The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Architect’s talk to focus on changing home styles in Providence
‘Historic Houses: Inside and Out’ to be presented Sept. 22
ESSEX » The 10th season of the Essex Library’s Centerbrook Architects Lecture Series kicks off Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. with Rhode Island School of Design Professor and Architect Jim Barnes. Barnes lives with his wife in a Queen Anne period home in the Elmwood Historic District of Providence.
His talk, “Historic Houses: An Architect’s View Inside and Out” will be held in The Cube at Centerbrook Architects’ offices at 67 Main St. in the Centerbrook portion of town.
The experiences that people enjoy with historic houses is most often framed by their exterior appearances, Barnes said in a press release. “We come to identify and understand historic time periods and changing styles of architecture through building forms, rooflines, materials, and even paint colors. These are the elements of a public realm accessible to all. Exterior patterns can build whole neighborhoods and clearly reflect our culture’s constantly shifting shared values,” the statement continues.
“We know interior spatial patterns less well, the private domestic realm hidden from view,” the release continued. “Yet, we know the power of interior spatial arrangement to convey cultural values. Room placement, stairway arrangements and fireplaces are among the many tools that architects and builders use to shape and express domestic life.”
The illustrated talk will address the changing styles of historic houses in an historic Providence neighborhood by comparing the shifting patterns of exterior forms and interior floor plans from the mid19th century to the beginning of the 20th century.
This program is free and open to the public. Call 860-767-1560 to register. Centerbrook Architects is at 67 Main St.