Race and Architectural Geometry: Thomas Jefferson's Octagons

In the fields of American literary studies and history, the construction of racial difference has become an indispensable subject of analysis, but even some recent surveys of nineteenth-century architecture ignore or downplay the roles of racial ideology, slavery, and nonwhite ethnic groups in shaping the built environment. This neglect persists despite a steady trickle of important research by historians and literary scholars, beginning in the 1980s with the work of Dell Upton and Michael Vlach. Early work on race and architecture focused on rereading spaces such as plantations as diverse, hierarchical environments, and on reconstructing the experience of nonwhite inhabitants of buildings, cities, and landscapes. [...] the story of race in Jefferson's architecture includes those aspects traditionally considered to be the province of art and architectural historians.

Cheng, Irene. 2015. "Race and Architectural Geometry: Thomas Jefferson's Octagons." J19 3 (1) (Spring): 121-130,214. https://proxy.library.upenn.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.proxy.library.upenn.edu/scholarly-journals/race-architectural-geometry-thomas-jeffersons/docview/1672890538/se-2?accountid=14707.