Thomas Ustick Walter's 'Lectures on Architecture'

In the early 1840s architect Thomas Ustick Walter presented a series of six lectures before audiences in Philadelphia and later in Washington. Based on his extensive study in recent architectural histories, aesthetic philosophies, and archaeological findings, the "Lectures" exhibit Walter's grasp of current thinking in his field. They also represent what might be the earliest formal architectural theory written by an American. The first five lectures present a history of architecture as Walter understood it from his readings and cover a range of civilizations: the ancient Near and Far East, Egypt, Greece, Rome, and the architecture of the Medieval, Renaissance, and Modern periods. Through the filters of his time and his position as a man of intellect and faith, Walter's history judges these cultures by virtue of their appeal to his personal values which stem from his Baptist beliefs and understanding of Enlightenment philosophy and eighteenth-century aesthetic theory. Such influences also figure strongly in the sixth lecture, "On Architecture Considered as a Fine Art." In it Walter explains the issues of design and composition which contributed to the formal judgments discussed in the previous lectures. Walter had two main aims in delivering his "Lectures." He meant to instruct interested citizens in a correct aesthetic taste so that they might distinguish good architecture from bad, and in supporting quality work, contribute to the improvement of the civic arena while benefitting personally from the qualities of successful design-ultimately to a Christian sense of "Improvement." They could also then differentiate between skilled architects and untrained builders, elevating the former while rejecting the latter, strengthening the professional nature of Walter's vocation.