US 2

Church of Holy Sepulcher

As we learned in the previous unit, temples and churched were using two main themes. They used the circle, as seen in the Pantheon. They also used rectangles, like the Basilica in Rome.  The architects begin to incorporate these two ideas. They are incorporated in many different ways. The Church of Holy Sepulcher combines the rectangle with a half circle on each end. The Church of Nativity uses two overlaying rectangles and three half circles. St. Peter’s basilica uses circles on each of the four sides of the church.

Church of Nativity

The churches also begin the trend of being bare on the outside and extravagant on the inside.  In St. Peter’s basilica the presence of arches is very noticeable. The eye follows the curved line of the arches to the ceiling. The ceiling is highly decorated. The ornamentation and the detail put in are phenomenal. I think that is amazing to see the detail and precision put into these enormous churches. I feel as if people today don’t take the time and the thought in creating architecture.  I think that the idea of keeping things plain on the outside and highly detailed on the inside also portrays the idea of the church at this time. The church was a very selective group and thought that only some should be allowed within the Christian religion. I think that the architecture of churches reflect this idea as well. The outside is not something that people see as interesting, but once allowed on the inside, you are able to embrace the riches of the building.

St. Peter's

We move from the idea of Revolution into the Renaissance. The Renaissance is a time when builders decide that architecture is too free and decide to lay down some rules. Rules such as:

• Revive the past using classical languages
•  Strive for harmony and order in all things
• Layer groves and stacks when possible
• Emphasize surface through materiality
• Follow the rules
• Place man at the center
• Strive for a positioned throne
• Get some perspective
• Expand your physical world.

I think that they are more of guidelines rather than rules.  It is the job of the architect to take the rules and translate them into their own design language.  The main idea between these rules emphasizes on the architecture being influenced by the past.  Also the idea of uniting with each other. The Renaissance is a style that was not one for trying to stand out or standing out for the classical era.

Chateau de Chambord

ChaOnce the rules are made, the first thing to do is to break them. They start to use more of their own ideas as architecture rather then trying to recreate the past. They tend to pick and choose elements form the past and blend them together. For instance, the Chateau de Chambord, in the words of Patrick Lee Lucas is “architecture on crack.” It combines the classical nature in the three stories of the palace, and takes the gothic nature and puts it on the roof.  They also start to utilize the landscape. Chateau de Chambord is a perfect example of the house being built into to ground rather than on top of.  The architecture also becomes more fluid. Rather than straight lines, they start to uses curves. In Chateau Fountainbleu the curved staircase allows your eye to easily glide up to the building. The interesting thing about the building is that it is not symmetrical. It looks as if they were trying to trick the eye into thinking it is symmetrical, but with a closer look you can see that the features are not symmetrical. This shows the Renaissance striving for independence. The Renaissance also liked to intertwine the senses in architecture. In Bernini’s Cappella Cornaro, he tries to heighten the sensed by illusions. He designs the sculptures so that when the light strikes them it looks like fabric rather than stone.

Fountainbleu

We then move into an era where architecture is not quite making sense.  In Ledoux’s Saltworks there is highly detailed classical detail on the front, but the building’s use is intended for a factory. It looks more like a building that is intended as a temple or church. This is the first time you see this amount of detail put into an industrial building. I believe that this building aids the fight of engineering vs. architecture.  In Christ Church in Spitalfields, the building is in the middle of the city and is on a small ploy, but Hawksmoor decided that a nice tall steeple on the top of the church. This doesn’t make sense to put the steeple so high when the building rises low.

Salt works

The industrial revolution inspires the use of steel and glass. The idea of architecture also turns back into the idea of glorifying ones self. The crystal palace was an exhibit intended to show off all the king’s treasures. It was also designed to be temporary. This was the first structure of the style so it was coined as the first modern structure. The interesting thing about this was that the pieces inside that the king was showing off were classical pieces from the past. So the interior again is different from the outside.

Christ Church