The Search for an American Architecture, Thomas Jefferson, A Romantic Rationalist, North And South

While Thomas Jefferson's architectural designs, including Monticello and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, are celebrated as masterpieces, they did not contribute to the development of an original American architecture. The study highlights that it was primarily in the North, driven by merchant, entrepreneurial, and nascent nouveau riche classes, that American architecture began to exhibit individualism. Jefferson's work at the University of Virginia illustrates the inherent struggles within Classicism, while buildings in the deeper South did not significantly influence the creation of an original American style.

(Ed.). (2017). The Search for an American Architecture, Thomas Jefferson, A Romantic Rationalist, North And South. The Groundbreakers, 38–47. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315132372-5