ARTH 442
Richardson, Sullivan, Wright: The Roots of American Modernism Fall 2023
Division I

Should a building express the facts of its program and materials–directly and without sentimentality? Or should a building be a physical manifestation of the personality and ego of its creator? These demands–one of radical objectivity, and one of radical subjectivity–seem to be mutually exclusive, yet together they form the basis for modern architecture at the start of the 20th century. The architectural lineage of Louis Sullivan, H. H. Richardson, and Frank Lloyd Wright is distinguished by the high degree of tension between the competing demands of factuality and selfhood. This seminar explores the theoretical roots of their architecture, its philosophical sources in transcendentalism, Unitarianism, German romanticism; and treating such aspects as decorative arts, architectural education and theory, and architectural autobiography.