Talk:Carport

Disputed

Can the inventor of the carport be verified - Elsewhere Walter Burley Griffin is listed as the inventor.

Quoting from the Carport Intergrity Policy for the Arizona State Historic Preservation Office [1]

As early as 1909, carports were used by the Prairie School architect Walter Burley Griffin in his design for the Sloan House in Elmhurst, Illinois (Gebhard, 1991: 110). By 1913, carports were also being employed by other Prairie School architects such as the Minneapolis firm of Purcell, Feick & Elmslie in their design for a residence at Lockwood Lake, Wisconsin. In this instance, the carport was termed an “Auto Space” (Gebhard, 1991: 110). The late architectural historian David Gebhard suggested that the term “carport” originated from the feature’s use in 1930s Streamline Moderne residences (Gebhard, 1991: 107). This term, which entered popular jargon in 1939, stemmed from the visual connection between these streamlined residences and nautical imagery..... In the 1930s through the 1950s, carports were also being used by Frank Lloyd Wright in his Usonian Houses; an idea that he probably got from Griffin, a former associate.

This is from a Reference of Gebhard, David. “The Suburban House and the Automobile.” The Car and the City: The Automobile, the Built Environment and Daily Urban Life. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1991: 106­ 123. David Gebhard was the author of numerous volumes on the architects and architecture of California. He was the founder and curator of the renowned architectural drawing collection at UCSB. [2] So according to this information Walter Burley Griffin was the first known to include the use of the carport in housing design. Boylo 06:57, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Geography/Culture/Class

Might be nice to note the geographic extent of carports vs. garages. You won't find as many carports in the northern states as you will garages, in fact they are generally very hard to find. Even in Madison, WI referenced in Wright's quote. But I'm not sure whether this necessarily has to do with climate, I remember a higher ratio of carports to garages in one neighborhood of Chicago, which also has some notorious winter weather. This may have to do with the houses being from the post-war building boom when people needed them quick and cheap. But I also remember seeing a lot of garages while driving through the Las Vegas area. 69.95.238.64 (talk) 22:22, 16 February 2008 (UTC)

Another key factor in the choice between open (carport) and closed (garage) car storage is the risk of damage (by people or animals) to cars in a given area. If there is a perceived tendency that cars in carports will be damaged by random vandalism or chewed on by local wildlife, closed garages will be more widespread. Also, local building codes and regulations may favor one choice over the other regardless of their practicality (for example one place may limit the number of indoor square feet as a percentage of the size of the land it stands on, thus favoring outdoor carports, while another place may limit the number of buildings per land lot, thus favoring garages that are part of the house itself). Jbohmdk (talk) 08:31, 15 November 2014 (UTC)

My "northern exposure" is from a farm and while our cars were parked outdoors in summer - so much for rain or sun damage - they were put in the barn in winter. No garage there. But no carport either. I now live in the South and garages used to be rare here. Chewed cables or not. We used to not lock our doors in the "good neighborhoods." But I think starting from about the mid 1980s people started doing that, and they also started enclosing their car ports. Some only screened it in at first because the space had started doubling as storage area for things like yard tools. Those had also become more extensive in the peceding decades from rake, shovel, broom, cultivator and push mower to modern weed whacker, powered mower, hedge trimmer and leaf blower taking up more space. I think while the writers and the source probably had it right with the origin of the word carport, the idea is much older than Lloyd Webber or that term. Look at Porte-cochère. It's that idea just extended to the architecture of homes with automobiles instead of coaches. The intent was to protect the occupants of the vehicle from the elements while getting in and out of the car, more than protecting the car itself. I have no idea where the writer of "modern carport" got their input from. I could find only scant evidence of what is described there. In current home architecture, just like in times before, most carports that aren't stand-alone structures are integrated into the roof structure and design of the overall roof of the house. Just instead of studs and walls the carport roof is supported by posts and pillars. Someone who DIYs a carport addition to an existing house might go for something cheaper and simpler than the integrated roof design. However metal roofs tend to be twice or more as expensive as shingle roofs. Whether an architect chooses metal as a roofing material has nothing to do with "modern" or not. If you have a log cabin look, pitched roof "modern" home I'd eat my hat if any architect would put a flat metal roof car port attached to that. Same with "contemporary American," "modern Ranch" or "Cottage" architectures. The overall percentage of metal roofs is still only about 15% and that includes all styles, not just flat roofs. I don't see anything "old vs. modern" here. It's an odd combination to begin with because in Southern states with lots of trees a metal roof isn't that great an investment, yet carports tend to be more common in the South than up north. I think, unless someone finds some credible sources the "Modern Carport" section should be renamed or scrapped altogether. A fraction of ten percet do not make a design trend. 2600:1700:1C60:45E0:B531:4DBA:1E06:66F7 (talk) 21:18, 21 January 2022 (UTC)

Punctuation

"A "mobile" and/or "enclosed" carport has the same purpose as a standard carport but may be removed/relocated and is typically framed with tubular steel and may have canvas or vinyl type covering which encloses the complete frame including walls and may have an accessible front entry or open entryway not typically attached to any structure or fastened in place by permanent means put held in place by stakes and is differentiated from a tent by main purpose to house vehicles and/or motorized equipment and a tent is to shelter people."

Use it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.252.50.116 (talk) 20:03, 30 June 2017 (UTC)

Name for carport like older structures?

example

What would be word Carport like structure, but it is not made for cars or it is made before cars were invented? --Zache (talk) 14:47, 31 October 2020 (UTC)

That would probably fall somewhere between barn and Porte-cochère. Even the latter may just be a modern word for a very old concept. --2600:1700:1C60:45E0:B531:4DBA:1E06:66F7 (talk) 02:55, 22 January 2022 (UTC)

I'd call that a "shelter". Greg Lovern (talk) 20:51, 10 July 2024 (UTC)

Wrong about carports

Wright and other architects were and are so, so wrong about carports being just as good or almost as good at protecting cars as garages. They're not. Ask anyone who works on car exteriors. The reason architects like carports is entirely because they prefer their aesthetic look compared to garages. They don't give a flying squirrel about how they age your car almost as quickly as parking at the curb. Greg Lovern (talk) 21:00, 10 July 2024 (UTC)