Lecture 9- The City and Country in Britain

The Anglican Church

English King Henry VIII dissolves catholic churches and creates the Church of England in order to divorce his Catholic wife

Has traditions of the Catholic church, opposed by the Puritans who wanted purer worship

Site/ Location/ Architect

The Banqueting House

London, England

Architect: Inigo Jones

Inigo Jones

• Foremost architecture and theatre designer in the British during the first half of the 17th century

• Post printing press, knowledge came from italian renaissance books, Palladio

• travelled, aware of architectural feats elsewhere

Great Fire of London

1666, destroyed a large part of the City of London

Identify architect who designed this new plan for the city of london

Christopher Wren

Christopher Wren

designer, astronomer, geometrician who designed in classical styles and employed engravings he purchased from his travels

Site/ Location/ Architect

St. Paul’s Cathedral

Location: London, England

Architect: Christopher Wren

Identify the drawing+ Image caption

South elevation, St. Paul’s Cathedral

• Combines Renaissance, Neoclassical, and Gothic elements.

• Hides Gothic flying buttresses behind Renaissance "false walls" (screen walls).

• Triple Dome: Three nested layers—inner masonry dome, middle brick cone (structural), and outer lead/wood dome.

• Massive Scale: Two-story facade divide; Corinthian columns; large triangular pediment.

• Function: False walls provide the necessary weight to balance thin naves against the heavy central dome.

The Palladian Revival

superiority of antiquity

Site/ Location/ Architect

St. Mary Woolnoth

London, England

Nicholas Hawksmoor

Site/ Location/ Architect

St. Martin-in-the-Fields

London, England

James Gibbs

Site/ Location/ Architect

Queen’s Square, Circus, and Royal Crescent

Bath, England

John Wood, the Elder; John Wood, the Younger

Identify the drawing+ Image caption

Site plan, Queen’s Square, The Circus, and the Royal Crescent

• Urban town planning; high-density housing in one structure.

• Facade: Looks like one grand mansion; Corinthian columns and pediment.

• The Circus: Uses three orders (Doric, Ionic, Corinthian).

• Map Shape: Crescent + Circus forms a "key" shape.

Site/ Location/ Architect

Chiswick House

London, England

Lord Burlington (Richard Boyle) and William Kent

Identify the Drawing+ Image Caption

Elevation and plan, Chiswick House

• Political Expression: The house served as Richard Boyle’s first architectural statement regarding his social class's political rights.

• Palladian Influence: The design relies heavily on precedent, specifically the architectural forms of Andrea Palladio and his reconstructions of Roman buildings.

• Geometric Composition: The layout is "packed and blocky," emphasizing strict symmetry and a variety of geometric shapes.

• Interior Layout: The floor plan features a central octagonal hall, four rectangular rooms, a library, and a connecting garden.

• Function: Rather than a primary residence, the "pavilion" was designed as a dedicated space for entertaining Boyle’s social circle.

• Symmetry and Balance: The structure is mirrored along a midpoint line in both its plan and elevation, which is thought to symbolize a "balance of power."

Identify the Images+ Compare

Villa Rotonda vs. Chiswick House

• Both: Palladian, exterior columns, grand staircases.

• Villa Rotonda: Original Renaissance; rural living; perfectly symmetrical.

• Chiswick: Palladian Revival; social hangout; displayed landscape art (William Kent).

• Differences: Chiswick is more ornate; uses double-stair arrangement; larger footprint.

China and the European Enlightenment

Jesuits travelled to China and bonded over their shared value on education

Jesuits interests liked in the divine mandate of the ruler and its ability to be revoked, and Chinese gardens

Site/ Location/ Architect

Stowe Gardens

Buckinghamshire, England

Architect: William Kent, among others

ha-ha

a walled ditch which allows uninterrupted views over ground in which animals graze

Image Identification+ Compare

Chinese Scholar Gardens vs. Stowe Gardens

Both: Use architecture to frame, embrace, and interact with the natural landscape.

Humble Administrator’s Garden:

• Style: Suzhou/Ming Dynasty.

• Purpose: Private retreat space.

• Method: Uses existing nature to frame views and architecture.

• Retains/frames what is already there.

• Private retreat (Humble)

Stowe Gardens:

• Style: Neoclassical / Palladian.

• Purpose: Political and nationalistic expression.

• Method: Balances symmetrical man-made elements (octagon lake, pavilions) against natural earth lines.

• Actively modifies the landscape to create balance between symmetry and nature.

• public/Nationalistic statement

Site/ Location/ Architect

Stourhead

Wiltshire, England

Henry Hoare II with Henry Flitcroft

Picturesque

artistic concept characterized by a preoccupation with the pictorial values of architecture and landscape in combination with each other