essay assignment: architecture and culture

Complete the following assignment and submit your essay to your assignment folder by the date indicated in the assignment folder.

 analysis of a domestic dwelling

Select a house or apartment that you know well enough to analyze. Discuss how you think the architectural style of the house relates to culture. Take into consideration such aspects local or house history (where this information is available and relevant); neighborhood; structural characteristics; materials; floor plan; etc. Use the ideas and terms that we have studied so far in this course where applicable (e.g., attitudes, values, beliefs, history, perception, etc.). Use what you have learned in the the class activity on architecture and culture, including the case study, as an aid in identifying possible factors to examine and analyze.

The following questions may help you get started:

• Is the town in which the dwelling is situated historically old or young?
   
• What was the target group for this neighborhood when it was built? What is it now? Families? Singles? Upper class? Middle class?
   
• Are any of the materials native to the area? If not, why have they been imported? Function? Appearance?
   
• How do the structural characteristics respond to geography? To history? To lifestyle? To co-culture or social group?
   
• What does the use of space suggest regarding cultural or social values and attitudes?

Essay length 600-700 words.

Important:

While this assignment does not require you to do outside research (e.g., town history, interviewing former residents or people in the neighborhood), you are welcome to do so, if you have time.

The assignment does require that you are specific and thorough in investigating concrete aspects of the dwelling under examination; and while you may not be able to prove some of your conclusions, you must be able to show that they are reasonable conclusions, based on your everyday knowledge of the culture in which the dwelling is located and the characteristics observed. (Thus it is important to choose a dwelling and environment with which you are familiar, even if the home or apartment under discussion is not one you lived in personally.)

Further, this is formal essay assignment and therefore calls for a high level of unity, coherence and development. When you are finished, make sure that your essay presents a consistently clear focus and flows smoothly and systematically from idea to idea. Check to make sure that statements are specific; that ideas have been carefully explained; and that conclusions and generalizations have been supported with examples, reasoning, or other evidence. All of these factors contribute to effective writing and will therefore help determine the success of your essay.

To view the instructional activity linked to this writing assignment, see the document on these web pages entitled: Architecture & Culture .