building the american landscape - Univerza v Novi Gorici
building the american landscape - Univerza v Novi Gorici
building the american landscape - Univerza v Novi Gorici
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as <strong>the</strong> very same historian admitted 77 : “The invention of <strong>the</strong> new structure<br />
coincides with <strong>the</strong> progress of sawing mill equipment and not least with <strong>the</strong> mass<br />
production of nails” 78 . The special construction of <strong>the</strong> balloon frame was in fact<br />
influenced by <strong>the</strong> level of industrialization achieved in America 79 .<br />
The idea of <strong>building</strong> a thick basket made of thin wooden beams and pillars, all with<br />
<strong>the</strong> same cross‐section and held toge<strong>the</strong>r by boards was taken from some<br />
construction and covering techniques of <strong>the</strong> first houses of <strong>the</strong> settlers on <strong>the</strong><br />
Atlantic coast 80 . The main difference lay in <strong>the</strong> fact that <strong>the</strong> complex carpentry<br />
operations of <strong>the</strong> wooden joints had been replaced by <strong>the</strong> faster technique of<br />
nailing.<br />
Fur<strong>the</strong>rmore, <strong>the</strong> reduced size of <strong>the</strong> load bearing structure made it easier to<br />
transport and assemble. The method of construction not only guaranteed a speedy<br />
execution and a cheap <strong>building</strong>, but it was also perfectly suitable for <strong>the</strong><br />
construction of haylofts and o<strong>the</strong>r agricultural <strong>building</strong>s 81 [Figure 42‐43].<br />
However, <strong>the</strong>se aspects of <strong>the</strong> agricultural technological revolution and of <strong>the</strong><br />
construction methods are strictly linked not only to <strong>the</strong> evolution of American<br />
society, but also to a series of provisions taken over <strong>the</strong> years to regulate <strong>the</strong><br />
distribution of land at <strong>the</strong> expense of <strong>the</strong> Native Americans. These provisions,<br />
collectively known as Land Acts, began with <strong>the</strong> purchase of Louisiana, also<br />
established <strong>the</strong> planning of <strong>the</strong> territory, and made <strong>the</strong>m <strong>the</strong> most incisive<br />
contribution to <strong>the</strong> definition and construction of <strong>the</strong> extensive American<br />
77 See o<strong>the</strong>r research on <strong>the</strong> balloon frame: FIELD, Walker, “A Re‐examination into <strong>the</strong> Invention of<br />
<strong>the</strong> Balloon Frame”, The Journal of <strong>the</strong> American Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 2, No. 4<br />
(Oct.,1942), University of California Press, pp. 3‐29<br />
78 See GIEDION, Sigfried, Space, Time and Architecture, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard<br />
University Press, 1954 (first ed. 1941)(tr. it. a cua di Enrica e Mario Labò, Spazio, Tempo ed<br />
Architettura. Lo Sviluppo di una nuova tradizione, Milano, Hoepli, 2004, p. 338) [Translated in English<br />
from Italian by <strong>the</strong> author]<br />
79 See SPRAGUE, Paul E., “The Origin of Balloon Framing”, Journal of <strong>the</strong> Society of Architectural<br />
Historians, Vol. 40, No. 4 (Dec., 1981), University of California Press, pp. 311‐319<br />
80 See CAVANAGH, Ted, “The Original Aspects of Conventional Wood‐Frame Construction Re‐<br />
Examined”, Journal of Architectural Education (1984‐), Vol. 51, No. 1 (Sep., 1997), Association of<br />
Collegiate Schools of Architecture, pp. 5‐15; and JENSEN, Robert, “Board and Batten Siding and <strong>the</strong><br />
Balloon Frame: Their Incompatibility in <strong>the</strong> Nineteenth Century”, Journal of <strong>the</strong> Society of<br />
Architectural Historians, Vol. 30, No. 1 (Mar., 1971),University of California Press, pp. 40‐50<br />
81 See JACKSON, John Brinckeroff, American Space: <strong>the</strong> Centennial Years, 1865‐1876, New York, W.W.<br />
Norton, 1972, p. 24<br />
44