Sticks and Stones · Chapter
The Defeat of Romanticism explained
This chapter examines the period between 1860 and 1890 when industrialism overwhelmed the romantic movement in American architecture.
What happens
This chapter examines the period between 1860 and 1890 when industrialism overwhelmed the romantic movement in American architecture. It focuses on H. H. Richardson as the last great master-mason who briefly resisted the tide, but ultimately romanticism was defeated by the forces of mechanization, poor housing standards like the dumbbell tenement, and the rise of a new mode. The chapter argues that romanticists failed to address social and economic problems, leading to their retreat into isolated enclaves.
Themes in this chapter
Craftsmanship vs. Mechanization
Richardson's master-mason approach contrasted with jerry-builders and engineers; romanticism's defeat by industrialism is central.
The Myth of Progress and the Pioneer
The land pioneer gave way to the industrial pioneer; the gridiron plan and dumbbell tenement exemplify misguided 'progress.'
Economic and Social Foundations of Art
Romanticists failed to face social and economic problems; poor housing and profit-driven design undermined architecture.
Human Scale and Organic Urban Planning
The gridiron street-design and deep lots made good housing difficult; apartments created a 'penitentiary' environment.
Characters to notice
- H. H. Richardson
Chief exponent of American romanticism; a master-mason who resisted mechanical industry and created works like Trinity Church in Boston.
- John Ruskin
Associated romantic architecture with medieval social reform and restoration of a medieval polity.
- Viollet-le-Duc
Influenced Richardson; advocated using primitive sources for architectural energy.
- Stanford White
Developed shingled houses for seaboard estates alongside Richardson, recovering early vernacular spirit.
- Ralph Adams Cram
Romanticist who believed hope for the movement required a return to 'Walled Towns.'
- Bertram Goodhue
Designed St. Thomas' Church with Cram; later abandoned romantic molds in recent efforts.
- Thomas Hardy
Trained as an architect; wrote the esthetic apology for industrialism, transferring depression to Wessex countryside.
Key passages
“In America, the romantic movement lacked these social and economic implications; and while it is not unfair to say that the literary expression of English romanticism was on the whole much better than the architecture, in the proportion that The Stones of Venice was better than the Ashmolean Museum or the Albert Memorial, the reverse is true on this side of the Atlantic.”
In America, romanticism had no social or economic basis; English romantic literature surpassed its architecture, but in America, architecture was stronger than literary expression.
Contrast between English and American romanticism.
“Richardson was not a decorator, but a builder: in going back to Romanesque precedent, with its round arches and massive stone members, he was following out a dictum of Viollet-le-Duc's: 'only primitive sources supply the energy for a long career.'”
Richardson was a builder, not a decorator; his Romanesque revival followed Viollet-le-Duc's advice that only primitive sources provide lasting energy.
Richardson's architectural philosophy.
“The gridiron street-design, the narrow frontage, the deep lot, all conspired to make good housing difficult in the larger cities: within this framework good house-design, indeed, still is difficult.”
The gridiron layout, narrow lots, and deep plots made good housing nearly impossible in big cities, a problem that persists.
Critique of urban planning.
“To hold to Gothic precedent in the hope of recreating the medieval community is to hope that an ancient bottle will turn potassium permanganate into claret.”
Clinging to Gothic styles to revive medieval society is as futile as expecting an old bottle to transform one substance into another.
Metaphor for romanticism's impossibility.
