Coming back to last week’s reading, print did not kill architecture. As we may read it in the Wright reading, print actually educated people about architecture. In the 19th century, many publications about architecture, and homes appeared. More interestingly, these publications were written by carpenters, physicians, ministers, novelists, and housewives, but not professional architects.
These publications were there to educate people about interior designs and were mostly “intended for a population still largely rural”. Mainly, there were three types of houses catalogued in most of these publications. “Villas for persons of competence, cottages for mechanics or working men, and farmhouses for farmers”.
The publications made the home a much more important place for families, and especially for women. “Women saw in their homes their greatest opportunity to raise the family’s status, inspire the children to future success, and demonstrate their own taste and talents”. Some elements of the house were very important. “Every residential design should emphasize certain architectural elements- prominent chimneys and fireplaces, wide overhanging roofs, and bay windows- which, according to Ruskin, evoked the revered domestic virtues of protection, security, trust, and traditional family bonds”. And although some elements of the house such as the fireplace were not necessary any longer as there stoves now that would heat up the house, they still remained of importance. The reason for that was that “the appeal, then, was not functional but evocative. The image of the family gathered around the hearth was the most common way to call up the idea of the home as a place of protection and communality”.
I believe that these publications were great in some way as they educated people about interior designs but I also believe that they created a norm and killed creativity. It kind of told people what to do with their homes, and people started believing that they had to follow these styles in order to be normal or to create the right atmosphere.
