Italian Renaissance

The "rebirth" began in Florence, Italy during the Renaissance. This time period included Florence, Rome and Venice, where the first development was in Italy. Roman churches became very powerful during this time. Life and the arts of ancient Rome focused on literature, architecture and theater. They also invented the printing press during this time. Residential design became more popular and they focused more on comfort, beauty and convenience rather than safety, strength and protection. They emphasized on horizontal and symmetry. One of the finest achievements of the Italian Renaissance was the Italian Renaissance palace, also known as the Palazzo. The Palazzo has proportion and a cluster of characteristics rather than a specific design. It was symmetrical with compound repeated windows and heavy project cornice. At this time, there were many different famous Palazzos. Some famous ones were the Palazzo Davanzati, Palazzo Farnese, and the Palazzo Medici. A famous architect during this time was Brunelleschi who started the addition of the Florence Cathedral. While doing this, he was inspired by the Pantheon. During this time there was also another famous piece of architecture called the Villa Rotonda which was designed by the architect, Andrea Palladio, who was the most influential architect during this time. Furniture and interiors during this time were filled with contrasting light, paneling on furniture and surfaces, frescos, and elaborate turnings for structural support and ornamentation.

Images:


Exterior and interior of Palazzo Davanzati


Palazzo Farnese


Villa Rotonda

Current Applications:




Extra Credit: Italian Renaissance Furniture
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GaWNuDek4I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rbqpUA1aQk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=416n56hJf5c

Review - China and India

Lisa- Lisa's blog post on China and India was very full of the information we went over in class. I really like how she compared and contrasted them. Her post also involved great examples of images and had great images to show current day design with these periods of design.

Madelyn- Madelyn's blog post focused just on China. She went into depth with discussing what the culture and design was like. I really liked how she touched on everything we went over in class. She summarized what we learned about very well.

Review - The Americas

Katie- Katie focused on the different geographic regions of the America's style. There were many different people during this time and she touched on all of them. Overall a great blog post full of information.

Kiera- Kiera's blog was very informational on the America's period. I like how she focused on multiple topics that the America's were involved with. She as well chose great images to back up her information.

China and India

China is the world's longest continuous civilization and has the world's largest population today. China's architecture and construction techniques includes using a stupa. a stupa is a mound of dirt, like a burial ground, where a more permanent structure is built. This prototype was first birthed in India. China began the use of the stupa to spread the religion of Buddhism. It was important to people to acknowledge the the Buddhist religion through their architecture and construction. The limitations of the stupas is that there is no space for visitors. From China using the stupa, they invented the Pagonda, which is a combination of the stupa and a Chinese tower building. A big piece of architecture in China is the Great Wall of China. Chinese interiors, residential and commercial, was based on  a courtyard style building. This style included orientation, layout, and symmetry. Form of their furniture was light, beautiful, stable and also replaced mats. The used materials like huali wood, lacquer, ceramic and bamboo.

In India, their architecture and construction included the stupa, where it originated, along with acknowledging important people in the Buddhist religion. One of the most famous stupas in India is the Great Stupa of Sanchi. In their interiors, like China, they also had a courtyard style. What differentiates them from China is their lack of furniture. People sat, ate and slept on the floor.

Images:

The Great Wall of China


Courtyard style home


Great Stupa of Sanchi

Current Applications:




Extra Credit: India Architecture
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Kol4EIhq_s

The Americas

The America's design period was located in southern America and north of South America. Temples provided spatial orientation for the towns. Pyramids were meant to stand out and represent the gods and powers of the religion. Their religion was polytheistic, which means they believed in many gods. A group of people during this time were known as the Olmecs. They were the first major civilization in Mexico. They developed hieroglyphic writing and the first calendar in the western hemisphere. They were considered the Highest Olmec work-jade. These people also were the first example of a temple focused city type which they referred to as La Venta. Their artwork consisted of delicate carvings of jade, rock crystal, and less valuable stone. Out of these materials, they made ax heads, masks, and decorative objects. Along with their sculpting, they also made mural paintings and pottery. Elites lived in highly decorated homes and wore elegant jewelry and clothing. Commoners lived in homes made of sticks and mud. Another group of people that were apart of this period were the Teotihuacan. They referred to their city as the, "place of the gods". Their ceremonial center was 2 miles in length that included a central spine, the temple of the Feathered Serpent and the Pyramid of the sun and moon. Their arts were decorative and included utilitarian pottery. Their decorative motifs included birds, butterflies, flowers and abstract designs. Next were the Mayas during this period. They were destroyed by Spanish conquest of 1519. But before then they occupied highlands and lowlands. They were known for things like the Castillo, Ball courts, and furniture called Chacmool. Another group of people were the Aztecs. They had two important temples during this time, the god of war and the god or agriculture. Their temple was called the Templo Mayor. Their architecture was expressed through thoughts and belief. The also believed in chinampas which were raised gardening beds located in a swamp or shallow lake. It was what made them the most agricultural. The last group was the Incas. They had the largest empire in Pre-Columbia America. They were known for thier architecture and mainly their trapezoid shape. A famous home for emperors during this time was Machu Picchu. This today is now one of the wonders of the world.

Images:



Maya Ball Court


Machu Picchu

Current Applications:



Extra Credit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boV92hzDlcA

Review - Gothic

Haley- Haley's blog post was filled with great images to represent this time period. I also like how she talked about the certain type of construction types.

Holli- Holli's blog had so much information on the gothic design period. She touched on everything we discussed in class. She also did a great job choosing images too.

Gothic Design

When the Gothic period started, Paris was the center of the Gothic world. At this point, churches were the center of city life. Unfortunately, also during this time was when the black plague killed over 75 million people, which was nearly a third of the population. Religion was the heart of the design and wealth and power was within the church. There was new innovations of design during this period that no one has ever used before. They started to use pointed archs and fly buttresses to be more stable in their architecture since they had taller buildings than past periods up to this point. They also recreated ribbed vaulting in their design to also help with a more stable structure. Using this architecture, they were able to make Cathedrals appear weightless by having a very open plan due to higher ceilings and incorporating tall glass windows to allow more light. A type of window widely used in every structure during the Gothic time was the Rose window. You see this type of window in every Cathedral built during this time. Some famous Cathedrals were the St. Denis, Notre Dame,  Wells Cathedral, Regensburg Cathedral, Barcelona Cathedral, and the Siena Cathedral. With the Cathedrals in Spain, they were wider and a more complex plan compared to the ones in France and Germany. Along with all these Cathedrals using their new type of architecture with the pointed archs, ribbed vaulting and flying buttresses, they also had a basic floor plan that was similar to the Romanesque period.

Images:

Pointed Arch


Rose Window


Interior of St. Denis Cathedral

Current Applications:




Extra Credit: Learn what Gothic Architecture is in 2 minutes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz5YdZdqE44

Review - Islamic Design

Madelyn- She focused on the background of this period along with information about the famous Mosques. I really liked how she chose images to back up her information on the Mosques. I also think she did a really good job on choosing current application photos.

Rachael- She went into great detail on this time period and touched on everything we went over in class. She also had images to back up her information, mainly on the famous Mosques. I really liked her current application photos as well. They had a good modern twist on the old Islamic design.

Review - Romanesque

Krista - Krista's blog was full of many examples of Romanesque architecture. I really like how she used more pictures than required to really show exactly what this style looks like. She also when into detail on other information during this time. And I really liked the current application photos she chose.

Lisa - Lisa's blog was full of information on this time period. I really like the amount of detail she went in. She also chose images that backed up the information she shared on her blog. I also like the current application photos she chose.

Islamic Design

During this time, Mohammed was the figure-head of the Islam religion. Their religion was the base of Islamic Design. The Mosque was the central facility for prayer and worship. The Purpose of the Mosque was a place where many people could come and pray to God-kneeling and facing Mecca. An example of a mosque is The great Mosque of Kairouan. This Mosque included a Horseshoe arch that was popular during this time. Another Mosque called The Mosque of Sultan Ahmed. This mosque included one main dome and six marinets, and eight secondary domes. This mosque's interior had over 20,000 hand made tiles, over 50 different tulip designs, 200 stain glass windows, and walls that looked like carpets. Also build during this period was the Taj Mahal. It was a white domed marble mausoleum. During Islamic Spain, there was a fusion of European and Islamic design created. During this period, the Great Mosque of Cordoba. This was a prayer hall with hypostyle architecture. During this time, there were so many different type of arches that were widely used, like the horseshoe arch and the ogival arch.

Images:

The great Mosque of Kairouan


The Mosque of Sultan Ahmed


Taj Mahal


Current Applications:



Extra Credit:The geometric design in Islamic Design
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg1NpMmPv48

Romanesque

The emperor at the time, Charles the Great, Encouraged learning, arts, preserving and copying Roman literature, and encouraged building using the technology of Roman structures. Romanesque churches had semicircular arch and vaults, plans from early christian basilica, and they added a side chapel in the transcript. During this time, they also had different types of vaults that were widely used, the barrel vault, the groin vault, and the ribbed vault. Different from the Roman period, Romanesque had roofs made of masonry and not wood. They also used rich tapestries and gilded sculptures. The type of ornament they used were stone carvings that taught and illustration to people. It was an image of Christ draped in swirled clothing extending his hands to various groups of people in the world. As for residential homes, not many survived due to the wood structure that was also made of mud, twigs, and dirt for the floors. Two types of chairs that were significant during this period was the Throne of Dagobert and the Throne of Charlemagne.

Images:

Types of Vaults


Interior of a Romanesque church


Throne of Charlemagne

Current Applications:



Extra Credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSiD5Jinpuw

Review - Byzantine

Katie- Katie's blog post was straight to the point of what we went over in class. She touched on all the information we were presented with on the power point. Very informational and her current application photos are very interesting and unique.

Kiera- Kiera's blog post was very lengthy and full of so much information on the Byzantine era. I really like how she went into a lot of detail about the domes during this time. She also chose great past and present images to go along with her information on them.  

Review - Early Christian

Haley- In Haley's blog post she covered the history of this period, how Christians arranged their homes, and they type or architecture and materials they used in their homes and furniture. She covered everything we went over in class and chose images that represent the time period very well.

Holli- Holli covered so much information on the Early Christian time period. She went into great detail about every aspect of this period we went over in class. She also chose images that went very well with what she discussed. Overall a great blog post.

Byzantine

The Byzantine period was from 330-1453 CE. During this time, the Byzantine Empire was the longest political entity in European history. It was associated with the Eastern culture and influence by the Greeks and Orient. Constantinople became the capital of Roman empire which is current day Istanbul. The basilica plan changed to a more centralized plan. There was also a new architectural type, Domed Basilica that was a type of construction called pendentives. They were constructed in a way to catch the most sunlight. A famous church during this time was the Hagia Sophia. It was the main cathedral in Constantinople. The central plan included circle windows which gave the massive dome a sense of an importance exterior. This church was known as the church of Holy Wisdom. Byzantine architecture consisted of multiple domes, a central plan including a Greek cross plan, round arches and arcades, mosaics, alternating stone colors or stone and brick. The buildings that remain today are churches and temples. The flooring is tiled in marble, often with geometric designs and the surfaces on the walls or ceilings were ornamented with marble, frescos, mosaics, and alabaster.

Images:



Interior of the Hagia Sophia



Current Applications:



Extra Credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdC_1ffEADI

Early Christian

The Early Christian period was from 330-800 CE. This religion began with the death of Christ. The Christianity posed a threat to the Roman Empire. Many adherents to the Christian faith were of lower class. The emperor, Constantine recognized Christianity as a religion in 313 CE. He legalized Christianity through the Edict of Milan. It became an official religion of with all rights and privileges of other state religions. Constantine believed he saw a vision of a cross as a sign from God to legalize Christianity and also believed it would help him win the battle of Milvian Bridge. Early Christians met in homes or existing buildings. They ended up needing a space of just worship. Current Roman temples were not structured to accommodate Christian group worship.  Old St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome was built in 330 CE. It was filled with masonry walls clerestory windows, wooden roofs, and wood truss ceilings. The interiors were filled with frescos of biblical accounts from the Old and New Testament. In Italy and Spain, the Sant' Apollinare in Classe was built between 535-538 CE. It had 24 columns of Greek marble, Mullion windows with three openings, a triumphal arch, and a semi vaulted apse covered with mosaics. Furniture during this time was very elaborate and richly decorated with carving and jewels. The style of the furniture follows the Roman style for furniture.

Images:

Old St. Peter's Cathedral


Sant' Apollinare in Classe




Current Applications:


Modern day Christian Churches

Extra Credit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p17bBVA4EWA