Legacy Theses and Dissertations (1940-2009)
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10657/6771
This collection gathers digitized University of Houston theses and dissertations dating from 1940.
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Browsing Legacy Theses and Dissertations (1940-2009) by Department "Architecture and Design, Gerald D. Hines College of"
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Item New Harmony: its architecture and its utopian ideals(1982) Lentz, Mary Jackman; Robinson, Joan S.; Stout, Richard G.; Estess, Ted L.New Harmony is a small town situated on the banks of the Wabash River, in the southwestern corner of Indiana, on the border with Illinois. Placed on the extreme westward frontier of the time, it was distinctive in serving as a model for, first, an ideal religious community and manufacturing enterprise, and secondly, by being immediately taken over by a secular community, whose leader was interested in creating a "New Moral World." It remains an extraordinary place. Since the First World War, interest has been revived in preserving the community and its heritage. This is an ongoing concern which has been accelerated in recent years. It has included the active participation of a Houston couple, Kenneth Dale Owen, a descendant of Robert Owen, the leader and instigator of the second utopian experiment in New Harmony, and Kenneth Owen's wife, Jane Blaffer Owen. New Harmony stands today as an example of the viability of a community, surviving, not under an authoritarian doctrine, but in a spirit of shared enterprise and community concern. Romantic nostalgia could be said to have played a part in its revival, but its essence is more serious than that, because of the active participation of dedicated and conscientious scholars. The purpose of this thesis is to survey the architectural development, growth and continuity of the town of New Harmony, Indiana, from its utopian beginnings to the present; and to determine how far the planning and style of architecture was, and still is, influenced by the utopian ideals of its founders. This entails a study of the ideology and background of the originators of the community, "the ideal and the real" manifestation of their dreams, the temporary loss of the spirit of new beginnings after the death of Richard Owen in 1890 and its growing resurgence in this century, especially since the 1930's, with an added impetus in 1959. Since 1959 four notable public buildings have appeared which owe their inspiration to the utopian origins of the town. More are envisaged. An energetic program of restoration and preservation accompanies these dynamic projects.