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pre 1492: the architecture of the native americans

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pre 1492: the architecture of the native americans

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the native americans had advanced styles of architecture, that benefited their culture and lifestyle. many different cultures used long houses, a way of housing multiple families at once. long houses were long and rectangular (built 80-100ft in length, and 20ft in width). many families lived inside, and they could be expanded to fit more if necessary. these were also built in circular shapes, a popular architectural technique in the americas at that time. these longhouses were built with wood beams to support the rest of the house, with lashed bark to tie it all together. they also had resources like fireplaces (accompanied by smoke holes in the roof that could be closed), wooden screens to separate living areas and even some kitchen areas. other architectural structures typically depended on the location and the accessible resources. they had many different styles: compression shells, bent frames with coverings, the post and the beam wood frame, each of which were used to protect them against different elements. to protect them, they'd built double shelled walls, made of skins, reeds, or cane, insulated with grass or moss. many of the native americans even had multiple houses, so that they could gather more resources and be in different places with different climates and resources.
this was super important to the future, since so many of their techniques were adapted by later settlers and societies to begin to settle and create their own homes in this new land, that they didn't quite understand how to navigate. these styles are seen throughout history if you look closely enough.

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pre 1492: native american architecture by different locations!

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pre 1492: native american architecture by different locations!

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native american architecture was greatly affected by the different locations and the resources in each one. there were several areas: the northeast, the southeast, the plains/fields, the north, the pacific coast, and the southwest. there were soo many different civilizations, and they each had different architectural styles. the northeast were created with bent saplings covered by bark sheets or reed mats. it was extremely difficult to create the saplings, since you had to bend them at just the right angle. the bark sheets or reed mats were often used to hold it all together, or to cover different areas. they might have also used wigwams, one of the more well known native american architectural styles. they're round or oblong shaped huts, that can get up to 15 feet in diameter, maybe even around 5-7 feet in radius. these could be constructed in far bigger area, if necessary. another important example is the architecture in the far north, where they had to build to protect themselves from the cold. they built houses with frames of any material, walls of rocks or sod and roof supports of driftwood or whale bone. (this might be important to note, since at that time there must have been a lot more whales in those areas) the houses were partially over ground, partially sunken. they'd take marine animal skin, dry it out and cover it with moss to create the roofs. their houses -both igloos and houses- had long entryways, so that they could enter the house without getting snow or wind inside. they also had tents in the summertime, created by wood frames and animal skins.
this is super important, as it impacted modern architecture by creating different ideals and styles for different countries, that other societies based their own ideas off of! if you think about it, the igloos were used after these days, and so were several of the ideas of using bark lashing and animal skins to impact your home.

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post 1492: the architecture of the settlers

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post 1492: the architecture of the settlers

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when european societies first arrived, they began to mimic native american architecture. they actually even started to live in some of the villages that they'd purchased from the native americans! so all those things you've heard, about the first settlers constructing and building their own villages and towns from scratch? might be just a bit incorrect. they got a lot of those ideas for houses from the native americans, and probably even got some help constructing from them too! there were a lot of techniques that the native americans used, that were pretty complicated, so if the settlers wished to mimic them... it probably would have been a bit hard. they copied architecture that the native americans used, building off it into their own styles a bit. after some time, they did begin to build like the buildings back in europe. over time, architecture advanced. in many southern colonies, brick and stone homes weren't unusual. in these same areas, native americans previously built using stone, dried adobe, tinder or daub (a type of clay), so the materials used didn't change too much. after that, spanish and french settlers began to use their own styles, bringing architecture from their countries. over time, architecture adapted to north america... but it all began with the natives and their architecture, inspiring others to build similar structures, and later add to those styles with inspiration and styles from their own home countries to create something new.

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1700-1866: architecture in early charleston

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1700-1866: architecture in early charleston

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a popular location where the europeans brought the enslaved was charleston, or as they might've called it back then: charles towne. based on statistics, it must have been been one of the most common locations for ships to land back then. it's said that 177,326 enslaved africans arrived at the port in charleston between 1700 and 1866. this is more than 50% of all those who arrived in the US. but, not all of them chose to stay in charleston. many were forced to leave to another location. but many did stay, since south carolina required more laborers than most plantations. in south carolina they were manufactoring rice instead of tobacco, which meant they needed more workers to make money. so, they enslaved more and more people just to get their work done.

at that point, charleston had some interesting architecture. their architecture was mainly constructed of forts, since they were often at risk of being attacked by enemies. most of their inhabitants lived in those forts.  When Charles Towne was established at Albemarle Point (the site of Charles
Towne Landing State Park today) in 1670, early settlers lived in a fort." (Syra V. Valiente, Slave Housing: in search of an endangered architecture. Page 7.)

according to a soldier, their forted architecture mainly consisted of:
- a shingled wooden house used as an armory.
- ninety houses that are assumed to be made out of the same material: shingles and wood. also assumed to be constructed both inside and outside the forts.

in south carolina they had slave houses, but i'll speak of those soon. they also had what they liked to call "slave streets" which were lines of houses near the plantations. each plantation required a large amount of laborers, who required a large amount of housing. these cabins were usually pretty small, and constructed of natural materials. "Wattle-and-daub walls, dirt floors, mud-and-stick chimneys, and crowded conditions were the norm." (Daniel J. Vivan, Architecture.) these houses usually looked like the plantations that stood nearby. while they weren't great, conditions improved later on, as slavery became less legal. more on that soon.

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in early America, they had these homes called slave houses, that they used to house the enslaved. like slave cabins, these were usually near plantations. most of them didn't survive to be researched, but a few do still linger beyond remains only discoverable through archeology. while they weren't the ones who lived in them, these were designed by the colonizers. the architecture of the enslaved wasn't impacted by their own choices, but rather the choices of the europeans whom they called their masters. many of them had tried to build houses similar to the ones that they'd had in Africa, including some actual accounts. according to Syra v. Valiente in their book analyzing slave architecture, they describe an account of an old many called Okra. all of the people who tried were shut down by the colonizers and forced to demolish the houses. some of them still decided to keep using African architecture for some aspects of their homes. the architecture of the enslaved was a blend of of african ethic groups, european colonists and even occasionally the architecture of native americans (as their architecture often influence the architecture of the colonists!) in the architecture of slave houses, the colonists tended to try to limit the amount of space they took up and to save building materials. some didn't care how the houses were constructed as long as their jobs were done, while others tried to work together to create the houses.
as people began to become more aware of how wrong slavery was, the conditions of the houses began to improve. here are some of the changes that were made:
- thatched roofs became wood shingle
- dirty floors were replaced with wood planks
- chimneys were created out of bricks
most of these changes were intended to convince anti-slavery movements that they were treated the enslaved africans like humans. some were just trying to justify their actions, while others treated them well without any selfish desires.

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in this era, so many beautiful houses and structures were constructed. but guess who build them? yes, the enslaved africans. they built most of the buildings designed back then. they were usually under the control of a colonizer, telling them what to do. occasionally, they had more control over the design and plans. several freed slaves would also help with the plans, since they were thought of as "superior". in an auto biography by Booker T. Washington, he states that these builders were so efficient and talented at architecture and construction, that after slavery became illegal, many of the colonizers didn't even know how to build or design a house! that might seem strange by now, but back then most people did have to build some of their own houses! on occasion, both them and their master would work together to design the home! sometimes you can still see the evidence of this in some old homes. some talented slave architects were taught to read so that they could read the blueprints to help design!

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after the revolutionary war, native american people moved from long houses to family dwellings! so much of their land was being taken or sold by settlers.. sometimes by choice, and sometimes it might've been against their chocie. the settlers had come in, and taken the country for themselves and now it was becoming clear that it was theirs. so, the native americans began to construct more and more houses, this time using newer styles, similar to the european houses. their architecture began to change, as society changed around them. but their architecture still did influence new and important types of architecture, that greatly benefit our society, however much it gets erased.

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jones & jones southern ute cultural center. 

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native american architecture in modern days

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native american architecture in modern days

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although you might not know it, native american architecture is still around. not just in the adaptations of their architecture -some things now know as american architecture; a mix of early american architecture and architecture from other cultures. there are still so many modern buildings being built in similar styles to the ones they used! sometimes to remember them, or sometimes just for the sake of architecture. they've been using midwestenr architecture (see photo above) by creating teepee like structures, but with more modern materials and resources that they didn't have access to. architects are also adding a more modern touch to the architecture, similar to the way the teepee is created in the photo above. this architecture has inspired so many different ideas and buildings now! northwest architecture was made up largely of longhouses, which hasn't been used as widely in the past few years. southwest however, was often created of adobe. these styles are still used in some warm areas to try to keep the heat out. in modern times, they might prefer concrete, however. this is really cool to think about, because you can see how native american architecture has changed and impacted our architecture now!

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Watts, Tim. "Architecture." American History, ABC-CLIO, 2021, americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/379983. Accessed 22 Nov. 2021.

“Haudenosaunee guide for educators”, Museum of the American Indian, Page 5, https://americanindian.si.edu/sites/1/files/pdf/education/HaudenosauneeGuide.pdf

Krinsky, Carol. “Contemporary Native American Architecture.” Khan Academy. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-americas/native-north-america/native-american-contemporary-art/a/contemporary-native-american-architecture

"Architecture, American Indian ." Dictionary of American History. . Encyclopedia.com. 25 Oct. 2021 <https://www.encyclopedia.com>.

Valiente, Syra V. “Slave Housing: In search of endangered architecture.” Clemson University. May 2012.

Vivan, Daniel J. "Architecture." South Carolina Encyclopedia. University of South Carolina, Institute for Southern Studies. April 15, 2016.

"Slavery." Northern Architecture. Updated on 8/16/21. https://www.northernarchitecture.us/reconstructing-architecture/slavery.html