American Architecture is a Classical, Colonial Architecture

 After reading Mockbee's article on the rural studio, I was left thinking that in fact our "American" architecture is one of adopted colonist architecture - the British, French, and Spanish. All can be seen in parts of the continental U.S. and it was strange to see Mockbee take a different stance. (That America has no architectural identity of its own..?) Much of the work they do in the rural studio are spin offs of so many of these principles instilled directly from our *classical* and colonial roots. 

I also run into the countering ideas that colonial architecture is one of imposing and not participatory but the truth is that nearly all architecture is colonial of some type. Architectural language was spread across the mediterranean since the beginning of architecture and yet there are identifiable characteristics of architecture pertaining to a place - Arabic architecture, Greek, Roman, Phoenician, etc. Not through war or force, but through willing adoption. 

Perhaps off topic but these thoughts arose when reading/interpreting Mockbee's words.