Gallery: Malls and Ranch Homes? PBS's Surprising 10 Buildings That Changed America
011 VACapitol
PBS's [*10 Buildings That Changed America*](http://interactive.wttw.com/tenbuildings) takes a look at the buildings responsible for much of the architecture that we're familiar with, but don't always think of as iconically American. From the Virginia State Capitol, designed by Thomas Jefferson, to Frank Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, writer and producer Dan Protess identified the designs he thought most influenced later architecture, from city halls to family homes. "We're all impacted by our built environment, and our buildings, but we're often not very aware of it," says Protess. "A building can enliven a streetscape, or it can make it a really difficult, ugly place to walk by, or be in every day." It's Protess' first prime-time PBS special, but if viewers like it, there's always more content. "When you end up doing an hour-long program about 10 buildings, there's a lot that you can't fit into the program," says Protess. For example, the Virginia State Capitol: "When Richmond almost burnt to the ground during, toward the end of the civil war, Union troops actually recognized that this Thomas Jefferson \[building\] was a really important piece of American history, and gathered around the capitol to protect it from the fire." *10 Buildings That Changed America* begins on Sunday, May 12 on PBS. Here's a preview of what will be discussed. __above__ Virginia State Capitol, Richmond, Virginia, 1788 ------------------------------------------------ Thomas Jefferson modeled the Virginia State Capitol on a Roman temple, in an attempt to redefine American architecture as independent from English Georgian architecture. The white columns are now replicated in banks, state buildings, and even homes around the U.S.
Katherine Castro022 Trinity
Trinity Church, Boston, Massachusetts, 1877 ------------------------------------------- Heavy granite typifies "Richardsonian Romanesque" architecture, named for H.H. Richardson, who designed this church to complement its rector's oratorial skills. The broad, short tower and decorative art have been mimicked, not just in churches, but in libraries, train stations, and city halls.
033 Wainwright
Wainwright Building, St. Louis, Missouri, 1891 ---------------------------------------------- The Wainwright Building wasn't the tallest building in 1891. But it *looked* tall, a feature that helped it define how skyscrapers were built for a century. Rather than hiding the steel frame that let it rise ten stories, it accentuated it, stacking identical stories on a solid-looking base.
044 Robie House
Robie House, Chicago, Illinois, 1910 ------------------------------------ It may not be obvious at first, but Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House inspired ranch houses across America, helping bring an end to Victorian architecture. The clues are in the horizontal eaves, low-pitched roof, recessed entrance, and attached garage.
055 HighlandParkFord
Highland Park Ford Plant, Highland Park, Michigan, 1910 ------------------------------------------------------- Henry Ford insisted that his production plant have enough wide open space for an assembly line, and architect Albert Kahn's big, light, airy building was a model for other plants and industrial architecture, in the auto industry and elsewhere.
066 Southdale
Southdale Center, Edina, Minnesota, 1956 ---------------------------------------- What's more American than a mall? Victor Gruen designed the first indoor mall based on the streets of Vienna, and pointed all the shops inward to simplify the exterior and negate urban sprawl. Needless to say, his utopian vision wasn't quite realized, as malls moved to the suburbs and parking lots grew up around them.
Peter Reitzfeld077 Seagram
Seagram Building, New York City, 1958 ------------------------------------- The Seagram Building ditched art deco stone and replaced it with steel and reflective glass. But maybe more importantly, it incorporated a wide, open plaza, setting it back from the street. Both facets have been widely imitated.
088 Dulles
Dulles International Airport, Chantilly, Virginia, 1962 ------------------------------------------------------- Flying used to be fun. The spirit of flight in the 60s enabled Eero Saarinen to design Dulles as a sculpture, but he also incorporated a lot of data: he researched and calculated passenger flow to minimize walking distance for passengers in the (at the time) new era of jet airplanes.
© Steven Goldblatt 2012099 Vanna Venturi
Vanna Venturi House, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1964 ----------------------------------------------------- Can a house with a stairway to nowhere really be the genesis of a movement in American architecture? The childlike, awkward, confusing Vanna Venturi House started a transition to postmodern architecture -- both the good stuff and the not-so-good.
1010 WaltDisney
Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, 2003 ------------------------------------------- It's not just the form of Frank Gehry's concert hall that has been an inspiration for other architects; [it's the technology used to create it](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/design/2013/04/frank-gehry-hates-paper/). The sail-like exterior seems whimsical, but was developed in detail in 3-D design programs.
