17th-Century English Colonial Architecture

17th-century English colonial architecture resembles the late medieval forms that survived in rural England. Houses were built in a range of sizes. Gables, overhangs, and lack of symmetry reflected the late medieval style of Europe. In Virginia and Maryland, brick construction was preferred for the typically story and a half homes with chimneys at both ends and a more nearly symmetrical facade. Aside from fortifications, the principal nondomestic structures in the 17th-century colonies were churches. Cities founded in the 17th century, such as Boston, were chaotic in plan. With the turn of the 18th century, the colonies began to take on a more permanent and established character, as the hardships of the wilderness were overcome, and increasing commerce and production permitted the
growth of prosperous cities. Newly founded cities, such as: Williamsburg, Virginia; Annapolis, Maryland, and especially Philadelphia, were laid out on a regular grid, with public squares the kind of logical organization that had eluded planners in London during the same period. Civil Engineers began building larger and much more ambitious buildings that were modest versions of London’s early baroque styles. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own heritage and architecture, with localities that featured larger neighborhood tracts of colonial revival style residences was the Windsor Farms area in the west end of Richmond, Virginia.
In the 19th century, the Colonial Revival took a more eclectic style, and columns were often seen. However, with the popularity of research-based history attractions like Colonial Williamsburg in the 1930s, the subsequent "colonial" architecture took a more scholarly and less pretentious turn, and columns fell out of favor. Local conditions have played a tremendously important part in the shaping of an architectural style. There were two different styles of Colonial architecture in New England and in Virginia which were designated as New England Colonial and Southern Colonial. The difference in climate showed its effect upon the height of ceilings, high ceilings being required in the South because of the heat. The local supply of material accounted for the fact that New England Colonial homes were almost invariably built of wood siding, while the discovery of excellent beds of clay in Virginia caused brick to become popular
there. The term "skyscraper" was coined in the 1880s, shortly after the first tall buildings were constructed in the United States; however, the history of tall buildings dates back hundreds of years. Since the middle Ages, engineers have engaged in a battle for the sky. Before there were skyscrapers, there were towers. Made of heavy stone, towers had thick, sturdy walls, but the rooms were dark and cramped, too many windows would have weakened the structure. With steel came the first modern skyscrapers. During the Industrial Revolution, engineers began experimenting with two new materials, iron and steel. The 10-story Home Insurance Building in Chicago was the first tall building to be supported by a steel skeleton of vertical columns and horizontal beams. However, even with windows, the closely spaced columns and deep beams made rooms in the Home Insurance Building feel tight. New structural designs made skyscrapers even lighter and stiffer. As skyscrapers grew taller and taller, engineers were faced with a new enemy: wind. Today's tallest skyscrapers, which are almost 1,500 feet tall, must be 50 times stronger against wind than the typical 200-foot buildings of the 1940s. By clustering steel columns and beams in the skyscraper's core, engineers create a stiff backbone that can resist tremendous wind forces. The inner core is used as an elevator shaft, and the design allows lots of open space on each floor. In newer skyscrapers, like the Sears Tower in Chicago, engineers moved the columns and beams from the core to the perimeter, creating a hollow, rigid tube as strong as the core design, weighing much less.