Main Ideas
The basis of a style, experienced by the early settlers of the Republic of Texas, was a feeling of _?
Unity
What are some incorrect assumptions about pioneers and pioneer architecture?
Illiterate troublemakers; constructed mud/log houses
What were pioneers primarily looking for when coming to Texas?
Freedom
The author uses children’s expensive international music education to illustrate how people are looking externally (outside of their region) for __?
Culture
What pioneer architectural details were listed as responses to heat, cold, and sun?
Thick walls, porches, shutters, chimneys
What is referenced as a source from which to draw a beautiful architecture?
Pioneer homes
What strategy made it such that a Frenchman's house was a simple Texas house, as were the Germans', Yankees ', and Spaniard's?
The idea of building economically with natural materials to suit the climate, to suit themselves and their own comfort
What was the first country to attempt to colonize the southwest?
Spain
New American artists “keep on painting little French landscapes until they die.” What have they created?
Nothing
Why can the Castroville house style not be reproduced with stucco?
Whitewashed so many times (the form and texture isn't the same)
The author claims the importance of seeing and studying old houses. Why?
They are functional, free from improper use of material, unnecessary ornament, imitated details, illogical, imported ideas of plan or style, or inherited bad habits
What are the two extremes shown by the history of the frontier?
The early frontier: impatient with the effeminate centers of civilization
Ceasing of this frontier: shame for pioneer style; extravagant admiration for the sophisticated arts of other lands
List the primary difference between the first and third generations of colonists within Texas.
1st Gen: Independent folk not fond of the refinements of genteel society
3rd Gen: Seeks wealth, education, opportunities to travel, and separation from ancestral ties
What are some listed examples of imitative architecture?
Painted tin to imitate stone, fake half-timber, tin tile roofs, wrought iron hinges made of sheet metal etc.
What characteristics of early Texas houses made them beautiful, according to Williams?
simple and natural – straightforward structure, simplicity of detail, ornament with a purpose – honest, comfortable houses
What was your favorite part or quote from the reading?
What are some characteristics of the old romanticized Southwest?
Open range, hard riding, quick shooting, red shirted cowboy, night herd, long trail, swift living, sudden death, headless horsemen, old songs of the roundup, trail, longhorn steer
What major event led to an influx of colonists, and where did they settle?
The establishment of the Republic of Texas
Where rivers forked, where there was ledge stone, and fertile soil
What would Palladio’s reaction be to these modern vernacular buildings?
He would be spinning like a top in his grave
Pioneer buildings lay valuable lessons regarding what three main strategies?
Adaptation to local climate, the best use of local materials, and the aesthetic sensibilities of a region's residents
In the best construction, regional contemporary architecture demonstrates what?
Restraint, clarity of form, and attention to detail even in its frugal nature
"Texas scenery is _?"
(A perspective of new architecture and art)
"No good"
If colonists in the Republic of Texas were not founding a new England, a new France, or a new Spain in terms of architecture, what were they trying to do?
To build to the glory of themselves, to suit their own needs, to fit the restrictions of the new climate
What is Functional Referentiality?
A modern concept that a building can reflect an imported cultural heritage as well as a pragmatic rootedness to place
Explain why the author values pioneer architecture.