Thesis (Ph. D.)--Virginia Commonwealth University, 2003. / Prepared for: Dept. of Art History. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 142-155). Also available online.

This study presents a history of the French Canadian piece sur piece log houses constructed in Michigan in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Drawing upon a 17th century architectural tradition in Canada, the early French Canadian settlers switched from the poteaux en terre building style to the piece sur piece, or horizontal log construction form. This type of log house, through the building techniques it employed, was distinct from any of its contemporaries. The reason for this change dealt with the changing nature of the French settlement in Michigan, from a fur trade economy to one that included agriculture. These houses were not the crude log structures which have been popularly associated with the settlement of the nation's frontier, but rather a sophisticated design which made use of local and imported materials to create a refined structure that was intended for long term habitation. / Department of Architecture

In surveys of American architecture, the so-called “colonial period” from the founding of Jamestown in 1607 to the war for independence in the 1770s has generally been viewed from an “Anglo-American” perspective with a concentration on the British colonies that would become the United States. This period has been defined by the transplantation of architecture from the “mother country” to British North America according to what the architectural historian John Summerson has characterized as “English standards pure and simple.” The persistence of historiographical assumptions that privilege English sources and focus on evidence of “Englishness” still serves as the core of early American architectural narratives. While an effort has been made to increase the diversity of those represented, yet one dimension has essentially been written out, that of America’s connection to Ireland. And yet Irish elements have long had a presence in the already existing historical evidence. Therefore this dissertation takes an alternative view of that same colonial history by collecting the available Irish materials and tracing the threads that tie Ireland to America, whether that connection is direct or mediated through England. By assembling various forms of evidence, often relegated to footnotes, asides, or ambiguous citations, this dissertation seeks to construct a counter-narrative that spans the Atlantic and stretches from the 1530s to the 1730s. It explores a diverse constellation of elements including landscapes, plans, buildings, and monuments, while situating them within a larger historical context, thereby reframing some of the same canonical events, individuals, and artifacts that currently appear in surveys of American architecture. With a shift in perspective comes a shift in the history, one that complicates, challenges, and at times upends, Anglo-centric readings of colonial America and the transformation of its physical environment. For when seen from the perspective of Ireland, a more complex, as well as a more “Irish,” story emerges, resulting in a history that has, in effect, been hiding in plain sight. In making this history visible, the dissertation addresses both the historical and historiographical conditions that produced some of the gaps, tensions, ambiguities, and erasures that have contributed to keeping this history hidden. Taking Summerson’s Architecture in Britain, 1530-1830 as a starting point, the dissertation begins in 1530 and examines some of the preconditions for American colonization in England and Ireland. Then, working from the historiographical foundations already laid regarding the English plantations in Ireland and Virginia, it goes on to address the continuity of connections that run through New England, the “Middle Colonies,” and the American south, including such well known works as William Penn’s plan for Philadelphia, George Berkeley’s Whitehall, and William Byrd II’s Westover, all three of which have been viewed as exemplary in their ties to English sources and influences. Though traditionally divided by period, type, style, and region, here they are no longer treated as isolated data points but rather as part of a larger, inter- connected, and continuous story, one intimately, and inextricably, tied to Ireland and “Irish” networks in England and America. In addition, by examining the historiographical as well as the historical dimensions and placing the history and the historiography in dialogue, this dissertation hopes to offer insights into the production of early American architectural history, as well as the production of plans, spaces, and objects. In doing so it seeks to call into question the overwhelming “Englishness” of the American colonial period as it has been constructed through histories of American architecture and planning during the twentieth-century.

Throughout the African continent several significant historical events occurred that partly influenced current problems in African societies. The Problems are economic underdevelopment, social crises, racism and internal conflicts. It explains the great need for an institution like the African Union (AU), which is working towards a common goal including all African peoples of selfempowerment in social economic, cultural and political terms. The selected history of the African continent is mainly concerned with Colonial Africa leading to contemporary period. The colonial part has left a mark on Africa that several movements such as the Pan-African movement, the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and today's African union attempted to create a union of Africa as a greater gain of emancipation on the comments of nations. Architecture is the main focus in this study, which through several precedents of traditional African settlements key principles are studied and highlighted. The colonial era in Africa has left a great mark in African societies in adapting their planning principles and architectural structures which are still visible today. During this time architecture identifying Africa has been neglected and in current year it has been reintegrated. Examples of current trends of architecture in Africa are examined, which are a fusion of traditional elements and ideologies and current technologies. The aim is to find an architectural approach which synthesizes African elements and creates a new African identity in the common goal of the African Union. The intention of the study is to understand the principles of African elements and to give a holistic understanding of African architecture. The case study area is Durban, a place of multiplicity in cultures and architectural styles which can become the host for the AU center and its expression of unity and diversity. / Thesis (M.Arch.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2006.

Thesis--Marburg. / Vita. Includes indexes. Includes bibliographical references (v. 2, p. 163-206).

Thesis--Marburg. / Vita. Includes indexes. Includes bibliographical references (v. 2, p. 163-206).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed April 9, 2009). Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 489-534).

Thesis (Ph.D)--Architecture, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008. / Committee Chair: Lewcock, Ronald; Committee Member: Bafna, Sonit; Committee Member: Dowling, Elizabeth; Committee Member: Edwards, Jay D.; Committee Member: Nelson, Louis. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

Thesis (Ph.D)--Architecture, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

This study delineates the domestic architecture of the early colonial period in the American tropics in the first group of British colonies that survived. In 1624, the English made their first permanent settlement on St. Christopher in the Caribbean, then expanded to the neighboring islands of Nevis, Antigua and Montserrat. Of particular interest to this research was what the architecture would reveal regarding how the first settlers adapted to the new island environment, its geography, resources, climate, and people, in the first 100 years. The research involved the examination of manuscripts of the period in archives and collections in the UK, USA and Caribbean. The historical data accumulated was primarily inventories and brief descriptions of houses, business correspondence and a small number of official maps. A key resource was a document listing the losses of buildings and possessions suffered as a result of French raids in 1705-1706. The study views the recorded items not as losses, but instead as proof of what once existed, almost as newly found "treasure", and analyzes the items both qualitatively and quantitatively in order to reveal a clearer picture of daily life for the settlers, from modest farmers to wealthier land owners. The study identified house types, stylistic trends in the houses and their furnishing, patterns of use, and construction methods. The architecture recorded the British colonists' process of adaptation to the unfamiliar environment. The study found that Leeward Islands, in the settler period of English colonization (1624-1726) there was a significant degree of interaction and exchange between the Amerindian and British peoples. In addition, it found correlations with rural houses in the wider American tropical region.