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 constructing building ...

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

and the built environment. He is a professor at the

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

, 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 Modern ...

, 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 growt ...

Life and career

Bruegmann received his B.A. from

Principia College Principia College (Principia or Prin) is a private liberal arts college in Elsah, Illinois. It was founded in 1912 by Mary Kimball Morgan with the purpose of "serving the Cause of Christian Science." "Although the College is not affiliated wit ...

in 1970 and his Ph.D. from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

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 land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

and

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, and has worked for the

Historic American Buildings Survey Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

of the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

. 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 waterside city in Solano County, California, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It served as the capital of California for nearly thirteen months from 1853 to 1854. The population was 26,997 at the ...

, and of the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and Uni ...

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)