Housing and Architecture

During the Industrial revolution people were moving to cities in search of jobs. The cities became overcrowded and workers, who lived on meager salaries, lived wherever they could find shelter. Workers and their families lived in sheds, cellars, and filthy apartment buildings that were stuffed beyond their capacity. Such dwellings did not have plumbing for water or sanitation (Housing, 2009).
After the Civil War, the increasing sophistication in architecture provided stunning mansions and modern housing for the wealthy and the middle class. Architects utilized different styles such as Romanesque, Italian Renaissance and16th-century French designs. American architects created their own style of housing by arranging the kitchen, bedrooms, offices, and bathrooms around a centralized living room. This was known as the American Shingle style or country house. In the cities, the design of internal metal-frame construction allowed buildings to be lighter and gave architects the abilities to built upward, creating skyscrapers (American Art and Architecture, 2009).

By: Katarina Orama