History of Architecture and Interior Design - Essay Example

?History of architecture and Interior Design Introduction Architecture and interior designing is one of the most important s in today’s highly developed society. Interior designing portray the culture and taste of the individual or the family. Architecture of a house, or a building or any construction is a clear indication of the taste of culture of the society and the people living their. With the development of the modern science and technology, now the architecture as well as interior designing is continuously changing over the time. 2. Definition of Architecture and Interior Designing: Architecture is the art and science associated with designing and developing any construction. According to Quorum Architects (2013) Interior design can be defined as multi-faceted profession in which creative and technical solutions are applied within a structure to achieve a built interior environment. These solutions are functional, enhance the quality of life and culture of the occupants and are aesthetically attractive. (Quorum Architects, 2013) 3. Objective of the Paper: The objective of this essay is to find the answer of the following question in relation to the architecture and interior designing. The question is “In what ways did the ‘neo-Palladian’ Cheswick House by William Kent and Lord Burlington embody neoclassical values”. Image 1: Longleat House of the year 1580, example of Neo Palladian Work. 4. Neo Palladian Covept of architecture: Neo-Palladianism is the term associated with the style of architecture. It is used to describe the style of architecture developed in Britain in the early eighteenth century. The implement of this style was first implemented by Lord Burlington and his group of architects. The architecture was mainly developed on Palladio’s villas as well as in palaces rather than on the church. For a long period of time, this style was not applicable in the interior designing as well as in the architecture. But at present, the re-emergence of a new Palladian style was the result of many different factors. Chief of these was the energy and vision of Richard Boyle, the third Lord Burlington. In order to re discover this art he acquired a major set of drawings and writing of Palladio and with the help of talented groups of designer and architect he started to use this pattern once again. His aim was to develop a new taste of Palladianism style in Britain. His new style of work was reflected on the structure and the design of buildings like Chiswick House etc. According to the analysis, Burlington's promotion of Palladio's work and the dissemination of ideas through architectural treatises and builders' companions led to a quite different style of architecture. Neo-Palladianism emphasized certain building types and stylistic features. Structure like Vilas and palace-terraces were busily erected across Britain, with columns, pediments deployed repeatedly on their facades. (Architecture.com, nd). Image 2: A villa with a superimposed portico, example of Neo Palladian architecture. 5. Neo Classical Architecture: According to Hopkins (2009), neoclassical architecture is based on ancient Greek and Roman principles of design principles, rules of scale, classical orders and proportion. This type of architecture was started in the 16th century by the work of Andrea Pallado during the Italian Renaissance period. In the 18th century this architecture work became fashionable in England and France as well. According to his review, the advancement of this architecture was carried out by the French Academy in Rome. The advancement was first noticed in the design of Petit Trianon, the Pantheon and the Arc de Triomphe in Paris etc. He also pointed out the fact that since then the English architecture group adopted the same culture. Among all the sculpture of the England, one of the well discussed and best example of Palladian style of Neoclassical architecture was Cheswick House in London. (Hopkins, 2009, p.119). According to his view, after the independence war in 1812 in America the neoclassical architecture started to gain popularity. In his view the main characteristic of the neoclassical architectures are as follows: Dramatic structure featuring two story columns which develop a portico. Presence of low pitched triangular pediments. Presence of symmetrically balanced front elevations in every structure. In every structure there were designs motivated from Greek and roman ornamental elements. Neoclassical residences and buildings feature domed roofs. This particular architecture was applicable in both small and large residence and buildings in different parts of various countries like America, France, and Italy and later on in England as well.(Hopkins, 2009, 119). According to Brannonidh(2011), the characterisrtics of the English neopalladian architecture is a bit different from that of the common style of this kind of structue. Among the English Neo –Palladian architecture, there were following characteristics: These structures had columns, pilasters, balusters, dentil moldings, and quoins. These structures have shells, leaves. After the mid century the structures used to have ribbons, leaves, shells, foilages, birds, pointed arches, quatrefoils, and tracery.(Brannonidh , 2011) According to the report of the Brannonidh (2011) , in England Neo-Palladian became a national style in the first half of the 18th century. The buildings developed in this architecture were symmetrical, geometric, as well as simple. In England, the distinctive features of these structures are with undecraive walls, and there are no spaces around the windows were decorated. The doors of this structure were a Neo-Palladian composition of pilasters or columns and either rounded, or triangular pediments. The roofs of the Neo-Palladian architectures were low pitched, hipped, or flat with bassusters. In this kind of architecture there were also return of Gothis styles and it began to increase in numbers. The building materials of all these structures were mainly brick, stones and stucco. The color of the bricks ware generally red. In this construction, the homes are generally large and elaborate but more over simple in nature. Color of those constructions was mainly white. This kind of architectures was the example of simplicity. Later on different shades of colors were available like Pea green, olive green, gray green, gray, sky blue, straw yellow, and a variety of gray shades. The availability of the artificial lights was very limited during that time as most of the lights were used to come from the fireplace. The floor of those buildings were typically wooden in nature as trees like oak, pine were used to develop the floor.(Brannonidh, 2011). 6. Chiswick House: Cheswick House is one of the great examples of neo-Palladian style of the architecture. Dickerson (2013), in his book discussed about the definition of the neoclasical architecture and also compare the basic characteristics of the Chiswick House along with the style of construction. According to his review, neoclassical architecture style of the 18tth century was a well known style and it was mainly developped as to counter the highly popular as well as decorative style of rococo. The neoclasical architecture was mainly based on logic, symetry and the design of this kind of structures were geometrically very strong. According to his point of view, this design was very popular in the development of public buildings in Britain during that time. The Chiswick House was built by Robert Boyle, in West london, England. The design of this building was mainly inspired by architect Palladio and his work of Villa Rotunda. In a broad point of view, he dicussed the structure of this building as an octagonal domeand a simple porticowhich was supported by an empty pediment. The overall style of this construction was restrained, flat as well as symetrical. (Dickerson, 2013, p.158). According to the review of Spurr (2012), the design of this construction was based on two of the Palladio’s villas. Those ware La Rotonda in Vicenza and villa Foscari, which was located near Venice. The order of the house was communicated by the symmetrical distribution, the hexastyle portico in Corinthian order and octagonal drum of its stately dome. In this building, there was no proper place to be considered as kitchen or proper bedroom. (Spurr, 2012, p.24). 7. William Kent and Lord Burlington : Buildinfg the Chiswick House: William Kent was born in Bridlington, Yorkshire. he was known for his painting nd also considered as the father of modern gardening. He was considered along with Lord Burlington the key men behind the one of the greatest architectural example, the Cheswick House. His work acted as the inspiration behind formation of the Blenheim Palace. From his idea of gardening, it was started to recognize more close to the nature rather than a following of strict rules. He was considered as the father of English landscape garden concept. With the designing of Burlington of Chiswick House, he was also the key behind the interior designing as well as for the designing of the surrounding garden (Cheswick House and Graden's Trust, n.d.). Palmer (2011), in his book discussed about the how the structure and architecture of Villa Capra inspired Burlington to designed the Chiswick House in London. According to his view, the model of Chiswick house build by Burlington was very much inspired by the Villa Capra, an architect of 1560. Image 3: Vila Capara According to his view, the Villa Capra was consisted of a square building with elevated porticoes on the all four sides of it. This structure was famous as it has 4 distinct views from all four sides. Compare to this structure, the Chiswick house has only one main portico entrance, and therefore the entire structure was with a bilateral symmetry. Another key difference of this building with that of the Villa Capra was the drum of this dome was octagonal in shape rather than round. Due to these distinct features, Palmer pointed out that the structure was more similar with that of the Domus Aurea. According to his view, the main inspiration of this particular construction from Palladio was in its classical aesthetic (Palmer, 2011, pp.42-43). 8. Detail about The Design and the architecture of Chiswick House: There was a detail discussion about this particular architecture in the Sustainable Heritage(2006). According to that analysis Chiswick House built by Lord Burlington between 1726 and 1729, It was one of the earliest and most important neo-Palladian villas in England. The house was developed as a structure of hospitality, and its highly decorated rooms witnessed many glamorous events as the style and structure of the house entertained the artists, politicians and leading figures of London high society. Chiswick House is now known as one of the England's most well known heritage site and is known as exquisite setting for receptions, dinner parties, and product launches’. Comfort conditions in winter are provided by warm air ducted to the fireplaces from an underground plant room on the north east side of the building, from where it is expected to diffuse throughout the building and to be exhausted via the fireplaces at the southwest side of the building. Despite the introduction of heating 40 years ago, it does not provide adequately for human comfort or for the conservation of the interiors. According to this report, a detail study of the building’s design along with environmental behavior of its Roman and Palladian architectural precedents provided a clear indication about the facts like how the heating as well as the ventilation facility of Chiswick House might be improved. In this construction, the square plan has two suites of apartments around an octagonal domed saloon. A flattened dome is carried on an octagonal drum, but instead of an oculus, the drum was pierced by four thermal windows. A thermal window of this architecture was a semicircular window, which was again divided vertically into three unequal parts by two wide upright mullions. According to this report it was very clear that an ancient Roman motif was first found in Emperor Diocletian’s baths, later on the thermal window concept was adopted by Andrea Palladio in the 16th century in the design of villas. It was ely known that Lord Burlington modeled Chiswick House on the design of Palladian villas where thermal windows wre known to have been used to encourage air flow and to alleviate the oppressive heat of the Italian Veneto. A detail analysis clearly proved that the structure was inspired by the Palladian architecture but there were number of unique characteristics which made this construction one of the talked about architecture of that period.(Sustainable Heritage, 2006) Image 4: Picture of Cheswick House 9. Conclusion: Neoclassical Revival became a dominant style for domestic buildings nationwide between 1900 and1940s. From the above analysis it is very clear that it was directly inspired by the Beaux-Arts style and the Columbian Exposition. The style tends to include the features of classical symmetry, full-height porch with columns and temple front, and various classical ornaments such as dentil cornices. Basically, this is the revival of the Greek Revival style that dominated the first half of the 19th century. Because the style was more scaled down and flexible than its grander cousin, the Beaux-Arts, Neoclassical spread prolifically throughout the U.S. and became popular for a wide range of everyday buildings. Everything from townhouses, suburban homes, county courthouses, main street commercial buildings, and bank branches readily employed variations of the style. References Cassar M, (2006), Sustainability and the Historic Environment, Sustainable Heritage, retrieved on 3rd December 2013. From http://www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/graduate/csh/attachments/policy-transcripts/historic_environment.pdf Dickerson M., (2013), The Handy Art History Answer Book, Visible Ink Press. English Neo-Palladian and Georgian, (2011), Brannonidh, Retreived on 2nd December,2011 from http://brannonidh1830.wordpress.com/2011/06/08/english-neo-palladian-and-georgian/ Hopkins, D.G., (2009), Creating Your Architectural Style, Pelicvan Publishing. Interior Design, (nd), Quorum: Design, Space, People, retrieved on 2nd December, 2013 from http://www.qarch.com/services/interior-design--4 Palladio and Britain, (nd), Architecture , retrieved on 3rd December, 2013 from http://www.architecture.com/librarydrawingsandphotographs/palladio/andreapalladio/palladianismdefinitions/neopalladianism.aspx Palmer A.L.(2011), Historical Dictionary of Neoclassical Art and Architecture, Scarecrow Press Spurr D. (2012), Architecture and Modern Literature, University of Michigan Press William Kent: Biography (nd), Chiswick House & Garden Trust, Retrieved on 3rd December, 2013 from http://www.chgt.org.uk/?PageID=285 References for the Images: Image 1: Longleat House_1580,(nd), retrieved on 3rd December 2013 from http://faculty.up.edu/asarnow/324/fqch3.htm Image 2: A villa with a superimposed portico, from Book IV of Palladio's I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura, in a modestly priced English translation published in London, 1736.retreived on 2nd December, 2013 from http://academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Palladian_architecture Image 3: Vila Capara, Retrieved on 3rd December from http://www.vicenzanews.it/a_182_IT_1004_1.html Image 4 : Cheswick House(2010), retrieved on 3rd December from http://artmundus.wordpress.com/2010/06/10/chiswick-house-and-iford-manor/ Read More