Concerning the list of artifacts (desk/bookcase with chinoiserie, windsor chair, tall clock, state bed, and sheraton side chair), similar elements of line, proportion, and unity are found throughout the various pieces. Although the styles of design vary from having “gilded flowers, trees, and/or people against a black background” (Roth 451) to “[having] architectural details such as columns or broken pediments for displaying sculpture or porcelain” (Roth 428), the presence of straight lines and curved counterparts, and how they complement each other, is a characteristic all five pieces have in common.
Repetition is heavily present throughout the list of given spaces (Holkham Hall saloon, Gunston hall stair hall, Marie Antoinette's bedroom, Saltram House saloon, and Gardner-Pingree House parlor). While “symmetry continues to define wall paneling” (Roth 464), typical patterns found throughout the given spaces include surfaces that resemble textiles, framed paintings, and/or naturalistic designs. While the repetition of geometric shapes and compartments are clearly present throughout the spaces, the patterns are often separated by color or contrast provided by the varying depths of light.
The use of vertical lines and emphasis tie the list of buildings together (Chiswick House, Drayton Hall, Pantheon, Nathaniel Russel House, and Monticello). Columns are found throughout the various designs, each placing emphasis on the symmetrical facade of their respective building. All five of the buildings balance the use of horizontal and vertical lines (found in the symmetrical distancing of windows, levels, etc.) to create a harmonious architectural entity.
Each of the places listed (London Williamsburg, Paris, New Town, Scotland, and Washington) reinterpreted and revived various aspects of classicism throughout their architecture and city-planning, the styles becoming visual metaphors for culture and progress. The similar elements of form and line are embodied by the cities' intersecting lines and focal points (i.e. roads, communal centers, etc.).
Common design ancestry across the Atlantic Ocean concerning England during the Neo-Palladian and Late Georgian periods is evidenced by the inherent design similarities found throughout furniture, interior, building, and planning designs in the New World. “Colonial furniture closely follows English models [with the] earliest examples [following] Elizabethan and Jacobean forms and details” (Roth 264). With respect to exterior and interior architecture, the overhanging upper stories of many colonial houses were influenced by the New England jetty. Similarities found throughout interiors largely stemmed from the inherent drive to follow vernacular medieval traditions and importation of English furniture, with “colonists [traveling] to England [to] bring back fashionable items” (Roth 258). Because homes were largely influenced by their English counterparts, the positioning of buildings in respect to each other were similar. Colonial cities often focused around town centers and churches, with roads intersecting and dividing cities into individual sections that would come together to form a harmonious unit.
Concerning France and it's design influences, “architecture, interiors, and furnishings in New France closely resembles those in France and derive from the settlers' classes and regions of origin, some being more vernacular and others being more high-style” (Roth 289). Because collective French heritages appeared in different areas, forms and construction techniques were slightly altered to accommodate for the difference in local climate and needs, causing distinctive regional characteristics. While vernacular buildings were preferred along the Mississippi River and in Louisiana, New Orleans displayed a sophisticated model of French architecture. However, commonly reflected throughout these domestic architectural designs were verticality, evidence of structure, and function over style. As such, steep roofs, half-timber construction, and square shapes were common throughout French colonial architecture. Regarding furniture, simpler forms of the Louis XIII, Louis XIV, and Louis XV styles were popular in most French settlements.
[3] From the Hersey/Freedman reading, DESIGN and POST a labeled floor plan of a possible Palladian villa inspired by Girolamo Frescobaldi’s Balletto Terzo
Although it's appropriate to accept the limitations of finite surfaces concerning the portrayal of infinite measures, the realm of movement through the manipulation of design was evidently articulated by the Baroque period, creating within it a medium for which the embodiment of social performance became possible. As such, because the period placed emphasis on the effect of movement rather than the effect of symmetry and balance, a representational depiction that suggested the existence of the unseen came to find solace within the distortions and deliberate bending of space. Stemming from Shakespeare's philosophy of art mirroring nature, baroque thinkers expressed ordered worlds consistently threatened by unknown forces, environments existing in essential but fragile harmony.
In class, we detailed the flowing characteristics of Baroque architecture, spearheading staircases as one of the clearest examples of the style. Curving rather than linear, the symbolic representation of movement breaks from the traditional notion of function over style, deviating from what became a widely acknowledged form of stagnation. Practicality aside, to which there was no tangible improvement, this distortion of shape reinforced the theatricality of the period, that the illusion of motion was both figurative and dramatic.
always such beautiful work, articulate prose. thanks for your continued leadership in this course.
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