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PBS's 10 Buildings That Changed America takes a look at the buildings responsible for much of the architecture that we're familiar with, but don't always think of as iconically American. From the Virginia State Capitol, designed by Thomas Jefferson, to Frank Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, writer and producer Dan Protess identified the designs he thought most influenced later architecture, from city halls to family homes.
"We're all impacted by our built environment, and our buildings, but we're often not very aware of it," says Protess. "A building can enliven a streetscape, or it can make it a really difficult, ugly place to walk by, or be in every day."
It's Protess' first prime-time PBS special, but if viewers like it, there's always more content.
"When you end up doing an hour-long program about 10 buildings, there's a lot that you can't fit into the program," says Protess. For example, the Virginia State Capitol: "When Richmond almost burnt to the ground during, toward the end of the civil war, Union troops actually recognized that this Thomas Jefferson [building] was a really important piece of American history, and gathered around the capitol to protect it from the fire."
10 Buildings That Changed America begins on Sunday, May 12 on PBS. Here's a preview of what will be discussed.
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Virginia State Capitol, Richmond, Virginia, 1788
Thomas Jefferson modeled the Virginia State Capitol on a Roman temple, in an attempt to redefine American architecture as independent from English Georgian architecture. The white columns are now replicated in banks, state buildings, and even homes around the U.S.Photos: Courtesy of PBS
