Connecticut Architecture. Christopher Wigren

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      OVERVIEW

       CONNECTICUT AND ITS PLACES

      LOOKING AT ARCHITECTURE

      Through Connecticut’s long history its people have shaped the place in which they lived in rich and varied ways. They have worked and transformed the land, erected high-style and utilitarian buildings, grouped them into towns and cities, and engineered bridges and dams and roads. These works reflect and reveal the evolving history of the people of Connecticut, and they make the state a place that is distinct from any other.

      All this activity can be grouped under the term “architecture,” which might be defined as “the art and science of making places.” In this definition, “science” refers to the practical or technical aspects of architecture. First and foremost, architecture has to accommodate the activities of human life, such as dwelling or working, worshipping or playing. It may do this in artistic ways, but its primary task is functional. “Science” also means that architecture has to be structurally sound. Walls and bridges shouldn’t collapse, roofs shouldn’t leak (some architects famously ignore or fail at this), landscapes shouldn’t flood, roads shouldn’t sink under the weight of vehicles.

      “Art” includes the aesthetic or expressive aspects of architecture. This refers to people’s efforts to make what they build beautiful, in addition to practical and sound (for instance, the Mark Twain House, place 17). For some, the search for beauty is the defining characteristic that separates architecture from what they consider mere building. But art involves more than aesthetic appeal. It may also include the expression of some emotion or meaning that goes beyond mere usefulness or prettiness. As art, architecture may comment on function, or on the nature or state of society in a broader sense. It may reflect social conditions, or express hopes for changing them. It may seek to articulate something about its users or builders or to evoke an emotional response in its viewers.

      For example, the Church of the Good Shepherd in Hartford (1867–1869, Edward Tuckerman Potter) was commissioned by Elizabeth Colt as a memorial to her husband, pistol manufacturer Samuel Colt, and three of their children who all predeceased her. Elizabeth chose many of the church’s decorative motifs herself, notably images and scriptural passages related to the theme of God’s comfort amid sorrow. The church’s south entry presents a different message. Known as “the Armorers’ Door,” it faces the Colt company housing (figure 1). Around the door, carvings of pistols and pistol parts intertwine with more conventional flowers and crosses in an unparalleled marriage of Gothic and industrial imagery, while a carved motto proclaims, “Whatsoever thou doest, do all to the Glory of God.” Clearly addressed to Colt employees, it is an injunction to hard work and a warning that they are answerable not merely to the boss but to God.¹