Ochsner, J. K. (1992). H. H. Richardson: The Design of the William Watts Sherman House. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 51(2), 121-145.
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Abstract
Henry Hobson Richardson's design for the William Watts Sherman house, in Newport, Rhode Island, has long been considered an anomaly among his projects. While its living hall plan has always been credited to Richardson, the exterior has often been thought to have been the work of Richardson's assistant, Stanford White, drawing on the published work of Richard Norman Shaw. Study of surviving sketches, drawings, and other records, along with an examination of the house itself, shows that this explanation of the Sherman house is inadequate. Not only did Richardson control both plan and massing, but he must also be credited with the design of critical front gable, which did not derive from Shaw's work. Analysis of Richardson's sketches also offers clues to Richardson's typical architectural design method and compositional approach, as well as to his specific blending of English, Continental, and especially American colonial vernacular influences in the Sherman design. These influences also provide a basis for understanding why the house became such an important source for the development of multiple themes in American domestic architecture in succeeding decades, especially the Shingle Style.
Ochsner, J. K. (1989). Adler and Sullivan’s Seattle Opera House Project. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 48(3), 223-231.
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Abstract
Adler and Sullivan's Seattle Opera House project is known from a perspective drawing and three plans that were first published in Inland Architect in 1891. It has been known that the demise of the project was due to financial difficulties, but otherwise the circumstances surrounding the commission have remained obscure. This article presents new information regarding the client, the commission, and the architects. Seattle newspaper reports, surviving correspondence, and project records provide the basis for a more detailed description of the Opera House project history. In addition, correspondence from Charles H. Bebb, who was sent to Seattle for several months in 1890 as superintending architect for Adler and Sullivan, provides insight into the condition of their office before his permanent move to the city in 1893.
Ochsner, J. K. (1988). Architecture for the Boston & Albany Railroad: 1881-1894. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 47(2), 109-131 .
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Abstract
Between 1881 and 1894 the Boston & Albany Railroad undertook a major program of capital investment and improvements to the physical facilities of the line, including the construction of over 30 new passenger stations. H. H. Richardson's close friends, James A. Rumrill and Charles S. Sargent, as the two members of the B&A Board most interested in construction, were given responsibility for this program. They directed the commissions to Richardson and after his death to his successors, Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge. Richardson's nine B&A station designs were generally variations on a simple theme-small rectangular stone blocks with overhanging roofs providing sheltered waiting space at trackside. The continuation of this approach by Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge in 23 additional station designs resulted in a remarkable consistency of character and quality throughout the B&A system. This consistency was also fostered by the continuing participation of Norcross Brothers of Worcester (Richardson's "Master Builder") as contractor, and by the participation of F. L. Olmsted, whose design of landscaped settings for many of the stations contributed to the establishment of the B&A program of "railroad gardening." While the stations were small commissions, the totality of the B&A program represents an impressive collaboration of designer, contractor, and client which has seldom been equalled.
Ochsner, J. K. (1993). The East Elevation of the Sherman House, Newport, Rhode Island. Journal of Architectural Education, 52(1), 88-90.
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Abstract
A previously unknown photograph of the east side (rear elevation) of Henry Hobson Richardson's Sherman House, in Newport, Rhode Island, provides additional evidence for the influence of Richard Norman Shaw on the initial design of the house. The photograph reinforces the argument that the distinctive west-facing front gable was grafted onto the body of a largely Shaw-inspired house. This further demonstrates that the front gable must have resulted from Richardson's late intervention in the design process.
Ochsner, J. K. (1995). Understanding the Holocaust through the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Journal of Architectural Education, 48(4), 240-249.
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Ochsner, J. K. (1997). A Space of Loss: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Journal of Architectural Education, 50(3), 156–171.
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Abstract
Few published essays have explored the way in which the Vietnam Veterans Memorial actually communicates with visitors. This article explores the memorial as a "linking object," as conceived by psychoanalyst Vamik Volkan, and as a "space of absence," as defined by Richard Etlin, and shows how these two ways of understanding the memorial are interconnected. A particularly innovative aspect of the memorial is the way it engenders awareness of both surface (emphasized by the inscribed names) and space (experienced as "virtual space") resulting from the reflectivity of the granite, which gives it an apparent ("virtual") depth. The reflective surface brings one "into" the "space" of the wall and allows simultaneous perception of the names of the dead, the reflections of other visitors, and the reflection of oneself. The complex interactive process wherein the inexactness and ambiguity of the reflections catch the viewer, engender projective fantasy, and (because of the presence of the names) simultaneously structure it, fosters a proximity to and an identification with the dead, and the simultaneous experience of connection and separation.
Ochsner, J. K. (2000). Behind the Mask: A Psychoanalytic Perspective on Interaction in the Design Studio. Journal of Architectural Education, 53(4), 194–206.
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Abstract
Design studio is routinely referred to as the center of architectural education, yet surprisingly little has been published about the nature of the interaction between instructors and students in the studio environment. This article draws upon ideas such as Donald Schön's description of design as "reflection-in-action" and D. W. Winnicott's discovery of the foundations of creativity in the "transitional phenomena" of early childhood to provide a basis for understanding the emotional power of the design studio experience and the ways in which phenomena identified by psychoanalysis can emerge in the interaction of studio instructors and students.
Huppert, A. (2014). Giorgio Vasari and the Art of Siena. In D. J. Cast (Ed.), The Ashgate Research Companion to Giorgio Vasari. Ashgate.
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Oshima, K. T. (2009). Arata Isozaki (A. Isozaki, Ed.). Phaidon.
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Oshima, K. T. (Ed.). (2016). Kiyonori Kikutake: Between Land and Sea. Lars Müller Publishers.
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