Architecture and Suburbia: From English Villa to American Dream House, 1690-2000

by John Archer

The American suburban dream house-a single-family, detached dwelling, frequently clustered in tight rows and cul-de-sacs-has been attacked for some time as homogeneous and barren, yet the suburbs are home to half of the American population. Architectural historian John Archer suggests the endurance of the ideal house is deeply rooted in the notions of privacy, property, and selfhood that were introduced in late seventeenth-century England and became the foundation of the American nation and identity. Spanning four centuries, Architecture and Suburbia explores phenomena ranging from household furnishings and routines to the proliferation of the dream house in parallel with Cold War politics. Beginning with John Locke, whose Enlightenment philosophy imagined individuals capable of self-fulfillment, Archer examines the eighteenth-century British bourgeois villa and the earliest London suburbs. He recounts how early American homeowners used houses to establish social status and how twentieth-century Americans continued to flock to single-family houses in the suburbs, encouraged by patriotism, fueled by consumerism, and resisting disdain by disaffected youths, designers, and intellectuals. Finally, he recognizes “hybridized” or increasingly diverse American suburbs as the dynamic basis for a strengthened social fabric. From Enlightenment philosophy to rap lyrics, from the rise of a mercantile economy to discussions over neighborhoods, sprawl, and gated communities, Archer addresses the past, present, and future of the American dream house. John Archer is professor of cultural studies and comparative literature at the University of Minnesota. His book The Literature of British Domestic Architecture, 1715-1842, is the standard reference on the subject, and he also contributed to the Encyclopedia of Urban America and the Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Architecture.

Genres: Architecture

496 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

(8/10) I'm not exactly what you would call an expert on architecture (i.e. I know basically nothing about it), but this book did a pretty good job of explaining how something seemingly concrete like house design intersects with very ideological ideas of the self and inner life. Archer provides a detailed summary of architectural theory and practice relating to the suburban home through the past three centuries, and explains how these developments embodied new ways of thinking about the world. Like a lot of academic texts this one is a bit repetitive in its quest to be convincing, but it's also quite readable and easy to understand for someone without background in the subject. Architecture and Suburbia basically does what it says on the box, but does it quite well.