Thursday 4 April 2013

Architectural Style

Architectural style:

An architectural style is a specific method of construction, characterized by the features that make it notable. A style may include such elements as form, method of construction, materials, and regional character. Most architecture can be classified as a chronology of styles which changes over time. These may reflect changing fashions, changing beliefs and religions, or the emergence of new ideas and new technology which make new styles possible.
Styles therefore emerge from the history of a society and are documented in the subject of architectural history. At any time several styles may be fashionable, and when a style changes it usually does so gradually, as architects learn and adapt to new ideas. The new style is sometimes only a rebellion against an existing style, such as post-modernism (means "after modernism") which has in recent years found its own language and split into a number of styles with other names.
Styles often spread to other places, so that the style at its source continues to develop in new ways while other countries follow with their own twist. For instance, the Renaissance began in Italy around 1425 and spread to all of western Europe over the next 200 years, with the French, Belgian, German, English and Spanish Renaissance being recognisably the same style, but with unique characteristics. A style may also spread through Colonialism, either by foreign colonies learning from their home country, or by settlers moving to a new land. One example is the Spanish missions in California, brought by Spanish priests in the late 18th century and built in a unique style.
After a style has gone out of fashion, there are often revivals and re-interpretations. For instance, classicism has been revived many times and found fashion as neoclassicism (means "new classicism"). Each time it is revived, it is different. The Spanish mission style was revived 100 later as the Mission Revival, and that soon evolved into the Spanish Colonial Revival.
Vernacular architecture works slightly differently and is listed separately. It is the native method of construction used by local people, usually using labour-intensive methods and local materials, and usually for small structures such as rural cottages. It varies from region to region even within a country, and takes little account of national styles or technology. As western society has developed, vernacular styles have mostly become outmoded by new technology and national building standards.













Chronology of styles:

Prehistoric

Early civilizations developed, often independently, in scattered locations around the globe. The architecture was often a mixture of styles in timber cut from local forests, and stone hewn from local rocks. Most of the timber has gone, although the earthworks remain. Impressive, massive stone structures have survived.

Ancient Americas

Mediterranean and Middle-East Civilizations:

Ancient Near East and Mesopotamia:

       Sumerian 5300-2000 BC

Iranian and Persian:

 

Islamic:



South Asia

Ancient India

Historic temple styles

Dravidian and Vesara temple styles

Other historic eras

Islamic influences

  • Indo-Saracenic Revival aka Hindu Style, Indo-Gothic, Mughal-Gothic, Neo-Mughal, Hindu-Gothic late 19th century (British India aka The Raj)

Also

Classical Antiquity

The architecture of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, derived from the ancient Mediterranean civilisations such as at Knossos on Crete. They developed highly refined systems for proportions and style, using mathematics and geometry.

The Dark Ages

The European "Dark Ages" are generally taken to run from the end of the Roman Empire around 400 AD to around 1000 AD. Relatively little is known of this period, but Christianity (spread by the Romans) was already making a significant impact on European culture, and the Romans left a technological and social legacy.

Western Europe

Eastern Europe

Medieval Europe

The dominance of the Church over everyday life was expressed in grand spiritual designs which emphasized piety and sobriety. The Romanesque style was simple and austere. The Gothic style heightened the effect with heavenly spires, pointed arches and religious carvings.[3]

Romanesque

Associated styles

Gothic

1140-1520

The Renaissance and its successors

1425-1660+. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread through Europe, rebelling against the all-powerful Church, by placing Man at the centre of his world instead of God.[4] The Gothic spires and pointed arches were replaced by classical domes and rounded arches, with comfortable spaces and entertaining details, in a celebration of humanity. The Baroque style was a florid development of this 200 years later, largely by the Catholic Church to restate its religious values.

United Kingdom

Spain

Colonial

Baroque

1600-1800, up to 1900

Neoclassicism

1720-1837 and on. A time often depicted as a rural idyll by the great painters, but in fact was a hive of early industrial activity, with small kilns and workshops springing up wherever materials could be mined or manufactured. After the Renaissance, neoclassical forms were developed and refined into new styles for public buildings and the gentry.

Neoclassical


Revivalism and Orientalism

19th- early 20th century. The Victorian Era was a time of giant leaps forward in technology and society, such as iron bridges, aqueducts, sewer systems, roads, canals, trains and factories. As engineers, inventors and businessmen they reshaped much of the British Empire, including the UK, India, Australia, South Africa and Canada, and influenced Europe and the USA. Architecturally, they were revivalists who modified old styles to suit new purposes.

Revivals started before the Victorian Era

Victorian revivals

Orientalism

Revivals in North America

Other late 19th century

Rural styles


Reactions to the Industrial Revolution

1880-1940. As a reaction to the dirty towns, urbanisation and mechanisation, movements appeared calling for a return to wholesome living, craftsmanship and a connection with nature. Some of this was manifested in a taste for exotic cultures and spirituality.

Arts and Crafts in Europe

Arts and Crafts in the USA

Modernism

1880+. The Industrial Revolution had brought steel, plate glass, and mass-produced components. These enabled a brave new world of bold structural frames, with clean lines and plain or shiny surfaces. In the early stages, a popular motto was "decoration is a crime". In Eastern Europe the Communists rejected the West's decadent ways, and modernism developed in a markedly more bureaucratic, sombre and monumental fashion.

Modernism under communism

New Tradition

 

1945-

Other 20th century

Post-Modernism and the 21st century



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