Spotlight on Phil Gruen
Meet Phil Gruen, an assistant professor in the School of Architecture and Construction Management who teaches the history of architecture. Phil grew up in California and got his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley.
What is architectural history?
It’s looking at the history of human experience through buildings, and looking at buildings throughout history. From Stonehenge to strip malls, buildings and the built environment say a lot about the attitudes and needs of humans. They are a way of understanding culture and humanity.
Why is it important?
Students who are learning to design and construct buildings need to have a firm grasp of the built environment, and that includes understanding its past. It gives them a context in which to create and build today. I hope my students will leave my classes with a better understanding of where design elements fit in the greater scheme of things and, as a result, that their creations will be more meaningful and more sustainable. At the same time, you have keep in mind that design means different things to different people at different times. Just because a building seems “beautiful” or “amazing” to us today doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone living at the time felt the same way. So when we study architectural history, it’s important to take into account issues of power, hierarchy, class, race, and gender.
What sort of places do you choose to study?
I have one assignment where students in my introductory course look around the local environment and make connections to the architectural past. But to supplement that, we require students to take study tours to key cities in the U.S. and Europe. I just returned from taking students on an architectural tour of Chicago, which has some of the most monumental buildings in terms of modern architecture. Frank Lloyd Wright, Mies van der Rohe—these are some of “the greats” our students learn about—and their buildings are all over the Chicago area. I show tons of slides in class, but there’s no substitute for seeing these buildings in person, for walking around inside and out and experiencing the spaces. On these study tours, our students get to do that.
What made you interested in this subject?
When I was about three or four years old, my parents took me on a trip to England and I saw my first cathedral with “flying buttresses,” which is a type of structural support system that’s visible on the outside of many cathedrals. My mom always used to say that I was obsessed with the flying buttresses. I guess my initial curiosity started there.
What do you like about living in Pullman?
I love Pullman, even though I knew very little about it before I moved here. It’s a small town, but with the major university it’s hardly provincial. Plus, there’s stunning natural beauty here, the hills—they’re so unique. They also provide great roaming areas for my three dogs. I enjoy tracking the seasons by watching the color of the landscape as it changes: green, yellow, golden brown, white—it’s unlike anything else I've seen.
