Private and Public Post-war American Architecture

The end of world war two brought a significant change in the American architectural design as the demand for more modernized houses increased. Prior the war, the Americans experienced great housing problems and it was therefore essential to adopt architectural change that would help solve the problem.  It is however prudent to note that there existed major differences between the public and private post-war American architecture.  For instance, one of the most notable post-war architectural styles is the Cape Cod style (Dodd, 2015). This is a style that has been used in different private houses especially by William Levitt who introduced mass production techniques amongst the Americans.  Although the style had appeared severally in the American history, it still stands amongst the famous post –war architectural designs. It comprised a boxy, low to the ground with a sharp pitched roof and narrow eaves. The Levitt brothers used this architectural design in their mass production technique.

On the same note, organic architecture is also significant in the post war America especially for private housing. This was a style used by individuals with small pieces of land and who wanted their privacy upheld. A good example of such a house was one owned by Edgar J. Kaufmann who had built a good holiday home for his family. The house had horizontal planes, supported by four stone pillars (Dodd, 2015). The house had several rooms that were separated by ribbons of continuous glass. It was a storey building where the bedrooms wee located at the first floor while the ground floor held the living room. The floor of this house was made of irregularly shaped slabs while the walls were dressed of stones.

On the other hand, the public architecture was also under renaissance after the War. The post war era introduced the Art Deco Architecture to the American people. This was a period of great building and development in the United States.  The period experienced building of sky scrapers that were most common in many public places. This architecture reflected modernity, luxury and urgency for speed. The architecture embraced use of machines, geometric forms, technology and use of new materials that resulted in luxurious housing (Dodd, 2015). It is also worth noting that the architecture embrace rich colors and strong geometric shapes.  Art Deco Architecture had now become famous in most western countries and moved with speed to the united staets of America. Most of the houses embracing this architecture were commercial building and skyscrapers.  Examples of public housing embracing this architectural design includes; the Chrysler Building and the Golden Gate Bridge.

 

Reference

Dodd, S. (2015). Parade of Homes: Salesmanship and the Post-war American Housing Industry. Journal Of Design History, epv031. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jdh/epv031

 

Do you need an Original High Quality Academic Custom Essay?