Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Denise Scott Brown

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.scottb90
Creators:
Scott Brown, Denise, 1931-
Reed, Peter
Dates:
1990 October 25-1991 November 9
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
188 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of Denise Scott Brown conducted 1990 October 25-1991 November 9, by Peter Reed, for the Archives of American Art.
Scope and Contents
Scott Brown discusses her family background and growing up in South Africa; her education at the University of Witwatersrand, the Architectural Association, London, a summer school in Venice, sponsored by Congres Internationale d'Architecture Moderne, and the University of Pennsylvania, recalling some of her teachers (including Arthur Korn and Louis Kahn); her first husband, Robert Scott Brown, and their travels throughout Europe and experiences in Pennsylvania; her teaching philosophy and experiences at the University of Pennsylvania, Yale, Harvard, UCLA, and Berkeley; the architecture program at Penn from her perspective as a student and as a member of the faculty; meeting Robert Venturi, their work together, the firm and the difficulties encountered in the 1970s and 1980s, some of their projects such as the National Gallery, London, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and planning work; publications such as "Complexity and Contradiction," "Urban concepts," "Worm's Eye View," and "Learning from Las Vegas;" postmodern architecture; critics; and her experiences as a woman in the field.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Denise Scott Brown (1931- ) is an architect of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Administration

Sponsor
Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
Existence and Location of Copies
Transcript is available on the Archives of American Art's website.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.

Digital Content


More Information

General

General
Originally recorded on 10 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 19 digital wav files. Duration is 13 hr., 45 min.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Architecture -- Study and teaching Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Architecture, Modern -- 20th century -- United States Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Architecture, Postmodern -- United States Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
City planning Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women architects Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Architects -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Architectural firms -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Function Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Kahn, Louis I., 1901-1974 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Korn, Arthur, 1891- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Scott Brown, Robert Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Venturi, Robert Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Architectural Association (Great Britain) -- Students Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
National Gallery (Great Britain) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
University of Pennsylvania -- Faculty Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
University of Pennsylvania -- Students Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Venturi Scott Brown and Associates Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Venturi, Rauch, and Scott Brown Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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