Word: vernacular
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Much of the attention to what critics call the "vernacular architecture" of the postwar era comes from baby boomers nostalgically intent on preserving the roadside attractions of their youth. Groups in six states are seriously studying some of the teepee-shape motels and iceberg-shape gas stations that still dot U.S. Route 66, once the main route from Chicago to Los Angeles. "These places are a part of our history," says Richard Gutman, author of American Diner. "They are being swept away at a pace that is astonishing...
...debate over the historic worth of these roadside wonders is sure to continue. Landscape theorist J.B. Jackson thinks saving car washes and doughnut stores is absurd. Says he: "There's a fake folksiness at work." Although Liebs somewhat agrees, he feels it is necessary to study vernacular architecture. "This century," he says, "is also highways and strips and suburbs." As Chuck Berry told the doo-wop generation, Roll over, Beethoven, and tell Tchaikovsky the news...
...other nations] the question is one of 'pay now or pay later,' the question now for people who are suffering there is 'pay now and pay later,'" he said. "We, in Arab vernacular, are hell's firewood...
...buildings blend form and function in a uniquely American design vernacular. "The family farm is a reflection of one of our last great freedoms in America," says Chester Liebs, director of the University of Vermont's historic preservation program. "The barn is the rural equivalent of the Statue of Liberty. Each time we see a barn, it is a powerful reminder that our agricultural lands are still in the hands of the many." Kerry Dawson, professor of landscape architecture at the University of California at Davis, describes barns as "superb building technology," but adds, "As you look upward, the timbers...
With advice and prizes, a program encourages farmers to restore and adapt their barns, thus preserving the rural past and a uniquely American vernacular style...