This course examines the historical development of regional patterns in the American built environment over time, from pre-colonial to contemporary times. Say "New England," and images of English Pilgrims, green town commons with white framed churches, and industrial mill villages may come to mind. "The Southwest" conjures different images, perhaps of adobe pueblos, Spanish friars, arid ranches, and all things turquoise be it jewelry or painted trim. The geographic enormity and social diversity of America is played out on the land in distinctive regional patterns. Before and after European settlement in America, Native Americans established a distinctive way of building unique to their regions and cultures. During the colonial period, different immigrant groups built distinctive settlements that reflected the confluence of era, culture, acculturation, geography, and material and human resources thus creating a vernacular pattern on the land. Regional patterns continued in the 19th century, despite the "leveling" forces of a new national identity of an independent United States of America, and of the new improvements in transportation and communications that pierced the isolation and autonomy of vernacular settlements. During the 20th century, the homogenizing influence of popular culture became, in some communities, a trend to be reversed by restoring the concepts of "place" and "history" to architecture. In addition to studying regionalism as an architectural record of a people, this course will also touch upon the role of regionalism in other arts.