Pavilion as an Architecture Prototype - Essay Example

Pavilion as an architecture prototype Pavilion architecture cannot be described or defined within strict bounds as it is not of a distinct static type. Moreover it is not a type at all because a pavilion is an amorphous architecture that would adapt to numerous forms and functions. Pavilions are responsive to changes based on historical factors and the evolving geographical environments. However ancient pavilion’s basic architecture is light, large, and airy with high peaked roofs. The pavilions are the architectural evolutions of the kiosks which came into existence from the thirteenth century onwards. Originally, kiosk is an Islamic architecture. It was a large, open, and circular architecture consisting of a number of pillars supporting the roof. Pavilions and kiosks have their own historic importance in all continents and countries right from royal pavilion in Brighton to the Humayun’s tomb in Delhi. Yet these pavilion architectures were believed to have started by the Ottoman Empire. This report will discuss in detail about the pavilion architecture of the Ottoman Empire, when and why they were started, how they were used, what were the materials used, who made them, where were they located, the purpose of the pavilions in present day context, materials used for their construction, and how the functional use of pavilions have transformed from those of the olden days. Ancient pavilions occupied the magnificent city of Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire. The primary purpose of these pavilions was to serve as the rest houses or hunting houses to the sultans or the rulers of the Ottoman dynasty (Great Istanbul).The Ihlamur pavilion was constructed in the Besiktas district, in the middle of Linden trees. The Linden trees were called as ‘Ihlamur’ in Turkish and this is how the pavilion got its name. It was built between 1849 and 1855 and it severed as the imperial rest house for Sultan Abdulmecit who used it to welcome his foreign guests. It was built by Nikogos Balyan, the famous imperial architect of Istanbul (Great Istanbul). The Ihlamur pavilion incorporated two structures. They are Merasim kiosk and Maiyet kiosk. The former was used for conducting ceremonies while the latter was used by the Sultan for his court and specifically for harem which is a personal place were the Sultan was entertained by beautiful and sensuous women (Great Istanbul). The pavilion was used as a rest house by Sultans Abdulaizz and Mehmet Resat, the successors of Sultan Abdulmecit. The Kucuksu Pavilion was built in 1857 during the period of Abdulmecid. It is located at Bagce-i Goksu on the Bosphorus Straitnear the Anatolian Fortress (Powell 2015). It was again built by architect Nigogayos Baylan. He belonged to the Armenian minority of Istanbul and he reflected the trend among the Ottoman court to abjure Muslim architects for Christian architects who exhibited western-oriented points of view. He adopted the Rococo style to build the facade of the pavilion. During the 19th century the Rococo style was referred as ‘tres a la mode’ (Powell 2015). The Kucuksu pavilion had a splendid exterior design containing ostentatiously written detailing and an impressive interior design with baroque elegance. The pavilion consisted of three floors having four rooms of equal sizes on each floor. The rooms were decorated with colored glasses which casted strange lights across the furniture and floors. The rooms of the pavilion had individually designed fireplaces built with multi-colored Italian marble. The pavilion’s architecture was based on European style with the floors made of fine wood parquet, chandeliers and mirrors made of crystal bearing monograms that were used as a symbol of the ruling Sultans, European furniture, and many more (Powell 2015). During the period of the Sultans, this pavilion was used as rest house and hunting lodge. The Aynalikavak pavilion was built on the shores of the Golden horn at Haskoy in Istanbul. The amazing fact about this pavilion is that it was entirely built with stone. Following its architecture several other kiosks were built using stones exclusively during the Eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (Great Istanbul). The land facade of the pavilion consisted of two floors and the sea facade consisted of three floors. The pavilion had huge Diwan room and spacious audience room. It fully consisted of monograms used for symbolizing the Sultans, mirrors and widows with fine calligraphic works and a dome covered the ceiling (Great Istanbul). The pavilion was built for the relaxation purpose of the Sultans of the Ottoman dynasty. The Sepetciler pavilion is located at Sarayburnu. It was built by Sultan Murat III during the 16th century. It was later renovated by Sultan Mahmud in 1739. The pavilion served as a boat house for the Sultans. Sultans used this pavilion to inspect or supervise their navy campaigns (Great Istanbul). During the Turkish republic era, this pavilion was used as an army pharmacy. The Tophane pavilion was one of the most important architectures on the Tophane Square during the Ottoman reign.It was built during Sultan Abdulmecit’s rule. The British architect William James Smithbuilt this pavilion in 1852(Great Istanbul). Many weapon factories were located in the nearby areas of the pavilion and the Sultans used this pavilion as a rest place when they come to visit those weapon houses. This pavilion was also use by the Sultans to welcome their foreign guests. The Tophane pavilion has an interesting architecture which runs parallel to the sea shore on a rectangular plan and it consists of two floors(Great Istanbul). William James Smith built this pavilion adopting European style with the ceilings decorated with fine hand works and fireplaces made of marble. The Hidiv Pavilion is located on the hills of the Cubuklu in the district of Beykoz. The pavilion got its name from its purpose that is, it was built for the residence of the Ottoman governor who was called as ‘Hidiv’. The pavilion was built by an Italian architect DelfoSeminati in the year 1907(Great Istanbul). The pavilion remained as the resident place for Abbas Hilmi Pasha, the governor who belonged to Egypt. The pavilion was surrounded by a large garden and the most captivating feature of this pavilion is the monumental fountain rising to the roof of the pavilion and the stain glasses that are covering the fountain. The Pavilion’s architectural plan consists of a large hall in the ground floor surrounded by several halls and rooms connected in a circular fashion. The tower architecture of the pavilion is the most magnificent feature because the tower provides an amazing view to the Bosphorus shore (Great Istanbul).The Malta pavilion is located at the Besiktas district near Yildiz palace. It was built by Sultan Abdulaziz in the mid-19th century. The pavilion was surrounded with nicely carved vegetation and served as a place of relaxation for the Sultans and their wives. In the later days of the Ottoman Empire, this pavilion also served as a place for exile or isolation of the heirs and princes (Great Istanbul). The pavilion architecture adopted decorative style of the European architecture incorporating leaves of Acanthus column capitals, marble fountain at the entrance decorated with fine friezes, mirrors embedded in golden leaves, and marble fish statuettes decorating the ceilings. Pavilions were the architectures belonging not only to the Islamic countries but also to other parts of the world including Greece, China, and many more. Irrespective of the country, these ancient pavilions were built using materials like stone, water clay mixtures, sand, ceramics, and many more (Semper 1851). Ancient architects were skilled enough to incorporate metal works around the hearth, mounds surrounded with masonry works, roofs and its accessories decorated with rich carpentry works. Clay tiles, clay bricks, and stone walls played a vital role in building up the pavilions of ancient days (Semper 1851). Instead of true walls hanging carpentry marked the visible boundaries of the spaces in and around the pavilion. The mason’s art included the stucco covering and bitumen plaster. The fireplaces of the pavilion would be surrounded by metal plates and glazed terra cotta. The pavilions of Assyria, Greece, Persia, and Egypt were constructed using granite, sand stone, marble, and alabaster (Semper 1851). Stucco and rich polychromy were incorporated in the architectural elements of ancient day pavilions. Walls were built using hollow bricks dressed up with carpets and braided reeds (Semper 1851). Ancient architectural prototypes were no means inferior to today’s most advanced engineering architectures and buildings. Despite the nonexistence of advanced civil engineering supports, the magnificence of ancient day pavilion architecture leaves people of the current generation and even the future generation in spectacular incredulity. Today’s concepts of pavilions are completely different from those of olden days. The pavilions of Istanbul so far mentioned were all now converted to museums and restaurants open for the use of visitors. Pavilions are now frequently front and center to what are being called the spaces of global cultures. Khor I is a theatre pavilion in Holland built using timber batons of different lengths to form a pyramid like structure. It was designed by architect Breg Horemans and it would give the visitors an experience of walking through a bamboo forest reading the carvings on the wooden blocks that were designed to rotate (The Architectural Review 2014). In contrast to the huge airy spacious pavilion architecture, Gianni Botsford Architects have created a pavilion in Zurich which measures only eight square meters for the purpose of smoking. The materials used were five slabs of translucent concrete. The translucent concrete was prepared by casting light-conducting materials (acrylic plastic) into fine-grain concrete (Dezeen 2015).The Serpentine pavilion of London is a bright color ‘chrysalis’ like structure. This pavilion was created from a dual skin of ETFE membrane that is wrapped into webbing (Stott 2015). Naves is a temporary pavilion designed by Appareil in the city of Mons, Belgium. This pavilion discourses a contextual correlation to the gothic ambiances as an investigation on transparency and lightness (Furuto 2013).The curved structures of this pavilion were made of glass fiber tubes. This pavilion exhibits the flawless expression of lightness. It is a transparent structure made of glass fibers allowing light to penetrate through it. This lightest structure was constructed using weightless pillars, arches, vaults, and others. In order to attain the minimum weight and maximum permeability, this pavilion construction involves a complex mesh work making use of linear elements (Furuto, 2013). The success of the technological system of this pavilion lies in the minimal footprint and optimization of materials used for construction. For constructing this pavilion, the architects mainly used recyclable materials like wooden deck, and others. Pavilions are built nowadays using maximally eco-friendly materials. This would be evident from the 100% organic pavilion ‘Hy-Fi’ constructed in New York (Rajagopal 2014). This pavilion was constructed using compostable organic bricks. These organic bricks were made out of mushroom roots. Similar pavilions were constructed using materials like wood and nylon fabric treated with a titanium nano-particle spray. This nano-particle spray has the capacity to neutralize the airborne pollutants (Rajagopal 2014). These kind of pavilions constructed using eco-friendly materials would definitely be a source of inspiration to the modern day architects of today so that routine materials used for constructions would greatly be replaced by biomaterials that would do no harm to mankind. Pavilions are no less meaningful or useful than full blown building. However their functions and their type of users have evolved from the ancient times. Pavilions have a modest and transient presence in their landscape. Once pavilions were architectures characterized by spaces of display, tentative prototypes, and ornamental eccentricities. They were also related to national monuments of an ambassadorial or heraldic type. Nowadays new prospects of pavilions are ostensible, say for example as recycled containers, trespasser tents, shelters at times of emergency, nomadic lodgings, academic exercises, floating theatres, internet forums and other fusion of ventures traversing space and time, and registering the ever more wandering and interrelated knowledge of latest century affluences (Robinson, 2014). So, there is no surprise that nowadays the pavilion architecture is related to a mobile adaptable device and no longer associated with carnivals and gardens. In a way, pavilions of present day have attained a peripheral state between art and architecture. References Architectural Review., 2014. Breg Horemans Khor I Theatre in Venlo, Holland. Available from http://www.architectural-review.com/buildings/pavilions/ Britannica. Kiosk Landscape Architecture. Available from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/318955/kiosk Britannica. Pavilion Architecture. Available from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/447326/pavilion Dezeen. Smoking Room by Gianni Botsford Architectsis a Translucent-concrete Garden Folly. Available from http://www.dezeen.com/2015/02/16/gianni-botsford-smoking-pavilion-zurich- switzerland-translucent-concrete/ Furuto, A., 2013. Naves Temporary Pavilion Proposal / Appareil. Available from http://www.archdaily.com/364504/naves-temporary-pavilion-proposal-appareil/ Great Istanbul. Istanbul: Pavilions and Kiosks in Istanbul. Available from http://www.greatistanbul.com/pavilion.htm Powell, M., 2013. The Kucuksu Pavilion. Available from http://istanbul.for91days.com/2013/04/27/the-kucuksu-pavilion/ Rajagopal, A., 2014. Behind The Livings "100% Organic" Pavilion for MoMA PS1. Available from http://www.metropolismag.com/Point-of-View/February-2014/MoMA-PS1/ Robinson, J., 2014. Introducing Pavilions: Big Worlds under Little Tents. Available from https://openartsjournal.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/oaj_issue2_introduc tion_final.pdf Semper, G., 1851. The Four Elements of Architecture and other Writings. Available from http://designtheory.fiu.edu/readings/semper_selections.pdf Stott, R., 2015. Serpentine Gallery Reveals SelgasCano’s Colorful Design for 2015 Pavilion. Available from http://www.archdaily.com/tag/serpentine-gallery-pavilion/ Read More