Browsing by Subject "Architects"

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Building opportunity : disaster response and recovery after the 1773 earthquake in Antigua Guatemala
(2013-08) Pajon, Mauricio A.; Deans-Smith, Susan, 1953-
Building Opportunity centers on disaster response and recovery after a 7.5-magnitude earthquake destroyed the city of Antigua Guatemala, the capital of colonial Guatemala, on July 29, 1773. It also concentrates on the colonial government’s decision to relocate Antigua Guatemala and establish a new capital, New Guatemala. This dissertation examines how the cultural, economic, political, and social views of inhabitants -- bureaucrats, clerics, Indians, architects, and the poor -- shaped their reactions to the tremor. Furthermore, it contends that the migration from Antigua Guatemala to New Guatemala created socioeconomic opportunities through which individuals made strong efforts to rebuild their lives. Debates on natural catastrophe in colonial Latin America have emphasized the ability of calamity to ignite power struggles over competing ideas about emergency management. However, in addition to an analysis of such disputes, this dissertation advances new understandings of the ways in which the earthquake gave victims chances to reshape their world. How did individuals' beliefs influence their attitudes toward the cataclysm? How did the effort to create a new city forge openings for survivors to refashion their identities? This study shows that individual groups' notions of fear, hazard mitigation, history, and socioeconomics defined arguments about whether or not to move. It also demonstrates that the tragedy produced spaces in which officials, ecclesiastics, indigenous peoples, and the impoverished worked to improve their lives. In various ways, administrators and victims turned adversity into an opportunity to become disaster managers and survivors, respectively.
Land of the in-between : modern architecture and the State in socialist Yugoslavia, 1945-65
(2009-05) Kulić, Vladimir; Udovički-Selb, Danilo
Land of the in-between explores how modern architecture responded to demands for political and ideological representation during the Cold War using socialist Yugoslavia as a case-study. Self-proclaimed as universal and abstract, modernism acquired a variety of specific meanings hidden behind seemingly neutral forms that, however, frequently contained decidedly political dimensions. During the Cold War, Yugoslavia deliberately positioned itself halfway between the Eastern and Western blocs, thus representing an excellent case for a study of shifting political meanings ascribed to architecture at that time. This dissertation follows two lines of investigation: transformations of architectural profession, and changes in the modes of architectural representation of the state. Consequences of two key moments are explored: the rise to power of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia in 1945, and its expulsion from the Soviet bloc in 1948. These two moments correspond to two distinct phases that shaped architecture in socialist Yugoslavia: a period of intense Stalinization immediately after WW II, and a period of gradual liberalization after the country's sudden break-up with the Soviet Union. During the short-lived Stalinist period, the regime subjected Yugoslav culture to the doctrine of Socialist Realism. But after 1948, the state relaxed its iron grip, allowing for a degree of intellectual and artistic freedom. At the same time, Yugoslavia reestablished friendly relations with the West, opening itself to influences of Western culture. The revival of modern architecture that followed was in return instrumental in reinforcing Yugoslavia's new image of a reformed Communist country. Land of the in-between argues that Yugoslavia's political shifts gave rise to a uniquely hybrid architectural culture. It combined Communist ideology with Western aesthetic and technological influences to create a mix that complicated the common black and white picture of the Cold War. Architecture in socialist Yugoslavia thus operated within a complex framework of shifting political and cultural paradigms whose contrasts highlight the meanings that post-World War II modernism assumed on a global scale.
One-Third of a Dream
(1971) Hicks, Neill DeWitt
This digitized film from the Hugo Leipzieger-Pearce papers, follows a talk given by University of Texas architecture and planning associate professor Rev. Dr. Reynell Parkins concerning real estate development in Austin’s low income neighborhoods. Parkins touches upon the major issues facing poor families seeking to renovate their homes without access to major bank or financial institution loans. The film contains an interview with an Austin family and a discussion about the Community Development Corporation of Austin (CDCA).
Preservation professionals : architects and the origins of architectural preservation in the United States, 1876-1926
(2020-05-06) Nau, Anna Christine; Holleran, Michael; Cleary, Richard; Hall, Melanie; Long, Christopher; Ibarra-Sevilla, Benjamin
This dissertation re-examines the role of the architecture profession in the early development of historic preservation in the United States. Existing scholarship has defined the emergence of preservation in the US in the second half of the nineteenth century as an amateur, grass roots movement. Unlike their European counterparts, American architects have been understood as peripheral figures until the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg, beginning in 1926. While “amateur” preservationists inarguably led the early movement, this dissertation reveals that architects played a more significant role in defining, documenting, and treating historic buildings between the 1870s and 1920s than previously known. The rise of preservation as a field of inquiry and practice occurred alongside the modern professionalization of architecture. In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, a new popular and scholarly interest in Colonial and Federal era architecture emerged at the same time that American architects were debating the future of their profession. Beginning in the 1870s, they engaged with European preservation ideas and projects through professional architectural journals, which provided a framework to evaluate the value of preservation of their own country’s historic buildings. Three projects for significant civic buildings illustrate the ways in which the profession engaged in preservation leadership between the 1890s and early 1920s. First, the Boston Society of Architects’ mid-1890s campaign to save the “Bulfinch Front” of the Massachusetts State House in Boston. Second, McKim, Mead & White’s 1903 restoration of the White House in Washington, D.C. Third, the Philadelphia AIA’s work at the Independence Hall complex between 1898 and 1924. In each case, prominent architects, including Charles A. Cummings, Charles F. McKim, and Frank Miles Day, treated preservation as a way to distinguish their knowledge of historic buildings from non-professionals. Preservation became a tool for consolidating professional status. As buildings considered of national architectural significance, these projects provided an opportunity for architects to confidently assert expertise and authority. They were also part of a conscious attempt to place the country’s early architectural heritage within the established canon of Western architectural history. This dissertation provides a new perspective on the relationship between preservation and the professionalization of architecture in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries.
Recovery: Corpus Christi After Celia
(1970) Ewing, Wayne; Miller, Mead P.
This digitized film from the Hugo Leipzieger-Pearce papers explores the actions of the Redevelopment Assistance Center (RAC) following destruction caused by Hurricane Celia on August 3, 1970 in the Corpus Christi area. RAC was created with the assistance of faculty and students at the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture to provide services designed to expedite rebuilding the area destroyed by Celia. Services included drafting architectural plans and processing damage estimates. The film captures scenes of the storm’s damage, School of Architecture Dean, Alan Y. Taniguchi, and RAC staff member Fred Worley conducting a site visit to a Corpus Christi home destroyed by the hurricane.
Yasmeen Tizani Interview
(2022-05-10) Institute for Diversity & Civic Life; Department of Religious Studies
This interview is with Yasmeen Tizani, an architect and artist in Austin, TX. Tizani talks about growing up Muslim in Texas and shares the differences between her experiences of Islamic private school and Texas public school. She describes her experiences wearing hijab, including educating White peers and navigating her own feelings. She talks about her education and interests in architecture. Tizani also talks about her art and describes some of her paintings.