Point: Alternatives IAR 222

In this section for point we covered many eras and aspects of architecture such as: Gothic Cathedrals, Villas, Furniture in the Renaissance, and Baroque. This point is specifically called alternatives, which relates all of these styles and aspects together by their different views and changes of design by finding new ways to represent ideas and symbolism.

First, Gothic cathedrals are a very captivating and elegant form of architecture. To elaborate, the Cologne Cathedral perceives the image that you would picture when you about the word cathedral.

http://www.xahlee.org/dinju/cologne_cathedral.html

This particular cathedral seems to be never ending because of the huge scale. The upward lifting sequence of the structure transports you to infinity, because you feel as though you could never possibly touch the ceiling.

http://www.dennisrhollowayarchitect.com/EuropeanSketchbook.html

There are many geometric squares in the cathedral that tie all the other shapes together. This creates the idea of a new reality in repetition, meaning this wasn’t seen as much before in previous architecture. As for Gothic cathedrals in general, many of them are based on the Bascilica plan that includes axial progression in the shape of a cross. They also house the idea and appearance of verticality, which is contributed by the towers, clerestory windows, interior columns and arches, and high up light sources. The next aspect would be Villas. We covered villas to a good extent, focusing a lot on the plan views. Villas, in themselves, were so captivating that they inspired many other impressive buildings centuries later such as Monticello. The main idea behind Villas is the very simple layout using circles and squares. The whole theory is that the individual is the measure, and basically that man is the center of the universe. Squares were typically the most important geometric shape in the design of the plan because it is the outline of most of the villas, creating the exterior walls, and a square has four corners, which represents the four corners of the Earth at that time. Villas were meant to be impressive and show everything off, again with the idea that you are the axis.

As for Renaissance, furniture during this time started taking a turn as the world of architecture entered this era. Furniture became somewhat bulkier and heavy. Different designs came together from previous periods, but the visual boundaries were still controlling these ideas, such as borders being places around a tabletop. The furniture was very decorative and hard to miss, thus making it the unavoidable art, such as a chest of drawers. It was still storage, but was covered in decoration and sometimes resembled the appearance of something else, giving it depth. This is something I feel like we still are using today in design, even when picking out items for our homes. Function and form a very important to us. In the Renaissance, textiles n the home became even more common and it was more about comfort than just looks, so no longer was comfort being overlooked in design. Just like in the Gothic period, the repetition of elements was still commonly used.

http://bdml.stanford.edu/twiki/bin/view/Brunelleschi/JaymiesNotebook

Finally, we also touched on the Baroque style period. With Baroque, I personally picture very overdone and I see similarities between it and the Victorian period, but not as random. Baroque was extremely elegant in a new way without being busy, but also having a harmony in the way that everything flowed together.

http://www.sirclisto.com/cavalier/fr_baroque.html

There was a lot of contrast and detail, meaning there was more emphasis on the detail and decoration. There were many organic lines in this period and was considered more ornamental than functional, which is very easy to see.