According to conventional wisdom, the first home of men were caves, those natural crevices in the earth s surface that provided warmth, protection and privacy. Early architecture is somewhat easy to imagine—sticks, stumps, tree trunks, palm fronds, branches, vines components pieced together to establish homes and gathering places. Much was made for a while about the philosopher Laugier’s Essai sur Architecture which ignited a sort of “back to the roots” mentality in the mid-1700’s as he pictured the “rustic cabin” of primitive man, claiming it to be “the model upon which all magnificence of architecture have been imagined.” It featured single load-bearing columns and a tented roof.
We have, of course, no telescope to the past, but it seems certain of the emergence and dominance of various shapes—the cave which inspired, eventually, the dome; the teepee or tent, which inspired the classical shape of the temple with its triangular pediment and series of columns.
The stacking, layering and interplay of shapes is at the base of architecture. Simple forms compose more complex ones; the cylinder, flared out at the bottom and tapered, becomes the shaft; a rectangle designed, perhaps indented and ornamented becomes a molding, a block becomes a plinth or a pedestal. Toward this elemental understanding of architecture, students will be guided in the use of a “kit of parts”, composed of cardboard forms and/or wooden elements.
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From the condensed perspective of historical hindsight, we are able to analyze the flow of architecture. Indeed, the history of architecture blends with the architecture of history. It is important, then, to appreciate an overview, not only of the evolution of basic shapes and spaces, but they way they were imposed upon by five key elements. These include:
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1. Needs. Why do people need buildings? What were man s earliest structures and how did they evolve? What are the physical, psychological, spiritual and other needs of a building?
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2. Technology. How is a building is built? How is a building affected by the environment? How do new tools and new construction techniques (ex. the Roman arch) affect the prevailing architecture thought?
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3. Culture. What is the symbolic language of architecture? What are the rituals, signs, symbols and other elements that compose the language of architecture?
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4. Climate. How does the building deals with nature? What types of buildings and details are suited for each type of culture (example, a pitched roof for a snowy region, light colored walls and small windows in hot dry areas)?
We will also explore the periods of architecture, following the somewhat superficial but nevertheless intriguingly capsulized format suggested in Architecture for Beginners.
While a brief overview will be given taking into account such cultures as Early Civilization 5000 BC-4 AD, ancient Egypt (including the building of the pyramids), and others, the focus will be on Greek, Roman, Gothic and Victorian architecture.
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Particular attention will be given to the colonnade along with the evolution of the three Greek orders of columns.
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1. Doric Order. This is similar to the Tuscan order, but not as stubby. It is thought of as “male” architecture—strong, firm and almost military in connotation. One feature of a Doric column is the inclusion of a triglyph (a vertical element with two half-channels) in the frieze (the middle part of the entablature). It also has a square block on the underside of the corona (a part of the cornice) and conical pieces below the triglyphs. Unlike the elaborate Corinthian design, the capital is simple—just a sort of square slab supported by a molding(s).
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2. Ionic Order. This order is evidenced by a voluted capital (a capital in the shape of a whirl or spiral) and has small closely-placed blocks on the cornice.
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3. Corinthian Order. The capital is perhaps its most striking feature, depicting a “peeled back” look, or the unfurling of leaves.
(figure available in print form)
(figure available in print form)
(figure available in print form)
The Romans borrowed heavily from the Greeks, inflating their ideas into Roman architecture, building fortress-like buildings with emphatic fronts and showcasing their invention, the arch. The civil and military architecture of Rome took the five orders (the Doric, Ionic and Corinthian plus Tuscan and Composite) which they perceived as the essence or architecture and wedded them to elaborate configurations of arches and vaulted multi-story buildings. The orders became not only ornament but, as actual controls which made the building speak. They became, in a way, ceremonies, celebrations of structure and expression of the most integrated sort.
The Romans did not discard the Greek post-and-lintel construction system (trabeation) but rather relegated it to the realm of expression, as shown in the Coliseum at Rome, where there are three open galleries of arches with an additional solid story on top. The colonnades, points out Summerson, have little or no structural purpose, but serve as representations of temple architecture.
(figure available in print form)
(figure available in print form)
(figure available in print form)
(figure available in print form)
(figure available in print form)
Gothic architecture was developed in Paris, in the Ile de France, in the 11th and 12th centuries, emerging from Romanesque and Byzantine forms. It served as the architectural style of the High Middle Ages in Western Europe, and examples of from the Gothic revival movement are abundant on the Yale campus. Gothic exists as a marriage of humanity, God and nature. The Gothic system exploited several new elements, the pointed arch, the flying buttress (a sort of bridge to carry the roofing system) and the ribbed vault. It was also typified by the gradual reduction of the walls to a system of highly decorated fenestration. Notre Dame in Paris is one example of Gothic architecture. Gothic tracery is an interesting element. Children might imagine this easily by speaking about paper cut-outs placed over a window. Tracery consists of curvilinear openwork shapes of stone or wood that create a pattern within the upper part of the window. There are many styles of tracery including bar tracery, a pattern formed by interlocking bars of stone, and fish bladder tracery, a late Gothic tracery reminiscent of the air-bladder of a fish.
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At least a cursory discussion of Victorian architecture would be well worth the effort. This mixture of ornamentation and construction certainly fires the imagination. It is an accessible architecture with a profusion of examples available locally. A look at Victorian architecture helps us also bring our focus on the civil, military and ecclesiastical structures into the realm of the everyday, or, in other words the “domestic cottage.” While grand and imposing houses were erected for the aristocracy, the revolutionary stride of this era was the housing style of the middle class which began to accumulate character. Homes of the Victorian style, named after Queen Victoria who reigned for 63 years, went beyond the useful.
It is necessary of course that a structure must be useful. The building with holes in its roof simply will not do when the inhabitants are subjected to the forces of nature. The beautiful, on the other hand, is somewhat less obligatory, as evidenced by box-like structures and slabs of concrete shaped somewhat irreverently in the form of a house. The beautiful, thus, is something apart from the useful, although most people do yearn and express their yearnings for something that manifests the beautiful. Thus, the simple box shape of a house is enhanced by ornamentation, by a colonnade/porch, by a portico, turret, tower or other feature. Beauty is increased when proportion, symmetry, variety, harmony and unity are well executed. Victorian Architecture is perhaps so intriguing because of its innate sense of eclecticism. After Queen Victoria constructed her new home on the Isle of Wright (Osborne House, constructed between 1845 and 1851) with Italianate features, scaled-down versions began to appear on the exteriors of middle-class villas. Features began to be mixed indiscriminately and much more of it was used. Various styles of Victorian architecture developed—the High Victorian Gothic, the High Victorian Italianate, the Second Empire Style, the Stick Style, the Queen Ann Style, and so forth. The Victorian period had the cumulative affect as heaping ornamentation not only onto the mass of the building but onto the masses.
While our review of architecture for the schoolchild must be superficial by nature, the perspective gleaned will allow the youngster to have at least a working appreciation and knowledge of architectural styles along with some terms. A few terms of architecture’s vast vocabulary follows: abacus, arch, arcade, bracket, cornice, entablature, gargoyle, and frieze.
(figure available in print form)
(figure available in print form)
(figure available in print form)
(figure available in print form)
(figure available in print form)
(figure available in print form)
(figure available in print form)
But our perspective is to be more than historical. An appreciation of design will be sought through the development of a hands-on and eyes-on experience, whereby students come to grasp at least the basics of shape and space. First we will discuss the solid elements of architecture, which, when composed with others of their kind or other kinds, create spaces that can be every bit as exciting as the forms themselves. These solids include: columns (post), beams (entablature), walls, roofs, platforms (foundation level), arches, rafters, and joist. They also include details such as capitals, cornices, keystones, moldings, pediments, and friezes. Through the combination of solids, voids or spaces are created, such as windows, doorways, intercolumnation, cortiles, forecourts, courtyards, atriums and hallways.
Students will be guided in developing an understanding of how buildings come together through the clever placement of architectural element such as columns. The most basic building is perhaps the aedicule, a simple four poster building capped with an entablature and pediment. This can also be referred to as a pavilion, gazebo or bandstand. This design can be expanded to create the Classical Greek temple.
The placement of shafts or columns covered with a flat roof creates a pergola (covered walkways.) The basic house is created using solid elements of walls and roofs, with spatial elements of doorways and windows. A simple porch can be added with the use of two columns, entablature and pediment. Towers and wings can be created to add visual and spatial complexity as variations on a theme.
The spaces between the columns is an extremely important aspect of architecture. They can create as much visual excitement as the columns do themselves. Intercolumniation (the spacing of columns) not only helps set the tempo, but quite often at the very least influences the mood of the building. What then, beyond these simple components, are the basics of architecture? In the Classical Language of Architecture, author John Summerson spoke of the importance Romans placed on the importance of the spacing of the columns measured in diameters, what he likened to beating time. Summerson further developed the analogy of musical terminology to express the styles. For the most common Systyle (2D) and Eustyle (2 1/2D), he respectively related to “allegro” and “adagio”, or to a quick march and a dignified walk. The closest spacing of Pycnostgyle (1 1/2D) was referred to as a “halt” and Diastyle, the wider Diastyle (3D) was equated to the musical term “adagio”. The widest style of intercolumniation Araeostyle (4D) was expressed as a slow leaping motion, although he was quite reluctant to equate it with “largo.”
Summerson goes on to point to differences of emotions aroused between S. Pietro in Montorio, Rome by Bramante in Diastyle (3 diameters)—stately, serene, meditative—and the mausoleum by Hawksmoor at Castle Howard—Pycnostyle ( 1 1/2 diameters—tense and forbidding.
The study of columns will be expanded to understand the various types.
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1. Columns in the round. These carry something, typically their own entablature, but also possibly a wall or the eaves of the roof above it. A continuous colonnade surrounding a temple or court is called a peristyle.
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2. Detached columns. These have a wall behind them which they do not touch but into which their entablature is solidly built.
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3. Three-quarter columns. One quarter of these columns are built into the wall.
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4. Half columns. These columns are half-buried in the wall.
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5. Pilasters. These are not necessary structural items, but rather decorative ones, where the columns are “carved” as if in relief on the wall.