COLLECTION NAME:
Graduate Thesis Collection
Record
Title:
The McMansion: Meanings in the Phenomenon of Architectural Elaboration
Creator:
Zedalis, Bethany
Subject:
Thesis (M.A.) -- Architectural History
Subject:
Savannah College of Art and Design -- Department of Architectural History
Rights:
Copyright is retained by the authors or artists of items in this collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Abstract:
This thesis analyzes the amplification of Americans homes, beginning in the 1980s and continuing to the present. The amplified homes are known as McMansions, referring to their mass production like a fast food assembly line and their mass consumption. assembly line at a fast food restaurant. [sic] McMansions are criticized by the public and the press as being overblown, ostentatious and architecturally indistinct; however, a large number of McMansions are constructed and purchased every year. The thesis will explore the phenomenon of the McMansion and the various reasons why McMansions became a fixture in the American suburban landscape. While many factors contribute to the McMansion phenomenon, this thesis explores three that had a particularly profound effect on the change in mentality towards this type of home ownership: a thriving economy which created affordability, the view that McMansions were considered gold mines on the real estate market, and a prevalent belief that an amplified home was synonymous with a higher social status.
Publisher:
Savannah, Georgia : Savannah College of Art and Design
Date:
2011-03
Format:
PDF : 43 p. : ill