Middle and Late English - Review

Becca - Becca focused her blog on the history of the middle English Renaissance along with the famous pieces of architecture during this time. She also gave great examples of the types of furniture that was designed. I liked that she touched on everything we went over in class.

Erin - Erin focused on the types of materials used for designing and furniture during the middle English Renaissance. I really liked how she focused on one topic during this period because she was able to give a lot more examples and information.

Middle English Renaissance

The middle renaissance was from 1600-1750. During this time there was restoration of the Stuart Period that involved Charles II and James II. During this period William and Mary had a huge impact on design. They created the age of walnut that was widely used for furniture. Also during this period Queen Anne influenced a lot of design choices. After the great fire of 1666 that burned a large section of London, Sir Christopher Wren set new design standards of design that was called the Baroque urban design. This design was greatly influenced by the French. Wren established wall thickness, floor heights, ans materials, which were bricks. Because of him, there started to be zoning and construction regulations. He was the most renowned English architect of all time. One of his masterpieces is the St. Paul's Cathedral. He designed a total of 52 churches that have influenced other church designs. During this time the new standards for furniture were focused on comfort. This period is when upholstery appears for the first time. Once Mary Stuart married William II, furniture shifted from walnut to oak wood. William and Mary had an oriental influence when it came to fabrics. They used velvet, brocade, Chintz, leather and needlepoint. Queen Anne was the one who created developments in social living. She created spaces for tea and coffee drinking and Parlor games of chance. She also influenced English trade with China. Queen Anne was also known for the Cabriole leg on her furniture. The foot of her furniture was most popular for its dragon's paw holding a pearl. Some of her famous furniture was the card table and the wing chair. Another type of chair that was designed during this time was Chippendale chairs.

Images:

St. Christopher Cathedral


Wing Chair


Chippendale Chair

Current Applications:

Wing Chair today


Chippendale Chair today

Extra Credit: How to make a Chippendale Chair in Sketch Up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiTk2VNmdUM

Neoclassical, Directoire, and Early English Renaissance - Review

Haley- Haley broke up her blog into different topics during this period. She talked about the history, architecture and furniture. She chose great images to represent the content she included in her blog. She also chose very unique examples of current applications of the Neoclassical period.

Lisa- Lisa discussed the French Directoire in her blog post. She went into detail mainly on the style of the interiors and the furniture. I think she did a really good job talking about what makes this period different from the other french periods.

Neoclassical Style

The neoclassical style had architecture that was based off of Roman forms. A building that is a great example of this is the Petite Trianon. They used strict architectural schemes for building like hospitals, government offices and railroad stations. Walls were painted to look like marble with the use of dark greens ans reds. This use of marble was an element that was also used in the finding of Pompeii. Although the architecture during this period seems distinctive, the furniture was even more distinctive. Some buildings these elements were used in was the Bibliotheque National and the Petite Trianon. Interiors consisted of non- free flowing curves, opposite of the Rococo period, more slender lines and walls paneled and painted with raised and decorated with classical ornamentation. The colors used in interiors are pale with white or off white with a touch of gold. Furniture included the same needs as previous french periods. Furniture was made of mahogany wood and was often painted and gilded in strong reds and greens.

Images:

Petite Trianon


Bibliotheque National



Current Applications:




Extra Credit: A Neoclassical inspired home in Pacific Heights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOKFdVIOx0w

French Baroque Style - Review

Kiera- Kiera did a great job explaining the history of this time period as well as what makes this design different from other French design periods. She also talked about the important pieces of architecture and had great photos to show what she discussed.

Savannah- Savannah summarized this period very well. She touched on all of the important buildings as well as the furniture. I really liked how she chose images that were examples of this style used in different parts of a home. Overall a great blog post.

French Baroque Style

During this time period, Louis XIV was five years old and proclaimed King. Louis XIV created a national style of art. He established a school for 60 children under his protection. An iconic piece of architecture during this time was the Vaux-le-Vicomte. It included 105 lavish rooms, 170 acres of gardens, Persian carpets, crystal chandeliers, gold clocks, silver vases and it entertained up to 6,000 guests at a time. The architect of this building was Louis Le Vau, the garden designer was Andre Le Norte, the interior decorator was Charles LeBrun and the sculptor was Puget. Another building during this time was the Palais de Versailles. This was originally a hunting lodge for Louis XIII. The construction started in 1668 and lasted for almost a century. It takes up 12 miles of southwest Paris and housed 10,000 people. The architect of this building was also Louis Le Vau, along with the same garden designer, interior decorator and sculptor as the Vaux-le-Vicomte. This building was also famous for one of its public rooms, the Hall of Mirrors. It included Classical architecture and decoration with classic orders and rectangular shapes that were symmetrical. Another aspect of the Palais de Versailles' interiors that was unique was its royal monogram "L" that was always doubled. Something that was also very unique compared to any other building was that the furniture was against the walls. A unique process cabinetmakers used to make furniture was the Marquetry Process. During this process everything was cut out of paper then carved into wood to make lavish designs in their furniture. Louis XIV chairs included high back, a sense of greatness, a wide seat for wide dressed and bergere, which was newly introduced during this time. Bergere is an enclosed upholstered French arm chair with an upholstered back and armrests on upholstered frames.  This furniture was made out of materials that were imported from China and Japan. These materials were used to make porcelain figures, vases, lacquer work and screens.

Images:

Vaux-le-Vicomte


Palais de Versailles


Bergere style chair


Current Applications:




Extra Credit: How to upholster a Bergere chair
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmhiONio9kg

French Period Part 1 - Review

Katie- Katie's blog touched on everything we went over in class on the first part of the French period. She also did a great job choosing images that represented this period and current application photos.

Holli- Holli's blog was filled with so much information and split it up very well within paragraphs. I also like the past and present images she chose. Overall a great blog post.