Event

The American Porch III: Porches, Porticoes, and the Architecture of Democracy

In the United States, for the first time in history, the ordinary person's house became a work of architecture. As the basic component of American governance became the citizen, so the basic unit of American architecture and urbanism became the citizen's home. Despite the provincial character of most Federal architecture, the genius of America's founding documents found expression in the simple brick house with a porch. A rudimentary composition of two or three components the pediment the column, and the arch not only marked the entrance and established a formal theme for the façade, but symbolically articulated the place of the individual in relationship to other citizens and to the landscape. Internationally renowned classicist architect Allan Greenberg, AIA, will investigate the porch as an early manifestation of American political thought in architecture, and explore how these once-shared ideals are infusing the practice of architecture today. This is the third and final part of a lecture series on the history and cultural significance of the porch in America, organized by Johns Hopkins' Homewood Museum for the 2010 Baltimore Architecture Week.