Robert Bruegmann is an historian of

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...

and the built environment. He is a professor at the

University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the Universi ...

, and a specialist on the Chicago school of architecture. Bruegmann is best known for his research on the architectural firm of

Holabird & Root The architectural firm now known as Holabird & Root was founded in Chicago in 1880. Over the years, the firm has changed its name several times and adapted to the architectural style then current — from Chicago School to Art Deco to Moder ...

, and is also a commentator on

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city". Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted ...

Life and career

Bruegmann received his B.A. from Principia College in 1970 and his Ph.D. from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

in 1976 with a dissertation on late 18th and early 19th century European hospitals and other institutions. In 1977 he became assistant professor in the Art History Department at the

, where he is currently professor with appointments in the School of Architecture and Urban Planning and Policy. He also taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia College of the Arts, the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

and

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, and has worked for the

Historic American Buildings Survey The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

of the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

. Bruegmann's fields of research and teaching are architectural, urban, landscape, and planning history and historical preservation. He has received scholarships and fellowships from the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

, the Graham Foundation, the Buell Center for the study of American Architecture at Columbia University and the Institute for the Humanities and the Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His research on

(earlier known as Holabird & Roche) in the 1980s improved public awareness of that firm's contributions to the commercial architecture of Chicago and other cities. A comprehensive three-volume catalog of the firm's commissions from 1910-1940 was followed by a book describing the firm's first four decades and influence on Chicago. In recent years Bruegmann has been examining the issue of urban sprawl. His 2005 book, ''Sprawl: A Compact History,'' takes a contrarian view, offering statistical and historical arguments to disprove the most frequently offered criticisms of dispersed development patterns as environmental harmful, unhealthy, and undesirable. The book was widely discussed.Robert Bruegmann
''newgeography.com'' Other works by Bruegmann recount the architectural history of

Benicia, California Benicia ( , ) is a city in Solano County, California, located on the north bank of the Carquinez Strait in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It served as the List of capitals in the United S ...

, and of the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academies, United States service academy in Air Force Academy, Colorado, Air Force Academy Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Colorado Springs. I ...

Partial bibliography

*''Benicia: Portrait of an Early California Town: An Architectural History 1846 to the Present'' San Francisco: 101 Productions, 1980. *''A Guide to 150 Years of Chicago Architecture'' (With Paul Florian and Cynthia Weese). Chicago Review Press, 1985 *''Holabird & Roche/Holabird & Root, Catalog of Work 1910-1940'' Three volumes, New York: Garland Publishing Co., 1991. *''Modernism at Mid-Century: The Architecture of the United States Air Force Academy'' (editor). University of Chicago Press, 1994. *''Ralph Johnson of Perkins & Will: Buildings and Projects'' (with Ralph Johnson). New York: Rizzoli, 1995 *''The Architects and the City: Holabird and Roche of Chicago 1880-1918'' University of Chicago Press, 1997 *''Sprawl: A Compact History'' University of Chicago Press, 2005 *''The Architecture of Harry Wees'' New York: W. W. Norton, 2010

References

External links

Personal websiteC-SPAN appearances
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruegmann, Robert Principia College alumni University of Illinois Chicago faculty Living people Chicago school (architecture) Year of birth missing (living people)