History of Architecture, Urbanism, and Art, Drury University Test 6 (Sem 2)

Elightenment

Elightenment

Illuminating, making clear, reson to understand the world and question traditional (recived) world views Empriricism

Rousseau

Initiated and inspired the enlightenment. Wrote the Social Contract that argued for true freedom and strived do the good of the collective over the good of the individual. Civil responsibility everyone is responsible for everyone. He ignites the sparks of the french revolution.

Laugier Treatise

Essay on Architecture 1753, Frontispiece goes back to before architecture when it was just a shelter, mythical figure sitting on top of ruble from classical elements. Focuses on the essentials of architecture, rejecting ornament. He initiates the idea of rejecting ordainment and simplifying the building.

Lodoli

Essay on architecture writing by his students from his lectures. Says legible representation of physical forces that allow a building to stand and be structurally sound (tectonics). “Nothing should be visible that is not a working part of the building” unites building and reason. Not new idea like Alberti who had efficient, beautiful and structurally sound. Lodoli just thought it was most important.

Diderot

Published the first encyclopedia (1751-1766) collected information on all topics used to organize and record contemporary knowledge. Information was public so people did not have to rely on the church or monarchy from information. Chapters on architecture were written by Blondel.

Blondel

Wrote the chapters on architecture in the encyclopedia. Said buildings should be without ornament and express mass. Sense of “architectural beauty” coming from its proportions. Worked a lot for the state. Takes ideas from Laugier and puts them into the chapters on architecture. Built Guardhouse, Metz, France, 1764 which has mass and legible tectonics but uses ornament.

guardhouse

blondel, Metz, France, 1764

Wall tectonics

Enclosed tectonics used with walls. Used by Blondel with mass and classical language.

Screen/Frame tectonics

Tracing elements used by Laugier more gothic language.

Church of Sainte Genevieve-Pantheon

Soufflot, Paris, France, 1755-90. Name change b/c it stopped being used as a church but instead a burial site for heroes of revolution. Used wall and frame tectonics. Wall: Colossal pilasters and solid walls conveying weight Frame: Has classical elements that makes portico as well as a forest of columns inside. Building uses classical massing with gothic spaceial condition. Very open and tall like medieval gothic.

National Library Project

Boullee, 1785, never built b/c technology wasn’t made yet. Precedents were Laurentina library and library of the friary of San Marco. Used typology but wanted to make a public library instead of the previous ones that were private. Boullee was inspired because of the enlightenment to make a public library. Different levels for circulation and large opening at the top for light to read. Design is a product of cultural ideas

Cenotaph for Isaac Newton

Boulle, 1784, design made after Newton but made to acknowledge him b/c he thought outside the box about the universe and went against the church and monarchy just like how people are thinking during the enlightenment. Used scale to show importance and to represent the universe. Surrounded by cypresses that are usually present at grave sites. Makes vault to show the stars and planets that Newton studied.

Cenotaph

Literally an "empty tomb," a monument to a person buried elsewhere.

Saline Royale

Ledoux, Chaux/Arc-et-Senans, 1775-78, originally had more ground plans than what was built. This was a source of money for the monarchy they controlled production, sales, and the taxes on it. Not located near the sea but an inland saltwater reservoir since they needed to build fires the factory had to be near a forest. Also needed room to house the workers and the center house is for the director to oversee the workers. Director’s house: looks rough and heavy tower on top is meant for the director to overlook the workers (panopticon).

Saline

Place where salt is produced.

Architecture Parlante

Literally, "speaking architecture," an eighteenth-century French phrase referring to works that narrate their function.

Altes Museum

Schinkel, Berlin, Germany, 1825-28, because of all the revolutions Germany had a push for a democratic government, Museum didn’t exist before this. The people took over places like the Louvre where the monarchy used to be and wanted to display the thing the people “paid for” and set it up in chronological way for people to view. Germans took the notion of presenting history in a way that educates. Used classical elements and palaces one a plaza. Rooms were organized in an enfilade.

Imperialism

Unequal rel. between powerful and less powerful, which involves domination and subordination, sometimes exploitation. England conquering territories and imposing ideas and exploiting local governments.

Colonialism

Establishing colonies outside one’s own territory. Imposing government and political control

Orientalism

Represents Asia and especially Middle East in a stereotyped way, embodying an imperialist/colonialist attitude. Fairly recent idea of how a western culture subjugates the other by stereotyping them as primitive.

Fetish

Irrational attachment to something that may exaggerate its importance. Taking components of a culture and making them seem sensual, cherry picking and reducing them to one and exaggerating that thing.

Historicism

Identifiable and explicit historical forms, privileges past over present through use of motifs. Architecture looks at past architecture language and decides how to incorporate it.

Eclecticism

Broad range of sources, looking to non-classical pasts, informal combinations. Looking upon a verity of things all mashed up together. Not always rational and hard to find out why they chose things. Less disciplined than before.

Picturesque

In architecture, building takes characteristics of landscape. Looking at wild and natural landscapes and what elements the building takes from it.

Neo-classicism

Signifying discipline and rational thinking; clarity; timelessness; large scale; simple forms. Kind of historicism with classical.

Neo-gothic/Gothic revival

Synthesizes gothic structural and material with rationalist theory.

Strawberry Hill

Walpole, Twickenham, England, 1749-76, 18th century freedom of expression. Commissioned by a gothic novelist with a fetish for gothic architecture. Buildings already on site before started and expanded on it. Creates scenography of medieval times. Has turrets, tracery, quatrefoil, crenelations, and fan vaults. Vaults are carried by consoles that aren’t really carrying any weight. Built out of plaster and not stone (illusion and cheaper). Neo gothic historicism house.

Turret

a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle (gothic arch)

Fan Vault

Seen in England on piers with columetes that expand when they hit the celling.

Font hill Abbey

Wyatt, Wiltshire, England, 1795-1807, built for Wiliam Beckford who was interested in gothic past. Picturesque communicates that nature is vast compared to people. Different kinds of vegetation (round shrubs and tall evergreens) and on the building there is a variety of shapes and forms. Sublime because the building is fascinating but also terrifying. Not an actual Abbey but looks like it. Not entirely stone but plaster because it is cheaper.

Abbey

A Christian monastery or convent and its church.

Contrasts: Ancient Residences for the Poor

Pugin, 1841, Illustrator: Thomas Deane looks back on 14th and 15th centuries and contrasting it with the modern day (medieval vs. modern). Medieval was more moral b/c of the church, people were taken care of, got good food, and had dignified funerals. Modern people were treated as prisoners, got bad food, and their bodies were used for research after death. Argued for gothic arch because it was more moral. Modern building is a panopticon.

Panopticon

A cylindrical building with radiating outer cells that can be observed from a central point.

Houses of Parliament

Barry and Pugin, London England, 1836-60, had a monarchy but also and elected government and building was the place where the government met. Base was gothic for morality and nationalism. Crossing, courtyard, towers, and finial. Can tell it’s not medieval by the regularity of the facade and roughly grided (unlike Strawberry Hill). Perpendicular Gothic and Picturesque with the elements of shadow and light.

Perpendicular Gothic

Very regular and grided gothic architecture not medieval.

Finial

Small towers that create gothic profile

Royal Pavilion

Nash, Brighton, England, 1815-23, Patron was prince region king George IV. Pleasure palaces go there for a while with ministers. Diverts from culture of England leans more towards seaside culture and used more playful architecture. Eclecticism different kinds of references. Not rigorous not literal used onion domes and exotic forms (mungol). Interior showed a lot of culture appropriation lack of respect. Takes reductive fetishized version of people on decor.

Onion dome

A bulbous-shaped dome found usually in either Islamic tombs or Russian Orthodox churches.

Cast Iron

New material introduced that can take any form from a mold and easy to produce.

Truss

A horizontal spanning member made from a web of thin braces, usually arranged as triangles, achieving maximum strength while eliminating mass.

Ruskin

Lamps of architecture, one lamp was the argument in favor of truth in materials like Alberti (arch should do the right thing in the right place at the right time). Classical built in stone and can’t divorce the forms from material. Not applicable to make cast iron look like a classical column or pier. Against fakery.

Iron Bridge

Darby, Coalbrookdale, England, 1776-79, historically romans made bridges out of stone and with multiple arches. This one is one big arch made with iron. Darby was and engineer and an iron producer. He used the bridge to show what cast iron could do (advertisement) and also used the bridge as transportation for his goods. Made for people and carriages only.

Clifton Suspension Bridge

Brunel, Bristol, England, 1864, engineers start becoming a profession. Tension vs Compression. Chains on either side hold the long span of the bridge in place.

Strutt’s North Mill

Strutt, Belper, England, 1803, textile mill. Example of how new technology makes its ways into buildings. Mill runs on wheel that fuels production. Mills have existed since romans and water mills since the renaissance. Mill building needed to be large to house machinery and store products. Cited by water and open spaces. Great fire risk due to dust and fabric. Cast iron reduced the risk of fires and allowed a lot more space with a lot less material. To build parts were pre-fabricated to make construction faster and sometimes covered in terracotta to reduce fire risk more.

Saint Pancras Station

Scott, London, England, 1868-74, train station important to economy b/c of train transportation (distributing and connecting people). Usually located in the heart of the city bigger cities had a ring of stations that connected to different parts of the city. New building type and provided new buildings for public life. Main building had ticket both, restaurant and hotel. Front recalls neo gothic architecture shows that the building is dignified to represent the city. Supposed to convey that you were arriving to a place of culture. Massive public institution that wasn’t a church or town hall. Back of building or train shed was made out of industrial materials. Protected passengers from elements but had to keep one end open due to the train emissions. Shed designed by engineer and head building designed by architect.

Crystal Palace

Paxton, London, England, 1850, first example of building completely built out of cast iron and glass. Designed by landscape architect that built a lot of green houses. Building is a brainchild of Albert, the husband of queen Victoria. Modernist that proposed an Exabition with different countries to show works of industry. Had a competition to design the place to hold it but all were to expensive and used old precedents. Paxtons proposal had prefabricated materials, was constructed quickly, and had repeated parts. Was built in two months. Somewhat like a basilica large nave with side spaces. People fascinated with new type of building and came a whole new public activity. First exhibition of goods.

Haussman’s Interventions

Paris, France, 1853-70, rebellion in 19th century called for redesign of streets since the rebels would use the small streets and irregular city to their advantage. Haussman was a part of the government and was appointed to transform and modernize Paris. Super imposed a series of long straight streets that connected major points of the city. Widened the streets and demolished some buildings to make room.

National Opera

Garnier, Paris, France, 1860-1875

Porte Cochere

Place for carriages