Andrew Saint: British architectural historian says chill is building across the pond
Andrew Saint's talk was called "An Englishman's Reflections on American Architecture," but he was wishing he'd named it "Two Way Traffic" for all of the cross-pollination between the two countries.
Although now it appears the traffic has slowed considerably.
"I have found it quite lonely being interested in American architecture in England," said Saint, an author, critic and professor of architecture at Cambridge University. Few of his colleagues are smitten with it, and his students are more interested in American culture than American architecture, with the possible exception of works by Frank Lloyd Wright and Charles and Ray Eames.
Saint made his remarks Thursday night at Oakland's Carnegie Music Hall, in a keynote address to the Society of Architectural Historians, which is holding its annual meeting here at the Omni William Penn Hotel. About 600 members from all over the United States and abroad have gathered for five days to share the latest scholarship in the field and to learn about their host city and its region.
In his 30-minute talk, Saint gave an abbreviated history of the architectural relations between the two nations, which in Colonial times -- 1620 to 1776 -- was a one-way street. But over the next two centuries, each country influenced the other's architecture and scholarship.
England's Garden City movement helped spawn the American suburb; the American skyscraper made its way to London, and architectural historians in England and America studied and wrote in depth about the buildings in each other's countries. But in the past two decades, he said, there seems to be waning interest.
"Do we respect and enjoy each other's architecture less? Are we bored by each other?"
One reason, he thinks, is that as scholars have become more cognizant of the influence of other cultures on American architecture, such as how the southern Germans and the Swiss brought over a barn type that became known as the Pennsylvania forebay, the net effect has been to minimize the Anglo-American link.
"Students are a pretty international bunch, but they admire few Americans," Saint said. "Why, I can't say," but he suspects that "American architecture is seen as too safe, too dominated by risk-averse clients and lawyers."...
Read entire article at Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Although now it appears the traffic has slowed considerably.
"I have found it quite lonely being interested in American architecture in England," said Saint, an author, critic and professor of architecture at Cambridge University. Few of his colleagues are smitten with it, and his students are more interested in American culture than American architecture, with the possible exception of works by Frank Lloyd Wright and Charles and Ray Eames.
Saint made his remarks Thursday night at Oakland's Carnegie Music Hall, in a keynote address to the Society of Architectural Historians, which is holding its annual meeting here at the Omni William Penn Hotel. About 600 members from all over the United States and abroad have gathered for five days to share the latest scholarship in the field and to learn about their host city and its region.
In his 30-minute talk, Saint gave an abbreviated history of the architectural relations between the two nations, which in Colonial times -- 1620 to 1776 -- was a one-way street. But over the next two centuries, each country influenced the other's architecture and scholarship.
England's Garden City movement helped spawn the American suburb; the American skyscraper made its way to London, and architectural historians in England and America studied and wrote in depth about the buildings in each other's countries. But in the past two decades, he said, there seems to be waning interest.
"Do we respect and enjoy each other's architecture less? Are we bored by each other?"
One reason, he thinks, is that as scholars have become more cognizant of the influence of other cultures on American architecture, such as how the southern Germans and the Swiss brought over a barn type that became known as the Pennsylvania forebay, the net effect has been to minimize the Anglo-American link.
"Students are a pretty international bunch, but they admire few Americans," Saint said. "Why, I can't say," but he suspects that "American architecture is seen as too safe, too dominated by risk-averse clients and lawyers."...