The architecture of the Shakers / Julie Nicoletta ; photography by Bret Morgan ; foreword by Robert P. Emlen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Nicoletta, Julie.

Contributor:

Morgan, Bret.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Shaker architecture.

Physical Description:

175 pages : illustrations (color) ; 29 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Woodstock, Vt. : Countryman Press, 1995.

Summary:

The Shakers conducted nineteenth-century America's most successful experiment in utopian living. From Maine to Kentucky, they established communal villages and worked to build a heaven on earth. Designed to accommodate hundreds of celibate believers, Shaker buildings included meeting houses, dwelling houses, barns, factories, and schools.

This volume is the first definitive study of these buildings. Julie Nicoletta's perceptive text and Bret Morgan's striking color photographs celebrate the spare harmonies of Shaker architecture and reveal the essential practicality of the many building types. Design, construction, materials, and use are explored, illuminating regional variations in Shaker buildings, as well as their functional and stylistic evolution over the course of two centuries.

As this book demonstrates, Shaker architecture reflects the complexities of a society that sought to reconcile its rigorous faith with the demands of daily life in a rapidly changing world. The buildings evoke the dichotomies of Shaker life: the separate but equal spheres of the sexes, the desire to withdraw from "the world" while remaining economically connected to it, a simultaneous embrace of technological progress and a nostalgia for the certainties of the past.

The functional beauty of Shaker buildings anticipated the Modernist aesthetic in architecture and design. Today, while Shaker life continues at just one active community, appreciation of the Shaker legacy grows broader and deeper. Architects and designers, curators and collectors, and an ever-widening public seek inspiration in Shaker life, art, and architecture. The Architecture of the Shakers is a book for all those who wish to learn more about these remarkable buildings.

Contents:

1 Shaker Communities: The Establishment of Shakerism in America 19

2 Meeting Houses: The Standardization of Worship 35

3 Dwelling Houses: Structures for Communal Life 49

4 Offices and Stores: Interaction with the World 77

5 Barns, Stables, and Sheds: Agriculture and Innovation 89

6 Workshops and Mills: Perfection through Labor 103

7 Laundry Buildings: Perfection through Cleanliness 121

8 School Houses: Shaping Shakers through Education 131

9 Infirmaries: Healing the Sick 137

10 Outbuildings: The Diversity of the Shaker Landscape 143

11 Burying Grounds: Reminders of Salvation 151

12 The Legacy of Shaker Architecture 155.

Notes:

"A Norfleet Press book."

Includes bibliographical references (pages 166-170) and index.

ISBN:

088150310X

0881503371

OCLC:

31009824