AMST 333
House and Home in America
Roger Williams University
M-TH 3:30 - 4:50
GHH 108
Michael R. H. Swanson, Ph. D.
Office: GHH 215 Phone:  ext. 3230
Hours:  M, T, Th, F 9:00-10:30
  or by Appointment
mswanson@rwu.edu

The Week's Work
For Monday, April 23

Read, in Rybczynski,
Chapter 8, "Style and Substance" pp. 173 - 194
Chapter 9, "Austerity" pp. 195 - 216
Chapter 10, "Comfort and Well-Being" pp. 217 - 232
This assignment completes our work in Rybczynski’s book. Nothing here should give you particular problems. We’ve already introduced the idea of style, and the ways one can shape a style to make a statement about one’s self. Austerity introduces the concept of the “modern”, which we’ll see as an attempt to abolish “style” through disassembling the elements out of which styles are created. We’ll also want to understand why most Americans, so “modern” in their affection for technology, reject “modern” as a style for their houses.
Above are two houses from Indiana.  Again, most Americans would not have a difficult time selecting which was "modern".  Most, however, would have difficulty guessing when a house like this was built.  Fewer would guess that the "modern" one is actually older.    Click on each house for further examples
The final chapter of the book sums up most of what we’ve been trying to understand: how we use our houses to increase our sense of psychological and social well-being. Spend some time with the illustration at the beginning of this chapter. We’ll spend some time discussing it in some detail.  Note:  This is a dormitory room. 
At the left and right are two examples of chairs.  One is in a traditional style, the other in a "modern" style.  I suspect that 99% of Americans would be able to pick out the "modern" one. 

Can you explain how the "modern" chair illustrates the principles in Rybczynski's Chapter 9?
























click for historic examples of this style
By now I hope everyone finished House or nearly finished it.  Ready or not, we have to plow ahead and extract some ideas from Kidder's monograph.  Remember that this book is not a novel.  Call it a study, a monograph, an extended essay.  Call it Literary Journalism as does the American Journalism Review, or call it just plain old book.

What I want to do today is begin with a general overview about the Souweines and their aspirations, and the question of how they came to the decision to build a house.  I want to also consider aspects of the style of house they chose to build.  Recall what we've said about how styles are constructed, and what we say they represent.  What makes Greek Revival a logical choice for this particular couple.?
For Thursday,  April 26
Where has the semester gone?  I may have not been as efficient as I usually am, or maybe I got a bit more ambitious as this course migrated from the 100 level to the 300 level, but we're just about out of time.  The book I had hoped to include, Bulding an American Identity, Pattern Book Homes and Communities, will, alas have to remain on the shelf.  I'm hoping that some of you at least have developed enough interest in the subject matter for this course to read it on your own, and dream about what identities were shaped by those houses in those communities.    We are going to have enough time to get in two good discussions on Tracy Kidder's book, House, which you see illustrated immediately below.
The House built for Jonathan and Judith Souweine.  The American Journalism Review lists Tracy Kidder's book as one of the Twelve Best Examples of Literary Journalism, saying "In 1982, a middle-class couple named Judith and Jonathan Souweine set out to build their dream house in Amherst, Massachusetts. Plans get made, walls go up, tempers flare. Architects, builders, carpenters and painters appear. Kidder sits on the sideline and turns the domestic drama into a Melville-sized metaphor for America."