKLY TOPICS
Week One:      Introduction and Early America, through 1849
Week Two:      Professionalization, Personalization, and Experimentation, 1850-1911
Week Three:   Parallel Moderns, 1911-1945
Week Four:     High Modernism, Heroic Modernism, 1946-1968
Week Five:      Postmodernism, 1969-1997
Week Six:        The Recent Past and Today

Adkisson previously worked for Robert A.M. Stern Architects (RAMSA) in New York as a research and writing associate. At RAMSA, he assisted design teams in researching historical reference imagery to be used in the design of the firm’s signature modern traditionalist aesthetic. He also assisted Stern in image research for his books, Paradise Planned: The Garden Suburb and the Modern City (2013) and Pedagogy and Place: 100 Years of Architecture Education at Yale (2016).

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The History of American Architecture Lecture Series is presented by the Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research in affiliation with the Cranbrook Academy of Art. The fee includes admission to all six lectures. Although the lectures build on each other, attendance at all six lectures is not required. Regretfully, discounted tickets cannot be sold to individual lectures.

All lectures will be held in Cranbrook Art Museum's deSalle Auditorium. Please enter through the Cranbrook Academy of Art Library, located under the Cranbrook Art Museum Peristyle, opposite the Museum entrance. Parking is available in the Art Museum main lot, on the east side of the Museum. For more information, please contact the Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research at 248.645.3307.

This Lecture Series is eligible for American Institute of Architects Continuing Education credits (AIA/CES). Each lecture is one learning unit (LUs), for a total of six LUs. AIA/CES Self Report Forms will be available at the lectures and online through the AIA National website.

PHOTO CREDITS (FROM TOP TO BOTTOM)
Taliesin West (Frank Lloyd Wright, 1937, Scottsdale AZ), Richard Raseman, photographer. Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives.

Washington Metro Station (Harry Weese and Associates, 1976, Washington D.C.). Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives.

Left to Right: Detroit Museum of Art (James Balfour, 1888, demolished 1960, Detroit MI); Willard and Adele Gidwitz House (Ralph Rapson, 1946, Chicago IL); View of Gateway Arch (Eero Saarinen, 1968, St. Louis MO) under construction with the Basilica of St. Louis (Joseph Laveille and George Morton, 1834, St. Louis MO) in foreground, 1965. Louis Pavledes, photographer. Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives.

Kevin Adkisson Staff Photo by P.D. Rearick, CAA '10.