{"80511":{"#nid":"80511","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Professor Documents Rebirth of Classic Architecture","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAlthough the past century includes incredible watershed moments -- the splitting of the atom, mankind\u0027s first foray into space, new forms of music and art -- it also left \u0022buildings of unequaled boredom\u0022 in American cities from coast-to-coast, according to an architectural historian at the Georgia Institute of Technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn two new books - one released in December 2003, another due out this month -- Associate Professor Elizabeth Dowling in Georgia Tech\u0027s College of Architecture addresses the revival in traditional and classical forms of architecture among young and emerging professionals, both in the United States and abroad.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Everybody has this desire for connection and memory that feels comfortable, and it\u0027s not always found in Modern design,\u0022 Dowling said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHer required course in the College of Architecture introduces students to architectural forms produced from about 2000 B.C. to A.D. 1800 by cultures throughout the world, with an emphasis on sources that influenced the architecture of the Americas. But the same topic is on the mind of more and more people these days, as Modern architecture has failed to capture the hearts of many in today\u0027s world.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I think that Modernism is an aesthetic that is unfamiliar, that doesn\u0027t have any human warmth and comfort to it,\u0022 Dowling said. \u0022[A Modern building] doesn\u0027t typically represent the individual natures of its inhabitants or users, and it doesn\u0027t reflect the usual messiness of people\u0027s lives from day to day.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThat\u0027s why many designers, architectural firms and others have once again turned to the use of Classical forms and motifs in their work, Dowling said. It\u0027s also why many people today choose to spend millions of dollars on a home that is reminiscent of a Classic Roman villa rather than on one that looks like a Modern glass-and-steel box.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDowling explores this latter phenomenon in \u003Cem\u003ETimeless Architecture: Homes of Distinction By Harrison Design Associates\u003C\/em\u003E, released this past year by Schiffer Publishing Ltd. The book re-introduces students, historians, architects, designers and others to the principles of Classic or historic design for the modern home, illustrated with more than 400 color images.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Classical design is both the oldest and the newest trend in Western architecture - so new that few architects are trained in this time-honored tradition,\u0022 Dowling writes. \u0022This book draws from one of the nation\u0027s leading design firms as a means of presenting the traditional concepts that all fine buildings must satisfy - being well-built, easy to use and inspiringly beautiful.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDowling said that the principals of Atlanta\u0027s Harrison Design Associates - Bill Harrison and Greg Palmer - are highly sought-after because they\u0027re among a precious few in the world who design buildings that \u0022fit their context and climate, provide comfortable and familiar imagery, and respond to the time-honored desire for a beautiful environment\u0022 - mostly through their use or emphasis on Classical or traditional designs. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Bill felt that his firm was sufficiently mature that it needed a book to show what it has produced, and I think his firm has done some amazing work,\u0022 Dowling said. \u0022They\u0027re part of a movement in the United States that\u0027s using historic styles to produce not just residences, but entire townscapes. Bill, in particular, is producing residences, and his work satisfies the desire by many people to see something familiar in their home designs.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDowling\u0027s latest book -- \u003Cem\u003EThe New Classicism: The Rebirth of Traditional Architecture\u003C\/em\u003E, published by Rizzoli International Publications - looks at a similar trend among five British and nine American architectural firms. Harrison Design Associates again features prominently in it.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This book looks at more firms because the movement is becoming international, and the strongest nations involved in it are Britain and the United States,\u0022 she said. \u0022[The book] is part of the growing body of literature based on the revived interest in Classical design. There\u0027s now a large number of books on traditional design issues. And a lot of people who were formerly Modern designers are moving over into this area.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDowling graduated from Georgia Tech\u0027s College of Architecture when Modernists reigned in design circles. Many of them sought to exhilarate the public with buildings that had simple forms, spare, clean lines, expanses of glass and flat roofs, she said. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBut this look of utility became so ubiquitous in the United States that \u0022American cities are consequently filled with buildings of unequaled boredom,\u0022 she writes.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022European cities have fared somewhat better with Modernism, mainly because their cities had the texture of 2,000 years of varied architecture,\u0022 she writes in \u003Cem\u003ETimeless Architecture\u003C\/em\u003E. \u0022A few modern buildings inserted into a strong context did not destroy the character of the whole. In America, however, the young cities grew enormously in the 20th century and the new construction was dominated by the image of monotonous uniformity. In a modern city there is little that allows the passersby to learn of the history of a place or to indicate the city is unique and characteristic of its place in the world.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDowling said she felt out of alignment with Modernists upon graduation, and she has since maintained a foothold in the Classics with an eye toward Post-Modernism and New Urbanism.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022There was almost no movement in this direction at all when I began,\u0022 Dowling said. \u0022But I saw this as my outlet, as a way to stay in the mental world of classic architecture.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDowling since has become a go-to expert on Classical and Traditional architecture and, for more than 10 years, she has been a faculty leader for the \u0022History of Art and Architecture in Italy,\u0022 a six-week traveling program that introduces Tech students to Italian architecture, painting and sculpture through instruction on-site at museums, in historic buildings, and on walking tours through Rome and other neighboring Italian cities. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Beauty, for many of us, can be found in many different architectural styles,\u0022 Dowling said. With the return to Classical and Traditional architectural forms, \u0022You\u0027re bringing to life the dreams of your client, and I love that,\u0022 she said. \u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Design firms return to the use of traditional motifs"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"In two new books, Associate Professor Elizabeth Dowling in Georgia Tech\u0027s College of Architecture addresses the revival in traditional and classical forms of architecture among young and emerging professionals, both in the United States and abroad.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"New book details the rebirth of traditional design"}],"uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2004-09-09 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:58","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2004-09-09T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2004-09-09T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"80521":{"id":"80521","type":"image","title":"Bill Harrison \u0026 Betty Dowling","body":null,"created":"1449178071","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:27:51","changed":"1475894696","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:56"}},"media_ids":["80521"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.harrisondesignassociates.com\/","title":"Harrison Design Associates"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.coa.gatech.edu\/arch\/","title":"Architecture Program"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.coa.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech College of Architecture"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["matthew.nagel@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}