PBS lists Top Ten Buildings that Changed America

[M II A II R II K]

PBS lists Top Ten Buildings that Changed America


12 May 2012

By Karissa Rosenfield



Read More: http://www.archdaily.com/233659/pbs-...28ArchDaily%29

PBS has released their selections of the top ten buildings that have changed the way Americans live, work and play. From Thomas Jefferson’s 224-year-0ld Virginia State Capitol to Robert Ventui’s postmodern masterpiece the Vanna Venturi House, each building on the list will be featured in a new TV and web production coming to PBS in 2013.

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1) Virginia State Capitol / Thomas Jefferson (1788) - Richmond, Virginia






2) Trinity Church / H.H. Richardson (1877) - Boston, Massachusetts






3) Wainwright Building / Louis Sullivan (1891)- St. Louis, Missouri






4) Robie House / Frank Lloyd Wright (1910) - Chicago, Illinois






5) Highland Park Ford Plant / Albert Kahn (1910) - Highland Park, Michigan






6) Southdale Center / Victor Gruen (1956) - Edina, Minnesota







7) Seagram Building / Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1958) - New York, New York






8) Dulles International Airport / Eero Saarinen (1963) - Chantilly, Virginia






9) Vanna Venturi House / Robert Venturi (1964) - Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania






10) Walt Disney Concert Hall / Frank Gehry (2003) - Los Angeles, California

[Jasoncw]

I think that's actually a pretty good list of buildings. Off the top of my head there aren't any important architectural developments in the US that aren't represented somewhere in that list.

[TarHeelJ]

Originally Posted by Jasoncw

I think that's actually a pretty good list of buildings. Off the top of my head there aren't any important architectural developments in the US that aren't represented somewhere in that list.

I'm not sure if it's important enough to make a list like this, but John Portman's multi-storied interior atrium was made famous by the 23-story, 1967 Hyatt Regency in downtown Atlanta. Good or bad, his design has been very influential in hotel development ever since and actually transformed the hotel industy.

[BrandonJXN]

Phillip Johnson is nowhere to be found on this list.

Fail.

[plinko]

^Philip Johnson worked on the Seagram Building with Mies.

The AT&T (now Sony) Center in NYC would probably be the building to add to describe that movement, but I would say that the Portland Building by Graves was arguably more important.

[HomrQT]

No Monadnock Building or Empire State Building?

[Jasoncw]

I don't know how deep the episodes plan on getting, but I think the house gets closer to the heart of postmodernism. With the other two you're sort of limiting what aspects of postmodern you can talk about. I think it would make sense to start with the house and use it as a springboard to discussing other buildings. And he has those important books too. So I think one way or another it would go back to him, so you might as well start with him.


John Portman may have created the atrium hotel, and maybe a short lived trend to go with it, but he didn't shape the course of architecture for decades to come like those other buildings/architects.

[MolsonExport]

9) Vanna Venturi House / Robert Venturi (1964) - Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania

10) Walt Disney Concert Hall / Frank Gehry (2003) - Los Angeles, California

How the fark did these "Change America"?

[TarHeelJ]

Originally Posted by Jasoncw

I don't know how deep the episodes plan on getting, but I think the house gets closer to the heart of postmodernism. With the other two you're sort of limiting what aspects of postmodern you can talk about. I think it would make sense to start with the house and use it as a springboard to discussing other buildings. And he has those important books too. So I think one way or another it would go back to him, so you might as well start with him.


John Portman may have created the atrium hotel, and maybe a short lived trend to go with it, but he didn't shape the course of architecture for decades to come like those other buildings/architects.

I guess we don't really know that yet, do we? I'm also not sure how short-lived the trend is, as it is currently still going pretty strong.

[DecoJim]

Originally Posted by Jasoncw

John Portman may have created the atrium hotel, and maybe a short lived trend to go with it, but he didn't shape the course of architecture for decades to come like those other buildings/architects.

That may be true but based on the title of the list, the PBS series appears to focus on changing America rather than changing architecture itself.

Albert Kahn's Highland Park plant and other similar reinforced concrete factories he designed for Packard, Ford, etc. had some effect on the modernist movement in architecture but more important, the factories were much more efficient that previous factories. These plants facilitated the mass production of automobiles and the creation of millions of jobs (the Highland Park plant alone had a workforce of 40,000 at its peak). These plants and the jobs they provided played a part in the enlargement of the middle class and the cars they produced contributed to suburbanization (who said change is always good).

By the way, the picture shows an administration building; only a tiny portion of the much larger factory building is visible in the background.

[Jasoncw]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

How the fark did these "Change America"?

The Vanna Venturi House is important. It was one of the earliest postmodernist buildings and its designer wrote a lot of very influential texts. It completely changed the way architects talked about and conceptualized buildings, and that way still dominates architecture today.


Frank Gehry... I don't think you can do a list of American architects without having him since he's one of the most famous American architects. He was influential with the blobitecture and parametric design and all that, but most cities have either one or no buildings like that. I would argue though, that he's played a big role in bringing computers and technology into architecture. Without him I don't think we'd be seeing BIM programs like Autodesk Revit, which is changing the way that architecture firms operate.

[Tom Servo]

Originally Posted by ThreeHundred

Phillip Johnson is nowhere to be found on this list.

Fail.

LOL

Best comment in SSP history.

[The_Architect]

Originally Posted by Jasoncw

Frank Gehry... I don't think you can do a list of American architects without having him since he's one of the most famous American architects.

Frank Gehry is from Toronto.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by The_Architect

Frank Gehry is from Toronto.

and he's been living and practicing architecture in california for the past 5 decades. he holds dual american and canadian citizenship.

if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck.............

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

and he's been living and practicing architecture in california for the past 5 decades. he holds dual american and canadian citizenship.

if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck.............

If it looks like tinfoil and shines like tinfoil.....

[Chief Blackhawk]

Originally Posted by ThreeHundred

Phillip Johnson is nowhere to be found on this list.

Fail.

Phillip Johnson is post-modernist. THAT'S a FAIL, along with that HIDEOUS architectural sense... Case in point, Sony Building NYC.

[pico44]

Sony Building is a great building and absolutely belongs on this list. I guess postmodernism has to suck now like brutalism had to and modernism and art deco...

I would also put Portzamparc's LVMH tower on here as a precursor to everything built between then and now.

[The_Architect]

Postmodernism can be great. Case in point: Scotia Plaza, 2 Prudential Plaza, etc.

[Tyler Xyroadia]

Originally Posted by Jasoncw

Frank Gehry... I don't think you can do a list of American architects without having him since he's one of the most famous American architects. He was influential with the blobitecture and parametric design and all that, but most cities have either one or no buildings like that. I would argue though, that he's played a big role in bringing computers and technology into architecture. Without him I don't think we'd be seeing BIM programs like Autodesk Revit, which is changing the way that architecture firms operate.

BAH!

Frank Gehry gets the Curmudgeon in me going to no end!
Influential in creating "blobitecture" You say? I liek that BLOBS tend to describe much of what he does. Influential? Perhaps influential in terms of how NOT to make buildings.

[Swinefeld]

9) Vanna Venturi House / Robert Venturi (1964) - Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania

Dear PBS, Chestnut Hill is a neighborhood in Philadelphia. Sheesh. But I'm glad they included this postmodernist gem. Also noteworthy is the Esherick House (by Louis I. Kahn), just down the road a piece.