Lesson 4: Local Buildings and Landmarks

Students identify and explore local landmarks and their architectural merits.

Subjects: Social Studies, Language Arts, Art

Grade Levels: 5-12

Time Frame: 2-3 class periods

Materials Needed:

• Local Landmarks List

• Historic and Modern Maps of local area

• Photographs of Buildings/Landmarks

• Questions to Consider When Studying a Building

• Aspects to Consider worksheet

Learning Objectives: Students will:

1. Examine how particular buildings/landmarks can be considered symbols of civic and individual pride

2. Analyze the architectural merits of buildings/landmarks

3. Identify and compare historic and modern Landmarks in their area

4. Complete a historic resources inventory of an important building/landmark in their own community

Procedure:

1. Explain to students what landmarks are and how they identify a community/place and how they create a unique identity.

• Landmarks are buildings, sites, or objects (such as a tree) that have special significance because of their history, construction, or long association with a place.

2. Ask students to give examples of historical landmarks/buildings from their local community.

3. Have students choose a local historical building/landmark to research from the Local Landmarks List.

4. Have students locate their building/landmark on a local historical and modern map.

• What kind of information do you find on the maps?

• Is the site/building located on both maps?

• Analyze the surrounding area of the building/landmark on the two maps and list the buildings in close proximity. What information have you discovered?

• Are there natural boundaries located near your building/landmark? (rivers, streams, parks, bridges, etc)

5. Have students compare and analyze aspects of their buildings/landmarks using historic and modern photographs. Students should use two of the following worksheets Aspects to Consider, Questions to Consider When Studying a Building or The Architectural Character Checklist /Questionnaire.

• If there are no recent photos available, have students take a tour of the city to photograph their building/landmark.

6. Have students present their findings to the class in the following formats:

• Photo Album, Scrapbook, Calendar, Website, Report, PowerPoint Presentation

Local Landmarks List

Transportation Facilities:

• Airport, railway, bus station

Housing

• Residential, commercial

Commercial Facilities:

• Local shopping and service areas, offices, business districts, warehouse and distribution facilities

Public Administrative and service areas:

• Governmental buildings, courthouses

• Public safety facilities: police, fire protection, jails

• Schools, libraries, and education institutions

• Post offices

• Hospitals and social service facilities

• Cemeteries and burial grounds

• Streets, monuments, cenotaphs

Recreational Facilities

• Parks and playgrounds

• Nature preserves

• Golf courses and country clubs

• Racetracks, yacht clubs, etc.

• Stadiums

Religious and Cultural Institutions

• Churches, synagogues, mosques, and shrines

• Museums and galleries

• Theatres

Utilities

• Power generations and distribution

• Water storage, purification and distribution

• Communication facilities

Questions To Consider When Studying A Building

1. Basic Questions

1. Who built this building?

2. Why was it built?

3. When was it planned, and when was it completed?

4. Who were its architect and its developer?

2. Some Public Aspects

1. How does the building relate to the street and to its immediate surroundings?

2. What elements make the structure part of a group?

3. Is this a monumental building or a landmark? If so, what characteristics give it this quality?

4. How do pedestrians and passers-by relate to the building?

5. How is the building connected to the community as a whole?

3. Some Private Aspects

1. What makes this building unique?

2. How has the building been used and adapted over the years?

3. How was the building financed? Who paid for its construction and maintenance?

4. What is the architectural style of the building and its decorations?

5. Does the building say anything about a particular person or group?

4. The People Dimension

1. Does this building say anything about the people who built it or used it?

2. How does the structure manage people or influence their attitudes and behavior?

3. Are concepts of class, status, race, or ethnicity useful in interpreting the building? If so, in what ways?

4. Does the structure tend to isolate people or bring them together?

5. How does the building recognize that it is part of a community?

5. Site and Situation

1. How does the building fit into the community's plan?

2. Has the physical geography of the site influenced the structure?

3. What is the relationship between the site and the transportation patterns of the community?

4. How is the building situated on its lot?

5. Do zoning laws or landmark regulations affect the building or its site?

6. The Time Dimension

1. How has this site been used by people in the past?

2. How has the community around the building changed over time? Has the site or the structure reflected these changes?

3. To what extent was the building designed to reflect historical styles, and to what extent was it innovative in character?

4. Has the structure been remodeled or adapted to meet changing conditions?

5. How can the history of the building or the site be divided into periods?

Source: Public places : exploring their history / Gerald A. Danzer. 
Nashville, Tenn. : American Association for State and Local History, c1987.
Pages 32-33

Aspects to Consider

1. Architectural Significance

Style/Type:

• Notable, rare, unique or early example of a particular style, type or convention.

• A building's style as representative of the City's significant periods.

• an example of notable architectural significance.

• a building type associated with a significant industrial, institutional, commercial, agricultural or transportation activity.

Construction:

• Notable, rare, unique or early example of a particular material or method of construction.

• A building's unique or uncommon building materials, or its historically early or innovative method of construction or assembly.

Design:

• A particularly attractive or unique building because of the excellence, artistic merit or uniqueness of its design, composition, craftsmanship, or details.

• A building's notable or special attributes of an aesthetic or functional nature. These may include massing, proportion, materials, details, fenestration, ornamentation, artwork or functional layout.

2. Cultural History

Historical Association:

• A building's direct association with a person, group, institution, event, or activity that is of historical significance to the city, province or nation.

Historical Pattern:

• A building's direct association with broad patterns of local area history, including development and settlement patterns, early or important transportation routes, or social, political, or economic trends and activities. Included is the recognition of urban street pattern and infrastructure.

3. Context

Landscape/Site:

• Associated with, and effectively illustrative of brand patterns of cultural, political, military, economic or industrial history.

• An intact, historical landscape or landscape features associated with an existing building;

• a notable historical relationship between a building's site and its immediate environment, including original native trees, topographical features, outbuildings or agricultural setting;

• a notable use of landscaping design in conjunction with an existing building.

 
Neighbourhood:

• A building's continuity and compatibility with adjacent buildings and/or visual contribution to a group of similar buildings.

Visual/Symbolic Importance:

• A building's importance as a landmark structure; or its symbolic value to the city or a local area or neighbourhood. 

Integrity:

• A measure of the impact of changes to the building on the appreciation of its style, design, construction, or character.

• Occupies its original site, has suffered little alteration, and retains most of its original materials and design features, building is in good structural condition.

4. Age

• In context to local area

5. Architect/Contractor

• Designed or built by an architect or contractor who has made a significant contribution to the community, province or nation.

6. Event

• Associated with an event that has made a significant contribution to the community, province or nation.

7. Person/Institution

• Associated with the life or activities of a person, group, organization or institution that has made a significant contribution to the community, province or nation.

8. Landmark

• A particularly important visual landmark.

9. Streetscapes/Environment

• Contributes to the historical continuity or existing character of the street, neighborhood or area.

The Architectural Character Checklist/Questionnaire
This checklist can be taken to the building and used to identify those aspects that give the building and setting its essential visual qualities and character. The use of this checklist involves the three step process of looking for: 1) the overall visual aspects, 2) the visual character at close range, and 3) the visual character of interior spaces, features and finishes.

STEP ONE

1. Shape

• What is there about the form or shape of the building that gives the building its identity?

• Is the shape distinctive in relation to the neighboring buildings?

• Is it simply a low, squat box, or is it a tall, narrow building with a corner tower?

• Is the shape highly consistent with its neighbors?

• Is the shape so complicated because of wings, or ells, or differences in height, that its complexity is important to its character?

• Is the shape so simple or plain that adding a feature like a porch would change that character?

• Does the shape convey its historic function as in smoke stacks or silos?

Notes on the Shape or Form of the Building: 
________________________

2. Roof and Roof Features

• Does the roof shape or its steep (or shallow) slope contribute to the building's character?

• Does the fact that the roof is highly visible (or not visible at all) contribute to the architectural identity of the building?

• Are certain roof features important to the profile of the building against the sky or its background, such as cupolas, multiple chimneys, dormers, cresting, or weather vanes?

• Are the roofing materials or their colors or their patterns (such as patterned slates) more noticeable than the shape or slope of the roof? 
  Notes on the Roof and Roof Features: 
  ________________________

3. Openings

• Is there a rhythm or pattern to the arrangement of windows or other openings in the walls; like the rhythm of windows in a factory building, or a three-part window in the front bay of a house; or is there a noticeable relationship between the width of the window openings and the wall space between the window openings?

• Are there distinctive openings, like a large arched entranceway, or decorative window lintels that accentuate the importance the window openings, or unusually shaped windows, or patterned window sash, like small panes of glass in the windows or doors, that are important to the character?

• Is the plainness of the window openings such that adding shutters or gingerbread trim would radically change its character?

• Is there a hierarchy of facades that make the front windows more important than the side windows?

• What about those walls where the absence of windows establishes its own character?

Notes on the Openings: 
_________________________

4. Projections

• Are there parts of the building that are character defining because they project from the walls of the building like porches, cornices, bay windows, or balconies?

• Are there turrets, or widely overhanging eaves, projecting pediments or chimneys? 
  Notes on the Projections: 
  ___________________________

5. Trim and Secondary Features

• Does the trim around the windows or doors contribute to the character of the building?

• Is there other trim on the walls or around the projections that, because of its decoration or color or patterning contributes to the character of the building?

• Are there secondary features such as shutters, decorative gables, railings, or exterior wall panels? 
  Notes on the Trim and Secondary Features: 
  __________________________

6. Materials

• Do the materials or combination of materials contribute to the overall character of the building as seen from a distance because of their color or patterning, such as broken faced stone, scalloped wall shingling, rounded rock foundation walls, boards and battens, or textured stucco? 
  Notes on the Materials 
  ____________________________

7. Setting

• What are the aspects of the setting that are important to the visual character? For example, is the alignment of buildings along a city street and their relationship to the sidewalk the essential aspect of its setting? Or, conversely, is the essential character dependent upon the tree plantings and out buildings which surround the farmhouse?

• Is the front yard important to the setting of the modest house?

• Is the specific site important to the setting such as being on a hilltop, along a river, or, is the building placed on the site in such a way to enhance its setting?

• Is there a special relationship to the adjoining streets and other buildings? Is there a view? Is there fencing, planting, terracing, walkways or any other landscape aspects that contribute to the setting?

Notes on the Setting: 
_______________________________

STEP TWO

8. Materials at Close Range

• Are there one or more materials that have an inherent texture that contributes to the close range character, such as stucco, exposed aggregate concrete, or brick textured with vertical grooves? Or materials with inherent colors such as smooth orange colored brick with dark spots of iron pyrites, or prominently veined stone, or green serpentine stone?

• Are there combinations of materials, used in juxtaposition, such as several different kinds of stone, combinations of stone and brick, dressed stones for window lintels used in conjunction with rough stones for the wall?

• Has the choice of materials or the combinations of materials contributed to the character? 
  Notes on the Materials at Close Range: 
  ___________________________

9. Craft Details

• Is there high quality brickwork with narrow mortar joints?

• Is there hand tooled or patterned stonework?

• Do the walls exhibit carefully struck vertical mortar joints and recessed horizontal joints?

• Is the wall shingle work laid up in patterns or does it retain evidence of the circular saw marks or can the grain of the wood be seen through the semitransparent stain?

• Are there hand split or hand dressed clapboards, or machine smooth beveled siding, or wood rusticated to look like stone, or Art Deco zigzag designs executed in stucco?

Notes on the Craft Details: 
___________________________

STEP THREE

10. Individual Spaces

• Are there individual rooms or spaces that are important to this building because of their size, height, proportion, configuration, or function, like the center hallway in a house, or the bank lobby, or the school auditorium, or the ballroom in a hotel, or a courtroom in a county courthouse? 
  Notes on the Individual Spaces. 
  ___________________________

11. Related Spaces and Sequences of Spaces

• Are there adjoining rooms that are visually and physically related with large doorways or open archways so that they are perceived as related rooms as opposed to separate rooms?

• Is there an important sequence of spaces that are related to each other, such as the sequence from the entry way to the lobby to the stairway and to the upper balcony as in a theatre; or the sequence in a residence from the entry vestibule to the hallway to the front parlor, and on through the sliding doors to the back parlor; or the sequence in an office building from the entry vestibule to the lobby to the bank of elevators?

Notes on the Related Spaces and Sequences of Spaces: 
__________________________

12. Interior Features

• Are there interior features that help define the character of the building, such as fireplace mantels, stairways and balustrades, arched openings, interior shutters, inglenooks, cornices, ceiling medallions, light fixtures, balconies, doors, windows, hardware, wainscoting, paneling, trim, church pews, courtroom bars, teller cages, waiting room benches?

 
Notes on the Interior Features: 
__________________________

13. Surface Finishes and Materials

• Are there surface finishes and materials that can affect the design, the color or the texture of the interior?

• Are there materials and finishes or craft practices that contribute to the interior character, such as wooden parquet floors, checkerboard marble floors, pressed metal ceilings, fine hardwoods, grained doors or marbleized surfaces, or polychrome painted surfaces, or stenciling, or wallpaper that is important to the historic character?

• Are there surface finishes and materials that, because of their plainness, are imparting the essential character of the interior such as hard or bright, shiny wall surfaces of plaster or glass or metal?

Notes on the Surface Finishes and Materials: 
______________________________

14. Exposed Structure

• Are there spaces where the exposed structural elements define the interior character such as the exposed posts, beams, and trusses in a church or train shed or factory?

• Are there rooms with decorative ceiling beams (nonstructural) in bungalows, or exposed vigas in adobe buildings?

Notes on the Exposed Structure: 
_______________________________

Source: Preservation Briefs: Architectural Character
References

Built Environment

Lesson 4: Local Buildings and Landmarks

Students identify and explore local landmarks and their architectural merits.

Books

Edmonton's lost heritage / prepared by the Heritage Sites Selection Committee of the Edmonton Historical Board. Published: 1982

Public places : exploring their history / Gerald A. Danzer. 
Nashville, Tenn. : American Association for State and Local History, c1987.
Pages 32-33

Edmonton : the life of a city / Bob Hesketh and Frances Swyripa, editors. 
Published: c1995. Articles: What Kind of a City is Edmonton? Edmontonians and the Legislature

Edmonton, gateway to the North : an illustrated history / by John F. Gilpin ; picture research by John E. McIsaac ; "Partners in progress" by Stanley Arthur Williams. Published: c1984.

Articles

On the Road:By Jeff Dean
http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/publications/bulletins/

Building Portrait Field Record
(not available at this time)
http://academy.pointofview.cc/modules/

Styles in Canadian Architecture

Gothic Revival
(not available at this time)
http://academy.pointofview.cc/modules/

Neoclassical
(not available at this time)
http://academy.pointofview.cc/modules/

Palladian
(not available at this time)
http://academy.pointofview.cc/modules/

Picturesque
(not available at this time)
http://academy.pointofview.cc/modules/

Second Empire
(not available at this time)
http://academy.pointofview.cc/modules/

[Top]

Lesson 1: Choosing Your Special Place

Lesson 2: Your Special Place Has a History

Lesson 3: What are Landmarks?

Lesson 4: Local Buildings and Landmarks

Lesson 5: Documenting Landmarks

Lesson 6: Creating a Local Historical Resources Inventory 

Lesson 7: Buildings in Time

Lesson 8: Remembering Local Structures

Download Built Environment Lesson 4 in Word Document format.