As the 19th century drew to a close and the 20th began, Victorian ideals and the domestic
architecture that embodied them were coming under increased scrutiny. Beginning in the
1880s, the Arts and Crafts movement and its bungalows would transform the landscape
of American domestic architecture and serve as a transitional housing form in the years
prior to World War II. Between 1900 and 1930, the bungalow was the most widespread
housing type in the country, from city to suburb.
Bungalows responded to a constellation of sociocultural forces and economic
necessities, particularly to the Progressive Era philosophy of the Arts and Crafts
movement. As the cost of previously unavailable household technologies such as indoor
plumbing and electricity increased, the size of American homes was reduced to
compensate for these expenses (which could add between 25 and 40 percent to a home’s
cost). At the same time, “simplicity” became a watchword of the Arts and Crafts
movement, which was taking shape in the United States with the help of publications
such as Gustav Stickley’s Craftsman magazine. For Arts and Crafts proponents, the craftsmaninspired
bungalow provided an economically advantageous, socially responsible, and
artistic dwelling for members of the middle and working classes.
Bungalow scholar Clay Lancaster explains that “the word ‘bungalow’ originated in
India, derived from the Bengali noun bangla, meaning a low house with galleries or porches all
around” (see Lancaster, 1985). The first American bungalows appeared along the eastern
seaboard as a type of resort architecture. Much grander in scale than the more modest
bungalows that followed, these early bungalows nevertheless included the ample porches
and exposed-framing construction that are typical of the form. Although not all scholars
agree on this point, the architects who are usually credited with perfecting the bungalow
style in the United States are Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene. In
addition to the Greenes, architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie style of domestic
architecture influenced mid-western bungalows. In California, where the bungalow was
most popular, Arthur and Alfred Heineman were well known for pioneering the concept
of the “bungalow court,” featuring multiple bungalows around a central courtyard.
Beginning in the early 1900s, the Greene brothers designed a number of relatively
inexpensive California homes as well as the “Ultimate Bungalows,” for which they are
best known (for example, the Blacker House [1907] and the Gamble House [1908]). The
distinguishing features of the Greenes’ style include (1) a heavy use of wood and natural
materials, such as clinker brick and river stone; (2) exposed interior and exterior joinery;
(3) the use of sleeping and living porches to enhance the occupants’ contact with nature;
(4) a concern for the “total design” of a home, including its textiles and furnishings; and
(5) the use of relatively open floor plans. Many of these features are evident in simpler
and smaller bungalows that feature natural building materials, wide porches with heavy
(typically masonry) columns, and low-pitched roofs with exposed rafters and joinery. In
addition to these features, many bungalows incorporate outdoor gardens with pergolas,
porches specifically designed for sleeping, and prominent chimneys constructed of rustic
materials.
Architectural historian Marcus Whiffen (1969) explains that “it was the bungalow as
much as any other kind of house that led to the adoption of the ‘living room’ and the
Entries A–F 347
‘outdoor-indoor’ living space—of craftsmanship, climatic adaptation, and harmony with
the landscape.”
The simple floor plans of most bungalows maximize the amount of interior space
available by discarding the Victorian parlor in favor of a combined living and dining
area, often separated by a colonnade or book arch. The typical bungalow plan provides a
kitchen at the rear, a living-dining area with the living area at the front of the home, and
two bedrooms with a bathroom between them. To maximize the bungalow’s limited
interior space, built-in furniture pieces, such as buffets, bookcases, and seating
inglenooks, were integral features. Built-ins enhanced the beauty of a room with their
natural woodwork while contributing to the reputation of the bungalow as an easily kept
home.
Bungalows vary somewhat by region in terms of their exterior appearance, building
materials, and interior plans. Bungalows in the eastern United States tend to exhibit an
English influence, whereas west coast bungalows draw inspiration alternately from Japan
and the Swiss chalet. Such observations are only guidelines, however, as the widespread
diffusion of the bungalow through plan books and mail-order catalogs has functioned to
minimize regional differences. The typically wooden exterior of the bungalow is also
occasionally replaced or joined by stucco, brick, or stone. The most typical interior
variation of the bungalow is the provision of an extra bedroom or breakfast area. In
addition, many two-story homes can be characterized as bungalows despite the fact that
the term usually denotes a one-story home. Two-story “bungaloid” homes (as Marcus
Whiffen calls them) often feature dormer windows to maintain a relatively low profile
appearance.
Potential home owners could build a bungalow from an architect’s original plans,
purchase bungalow plans from widely available catalogs such as Radford’s Art is tic Bungalows , or buy a
prefabricated bungalow kit from companies such as Sears and Roebuck or Aladdin. Mailorder
bungalows produced by Sears, Aladdin, and several smaller companies appeared in
1906 and reached their greatest popularity between 1910 and 1930. An estimated onehalf
million mail-order homes were produced between 1900 and the start of World War II
in 1939. Today mail-order houses can be found throughout the country.
Beginning with the stock market crash of 1929 and continuing through the Great
Depression, the popularity of the bungalow declined, as did interest in domestic building
generally. The construction industry was dealt a sharp blow by the enduring economic
crisis, with housing starts falling a precipitous 90 percent between 1925 and 1933. By the
time the country emerged from World War II, the affordable mass-produced suburban
house had eclipsed the picturesque bungalow. Nevertheless, the bungalow and its
attendant philosophy of the simple life established attitudes about the home that persist
today.
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA
Throughout the 20th century, several factors contributed to Buenos Aires’s architectural
significance. In the early decades of the century, when Buenos Aires was the capital of
one of the wealthiest countries in the world, architects were commissioned to design
luxurious residences and institutional buildings, many influenced by French and Italian
styles. Later, different immigrant groups looking for status constructed important
examples that followed European traits of Viennese secession, Italian liberty, and Catalan
modernism. The rationalist architecture of the early 1930s and 1940s in Buenos Aires is
one the most significant of the world. This era of architecture greatly influenced the
present profile of the city. Also relevant are the examples of Brutalist architecture. The
last decades of the century have been characterized by an interest in preserving this rich
architectural heritage and by new architectural interventions related to the existing urban
fabric.
Buenos Aires is situated by the estuary of the Rio de la Plata and the plains. The city
became a federal district in 1880 and since then has gained more political, financial, and
administrative power. In 1910 the mayor, Torcuato de Alvear, inspired by the Beaux-Arts
influence and the Parisian example of Baron von Haussmann in the 1850s, provided the
city with a framework of avenues, plazas, and parks.
In the early 20th century, the city consisted of a basic infrastructure of institutional
buildings and magnificent private residences following Italian academic styles. Carlos
Morra designed the former National Library (1901) and Victor Meano and Julio Dormal
the Colon Theater (1908). Later, French influence dominated the city. Alexander
Christophersen designed the Anchorena Palace (1909; today the Palace of Foreign
Affairs). The Frenchman René Sergent designed three large residences, among them the
Errazuriz Palace (1911). Utilitarian architecture followed English influence. Retiro
(1914), the major train station, was designed by Conder, Conder, Farmer, and Follet, with
the metallic structure produced by Morton and Co. in Liverpool. The opening of avenues
such as May Avenue and North Diagonal completed a scheme that transformed Buenos
Aires into the “Paris of South America.”
In the 1920s, academic dominance was affected by two other tendencies, namely the
importation of European-derived Art Nouveau and the reemergence of pride in the
Spanish heritage and the Ibero-American roots of the city. Immigrants who found a taste
of economic power sought expressions for their new status. Italians such as Mario
Palenti, who designed Pasaje Barolo (1923), expressed this reaction against academic
architecture; Joaquín García Núñez designed for the Spanish colony; and Martin Noel
designed a residence that today houses the Museum Fernandez Blanco (1916), a neo-
Colonial building with Spanish decoration and details. Also inspired by the Spanish High
Renaissance is the Cervantes Theater (1921) by Aranda and Repetto. In the 1920s, Art
Deco challenged the preference for traditional academic architecture. Deco details were
Entries A–F 343
linked to modern buildings: cinemas, parking garages, banks, and apartments. An
important representative of this tendency is Alejandro Virasoro, who designed the House
of Theater (1927), the Santander Bank (1926), and the Equitativa del Plata (1929).
Le Corbusier visited Buenos Aires in 1929 and gave a series of ten lectures, the most
comprehensive of his career. Werner Hegemann followed him in 1931. Although both
spoke of a harmonious synthesis, they offered different approaches to resolve the
problems of the growing metropolis. Le Corbusier’s influence was felt a decade later with
the creation of the Austral Group and with the Plan for Buenos Aires (1938, in
collaboration with Ferrari Hardoy and Kurchan). His enduring influence was felt also in
many Brutalist projects in the following decades.
As a result of his visit, Le Corbusier was inspired by the gigantic landscape and wrote
his book, Precis ions of the Present State o f Architectu re and City Plann ing (1930). Similarly, Hegemann’s ideas influenced the urbanist Carlos della
Paolera and some projects by Jorge Kalnay.
Several factors, such as the academic influence, the Beaux-Arts model for the
education of the architect, the German-language influence, and the Art Deco materials
and detail, generated a series of buildings between the late 1930s and 1940s that has been
characterized as part of the “School of Buenos Aires.” At this time, major avenues helped
define the city as a metropolis—Corrientes, Santa Fe, 9 de Julio, and General Paz—and
the city acquired a more cosmopolitan atmosphere.
Alejandro Bustillo was the architect of the first modernist building of Buenos Aires,
Maison Ocampo (1929). Yet, showing the eclectic nature of the time, he later developed
a classical language, as in the headquarters of the Argentinean Central Bank (1939). Two
important buildings are the COMEGA (1932) by Alfredo Joselevich and Enrique Douillet
and the SAFICO (1934) by Walter Moll. By the early 1940s, modernism triumphed as the
dominant style. The Kavanagh Apartment Building (1936) by Sánchez, Lagos and de la
Torre, for example, evinces an extraordinary modernist silhouette within the urban
landscape. This 30-story building won an Award of the American Society of Engineering
(1994). Moreover, the Grand Rex Cinema (1937) by Alberto Prebish exhibits purist
modern lines and architectural economy, and his Obelisk (1936), located at the
intersection of three major avenues, remains a landmark and symbol of the city.
The apartments of Libertador and Lafinur (1937) by Sánchez, Lagos and de la Torre
constituted a signpost of modern architecture in Argentina. The ateliers of Suipacha and
Paraguay (1938) by Antonio Bonet, Vera Barros, and Lopez Chas suggest the flexibility,
open plan, and experimentation with material but also mark one the first buildings to be
distanced from orthodox rationalism in Buenos Aires.
Antonio Ubaldo Vilar produced works combining functionality and a pure
formal language, namely the Central Headquarters (1943) of the
Automobile Club of Argentina. With the arrival of Peron (1946–52 and
1952–55), industrialization and legislation to improve social conditions
marked a new period in Buenos Aires. The city attracted immigrants from
the interior of the country, requiring the populist regime to provide large housing complexes and
infrastructure as well as buildings to meet needs for health care, education, and
recreation.
At the middle of the century, Amancio Williams designed an unrealized proposal
(1945) for an airport for the city designed to stand over the river on immense Le
Corbusian pilotis. The study of the Regulatory Plan for the city (1947–49), done by Kurchan
and Hardoy in collaboration with Le Corbusier, marks the Modern movement’s maturity.
The most important work of the 1950s is the Theater General San Martin (1953–60)-
by Mario Roberto Alvarez and Macedonio Ruiz and, connected to it, the Cultural Center
San Martin (1960–64) by Alvarez and Associates. Detailed with refinement and quality
of materials, this building denotes the influences of the International Style.
In the 1960s, the work of Clorindo Testa, as in the Bank of London (1966), indicates a
significant turning point in the city’s architecture. Aesthetically derived from Le
Corbusier’s principles of reductivism and lack of ornamentation, the bank’s exterior
reflects the Brutalist use of concrete for rationalist ends. The Headquarters of the Bank of
the City of Buenos Aires (1967) by Manteola, Sánchez Gómez, Santos, Solsona, and
Viñoly is also significant: a box of glass bricks framed by a metallic structure, it was one
of the first examples of recycled architecture in Buenos Aires.
A significant building of the 1970s is the ATC Argentina Televisora Color (1978) by
Manteola, Sánchez Gómez, Santos, Solsona, and Viñoly, associated with Salaberry and
Tarsitano, a landmark in the urban landscape. The National Library (contest won in 1962,
Entries A–F 345
construction began in 1972, and completed in 1992) by Testa, Bulrich, and Cazzaniga
was remarkable for its underground storage of books and sculptured and elevated reading
areas. Also characteristic of this period is the work of Jorge Roberto Alvarez and
Associates, who produced works known for their durability, order, and asceticism.
Among their buildings, SOMISA (1975) met a technological challenge to design all the
building’s parts within a tolerance of three millimeters.
In 1972 Catalinas Norte, in the Retiro area, began again to incorporate the river into
the life of the city. The Conurban building (1973) by the Kocourek studio with
Katzenstein and Llorens uses a curtain wall in the facade facing the river and brick in the
facade looking to the city and is one of the best of the whole complex.
The Cultural Center (1980) in the Recoleta area by Bedel, Benedit, and Testa, a
recycled Franciscan monastery, is today an active popular center of contemporary art,
experimental art galleries, and shops. The complex was completed with the more
whimsical Buenos Aires Design Center (1994) by Testa, Genoud, and Graci.
Since 1991 the Madero docks area (built in 1887–97) has been rehabilitated in one of
the most successful urban interventions in the city’s recent history. The utilitarian
buildings of the dock have been recycled as apartments, restaurants, and shops as a
natural extension of the center of the city. Several new towers have changed the profile of
the city’s skyline. The twin towers (1997) of High Palermo Plaza by Urgell, Fazio, and
Penedo and the studio of Sanchez Gomez, Manteola, and Santos Solsona present an
urban doorway to the Palermo area, enlivened by the Postmodernist and ornamental Alto
Palermo Shopping (1990) by Juan Lopez.
Buenos Aires enters the 21st century immersed in the revolutionary changes in
technology and the process of globalization. The city has successfully implemented new
programs to recuperate areas of the city, open the city to its river, and rehabilitate
buildings in Mayo, Rivadavia, and Corrientes Avenues. In addition, historical
neighborhoods, such as San Telmo and Monserrat, have begun to be rebuilt. All these
actions indicate that Buenos Aires is as interested in preserving its past as it is in
constructing its future. The city, once called the “Paris of South America,” is still
recognized for its European heritage and remains one of the great metropolises of the
world.
significance. In the early decades of the century, when Buenos Aires was the capital of
one of the wealthiest countries in the world, architects were commissioned to design
luxurious residences and institutional buildings, many influenced by French and Italian
styles. Later, different immigrant groups looking for status constructed important
examples that followed European traits of Viennese secession, Italian liberty, and Catalan
modernism. The rationalist architecture of the early 1930s and 1940s in Buenos Aires is
one the most significant of the world. This era of architecture greatly influenced the
present profile of the city. Also relevant are the examples of Brutalist architecture. The
last decades of the century have been characterized by an interest in preserving this rich
architectural heritage and by new architectural interventions related to the existing urban
fabric.
Buenos Aires is situated by the estuary of the Rio de la Plata and the plains. The city
became a federal district in 1880 and since then has gained more political, financial, and
administrative power. In 1910 the mayor, Torcuato de Alvear, inspired by the Beaux-Arts
influence and the Parisian example of Baron von Haussmann in the 1850s, provided the
city with a framework of avenues, plazas, and parks.
In the early 20th century, the city consisted of a basic infrastructure of institutional
buildings and magnificent private residences following Italian academic styles. Carlos
Morra designed the former National Library (1901) and Victor Meano and Julio Dormal
the Colon Theater (1908). Later, French influence dominated the city. Alexander
Christophersen designed the Anchorena Palace (1909; today the Palace of Foreign
Affairs). The Frenchman René Sergent designed three large residences, among them the
Errazuriz Palace (1911). Utilitarian architecture followed English influence. Retiro
(1914), the major train station, was designed by Conder, Conder, Farmer, and Follet, with
the metallic structure produced by Morton and Co. in Liverpool. The opening of avenues
such as May Avenue and North Diagonal completed a scheme that transformed Buenos
Aires into the “Paris of South America.”
In the 1920s, academic dominance was affected by two other tendencies, namely the
importation of European-derived Art Nouveau and the reemergence of pride in the
Spanish heritage and the Ibero-American roots of the city. Immigrants who found a taste
of economic power sought expressions for their new status. Italians such as Mario
Palenti, who designed Pasaje Barolo (1923), expressed this reaction against academic
architecture; Joaquín García Núñez designed for the Spanish colony; and Martin Noel
designed a residence that today houses the Museum Fernandez Blanco (1916), a neo-
Colonial building with Spanish decoration and details. Also inspired by the Spanish High
Renaissance is the Cervantes Theater (1921) by Aranda and Repetto. In the 1920s, Art
Deco challenged the preference for traditional academic architecture. Deco details were
Entries A–F 343
linked to modern buildings: cinemas, parking garages, banks, and apartments. An
important representative of this tendency is Alejandro Virasoro, who designed the House
of Theater (1927), the Santander Bank (1926), and the Equitativa del Plata (1929).
Le Corbusier visited Buenos Aires in 1929 and gave a series of ten lectures, the most
comprehensive of his career. Werner Hegemann followed him in 1931. Although both
spoke of a harmonious synthesis, they offered different approaches to resolve the
problems of the growing metropolis. Le Corbusier’s influence was felt a decade later with
the creation of the Austral Group and with the Plan for Buenos Aires (1938, in
collaboration with Ferrari Hardoy and Kurchan). His enduring influence was felt also in
many Brutalist projects in the following decades.
As a result of his visit, Le Corbusier was inspired by the gigantic landscape and wrote
his book, Precis ions of the Present State o f Architectu re and City Plann ing (1930). Similarly, Hegemann’s ideas influenced the urbanist Carlos della
Paolera and some projects by Jorge Kalnay.
Several factors, such as the academic influence, the Beaux-Arts model for the
education of the architect, the German-language influence, and the Art Deco materials
and detail, generated a series of buildings between the late 1930s and 1940s that has been
characterized as part of the “School of Buenos Aires.” At this time, major avenues helped
define the city as a metropolis—Corrientes, Santa Fe, 9 de Julio, and General Paz—and
the city acquired a more cosmopolitan atmosphere.
Alejandro Bustillo was the architect of the first modernist building of Buenos Aires,
Maison Ocampo (1929). Yet, showing the eclectic nature of the time, he later developed
a classical language, as in the headquarters of the Argentinean Central Bank (1939). Two
important buildings are the COMEGA (1932) by Alfredo Joselevich and Enrique Douillet
and the SAFICO (1934) by Walter Moll. By the early 1940s, modernism triumphed as the
dominant style. The Kavanagh Apartment Building (1936) by Sánchez, Lagos and de la
Torre, for example, evinces an extraordinary modernist silhouette within the urban
landscape. This 30-story building won an Award of the American Society of Engineering
(1994). Moreover, the Grand Rex Cinema (1937) by Alberto Prebish exhibits purist
modern lines and architectural economy, and his Obelisk (1936), located at the
intersection of three major avenues, remains a landmark and symbol of the city.
The apartments of Libertador and Lafinur (1937) by Sánchez, Lagos and de la Torre
constituted a signpost of modern architecture in Argentina. The ateliers of Suipacha and
Paraguay (1938) by Antonio Bonet, Vera Barros, and Lopez Chas suggest the flexibility,
open plan, and experimentation with material but also mark one the first buildings to be
distanced from orthodox rationalism in Buenos Aires.
Antonio Ubaldo Vilar produced works combining functionality and a pure
formal language, namely the Central Headquarters (1943) of the
Automobile Club of Argentina. With the arrival of Peron (1946–52 and
1952–55), industrialization and legislation to improve social conditions
marked a new period in Buenos Aires. The city attracted immigrants from
the interior of the country, requiring the populist regime to provide large housing complexes and
infrastructure as well as buildings to meet needs for health care, education, and
recreation.
At the middle of the century, Amancio Williams designed an unrealized proposal
(1945) for an airport for the city designed to stand over the river on immense Le
Corbusian pilotis. The study of the Regulatory Plan for the city (1947–49), done by Kurchan
and Hardoy in collaboration with Le Corbusier, marks the Modern movement’s maturity.
The most important work of the 1950s is the Theater General San Martin (1953–60)-
by Mario Roberto Alvarez and Macedonio Ruiz and, connected to it, the Cultural Center
San Martin (1960–64) by Alvarez and Associates. Detailed with refinement and quality
of materials, this building denotes the influences of the International Style.
In the 1960s, the work of Clorindo Testa, as in the Bank of London (1966), indicates a
significant turning point in the city’s architecture. Aesthetically derived from Le
Corbusier’s principles of reductivism and lack of ornamentation, the bank’s exterior
reflects the Brutalist use of concrete for rationalist ends. The Headquarters of the Bank of
the City of Buenos Aires (1967) by Manteola, Sánchez Gómez, Santos, Solsona, and
Viñoly is also significant: a box of glass bricks framed by a metallic structure, it was one
of the first examples of recycled architecture in Buenos Aires.
A significant building of the 1970s is the ATC Argentina Televisora Color (1978) by
Manteola, Sánchez Gómez, Santos, Solsona, and Viñoly, associated with Salaberry and
Tarsitano, a landmark in the urban landscape. The National Library (contest won in 1962,
Entries A–F 345
construction began in 1972, and completed in 1992) by Testa, Bulrich, and Cazzaniga
was remarkable for its underground storage of books and sculptured and elevated reading
areas. Also characteristic of this period is the work of Jorge Roberto Alvarez and
Associates, who produced works known for their durability, order, and asceticism.
Among their buildings, SOMISA (1975) met a technological challenge to design all the
building’s parts within a tolerance of three millimeters.
In 1972 Catalinas Norte, in the Retiro area, began again to incorporate the river into
the life of the city. The Conurban building (1973) by the Kocourek studio with
Katzenstein and Llorens uses a curtain wall in the facade facing the river and brick in the
facade looking to the city and is one of the best of the whole complex.
The Cultural Center (1980) in the Recoleta area by Bedel, Benedit, and Testa, a
recycled Franciscan monastery, is today an active popular center of contemporary art,
experimental art galleries, and shops. The complex was completed with the more
whimsical Buenos Aires Design Center (1994) by Testa, Genoud, and Graci.
Since 1991 the Madero docks area (built in 1887–97) has been rehabilitated in one of
the most successful urban interventions in the city’s recent history. The utilitarian
buildings of the dock have been recycled as apartments, restaurants, and shops as a
natural extension of the center of the city. Several new towers have changed the profile of
the city’s skyline. The twin towers (1997) of High Palermo Plaza by Urgell, Fazio, and
Penedo and the studio of Sanchez Gomez, Manteola, and Santos Solsona present an
urban doorway to the Palermo area, enlivened by the Postmodernist and ornamental Alto
Palermo Shopping (1990) by Juan Lopez.
Buenos Aires enters the 21st century immersed in the revolutionary changes in
technology and the process of globalization. The city has successfully implemented new
programs to recuperate areas of the city, open the city to its river, and rehabilitate
buildings in Mayo, Rivadavia, and Corrientes Avenues. In addition, historical
neighborhoods, such as San Telmo and Monserrat, have begun to be rebuilt. All these
actions indicate that Buenos Aires is as interested in preserving its past as it is in
constructing its future. The city, once called the “Paris of South America,” is still
recognized for its European heritage and remains one of the great metropolises of the
world.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)