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.