Drew Powers - Assignment 1A

1.       Dell Upton, “Architectural History orLandscape History?” Journal ofArchitectural Education (1984-), Vol. 44, No. 4. (Aug., 1991), pp. 195-199

2.       The paper argues the merits of, andtechniques for, studying architectural history.

3.       Author: Dell Upton

·     AttendedColgate University and Brown University

·     Currentlyprofessor at UCLA

·     Studiesthe history of architecture, cities, and material culture

·     Author of: Holy Things and Profane: AnglicanParish Churches in Colonial Virginia(Winner: Society of Architectural Historians’ 1987 Alice Davis Hitchcock BookAward; American Studies Association’s 1987 John Hope Franklin PublicationPrize; Vernacular Architecture Forum’s 1987 Abbott Lowell Cummings Award)

4.       Upton creates a strong case to support hiscriticism of the study of architectural history. He starts his argument bygenerating the foundation of what architecture and being an architect isdefined by. This allows him to distinguish between what is “legitimate” and“illegitimate” in architectural history, and build his case for discussionfurther on in the essay. He continually sites fellow historians and evenreferences many of his previous writings. The strength of his argument lies inhis close examination of the “overly constricted interpretations of the humanlandscape.” It is this part of the paper where his criticism is fully describedand refers back to the foundation laid out in the beginning.

5.       Key Words

·     Taste

·     Aestheticuniversals

·     Vernacular

6.    

 

 

8.       The resources I was able to find arerelevant to many of the arguments raised in Upton’s essay. I was able to find agreat amount of information on vernacular architecture and how it relates tocertain regions and socioeconomic classes of people.