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