http://www.panoramio.com/photo/494842

In the alternatives unit, we discussed reaching heavenward, community, the renaissance, and breaking the rules. In between the Classical period and the Renaissance there were the Middle Ages. During this time important building innovations took place. With the use of flying buttresses, buildings were dematerialized by adding large glass windows. The golden mean was still applied in the length and height. After the fall of the Roman empire, there was an emphasis on community and providing for the poor. But before that Christianity becomes a predominate western religion and a new building form takes place. At first followers had to meet in private. These meetings of course required space and eventually the cruciform shape came to be. At first the religion was practiced in Italy in the catacombs, after the fall of the empire it was able to flourish. It made its mark all over the European land scape in the form of cathedrals. This building form didn't happen over night. It took many years and failed attempts. There can also be seen Eastern influences in the building form of some cathedrals. With this blending comes a theatricality that the church uses to attract new converts. With the use of dramatic statuary and ornamentation, stories can be told in the architecture. This led to the Baroque styling of churches.

During the Renaissance the power of the church was given to the individual in the form of villas. The connection to heaven was now de-institutionalized. Building shifts from a grandeur practice to a practical one. During this period no building is one style. Architects and designers reinterpret classical style by using all the rules. These include man as the measure of all things, single decorative facade, separation of spaces, repetition and geometry. Patronage is also important as a lot of buildings and furniture items are commissioned by wealthy patrons.

During the Baroque period, boundaries were tested and rules were broken. One example of this is the use of dramatic angles. During this style period there was an opening up of civic spaces. An example would be the Piazza Campidoglio, which was built wider at one end to open up to and emphasis the house of representatives. There was also theatricality used to attract people and tell a dramatic story. Some structural elements were exaggerated to add strength or size to buildings.

With a switch to building for practicality there were a few unnecessary elements, like too many corner columns. At the begining of the Renassaince there was no one with an official title in charge of Florence. However the Medici family, through skillful diplomacy took on the role. They made it the duty of wealthy citizens to provied public and religous buildings for the citizens. There was a renewed interest in antiquity, scholars were no longer interested in scripture and church dogma. The Renaissance marked the reemergence as man as the measure. A numerous amount of Greek scholars arrived in Florence and this reinforced a return to antiquity. Once again man was the measurer of all things. This believe was best quoted by Giovanni Pico "it is granted to have whatever he chooses, to be whatever he wills."

Reading Comprehension 4

[1]
artifact:

~neo-palladian/georgian

desk/bookcase

~american/georgian

windsor chair

~louis xvi/french provincial

tall clock

~late english georgian

state bed (osterly park)

~american federal

sheraton side chair

Even though each ppiece is from a different time or place, they all speak a classical design language. The motifs are light with classical reference depicting urns and garlands on some pieces and images of love (flowers, cherubs) on others. They all have straight legs which was more popular during the late Georgian period in England. Each area uses mahogany as one of the primary woods for constructing furniture. Each piece is symmetrical. The cabinet, which is from the Rococo period, has a symmetry in the design on both sides and it is proportioned on top and bottom. Most pieces have repetition throughout the motifs. Each piece has emphasis at the highest point, the eagle on the desk, the cherubs on the clock, the crown on the state bed. Also the designers of each piece broke the rules in some way to design each piece to work for the client or setting.

space:

~neo-palladian/georgian

holkam hall, saloon

~american georgian

gunston hall, stair hall

~louis xvi/french provincial

marie antoinette's bedroom

~late english georgian

nathaniel russell house

~american federal

monticello

Throughout these interiors, Classical proportions are typically used during these time periods. The only deviation from this is during the Neo-Palladian period in England during which time monumental proportions are used and furniture is massive. Classical ornamentation is used around doors and chimney pieces. Walls all contain a dado and dado rail with an upper wall being richly decorated with a special treatment of paper, paint or fabric. The walls have repetitive patterns.The rooms were all formal with emphasis on gathering places being richly decorated, stairways and halls are still formal, but not as extravagant as more important areas.

building:

~neo-palladian/georgian

chiswick house

~american georgian

drayton hall

~louis xvi/french provincial

pantheon (st. genevieve)

~late english georgian

nathaniel russell house

~american federal

monticello

The common theme among these buildings is the use of simple geometric shapes and classical design and proportion. Rules from antiquity are closely followed. The buildings are symmetrical and relatively plan and simpleSome of the classical themes used are porticoes, tripartite windows or the use of blocky quoins and balustrades. Each building has a plain facade.

place:
~neo-palladian

The design language that all these places have in common is one of a return to antiquity. Just as the buildings and interiors demonstrate, there is a use of symmetry, geometry and Classical design and motifs. There are also some natural elements pointing toward the Baroque style. Just like in the interiors there is a sense of formality.

[2] A common design theme among English colonies in Boston is the use of proportion and geometric layout. Because of the abundance of wood, it was use extensively in construction and furniture design. There is monumental scale, but everything is not as grandiose. When the English colonized America, there was a land grab and people were eager to take advantage of the fertile soil to grow cash crops. Most colonists developed mostly rural homes and plantations with few urban centers. Furnishings, ornament and interiors all follow a medieval English style. There is a use of boundary setting in the design. Designs are very simple and symmetric.

In the Spanish colonies of modern day Florida, the design aspects took a totally different direction. It is obvious in St. Augustine of the French Renaissance in the architecture. The design can be seen in the simple exteriors and use of straight lines.

The French influence is still evident in New Orleans with the use of straight lines and wood in furniture. It is obvious in architecture because of the steeply pitched roofs. The verticality of buildings and furniture shows medieval influence. There is also the use of cubes in the furniture and floor plans of structures. And the use of diamond motifs is also a French characteristic.

German settlers brought with them medieval influence. The design asthetic is by far the most medieval of the four discussed thus far. This is much verticality and horizontal banding in the architecture and furniture, such as the shank. There is also steeply pitched roofs and wood used throughout the interiors.

[3][4] "The world is a stage" is a common design theme during the Baroque period, especially in the church. Church leaders knew the importance in telling a story to keep parishioners and win converts. Everything was done in a grandiose scale with high intensity. It was all about drama theatre and inspiring awe. Even though the church believed actors to be immoral, during the Counter-reformation, it was the best idea to keep parishioners from converting to protestantism.
Baroque was also a break from the symmetry of the renaissance. it was a style that employed gilding, bronze, marble and curves to give a more organic feel. It was a more humanistic approach to design and was able to better convey a sense of emotion. Baroque used theatricality to relate to the more humanistic side of man.

Point Foundations

http://www.discusmedia.com/catalog.php?id=24432

Two of the most important design ideas covered in the foundations unit were stacking and linear axis. Some of the most fundamental ideas in early design also included making protective walls or barriers. Outside attackers who wanted to steal their resources threatened many early societies. We also see this sort of protection in the serpent mound in modern day Ohio. It was also a sort of barrier protecting the dead. The first style of stacking we see is at the Ziggurat of Ur-Nammu in Sumer. It was a fortified building complex it served as the administrative center for the city. Built as a display of power it was also used to survey the surrounding landscape.

Near Sumer, further north In Mesopotamia, the site of the first civilization, pharaohs also used stacking as a way to show power. It was also used as a way to point heavenward. Each Pharaohs duty in life was to make the best possible pyramid so that Egyptian culture would continue to thrive. Egyptian society thrived due in large part to the Nile River. It was a mode of transportation and made control of the region much easier. Every year the Nile would flood its banks along Egypt depositing minerals in the soil producing mineral rich farmland for crops and vegetation. The Egyptians used the papyrus plant as a capital on temple columns to symbolize how the Nile has made their society flourish. The Nile was also used as a trade route; it was the primary means of transportation in and out of Egypt. Trade would be conducted above and below with neighboring civilizations. Egyptians believed that they lived at the center of the earth, just as Grecians thought that their society was at the center of the earth. Greece borrowed the use of columns from Egypt. Just as Egyptians used columns in building their temples, so did the Grecians. However, they added a linear plan and placed columns differently. The megaron was started in Mycenaean and evolved over time. Walking into the city, the importance of the column is displayed proudly between two protective and powerful lions. The column was used in all temple forms. Designed crudely at first, the original Grecian style column evolved over time from Doric to Corinthian styles. The city layout was also very important. On the Acropolis in Athens the entire layout is based on a battle between two mythical gods, with Athena being the victor, a temple devoted to her is placed on one side of a central court for people to gather. The Parthenon is the pinnacle of the megaron temple design. It uses for rows of columns, two on the exterior, and two rows on the interior with the statue of Athena in the center. As you move further away from the center of the Grecian empire, styles vary and local flavor is seen added to the basic design central in Athens. Athens is where rules are made. Athens is made up of temple structures and civic complexes, with the city laid out for gathering, discussion and celebration. On the other hand Rome has all the trappings of an empire. The structures in Rome are laid out to distract the people and keep them busy while politics are discussed behind closed doors. The coliseum was the center of entertainment. There, barbaric battles were carried out. The design of the coliseum is still used today. It is the best way to carry sound over a large crowd and it is visually advantageous. Romans also introduced the aqueduct. Through the use of arches, a system for supplying water to the city was built. The baths made use of this water for people to bathe. The Romans used columns for a number of structures even to line roads. The foundations unit makes clear a couple of things. One is that the use of building was used to express spiritual believes and convey a sense of awe of a societies deities and to secure a comfortable afterlife. Another theme that sticks out to me is the idea of building upward to depart from the earth.

Question 1

Florenece vs. Cologne

When comparing the Florence and Cologne Cathedral, one of the first things I notice is the humanistic quality of Florence compared to the more Gothic design of Cologne. Duomo looks to the classical style for it's inspiration. It's all about man as the measure. Brunelleschi went to Rome and saw all the domes, created during a time when Rome was known for all of its' builders and architects. And during a time when man was sure of his own supremacy in the universe. Brunelleschi wanted to recreate the dome, actually he wanted to make it better. Thus designing the Duomo to support the dome was more important than designing it to be a traditional cathedral. The dome was too big to use use wood structurally so brick was used. It is the largest brick dome ever constructed. Because of the use of the dome and lack of buttresses, Duomo is a symbol of renewed antiquity in Florence, Italy.

Internally Cologne uses a lot of stained glass windows to tell stories to visitors. Looking at the cathedral externally, because of the flying buttresses, it looks as if there is a cross being carried by people, at the end are two very tall spires ascending heavenward. It is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world. After the spires were built in 1880, it was the tallest building in the world for four years. The placement of the spires at the entrance can hinder an understanding of a transition from evil to good because you are already at the highest point in the cathedral upon entering.
The people absolutely laid symbols on the cathedral. It being the tallest building in the city was a beacon.
I beleve that it is valid to look to the cathedral as a way to read symbols. You would have to have a basic understanding though of what you are looking at.

Florence vs. Salisbury

Looking at the surface materials, my first impression of Duomo is a sense of lightness and simplicity. It is obvious at first glance of the geometric shapes used in the design. it fits in with the surrounding architecture. It is more low profile than other gothic cathedrals. It also has a lighter palette when compared to Salisbury Cathedral.
Salisbury conveys more the seriousness of religion.The interior is more somber and darker because of the use of darker colors and materials.
Salisbury speaks a more colorful language. It has much more stained glass and painted interior to tell a story. Also the courtyard adds another level to the structure.
Salisbury seems to hide something. The history behind it being built to replace the older cathedral that burned down could have a lot to do with that. Just knowing that some of the old bricks are in the structure makes me feel like they are hiding a story among the newer bricks. When looking at Duomo, as lovely as it, it doesn't seem to hide anything. It speaks a language that is understandable because of the geometry and simple design. The interior colors are so much lighter, giving a sense of lightness as you walk through.
The scalar quality of both cathedrals is a beacon in the city of power. Anyone visiting would feel a sense of awe and power and that they are in someplace special as compared to the surroundings.

Florence vs. Amiens

The architecture of the Gothic cathedral speaks its own language. It clearly shows the building process and the pains it took to reach heavenly and horizontally. The structure is not hidden it is clearly exposed and made part of the ornament.
Amien Cathedral is a shining example of a Gothic cathedral. It is the life blood of Amiens, France. As one approaches there can be seen "flickering fragmented glimpses" of flying buttresses, the central cross and spire. The cathedral, with it's many flying buttresses, stained glass windows and colonnades is "a new reality in repetition". Duomo's structure is hidden. The structure that has made the dome possible is hidden between an inner and an outer dome built of brick. It shows the designers appreciation for antiquity and a return to classicism. For the role that a cathedral plays in a city, Amiens fills the role better as a central and overpowering point of interest.


Question 2

In midevel castles and buildings the kitchen area was seperate from the actual living space. The lady churning butter is most likely in a seperate structure located in a bailey.
http://www.buildmodelcastles.com/html/motte_bailey.html
http://www.replica3d.com/HTMLPages/Medieval/Camelot.html


She could be in a castle in which case it would be away from the great hall where all meals are served. There would be an adjoining hall of wood and stone to keep food warm while being transported from the kitchen to the hall.