The Suburban Culture of Building and the Reassuring Revival of Historicist Architecture Since 1970

ABSTRACT

In recent years there has been an international revival in the eclectic use of historical architectural styles in modern suburbs. This revival has been largely ignored. When noticed, it has often been dismissed as arbitrary, and by implication devoid of interest or significance. With reference to North American suburbs, this article argues that the historicist revival expresses popular taste. It is the product of a suburban building tradition in which commercial builders are finely attuned, and readily adapt, to consumer taste. A significant cultural trend, it has been associated ambiguously with the rise of neo-liberalism and, contingently, with the fragmentation of consumer taste. It appears to have been a coded, if contentious, expression of changing gender roles while, above all, indicating a search for reassurance in an uncertain world.