The Shingle Style and the Stick Style: Architectural Theory and Design from Downing to the Origins of Wright

Yale Publications in the History of Art

by Vincent Scully

As the definitive study of the complex inspirations and cultural influences that were fused in the Shingle Style of wooden suburban and resort buildings of the period 1872 to 1889, Mr. Scully’s book has received much critical acclaim. He presents the published designs and the written statements of the architects, as well as contemporary criticisms of the buildings to analyze the development of the Shingle Style from Richardson’s early work to Wright’s first house in Oak Park. An analysis of the Colonial Revival is central to the work, which is now enhanced by the addition of an extensive related chapter on the “Stick Style” of the mid-century. A new preface has been added and the bibliography and footnotes are brought up to date.
“The last section of the book, on the origins and early development of Frank Lloyd Wright, is one of Scully’s best. This chapter…shows a mature understanding and a just handling of the academic tradition and of the early work of one of America’s greatest architects.”― The Art Bulletin
“Scully’s research is exhaustive, his scholarship impeccable. His illustrations alone form a gold mine of information on the period.”― Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians

Genres: Architecture

317 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

Reviews

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vincent Scully is unquestionably intelligent, and this book is encompassing in its examples, well-supported in its ideas, extensive, but his argument is sometimes difficult to follow because of some idiosyncratic turns and general dryness of his text.
Part of the issue is his art historical technique, which is based on techniques of spatial analysis used in interpretations of modern architecture, which fails to capture the complexity of the phenomenon of his time, and unfairly biases Shingle Style versus its more 'rigid' and 'academic' predecessors. As adept as he is with his verbal descriptions, they are overbearing and better coordination of photos and ideas would better suit his argument.
He deserves commendation of the hard work involved in reading and analyzing architectural thought in early domestic architecture in America - however, those texts are just not that interesting and his extensive quotations and strong emphasis on their literal value makes for incomplete picture and a dry read.
Finally, some of his arguments seem tenuous (ending a full chapter on Frank Lloyd Wright, dedicating a full chapter on MMW, though their relationship to Shingle Style is spasmodic and largely unsuccessful) and even teleological (one senses a nod to the 'postmodern' architectural idea and laying out a set of values that align to the postmodern idea).
His book would have benefited from greater exploration of the impact, reception, and production of Shingle Style in America, rather than droning on highly abstract spatial configurations over the course of many houses and many pages. Hard read, for that reasons, but still worth it.