Structure, Ornament Relationship with Respect to Renaissance and in Rococo - Term Paper Example

Structure, ornament relationship with respect to Renaissance (by Alberti) and in Rococo (generally) The relationship between structure and architecture operates in a number of ways. The process of interaction that results on account of this relationship gives rise to the architectural design and integrity. The design process evolves on account of synergy between these elements and depending on how the interaction takes place this relationship can be broadly divided into two categories; one is structure hidden from the view and another structure exposed. If the structure falls in the exposed category, it can further be divided into three sub-categories; one that deals with the ornamentation, second in which structure is the ornament itself, and thirdly where structure solely stands as architecture. Greek temples could be said to be the result of ornamentation of structure. This is also true for Roman triumphal arches. Pantheon's great interiors are finest examples of structure being the foundation of form. Basilica of Constantine could also be grouped into this category. When Western architecture is looked through the prism of Italian Renaissance and onwards till current architecture, it could be said that most of the buildings belonged to this category where timber and masonry were the principal structural materials used (Blunt, 1980). Source: http://www.ratestogo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/pantheon-interior-rome-italy.jpg Source: http://www.roma-antica.co.uk/custom/basiciliainside.jpg During the 19th and 20th centuries structure and ornament have been interpreted as two dimensions of architecture that are independent but not necessarily unrelated to each other. Such a position on the two has been periodically referred to having been validated by Labrouste's Bibliothèque Ste. Geneviève and Schinkel's Bauakademie. In their creations it is the ornamental elements along with wall panels that communicate the semantic content that is intended in reality. It is interesting to note that whatever discussions took place vis-à-vis the relationship of structure and ornament to architecture has been widespread in 19th century but not completely conclusive. The state of being was capped to some extent by Loos's “Ornament is Crime" dictum by 1920s (Loos, 1998). A little over four decades later i.e., during 1960s to 1970s, structure as a moral imperative began to be seen as being challenged; something triggered by Venturi's decorated shed celebration. Beyond this point the fine line dividing structure from ornament began to get blurred leading architects to question importance of both and the relative value that they were held as providing to architecture. While previously motifs and other such ornamental elements were believed to lend architecture its creative glory, as on date it is the engineering virtuosity that is supposed to lend buildings their creative exuberance. Ornament, now, is termed as superficial and extraneous. Source: http://c1038.r38.cf3.rackcdn.com/group1/building2613/media/media_61906.jpg But that was not true if ornament is viewed through Leon Battista Alberti’s eyes (Wittkower). Alberti (1404-72) believed that a building got its aesthetic appearance from two elements; one is beauty and another ornament. The former, according to him, was "the harmony and concord of all the parts achieved in such a manner that nothing could be added or taken away or altered except for the worse", and the latter is "a kind of additional brightness and improvement to the beauty". Beauty is innate, proper, lovely and strewn all over what has been beautified. Ornament is added to enhance this beauty but is not innate or proper. Alberti says that rational means could be used to detect beauty in a building to which harmony emanating from it is inherent. Beauty is brought about in a structure in order to help it manifest a uniform proportion throughout. The harmony should be such that it appeases our eyes and mind just as good music is a delight to our ears. Ornament being an add-on can be created by anything from chiseled sandstones tucked onto the walls and candlesticks stuck into corners of the walls. Alberti was so captivated with visual beauty in architecture that 4 out of all 10 books that he wrote were completely devoted to ornament (Alberti, 1988). Alberti opined that ornament had a strong relationship with architecture since using ornament in architecture was a wonderful way of reflecting the influence and magnanimity of nature. If architecture had a utility, he said, ornament gave order to it. It must not be construed that it was ornament only that made architecture beautiful; but it simply made it more visible (Bloomer, 2000). Alberti had a humanistic view on architecture (Isabelle, 1974) and strangely he considered as exposed architectural elements in a building as bones while its walls were skin. This was reflecting Vitruvius' explanation of architecture who had said that architecture as like human body (Baldwin, 1990). Here it is important to know that Alberti considered architectural beauty as of prime importance where ornament was an aid to enhance that beauty. Contrary to what many scholars think, he was not against ornamentation or decoration. It becomes important to mention Old Sacristy here in view of the ornamentation that it received as part of the changes that were done on it after Giovanni di Bicci, its primary patron, died. Of all the changes made the painted smaller dome has received a great deal of attention both from architects and scholars. It is believed (although there is still no concrete evidence) that it was Alberti who conceived and subsequently painted the same, around 1436 (Beck, 1989). Source: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XyR4SOk1164/R695naiHHDI/AAAAAAAAACE/tahMlYQVDNQ/s320/arc0829.jpg The Alberti concept on architecture has been very clear since he has held that content is conveyed by architecture. Even though statements as these have attracted widespread criticism since Alberti has correlated this "content" with piety. At one instance he has mentioned that if a temple in beautified such that it encourages piety, people would be so overwhelmed by the admiration that they would start believing that there would have been no other place as good as this worthy of God. Despite criticism Alberti's concepts still act as guiding principles for architects to design churches. Clearly he has built ideas on learning and tradition that could be traced back to Saint Augustine, who had said that love is made visible by beauty and that it is the meaning of things in which beauty resides. Alberti believed that a building must convey the meaning of such things for which it is intended to have been built. Its content must befit the form to which the content is related; for example, a church has to look like one. Rococo art on the contrary portrayed the relationship between structure and ornament differently. Also referred to as Late Baroque, Rococo emerged as an artistic movement in 18th century that influenced almost every art form, and not only architecture. This is called as Late Baroque because it emerged as a result of a reaction against Baroque's strict regulations that were marked by high levels of symmetry and grandeur. One such finest example could be seen in the palace of Versailles. This was a more florid, jocular and graceful offshoot of Baroque architecture and art, which started in Rome, Italy in around 1600 and soon found acceptance throughout Europe. Baroque art was synonymous with exuberance, tension, drama and grandeur in architecture, apart from painting, sculpture, and other art forms. Roman Catholic Church encouraged this style, which said that in these art forms religious themes should be communicated in a more involved, emotional and direct style. The idea was to influence visitors by the exuberance of religious architecture in order to "communicate triumph, control and power". Opulence was the key to such architecture. The relationship of structure and ornaments was strong in Rococo and there was widespread use of ornate objects full of colours, gold, curves and asymmetrical designs. Themes were artistic and powerfully playful. Ornamentation was beyond what one would think of; for example, a Rococo room would make efficient and elegant use of small sculptures, ornate furniture, wall paintings, artistic mirrors and tapestry that went well with the overall agricultural structure and theme. A Rococo architecture began to be seen a particular time' reflection through intricate designs, feminine curves and flamboyance, it came to be known a French style. But it flamboyance did not go down very well with other countries where it could not be popular. Uneventful, frivolous and happy in it content and form, the Rococo architecture used ornamentation to the fullest; embellishing the paces in the process with anything or everything that came from nature: hell, flowers, corals, sprays, scrolls and so on. The emphasis was on pastel-like colours, light but elegant. Some building that followed this style are still around and notable one are Hotel d’Evreux, Hotel de Matignon, and the Place de la Concorde. Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/BasilikaOttobeurenHauptschiff02.JPG/300px-BasilikaOttobeurenHauptschiff02.JPG It can be argued that structure and ornament had an ephemeral relationship with architecture in the sense that ultra beauty was the ultimate goal in a building which reflected nature in most of it parts. It had to be sweeter and less dramatic. Baroque was just the opposite and themes were such that they would inspire, influence and entice the rich. Elements used were frivolous and light comprising of several themes like lover, picnics, portraits and Greek Gods. More often than not stone and the shell where the two predominant element of ornamentation used in Rococo architecture, which, probably began the problematic areas to handle later on. It began to fall out of fashion as the 18th century was coming to an end. to be taken over by the Western movement in architecture which draw inspiration from Ancient Rome and Greece, particularly classical culture and art from there. This was the neoclassical age of architecture that grew with the Age of Enlightenment, crossing Romanticism, and continuing its onward journey into 21st century (Stokstad, 2005). In United States of America, for example, the most recent building following neoclassical style in Schermerhorn Symphony Center, which was built in 2006 In United Kingdom two libraries, namely Maitland Robinson Library and Sackler library, deserve a mention. Rococo's over-dependence on decorative arts and shell-like curves is supposed to have made its relevance to architecture problematic as, on account of this, critics had dubbed it as "merely modish" implying derogation to the style that it followed. "Old-fashioned” and "architecture with poor taste" were the terms used by critics to define it as the Rococo began to fall from popularity (Fiske, 1980). Source: http://photos.igougo.com/images/p14206-Bavaria-Neuschwanstein_Castle.jpg The Renaissance architecture's reach and influence has been unlike that of Rococo. If the latter could spread beyond a territory, the former spread through Netherlands, Scandinavia, England, Germany, {Portugal, Russia, Hungary, Croatia, Spain and Germany. The relationship of structure and ornament with respect to architectural integrity of a building cannot be said to have faced any problematic situations with regard to Renaissance, one reason which might explain why its legacy continues still. Not only that modern urban architecture draws a lot of inspiration from Renaissance palazzo model, which emphasised that urban secular buildings must be reliable and dignified. Even though modernist movements of architecture may not be using Renaissance architecture to such an extent now, traces from it are still find reassertion in postmodern architecture of today. References Alberti, L. B. (1988). On the Art of Building in Ten Books. Translated by Joseph Rykwert, Neil Leach, and Robert Tavernor. The MIT Press: Cambridge, 1988. (Originally published 1452.) Blunt, Anthony F. (1980). Art and Architecture in France, 1500-1700. The Yale University Press Pelican History of Art. Bloomer, K. (2000). The Nature of Ornament: Rhythm and Metamorphosis in Architecture. New York: W. W. Norton and Company. Baldwin, B. (1990). The Date, Identity, and Career of Vitruvius. In: Latomus 49, 425-34 Beck, J, (1989). “Leon Battista Alberti and the ‘Night Sky’ at San Lorenzo,” Artibus et Historiae. Volume 10, Issue 19. pp. 9-35. Fiske, K. (1980). The Creation of the Rococo Decorative Syle. New York: Dover Publications. Isabelle. H. (1974). Brunelleschi in Perspective. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, Inc. Loos, A. (1998). Ornament and Crime. Trans. Michael Mitchell. Riverside, CA: Ariadne, (Originally published in 1908.) Stokstad, M. (2005). Ed. Art History. 3rd ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2005 Wittkower, R. Alberti's Approach to Antiquity in Architecture, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes Vol. 4, No. 1/2 (Oct., 1940 - Jan., 1941), pp. 1-18 Read More