The Spanish Period

The Spanish Renaissance took place in the 16th century.  This was the most brilliant era in Spanish history.  Like the influence from Greece and Rome, the Italian Renaissance influenced the Spanish and French.  As stated in my Italian Renaissance post, Interior design began to become more of a focus and the Spanish definitely showed that.  Spanish design was very ornamental, colorful, fancy, many woods were used and were geometricians.  There are many famous Spanish palaces that show the Spanish style. 

The Alhambra had many fountains, reflecting pools and gardens. It is an example of Moorish architecture and decoration.

 

  

 



There are more castles in Spain then there are in any other European country.  An example of a castle is the La Mota Castle which was built with concrete walls all faced with brick. 

 

The Cathedral of Seville took inspiration from the Gothic era.  It was the largest cathedral in the world during the 15th century.  There were 80 chapels and they held 500 masses per day.

 

 

There were three styles of the Spanish Renaissance.  The first was the Plateresco Phase which resembled work of a silversmith.  The second phase was the Desornamentado Phase which was a powerful style and had carefully defined proportions.  The third was the Herrera Style.  This was influenced from Italian Renaissance architects and had classic forms, plain surfaces and sparse decorations.

 

Current Applications of Spanish Renaissance Style:

 

 

 

 

 

Italian Renaissance Discussion

I looked at Samantha's blog for this unit.  I like how she mentioned that she previously learned about the Medici family in her Art 156 class.  It shows how important this family actually was.  She also taught me that Brunelleschi didn't actually finish the Cupola dome himself, his acquaintance Michelozzo helped him.  I also looked at Katie D's blog.  I like how she talked about how Interior Design became important during this time because this is the first time that I learned that.   She was very descriptive in talking about flooring, furniture and decorative applications.  Her current application pictures are really good examples of these features. 

You can view their blogs here:
Samantha:  http://www.history1skf.blogspot.com/
Katie:  http://www.history1ked.blogspot.com/

Italian Renaissance

This was the period of REBIRTH.  The word Renaissance truly means "rebirth".  This era took place between the 24th century and the 16th century.  The rebirth originated in Tuscany and later spread to Florence, Siena and Venice.  They took inspiration from the Ancient Greeks and Romans.  Residential design became more prominent during this time and they became more focused on humanism. 

One of the greatest achievements of the Renaissance is the Palazzo. The Medici family had a lot of power and influence that helped progress the city.  The Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence Italy is one of the most well known Palazzos'.  (Pictured to the left)

Many Palazzos' could be found in a Piazza which is the town square during the Renaissance.  They are usually lined with cafes and shops and are where most people gather for festivals, political events and celebrations. 


The Piazza San Marco is pictured to the right.  Most Piazzas' were very centralized and had very distinctive facades. Most buildings had three levels and incorporated pillars, domes, arches, columns and entablatures. 

Italian Renaissance furniture was very similar to the Greeks and Romans.  Wood was very popular material to use.  The detail of the furniture was impeccable, incorporating carvings and beautiful fabrics just as previous centuries did.

This video is a great resource to see different examples of the Italian Renaissance architecture style.

 

 

Here are some current applications of Italian Renaissance design:

Living Room

 

Lobby

Palazzo Bontadosi Hotel, Italy

 



The Americas

The Americas took place between the periods of 2000 B.C and 1521 A.D. The Aztecs, Incas, Mayans-Toltecs and the Olmecs are just a few major civilizations that make up the Americas.  The Olmecs was the first major civilization in Mexico from 2000 B.C - 200 B.C. They developed the 1st calendar in the Western Hemisphere as well as hieroglyphics writing.  La Venta is one example of the Olmecs temple focused city type. Within this temple, the ceremony center was composed of burial grounds, giant stone heads, ball courts, small pyramids and the great pyramid of the earth.

Olmec art consisted of materials of jade, rock crystal and valuable stone.  Mural paintings, masks, pottery, ax heads and decorative objects are all common art pieces.  During this time, religion was commonly tied in with art.  Stone carvings, small ceramic figurines and some pits, were associated with religious beliefs.  Most people were polytheistic which is the belief in multiple gods.

Teotihaucan is also another city during this time period.  Its name means "Place of the Gods".  It was approximately 2 miles in length and the city was laid out in a grid system.  This allowed for no walls to separate the city which shows signs of a powerful city with no enemies. 

 

The Mayan era took place between 300 B.C. and 1521 A.D.  The Mayans flourished for 1,800 years and consisted of places such as Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and part of Mexico.  Chichen Itza is a ceremonial cite that means " Mouth of the well of the Itza". There is a four sided pyramid that is 75 feet tall.  Chacmool, pictured below, was their ritualistic figure.


Current Applications:





 

Mayan and Incas Prints/Jewelry

 



Gothic Discussion

I reviewed Lindsay's blog for the Gothic era.  She talked about how she got a chance to visit Notre Dame when she studied abroad in Paris.  The way she described the Dome, made me feel like I was actually standing there looking at it myself.  The pictures she chose to use of the stained glass in the cathedral are beautiful and show the design of Gothic windows.  The next blog that I looked at was Melanie's.  Melanie has also had a chance to visit the Salisbury Cathedral of Gothic design in England.  She mentioned how most Gothic cathedrals are found in France, but they are all over Europe.  She used many pictures of the cathedral she visited in England. This cathedral is breathtaking and really shows good examples of ribbed vaults and pointed arches.

You can view their blogs here:

Lindsay: http://www.history1lcb.blogspot.com/
Melanie: http://www.history1mlh.blogspot.com/

Gothic

The Gothic era took place between the times of 1140-1500.  Paris was the center of the Gothic world and churches were the center of city life.  During this time, religion was very important.  Religious expression was the heart of design.  Popes had a great amount of power within churches and that showed wealth status. Gothic style took inspiration from the Romanesque time period.  The three main elements of the Gothic era were pointed arches, ribbed vaults and flying buttresses. 

                                                    
Pointed Arch                                    Ribbed Vaults            Flying Buttresses

Cathedral were one of the main architectural elements of the Gothic era.  They contained very tall walls and many stained glass windows.  One of the classic stained glass styles was the Rose Window. Tracery's were also a very common style of window.  These aspects created an airiness, weightlessness and earthly feel.  St. Denis in France and Wells Cathedral in England are both great example of cathedrals.  One of the more common cathedrals that you may know is Notre Dame, both in Paris and Chartres, France. 

 

 <--- Notre Dame in Chartres
             Notre Dame in Paris --->






Gothic Cathedrals' basic floor plan and structural components were similar to the Romanesque, the chapels radiated out from the apse and had large stained glass windows, vertical lines suggested skyscrapers, high vaults created new demands with construction, and like a mentioned before, rib vaulting, pointed arches rather than rounded arches, and flying buttresses were a common look.

Take a moment to watch a video comparing and contrasting Gothic Architecture

to Romanesque Architecture!

Here are some modern applications of Gothic style

Islamic Discussion

For the unit on Islamic design, I reviewed Kristina P's blog and Megan S's blog.  Kristina really used great pictures to show how mosques were the main focus of Islamic design.  She mentioned how mosques are the center facility for prayer and worship, going there multiple times a day.  The detail of design is very intricate and makes their interiors look rich and high quality.  Kristina's modern applications and mosque interiors show this very clearly.  Megan talked about how one of her friends is Muslim and goes to this restaurant in Chicago. I too have heard of this from my Muslim friend, but have never seen pictures of it.  It really does exemplify the style of Islamic design. I also really enjoyed watching her video she posted.  It showed how there are multiple places around the world that have mosques and how styles how mosques are different. 


You can view their blogs here:

Kristina: http://www.history1kmp.blogspot.com/#!http://history1kmp.blogspot.com/2014/02/islamic.html
Megan: http://www.history1mes.blogspot.com/