10 That Changed America
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10 That Changed America is a series of television documentary films about the history of architecture and urban planning produced by US public service broadcaster PBS member station WTTW from 2013 to 2018. The series is presented by Geoffrey Baer and produced by Dan Protess.[1]
The series comprises seven separate films, each approximately 55 minutes in length. The initial episode on 10 Buildings That Changed America was broadcast in 2013. A three part season 1 comprising episodes on 10 Homes, 10 Towns and 10 Parks followed in 2016.
Season 2 with three further episodes covering 10 Streets, 10 Monuments and 10 Modern Marvels aired in July 2018.[1]
10 Buildings That Changed America
[edit]| Building | Credited Architect | Location | Year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Virginia State Capitol | Thomas Jefferson | Richmond, Virginia | 1788 |
| 2 | Trinity Church | Henry Richardson | Boston, Massachusetts | 1877 |
| 3 | Wainwright Building | Louis Sullivan | St. Louis, Missouri | 1891 |
| 4 | Robie House | Frank Lloyd Wright | Chicago, Illinois | 1910 |
| 5 | Highland Park Ford Plant | Albert Kahn | Highland Park, Michigan | 1910 |
| 6 | Southdale Center | Victor Gruen | Edina, Minnesota | 1956 |
| 7 | Seagram Building | Mies van der Rohe | New York, New York | 1958 |
| 8 | Dulles International Airport | Eero Saarinen | Chantilly, Virginia | 1962 |
| 9 | Vanna Venturi House | Robert Venturi | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 1964 |
| 10 | Disney Concert Hall | Frank Gehry | Los Angeles, California | 2003 |
10 Homes That Changed America
[edit]| Home | Credited Architects | Location | Year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taos Pueblo | Taos, New Mexico | 1400s | |
| 2 | Monticello | Thomas Jefferson | Charlottesville, Virginia | 1809 |
| 3 | Lyndhurst | A J Davis | Tarrytown, New York | 1842 |
| 4 | The Tenement | New York, New York | mid 1800s | |
| 5 | The Gamble House | Charles and Henry Greene | Pasadena, California | 1908 |
| 6 | Langston Terrace Dwellings | Hilyard Robinson | Washington, DC | 1938 |
| 7 | Fallingwater | Frank Lloyd Wright | Mill Run, Pennsylvania | 1937 |
| 8 | Eames House | Charles and Ray Eames | Pacific Palisades, California | 1949 |
| 9 | Marina City | Bertrand Goldberg | Chicago, Illinois | 1962 |
| 10 | Glidehouse | Michelle Kaufmann | Novato, California | 2004 |
10 Towns That Changed America
[edit]| Town | Credited Planners | Year | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St. Augustine, Florida | Laws of the Indies | 1565 |
| 2 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | William Penn | 1682 |
| 3 | Salt Lake City, Utah | Joseph Smith | 1847 |
| 4 | Riverside, Illinois | Frederick Law Olmsted | 1868 |
| 5 | Pullman, Illinois | George Pullman and Solon S Beman | 1880 |
| 6 | Greenbelt, Maryland | Clarence S Stein | 1935 |
| 7 | Levittown, New York | Levitt and Sons | 1947 |
| 8 | Southwest Washington, DC | Louis Justement and Chloethiel Smith | 1952 |
| 9 | Seaside, Florida | Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co | 1981 |
| 10 | Pearl District, Portland, Oregon | Portland Planning Commission and Jane Jacobs | 1997 |
10 Parks That Changed America
[edit]| Park | Location | Credited Planner | Year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Squares of Savannah | Savannah, Georgia | 1733 | |
| 2 | Fairmount Park | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 1812 | |
| 3 | Mount Auburn Cemetery | Cambridge, Massachusetts | Henry Alexander Scammell Dearborn | 1831 |
| 4 | Central Park | New York, New York | Frederick Law Olmsted, Calvert Vaux | 1857 |
| 5 | Chicago's Neighborhood Parks | Chicago, Illinois | 1869 | |
| 6 | San Antonio River Walk | San Antonio, Texas | Robert Hugman | 1929 |
| 7 | Overton Park | Memphis, Tennessee | George Kessler | 1906 |
| 8 | Freeway Park | Seattle, Washington | Angela Danadjieva | 1976 |
| 9 | Gas Works Park | Seattle, Washington | Richard Haag | 1975 |
| 10 | The High Line | New York, New York | James Corner | 2009 |
10 Streets That Changed America
[edit]The chosen streets, in rough chronological order of establishment, were New York City's Broadway, the Boston Post Road linking Boston, MA to New York, NY, St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans, LA, the National Road linking Cumberland, MD to Vandalia, IL, Brooklyn's Eastern Parkway in New York City, Woodward Avenue in Detroit, MI, the Lincoln Highway from New York, NY to San Francisco, CA, Greenwood Avenue in Tulsa, OK, Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, CA, and the Kalamazoo Mall outdoor pedestrian shopping mall at Kalamazoo, MI.[2]
10 Monuments That Changed America
[edit]The chosen monuments were the Bunker Hill Monument at Boston, MA (1843), the Statue of Liberty (1886), Standing Soldiers monuments to Civil War dead (post 1865), the Robert Gould Shaw/54th Regiment Memorial at Boston, MA (1897), the Lincoln Memorial at Washington, DC (1922), Mount Rushmore (1941), the Gateway Arch at St. Louis, MO (1965), the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Washington, DC (1982), the AIDS Memorial Quilt (1987), and the Oklahoma City National Memorial at Oklahoma City, OK (2000).[3]
10 Modern Marvels That Changed America
[edit]The civil engineering feats were the Erie Canal (1825), the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge across the Ohio River at Cincinnati, OH (1866), the Transcontinental Railroad (1869), the Eads Bridge across the Mississippi River at St. Louis, MO (1874), the Reversal of the Chicago River (1900), the Holland Tunnel under the Hudson River connecting New York, NY to Jersey City, NJ (1927), the Hoover Dam (1936), the Colorado River Aqueduct (1935), the Interstate Highway System (1956), and New Orleans' Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System (2005)
Critical response
[edit]The initial episode on 10 Buildings That Changed America received mixed reviews from architecture critics. It was recognised as achieving the goal to "explain complex battles over architectural ideas, in clear language, to a broad audience".[4] However, it was also criticised as lacking substance and failing to address "the historical, social and economic impact of these 10 buildings".[5] The Minneapolis Star Tribune highlighted the series 1 episode covering 10 Homes That Changed America for informativeness on "influential homes that transformed residential living".[6]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Rockett, Darcel (10 July 2018). "Marvels, monuments and streets: '10 That Changed America' is back for another season". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ Crawley, Melissa (3 July 2018). "Stay Tuned: TV Review: '10 That Changed America'". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ Waldek, Stefanie (4 July 2018). "10 Monuments and Memorials That Changed America Forever". Architectural Digest. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ Hawthorne, Christopher. "'10 Buildings That Changed America' is a rewarding tour", Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2013. Retrieved on 1 July 2018.
- ^ Kennicott, Philip. "Little of substance in PBS’s ‘10 Buildings That Changed America’", The Washington Post, Washington, 9 May 2013. Retrieved on 1 July 2018.
- ^ Palmer, Kim. "Worth watching", Star Tribune, Minneapolis, 2 Apr 2016. Retrieved on 2 July 2018.