Review - Prehistoric Rome

Erin K- Erin's blog touched on everything we went over in class about prehistoric Rome. I think the images she chose went very well with what she discussed in her blog. Overall a great blog post.

Hailey- Hailey's blog post on prehistoric Rome focused on the images she chose. The images included archs, coulumns, skycrapers, and a current application of a large dome in Washington D.C.

Review - Prehistoric Greece

Emma- Emma's blog included a lot of information on the images she chose. I really liked out she focused on the type of columns and chairs during this time.

Erin- Erin's blog just focused on the five orders. I like how she focused on this topic since we have a homework assignment on it. She also chose current application images of these columns today.

Prehistoric Rome

Prehistoric Rome served as a catalyst in spreading art and civilization that was inspired by Greece. Within Rome's culture, they mastered road building, used post and lintel construction they got from the Greeks, used columns for for decorative and structural use, and used extravagant ornamentation furniture. They discovered concrete and were major developers of the barrel vault and dome arches. Rome's structures also had different social values. They had religious tombs and temples, basilicas for commerce and law, auditoriums pertaining to entertainment, and memorial structures to celebrate victories. Back during this time period they created coliseums that sat over 50,000 people and where made of concrete and stone that were meant for holding huge sporting events. Today these coliseums look very different and are not made of the same materials. The Rome's also build the largest un-reinforced concrete dome in the world called the Pantheon. Their interiors were filled with mosaics, stucco and frescoes. They also had an obsessions with ornamentation and patterned floors. They incorporated landscape scenes, figures, and buildings with framed views with having ceilings that were flat or vaulted. To add to their interiors, their furniture was made with wood, metal and stone.

Images:



The Pantheon

Current Applications:



Extra Credit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8IcwFwNLr8

Prehistoric Greece

Greece is a mountainous country that is surrounded by three seas, the Aegean, the Mediterranean, and the Ionian. Greece has competition among its different communities. Within each community there is an individual government. The climate is hot during the summer and bitter during the winter. The country is known for a heavy use of marble. They were the first ancient country to begin to use this material. Greece also produces grain, grapes, olives and salt. A very popular piece of architecture from the Golden Age was the Parthenon. It is an ancient temple dedicated to the goddess Athena. It is also the most important building of Classical Greece. This building also developed the Doric order. Homes during this time were build of mud-brick on a stone foundation. This made domestic buildings far less impressive than public buildings, like the Parthenon. In homes, they also used wooden framework and terracotta roof tiles. Rooms were given specific purposes in the modern houses and some of these rooms might have been reserved for use of different sexes. The design also had spacial characteristics. One characteristic is a compluvium, which is an opening in the roof to be able to catch rainfall in a cistern or a impluvium right below it. Floors where plastered and painted for the wealthy and included mosaics of pebbles, glass and stone. Their paint applications on the walls were painted in divisions of a dado (lower part of the wall), main field (middle part of the wall), and a cornice (the upper part of the wall). Windows were placed high on the wall, doors had wood, stone and marble frames, and they were big on coffered ceilings. Their furniture materials were mainly leather ans cords with an inlay of gold ivory and gems. Some of Classical Greece's seats were thronos, klismos, kline, and diphros.

Images:

The Parthenon


Wall painting- dado, main field and cornice


Example of klismos chair

Current Applications:



Extra Credit:
Architecture of the Parthenon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0Eo0PklfAU

Review

Anna- Anna's blog was filled with images to back up her information. I really liked the current applications she used. They represented the time period perfectly.

Becca- Becca's blog post mainly focused on the Egyptian pyramids. I liked the images she chose to show examples of the information she had on the pyramids.

Egypt, Mesopotamia & Nubia

This time period started around 4,000 BC when larger towns and cities started to appear. At this point, people had food and shelter secured so they started to focus more on the arts that can be applied to interiors. When it came to size and structure of buildings, it was used to distinguish different classes of people. Because of this, architecture was used to show power. During this time there were huge advances in architecture, mathematics, written law, and sculpture. In Egypt, the finest artifacts where stored in the pyramids to preserve them, Egypt is located along the Nile River. Because of the Egyptian people settling here, they had agricultural production, transportation of building materials, communication and trade. One huge trade item Egypt would get imported from Lebanon is timber. Because Egypt was able to use this material, they made many modifications in their construction. Other materials they used for their construction were mud, wood and stone for walls, bricks and the post beam construction from the prehistoric period. The climate also had an influence on the interiors. Because of their minimal rainfall, intense sunlight, and little variation in temperature, they had flat roofs, outdoor spaces, certain window placements, and roof ventilators. They also used very rich materials and certain colors that influenced the Art Deco period.

Images:




Current Application:



Extra Credit: How to build a Pyramid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lotbZQ55SgU

Review

Alex- I really liked how Alex decided to focus her blog post on the prehistoric period on just igloos. She explained why people built them, how they build them and what people would do about their living situation when it was no longer winter.

Amanda- Amanda's blog was very informative on this time period. I really liked the images she chose to represent the prehistoric period in present day. They were very unique and went along with this time period very well.

Prehistoric Period

The prehistoric period one of the styles of antiquity when it comes to early design. During this time there were influence on how these primitive homes where made. These include geographic location, such as arctic and the Sahara Desert, and available materials to the people. The materials used by these people were for them to construct their own homes. The only homes we see still today from this time period are ones made out of stone due to it being a sustainable material used during that time. The patterns and designs used in these self-constructed homes were made of weaving. These people weaved things like blankets, baskets, rugs and clothing. The patterns used were rarely ornamental. There were also certain colors used that served purpose and meaning to their society, tribal loyalties and religion. As for the furniture used, although it was very minimal, it was handmade from wood and stone. These people also incorporated artifacts that could be found in caves that used human, animal and plant forms that were painted using charcoal and orche pigments. Design from this period was mostly for functional reasons. For this time period, functional for the people meant survival. The way these people would go about constructing their homes were based off of Maslow's hierarchy of needs.  In 1940, France discovered a caved that was preserved from this time period called the Laxcaux. It was the earliest example of homes during the prehistoric period. Within the cave there were over 2,000 figures of abstract designs that still is there today. Another example of a home from the prehistoric period was the Skara-brae. This home was found in Scottland that had built in furniture. A type of architecture that was built during this time that we also can see today is the Stonehenge that is an example of the first time post and lintel construction was used.

Images:




Current Applications:


Using post and lintel construction

Extra Credit: How to build and prehistoric house
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Reav7ZnOrw8