Reading Comprehension 4 for IAR222

[1] Just as we learned with Gothic cathedrals, in the context of each PLACE, the other scales of analysis
(ARTIFACT, SPACE, and BUILDING) each demonstrate difference. For each scale on the readings rubric
above, EXPLAIN at least one common design language that links them all. Use the principles and
elements of design as defined for this class in your response. Explicitly tie the Roth reading to your
analysis, using at least one cited quote.

In talking about the scale of artifact in terms of a common design language that they each possess, one could state that each of the five listed are simple shaped objects with a high amount of decoration. While the decoration amount varies for each object, it is suitable for the context and size of the object. For example, the Windsor chair is small and doesn’t have near as much embellishment as the state bed at Osterly Park or the desk/bookcase with chinoiserie had.  Each possess classical dress and are made primarily of wood.

When comparing different interiors at the scale level in the matrix provided, each of the rooms were unique in their own way but all share a few commonalities. The first is that the rooms’ ceilings were made to appear different than when they were built. Some such as the Holkham Hall Saloon have ceilings in which they seem to be dissolving into the walls. Also they seem to be higher and are constructed with an oculus or clerestory windows. Even the ceiling in the Parlor of the Gardner-Pingree House, which is just a flat white, gives the guest a sense of clarity and brings about a certain airiness. The second is that the ornamentation present throughout the rooms has a direct relationship to the walls around it. It appears that each piece of furniture was customarily designed for each room. 
The two most important similarities that the rooms have in common are the repetition in patterns throughout the space as well as a contrasting color palette. Each color palette consists of multiple light colors with one dark, bold contrasting color. It is seen very clear in the bedroom of Marie Antoinette. Repetition of patterns is used multiple times in each space. For instance, in the Saloon of the Saltram House the use of squares and rectangles is repeated with the use of mirrors, also the ornament on the ceiling is repeated in a rhythmic way. Patterns are seen in a more subtle way on the walls of the Gunston Hall Stair Hall.

While studying the buildings listed in the matrix, a few things stand out as a strong relation with each other. Each building consists of vertical symmetry. Thus allowing for each building to naturally have balance and harmony. No building has strong, overpowering ornamentation each is very simplistic and classy. However the buildings are simple yet they all are constructed of three basic shapes: triangles, circles, and squares. The circle is either minute or bold in the buildings. For instance, at Monticello the circle is clearly seen in use with the dome, but at Drayton Hall it isn’t as confident.  Triangles are used in a very particular and classic way. Throughout history pediments (triangular shapes atop entrance ways, windows, or porticoes) have been used  as a sense of class and sophistication. Each building consists of pediments whether they are in their normal state as seen at the Chiswick House or in their manipulated, and broken state as depicted in the Nathaniel Russell House.

Roth says it wonderful when he says “..That the basic structural system is obscured and everything becomes an intricate pattern of light and shadow in which the eye is drawn endlessly part to part.”
(p.402)




[2] Linked to Europe, the ARTIFACTS, SPACES, BUILDINGS, and PLACES of the American colonies
echo closely their design forebears. Selecting evidence from all four scales for both the American
Georgian periods, TRACE the common design ancestry across the Atlantic Ocean in the Neo-Palladian
and Late Georgian periods of England and the Louis XVI/French Provincial period in France.
ARTICULATE the implications of copying from Europe for the American colonies. Use the principles and
elements of design as defined for this class in your response. Explicitly tie the Roth reading to your
analysis, using at least one cited quote.

In looking at the artifacts presented in the Colonial Design Matrix, pattering (mainly circles and other manipulated geometric forms) is sought out with the materialization of wood. In these artifacts lies a rhythm that is achieved through hierarchical elements mixed with proportion.
While wood is still the main material in terms of scale, it is also shown that large structural beams are present in the ceilings of buildings. Instead of being decorative, they are utilitarian like almost everything in the images shown.

In terms of building and place , a distinct repetition can be accounted for.  This repetition in turn leads to the achievement of harmony, balance, and simplicity. This is mainly as a result of the precise placement of windows and doors on a particular buildings and the strong use of materialization.

None of the categories in the scales provided are highly decorated. This is mostly likely as a result of America being a new country. For once people were able to move and start over fresh. Yes, they took the basic structural foundations of their ancestors but they strayed away from the heavy design eras that were happening around them such as the Baroque and the Renaissance. The people of this time also didn’t have the finances like the people of an established, and for the most part stable nation.

“Like all architecture, it has attempted to create a special environment for human life and to image the thoughts and actions of human beings as they have wished to believe themselves to be.”
Vincent Scully. (Roth p. 439)

[3] From the Hersey/Freedman reading, DESIGN and POST a labeled floor plan of a possible Palladian villa inspired by Girolamo Frescobaldi’s Balletto Terzo found online at this site:

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/renm/hd_renm.htm

select the link on the left side of the page with Frescobaldi’s name under multimedia  

[4] Using the resources at the weblink below, SPECULATE about whether you believe that the
architecture and design in the Baroque period stands as a form of social performance in the theatre of
the world. Support your response with examples from class and the assigned readings.

http://fathom.lib.uchicago.edu/2/10701023/

The architecture of the Baroque period does stand as a form of social performance in the theater of the world. Theater is all about breaking the rules and allowing people to feel an outer body experience that they wouldn't typically feel themselves without some type of persuasion.  It's all about creating an illusion and that is just what the Baroque period strived to achieve. A great example of it's illusion attempts is the ceiling manipulation, from it looking like it dissolved into the wall to the false impression that it was a down when in all actuality it was a lower straight ceiling.

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and their entrances;

- Shakespeare