Professional Documents
Culture Documents
V-
A History of Interior Design
John Pile
Contents
Prehistoric Interiors 1
Archeological Evidence 10
The Later Middle Ages 54
History. I.Title.
Furniture and Other Interior Furnishings 34 FARNESE PALACE 82
The Legacy of Rome: Technology 34 The Late Renaissance and Mannerism 84
NKI710.P55 2000
Michelangelo 85
7472-dc21
Romano 86
Printed in Hong Kong Early Christian, Byzantine, and Palladio 87
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 Romanesque 36 Vignola 89
Interior Furnishings 89
Early Christian Design 36
Furniture 90
< This bookwas
designed and
produced by
Byzantine Design 38
INSIGHTS: THE RAVENNA MOSA ICS 39
Coverings 91
Designed by Thomas
Manss & Company and
I Hagia Sophia 40
Secular Buildings 41
Early Medieval: The "Dark Ages" 41
Baroque and Rococo
Northern Europe 92
in Italy and
I
Frontispiece: Gentile
Longhena 97
Mansueti, The Miraculous
INSIGHTS: THE ABBEY AT CLUNY 48
Healing of the Daughter of Turin 97
Ser Benvegnudo of San Polo, Houses 49 Cuarini 97 Juvarra 99
1502-5. Furniture and Other
c.
Interior Furnishings 50 Baroque in Northern Europe 1 00
Contents
I
Early Colonial Furniture
Furnishings 157
Renaissance, Baroque, and Churches and Meeting Houses 58 1
116
1
1
108
12
I Furniture 163
Late Colonial Public Buildings 163
Federal Styles 165
INSIGHTS: LOUIS XIV AND VERSAILLES 116 Jefferson 65 1
Pans Hotels 123 The Petit Trianon 124 Regency Other Furnishings of the Federal This book IS printed on
and Rococo Furniture 125 Period 170 acidlree paper
Rococo to Neoclassicism 125
Published simultaneously
The Empire Style 127
in Canada
INSIGHTS THE EMPIRE STYLE 128
The Regency, Revivals, and No part of this publication
Provincial Style 130
industrial Revolution 172 may be reproduced, stored
Spain 131 in a retrieval system, or
Plateresco 131 Regency 172 transmitted in any form or
I
Churrigueresco 32 1
Elizabethan Furniture
Jacobean 142
Jones 142 Jacobean
From Carolean to William and Mary
141
New
INSIGHTSillOBERT
Adam 148
ADAM ANDSYON HOUSE
Georgian Town Houses 149 Other Building Types
Georgian Furniture and Interior Furnishings 1
1
50
48
1 50
I Middle-class Houses and Public
Buildings 193
Shaw and the Queen Anne Revival
United States: Victorian Variations
1 94
1 95
information
not engaged
in rendenng professional
Mansions 197
services. If professional
Vernacular House Styles 98 1
advice or other expert
Shingle Style 199 Adirondack Style 200 assistance is required, the
Contents
t ARCHITECTURE" 236
Hoffmann 236
Loos 238 Art Deco and Industrial Design 290
United States 238
Tiffany 238
Sullivan 240
r ArtDeco 290
France 290
Furniture Designers 290 Textile Design 293
Contents
E Europe 304
The Netherlands 306
ROGERS AND PIANO AND THE CENTRE
INSIGHTS;
POMPIDOU 353
Rogers and Piano 353
Germany and Austria 306
Foster 354
Italy 307
Stirling 356
Switzerland 308
INSIGHTS JAMES STIRLING 356
France 308
Scandinavia 310 Post-modernism 357
Venturi and Scott Brown 357
England 31
Craves 359
Johnson 361
Post-modernism in Europe 361
Modernism in America 314 The Revival of Tradition 362
Architects and Designers 314 Creenberg 362
Cili 314 Stern 362
In the modern world, human life experience is economic, and political realities also influenced life
largely played out in interior spaces. We may love in the past and these forces have had major impact
the out-of-doors for the sense of open air and sky, on built environments. Buildings and their inte-
for the escape it offers from life inside enclosure, riors are planned to serve the purposes and styles of
but the very joy of being outside reflects the realit)' the times of their origins, but they exert their influ-
that so much of life is spent inside. Most of the ence on the activities and lives that they house as
time, most of us live inside a house, a flat, or a long as they continue in use.
room. We sleep, eat, cook, bathe, and spend free The study of interior design, its development
time "at home" that is, inside. Work takes place and change through history is a useful way both to
in an office, a factory, a specialized work space such explore the past and to make sense of the spaces in
as a hospital, concert hall, museum, school, or which modern life is lived. Professional interior
college . . . the list is endless. Agriculture still designers are expected to study design history, to
involves work in the open air, but even the modern know the practices of the past in terms of "styles,"
farmer is likely to spend time inside the cab of a and to know the names and the nature of the
tractor, truck, or other piece of agricultural contributions of those individuals who generated
machinery and to go home to a house to eat, watch the most interesting and influential approaches to
television, and sleep. Modern work activities such design.
as driving a bus or truck, piloting an airplane, or Since the interiors that one might wish to visit
being a member of the crew of a submarine, are scattered across the globe and often difficult to
aircraft carrier, or spacecraft lead to a work life that access, it becomes necessary to turn to
takes place within a vehicle, a cockpit, or some photographs, descriptions, and, increasingly, film,
other enclosure. television, and the internet to gain an insight into
There have been human beings on earth, scien- the history of humanly constructed interior space.
tists now estimate, for about 1.7 million years. The The sheer number of books on the subject and the
detailed record of events and developments that we variety of emphasis can make a coherent history of
call "history" stretches back for only about 6000 or interior design difficult to extract and understand.
7000 years. Before the beginning of history we have The purpose of this book is to deliver in one
only myths, legends, and guesswork to tell us what volume of reasonable size a basic survey of 6000
events occurred in what order. There have been years of personal and public space. Development of
many speculations about when and where people such a book is inevitably beset by a number of
first learned to use shelters and what the earliest complications. Interiors do not exist in isolation in
habitations were like. Early shelters existed to the way that a painting or a sculpture does, but
provide the interior spaces that offered comfort to vsdthin some kind of shell
a hut, a building, even a
their inhabitants. Those interior spaces influenced ship or airplane. They are also crammed with a
the lives of their occupants in significant ways. great range of objects and artifacts: furniture,
Interior design, whether professional or not, is lighting, textiles, sometimes art. This means that
an aspect of life that is impossible to escape. In interior design is a field with unclear boundaries,
addition to the domain of one's own home, the overlapping as it does the realms of construction,
interiors of the homes of friends and relatives, of architecture, art, the crafts, the technologies of
offices, stores, restaurants, schools, hospitals, trans- heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting, water and
port vehicles, and every other sort of place where drainage equipment, and what is now called
modern life is lived, make up the modern world as "product design," in the forms of appliances,
we know it. It is obvious that people in bygone plumbing fixtures, and other kinds of equipment.
times had a different life experience in large The number of interiors that have been created
measure because they occupied interiors that were over time, even the number currently in existence,
different from those that are now commonplace. is staggering. The author of one compact history is
To consider for a moment the life of a medieval thus faced with a vast range of choices about what
serf living in a farm dwelling, a knight in a castle, a to include and what No two writers in
to exclude.
monk in a monastery, the lord and lady in an eigh- this field will make
same choices and the deci-
the
teenth-century mansion, a Victorian family in a sions made in writing this book are those of the
cityrow house brings to mind a life pattern based writer and are based on the following assumptions:
on the spaces created in such past times. Social, 1. Interiors are an integral part of the structures
Acknowledgments
that contain them in most cases, biiiltiings. This they have major impact on the history of interior
means that interior design is inextricably linked to design. However, demands on space mean that this
architecture and can only be studied within an coverage is limited to edited highlights.
architectural context. 6. Quotations from primary sources are
Owing to
2. the vast geographical spread of included in "Insights" boxes within a number of
human design activity, coverage is necessarily chapters. These offer some sense of the contempo-
limited to a restricted part of the global totality. rary view of the work of particular periods.
The choice made here is to examine Western, that The reader is encouraged to seek further discus-
is European and American, design practice and its sion of periods, examples, personages, and related
prehistoric origins. This is not because non- subjects to whatever extent curiosity and interest
Western work is in any way inferior or less inter- allow. The bibliography provided will serve as a
esting than Western achievement, but rather guide to books that offer extended coverage of
because the aim in writing history is to discover innumerable aspects of interior design.
threads of connectedness that can be woven into an Best of all, of course, is visiting the spaces that
intelligible narrative. In this book, we follow the are of interest. While time and expense will limit
thread that runs through time from ancient Egypt, such visits for most readers, seeing examples that
Greece, and Rome, through medieval and are closer to hand will fill out the limits of any book
Renaissance Europe, the eighteenth and nineteenth and offer a richer experience of the realities of inte-
Some examples are so well-known that they require their efforts and patience.
inclusion (the Pantheon in Rome and the cathedral For acceptance of the manuscript and decision
of Chartres, for example); other examples are to publish: Lee Ripley Greenfield, Editorial
chosen because they are unusually well preserved Director at Calmann & King Ltd and Amanda
or because they illustrate the work of a particularly Miller, Executive Editor at John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
interesting or important designer. Along with For their diligent and skillful efforts at Calmann
discussion of well-known "important" examples, & King Ltd: Damian Thompson, Senior
there is also attention to the "everyday," vernacular Developmental Editor; Nell Webb, Senior Editor;
design of historic periods. Susan Bolsom, Picture Manager; Richard
4. Enclosed spaces such as ruins, ancient sites, Foenander, Designer; Kim Richardson, Copy-
and open courtyards are given due consideration editor; and Felicity Awdry, Production Manager.
even though the sky may be their only ceiling and For additional editorial work: Lydia Darbyshire,
they are therefore not strictly interiors. Jan Graffius, and Sharon Goldstein. For advice and
5. Related fields such as furniture, textiles, commentary: Linda Keene at the Art School, Art
lighting, and product design are discussed since Institute of Chicago.
Prehistory to Early Civilizations
Living in the modern, technologically advanced the beginning of the recorded history of the regions
world, we take it for granted that a major portion where they exist. The term "primitive," as used
of our time is spent inside, or "indoors." We live in here, does not signify simple, crude, or inferior, but
houses or apartments, we work in offices, shops, or refers to peoples, cultures, or civilizations
factories,we study in schools and colleges, we eat in untouched by the modern technological world as it
restaurants, we stay in hotels, and we travel inside has developed during the few thousands of years
automobiles, buses, trains, ships, and airplanes. To for which we have detailed history.
be outside is most often a temporary situation
while traveling from one inside space to another.
Archeological Evidence
Human beings differ from other living creatures in
this acceptance of inside space as the most usual
environment for living.
The First Shelters
when and where people first learned to use shelters, While the famous cave paintings at Chauvet (fig.
and what the earliest shelters were like, have been 1.1), Lascaux, and Altamira clearly prove that early
the subject of much speculation. peoples used these caves, there is no certainty that
Guesswork is aided in some measure by infor- they were dwelling places. Perhaps they were emer-
mation comes from two lines of inquiry. These
that gency shelters, places for special rites or cere-
deal with, on one hand, prehistoric remains of monies, or they may have been used for the works
various kinds known to archeologists and, on the of art that we admire because they preserved them
other hand, with the current or recent practices of from the weather.
the "primitive" peoples usually studied by anthro- Constructed shelters from prehistory have
pologists. Prehistoric materials are physical objects, survived only where they were made from durable
1.1 "Lion Panel,"
Chauvet cave, Ardeche,
artifacts, or structures, that date from times before materials. The most available and easy to work
France, 1 5,000-
1 0,000 BX.E.
1.2 (opposite)
Evidence of human Paintings of Anubis,
occupancy of caves Tomb of Pa-schedu,
comes from paintings Thebes, c. 1 500 bce.
that were made with
Images of Anubis, the
only fire light as illumi-
jackal-headed god of
nation. The intention of
the dead, stand guard
the paintings was prob-
on simulated doors on
ably not to ornament or
either side of the
decorate the natural
passage leading to the
spaces of the caves, but
inner chamber where
rather to provide
the sarcophagus stood.
images that might
The ceiling is covered
grant mystical power
with hieroglyphic
over hunted animals.
inscriptions. While the
Jo the modern viewer,
intentions are mystical,
the paintings have the
the form and color
effect of making the
generate spaces with
natural caves into
richly decorative char-
spaces under some
acter typical of ancient
degree of human
Egyptian art.
control.
10
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Chapter One
materials twigs and branches, leaves, rush and often impressive, if only for their evocation of
similar plant materials, and animal materials such unimaginably ancient origins. In some of these
as skins or hides are all short-lived, subject to structures, it is possible to see carved or incised
decay and disappearance within relatively brief patterns cut into the stones with patterns of beauty,
time spans. Inorganic materials such as mud or (in although their meanings are unknown.
cold climates) snow have limited lasting qualities, Estimating dates for prehistoric sites was a
while stone, although very durable, is so difficult to matter of guesswork until the fairly recent develop-
work as to have very limited possibilities for shelter ment of the technique of radio-carbon dating in
building. These realities mean that the materials which measurements of the radioactivity of organic
surviving from prehistoric times are largely small materials (such as bones or shells) gives a measure
objects of stone such as arrowheads and spear of their age. Stonehenge (fig. 1.3) is now dated with
points, or large arrangements of stones set up in some confidence at about 2750-1500 b.c.e. All
patterns or assembled into structures. such structures date from the era now designated
as the stone age in reference to the fact that the
Dolmens and Barrows most advanced technologies of those times
The arrangements of stones (called Alignments) involved the working of stone as the best, most
and the Dolmens of Brittany and other European lasting, and most effective of available materials.
locations are thoughtfully designed structures The stone age is divided into the paleolithic period
dating from prehistoric times. Most speculations ("old stone age," extending to c. 5000 b.c.e.) and
assume that the larger sites, such as Stonehenge on the neolithic period ("new stone age," extending to
Salisbury Plain in Britain, were used for cere- c. 1000 b.c.e.). The famous cave paintings are pale-
monies or rituals connected with observation of olithic; the prehistoric stone structures known to
astronomical movements; dolmens are more often us date from the neolithic period.
linked to burial rites. The arrangement of a large It is virtually certain that the lack of houses
stone placed on top of two or three upright stones surviving from these times can be explained by the
that makes up the many dolmens seems to have use ot less lasting materials, but that can in turn be
created the inner chamber of a tomb that took the explained in part by the reality that such ancient
form of an artificial hill. Where the earth has human life patterns were generally migratory or at
eroded away, the stone dolmen remains. Where the least unattached to fixed locations. Early human
earth is still in place, it forms the kind of tomb lifedepended on water sources, hunting, and food
called a Barrow in England. It is possible to go gathering for sustenance and therefore required
into the chambers of some of these
interior populations to move in pursuit of game and other
surviving tombs. They are dark, mysterious, and food supply. Whatever shelter was used needed to
1.3 Stonehenge,
Salisbury, England,
c. 2750-1 500 B.c.r.
12
Prehistory to Early Civilizations
be easily portable and so made of light materials Peoples in tribal Africa, in the islands of the
wood and rush rather than stone.
sticks, leaves, Pacific, in the Arctic, and in the North and South
Ease of working and mobility worked together to American continents before the coming of
favor shelter of modest scale, light materials, and Europeans are now or were recently living in ways
easy mobility. that had not changed in many generations. Villages
in tropical Africa, settlements in the Sahara and
Mongolian deserts, native American (American
Evidence from Tribal Cultures
Indian), Inuit (Eskimo), and Australian aborigine
The oldest known traces of built human shelter communities are all "primitive" living systems that
found at TerraAmata in southern France are provide examples of shelter types that can be
believed to be 400,000 years old, but only the most assumed to be evidence of how human shelter may
minimal remains suggest the form of these huts have developed.
made from tree branches. Although there are few In his 1876 book Tlie Habitations of Man in All
ancient relics to support assumptions about the Ages., the French architectural theorist and historian
nature of the earliest built structures, there is Eugene-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc (1814-79) tried
evidence to be found by turning to the other source to show how shelter making began. In an illustration
of clues to early human shelter, the practices of titled "The First House" (fig. 1.4) he shows us a
"primitive" societies. Although now in retreat as "primitive" group of people building a structure
modern societies press in upon them, "primitive" made up of tree branches tied together at the top,
peoples survive in many inaccessible geographical with enclosing surfaces being built up by weaving
regions and many others were e.xtant as recently as more flexible twigs and branches through the main
one or two centuries ago. "Primitive" societies are structure. This is clearly an early form of shelter of
characterized by a powerful conservatism, a devo- the kind that appears in many "primitive" cultures
tion to traditional ways (often reinforced by a a Wigwam, or if covered with skins, a tepee. It might
system of taboos that discourage change), and a receive an e.xterior plastering with mud or, in the
mistrust of the concept of "progress" that domi- Arctic, a similar structure may be built up of blocks
nates modern "developed" societies. As a result, of snow in the dome-like form we call an igloo. In
"primitive" ways can be regarded as exemplifying other locations where trees and branches are scarce, a 1.4 (far left)
more ancient ways ways that can be traced back to similar form may be built of mud brick with a ViolleMe-Duc, "The
House" from The
First
the stone age. Most "primitive" societies depend on topping like a hat of straw or thatch. Habitations of Man in
hunting, fishing, and food gathering for sustenance. Many such "primitive" shelters share certain all Ages, 1876,
They are therefore generally to some degree migra- characteristics. They are generally quite small and The author has imag-
13
Chapter One
1.6 An engraving of a
function (living space, kitchen, store room, or
Mongolian yurt.
stable, for example), with covered doorway links
The yurt was a portable
between related hut-rooms. Walls are constructed
structure with an
enclosing wall of lattice of mud, with roofs of thatch resting like hats on the
strips supporting a roof walls (fig. 1.7).
structure of poles. The
Other "primitive" house types are not round. It
exterior was covered
with skins or mats. is probably the use of strip materials, wood poles,
Inside, boxes to hold or branches that suggests straight-line walls and so
possessions, rugs, and
stools created spaces
leads to more or less rectangular box forms (figs.
with considerable 1.8 and 1.9).The A-frame form of the Dawi cere-
aesthetic character monial chiefs house and the dwellings of the
the limited availability of materials and the need to people of New Guinea, packed mud houses in
conserve effort, while the round form can be Yemen, Pueblo building in the American south-
explained as a reflection of several realities that west, some wigwams (known to us from drawings
reinforce one another. The forms of nature are made by early European settlers), and many house
rarely straight-lined and square-cornered. types built by South American natives have rectan-
Observation of trees and rocks, of the shelters built gular plans. In Apulia in southern Italy, an ancient
by birds and would suggest circular forms;
insects, house type still in regular use is built of dry field
in the materials available the making of square stones to form a roughly square room. This is
corners might be difficult and create weak points in topped by a round dome built by laying rings of
a fragile structure. A circle is also the geometric stone in gradually diminishing circles until a single
figure that will enclose most area with least stone can cover the topmost opening. Such Trulli
perimeter, a concept that might not be understood houses have been built for thousands of years in the
in theoretical terms but could still be grasped intu- region.
itively in the process of building. Other types of "primitive" house forms are
The Tepee (fig. 1.5) of the American plains had determined in part by the powerful environmental
a frame of long poles tied together at the top. Its realities of topography, weather, availability of
outer walls were skins arranged to permit a flap materials, and particularly climate. The snow-built
doorway and a top flap that could be adjusted to igloo is well known but the underground houses of
control air circulation, allow penetration of
daylight, and act as a smoke outlet. The whole
tepee was easy to take down, pack, and transport
1.7 Plan and sectional when the migratory hunting users needed to follow
elevation of a
Matakam homestead
the herds that were their food supply. The Yurt
or tribal village in the (fig. 1.6) or Ger of the Buryar peoples of Mongolia
Cameroon, Africa. uses a vertical wall frame of lattice strips that
The circular form of the collapse for transport but are expanded (like a
mud or stone hut
modern elevator gate) and tied to form a circle.
creates a room, and
several similar struc- Willow strips form a roof structure and layers of
tures are grouped felt are applied to form the wall and roof enclosure.
together to make a
The portable yurt, still in use, is an interesting
house complex,
including work spaces example of a design developed to fit a particular
(kitchens) and food way of life in a particular geographical location.
storage areas, that
The round, portable structures built by migra-
would be occupied by
an extended family and tory peoples generally stand alone; each house is a
their animals The walls single unit, usually enclosing a single space. More
are built up to
complex houses of several rooms appear in villages
head-height while a
hat-like roof of straw or in locations where climate, water, and food sources
thatch completes the were sufficiently consistent to make constant relo-
enclosure The simple
interiors held storage
cation unnecessary. In the Cameroon in Africa,
containers and sleeping there are villages of multiroom houses where each
pads on the dirt floors. room is actually a separate round hut with a special
14
Prehistory to Early Civilizations
the Matmata in the Sahara are less familiar. A toward the introduction of designed pattern is in
Matmata house is made up of a central court, a clear contrast to the hives and nests made by other
deep open-topped pit dug into the desert which creatures where pattern only appears (as in the
gives access to surrounding rooms that are totally webs of spiders) where it is a structural or other
underground. A long, sloping entrance tunnel functional necessity. Painted decorative elements
gives access to the court. This underground scheme appear as fired pottery comes into use, with both
requires no added material and provides insulation geometric pattern and more or less representa-
against desert heat by day and extreme cold at tional imagery.
Whether round or rectangular, on the surface blankets, baskets, pots, and other objects of the inte-
of the earth, raised up on posts, or dug into the riors of these shelters allow them to be compared
ground, it is the interior space of such houses that with more modern interiors where rugs, wall treat-
is their reason for existence. Such interiors are not ments, furniture, and other objects are the elements
"designed" with the sophistication of concept that that make an interior space a designed entity. In
we associate with modern interior design; the inte- "primitive" practice, pattern and imagery are rarely
rior is simply a hollow space created by the tech- strictly ornamental, however they may appear to
nique of building the outside. Into the inside of all modern viewers. There are purposeful meanings in
such houses must go the equipment used in daily color, pattern, and design that serve to designate
life cooking and eating utensils, weapons, stored identity within a society, tribal loyalties, religious or
clothing, blankets, and whatever there may be in mythic references, or magical significance. The
the way of furniture. Tables and chairs are rarely designs of an African woven cloth (fig. 1.10) or a
used. Most "primitive" peoples sit on the ground Navajo blanket, for example, follow customs that
and use the earth surface as the only table. Sleeping make the visible designs significant in reinforcing
arrangements use portable materials laid on the tribal traditions and taboos. Entering a house where
ground rather than on a constructed bedstead. a few utilitarian objects each offers some visible
Rudimentar)' furniture appears in some "primi- expression of a particular way of life confronts the
tive" house t}'pes shelf-like platforms or benches occupant with reassurances that offers comfort and
constructed as part of the built structure of mud a kind of aesthetic experience. To modern
the
huts, underground dug chambers, and snow-built viewer, even if the significance is unknown, the
igloos. Storage devices, bags, baskets, and, where aesthetic value can remain powerful.
they have been developed, pottery bowls, pots, and
1.10 Kente cloth,
jugs are the most ubiquitous of artifacts. West Africa, c. 1975,
The First Permanent Settlements East between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers called
Mesopotamia.
invention of language, and the development of The beginnings of a settled Sumerian civilization
agriculture. Of these three it is agriculture fixed- based on agriculture and making use of irrigation
base agriculture as it is often called that has most can be dated around 3500 b.c.e. when a system of
directly influenced the design of built shelter. As picture writing came into use. Surviving traces of
long as food supply was dependent on hunting and this and other subsequent societies in the
gathering of growing plant products, the human Mesopotamian region include pottery, clay tablets
population was forced to travel to locations where (fig. 1.11), various other artifacts, and traces of
food was available and remain within those limited buildings and cities. Unfortunately for the study of
geographical regions. Human population, like the interior design, the available building materials
populations of other animal species, was controlled were limited, with sun-baked Mud brick the
by the availability of food and so remained, by primary material of construction. While large cities
modern standards, very small. The discovery that it and many major buildings were built in mud brick,
was possible to plant crops and harvest a larger and the poor lasting quality of this material has left only
more reliable food supply was the basis for a chain ruins as survivals. Excavations by archeologists in
of developments. Once crops are planted, it is this region find layer after layer of remains of
necessary to remain close by to harvest the results. successive cities built in sequence, as older cities
When staying in one place, it is no longer necessary were destroyed or allowed to crumble with subse-
to use only portable housing so that more lasting quent cities built on top.
house types can be developed. Further improve- It has, however, been possible to reconstruct in
ment in food supply also makes the growth of part plans of houses, temples, and palaces from
population possible. these ruins. Excavations at the site of the ancient
With more people and with techniques for Sumerian city of Ur have uncovered traces of 4000-
building more lasting structures, villages and towns year-old closely packed neighborhoods of houses,
become more permanent settlements. The making each having several rectangular rooms around an
of necessities (clothing, utensils, weapons) becomes open central court. This house type has continued
more specialized with systems of barter and trade to be many warm-climate regions up to the
used in
emerging to make it possible for a farmer, a shep- present time. Arched or Vaulted roofs of mud or
herd, or a fisherman to make exchanges with a clay brick may have been used. Mud-brick houses
weaver, a potter, or a builder to the benefit of both.
Around 4000 b.c.e., larger towns even cities
1.11 A clay tablet began to appear, and, with the resulting complexi-
with an inscribed map
ties, systems for recording numbers and language
of Nippur, Sumeria,
c. 1 500 B.C.E.
were invented. It is the invention of writing that
and canals, and walls say what happened in past times with a consider-
and gates. Although no able degree of certainty. With food and shelter
records of the interiors
adequately assured, human energies over and
of buildings exist the
sophistication of the
above the needs of subsistence make possible the
map suggests that this development of increasingly complex inventions
was a highly developed and the arts.
civilization with a
comparable level of
All of these developments occurred at different
16
Prehistory to Early Civilizations
with Domed roofs (similar to those of the Italian of techniques of embalmment and the concern for
trulli described earlier) are still in use in regions of the building of tombs of maximal lasting qualities.
Iraq and Syria, suggesting that this house form may Moreover, it was believed that objects placed in a
also be of very ancient origin. tomb along with the carefully protected mummi-
The ancient temple, viewed by its builders as a fied body could be taken into the afterlife. Objects
house of a deity, tended to be an enlarged and elab- too large to be placed in a tomb a house or a
orated version of the local house type. The White boat, for example could be represented by a
Temple at Uruk, so-called because of the traces that model. On the walls of tombs and temples (fig.
indicate that its walls were whitewashed, was built 1.2), texts spelled out in hieroglyphic writing were
before 3000 b.c.e. It is a rectangular block with a combined with visual images, incised and painted
number of rooms surrounding a central space that Taken together, the
in plaster or directly in stone.
ma\' have been covered or an open court. Deep stone buildings, the objects found in tombs, and
walls have thickened vertical bands to aid in the surviving written and illustrated texts have
strengthening the inherently weak mud brick. Even made it possible for archeologists to develop a clear
earlier construction at Uruk includes fragments of picture of ancient Egyptian ways and to place this
walls surfaced with an elaborately patterned stud- knowledge in an accurate chronological history.
ding of small cones of clay painted in black, white,
and red; the mosaic-like designs suggest the zig-zag
Geometry and Proportion
1.12 Cross-section of
and diamond forms of woven textile patterns. The and best-known of ancient Egyptian
largest the Great Pyramid at
Much later, Assyrian cities included vast and structures, the pyramids (fig. 1.12) are among the Ciza, Egypt,
2570-2500 B.C.E.
complex palaces with plans that can be studied as oldest surviving works (the oldest dating from c.
Although the internal
they survive in excavated remains. Large rooms in 2800 B.C.E.) but their small interior passages and
spaces are tiny in
the palace of Sargon at Khorsabad (c. 700 b.c.e.) chambers are of less interest than their demonstra- comparison with the
are thought to have had vaulted roofs and possibly tions of Egyptian conceptual thinking. Ancient huge mass of the
pyramid, their forms
made use of half domes. Glazed tile in rich colors Egypt developed great knowledge of and skill in
and relationships are
was used as a surface material, and enough exam- geometric planning. The pyramids at Giza are posi- complex and signifi-
ples of these decorations survive to give some basis tioned with a north-south axial orientation of cant. A passage leads
to a false tomb
for imagined reconstructions. great precision (particularly impressive as the
chamber, while the
sphericalform of the earth with its north and south entrances to the
poles was unknown). It might seem that the slope passages leading to the
Ancient Egypt actual tomb were care-
of the pyramid sides (51 degrees 50 minutes 35
fully concealed in hope
The civilization of ancient Egypt has left far more seconds) was an arbitrary choice until it is noted of defeating any efforts
complete evidence for study so that, although no that this is the base angle of a triangle having a base to break into the actual
tomb of Khufu
complete interiors survive intact, it is possible to and hypotenuse that are respectively the short and
(Cheops), the pharaoh
gain a clear idea of what those spaces must have long sides of a "golden" rectangle, a figure in which for whom the pyramid
been like. Several circumstances have worked the ratio of the short side to the long side is the was built.
same as the ratio of the long side to the sum of the Egyptian Temples and Houses
two; that is, caUing the short side A and the long
side B: The plans of Egyptian temples are expanded and
elaborated versions of Egyptian house plans, with
A _
B "
B
A+B
an innermost chamber home of the god-^
surrounded by layers of walled spaces and reached
In numerical terms, the only values that satisfy this only through a succession of outer walls, gateways,
relationship are the ratios of 0.6180:1, which is and courtyards. The mud-brick material of house
equal to the ratio 1:1.6180. This relationship, often building (probably retained in early, now vanished
called the Golden mean, has been discovered and temples) was translated into construction using
rediscovered at various times in history as a unique carefully cut and polished stone. The design of the
proportion believed to have both aesthetic and typical stone column, with its suggestion of a
mystic significance. That the Egyptians knew of it binding of cord at the base and below the Capital,
and used it seems certain. Without mathematical was derived from the mud columns strengthened
1.13 Geometric techniques a golden ratio can be constructed with with bundled reeds of houses and palaces. The
construction of a
straight-edges andcompass by laying out a right
a inward slope (called Batter) of walls that had
golden rectangle,
triangle with an altitude equal to one half the base been used to improve stability in mud construction
CDE IS a right triangle
with DE equal to one (fig. 1.13). was retained in stone and is a common character-
holfCE. With Das a istic of ancient Egyptian building. Flat stones used
center and DE as a
as a roofing material can only span short distances
radius, an arc is swung
to the hypotenuse CD and so compel plans that stick to small rooms and
marking point X. With narrow passages, or, when a larger space was
C as a center, an arc is required, fill the space with columns spaced closely
swung from point X to
the baseline CE. The
enough to make it possible for stones to span from
base IS now divided in one column to the next. Such spanning stones are
golden ratio, A:B. With
Another arc transfers the long side to make it the called Lintels; building that is based on columns
B as Its length and A
as Its width, a golden hypotenuse of the triangle that represents a half and lintels is called Post and lintel or
rectangle can be drawn. elevation view of the pyramid (fig. 1.14). Trabeated construction.
1.14 Derivation of
pyramid angle from
golden rectangle.
Using a golden
rectangle, the long side
A is swung to make
contact with the oppo-
site long side. The
resulting tnangle has B
as Its base and A as its
hypotenuse; it can be
called a golden tnangle
Egyptian art and design make regular use of this
subtle relationship and many other simpler
1.15 (f;g/)f) Temple of
geometric concepts in architecture, in art, and in
Amon, Karnak, Egypt, the design of everyday objects. This leads to the
c. 1530b,c,e, conviction that the striking aesthetic success of so
The hypostyle hall is a many Egyptian works derives from such
vast space almost
by the columns that
filled
"harmonic" controls so-called because of their
18
Prehistory to Early Civilizations
1.16 A ceremonial
A large space filled with many columns is called
throne from the tomb
a Hypostyle hall. The enormous (170 x 338 feet) of Tutankhamen,
(begun c. 1530 b.c.e.) contains 134 columns with The basic structure of
ebony wood can only
surfaces covered with incised and painted hiero-
be glimpsed in the legs
glyphic inscriptions (fig. 1.15). The columns are of the chair, which is
built up of stone drums topped with capitals carved encrusted with inlays of
gold and ivory with
in papyrus bud or flower forms. The center portion
panels of painted,
of the hall is higher than the sides so that high, symbolic imagery. The
unglazed Clerestory windows could admit light. seating function is
clearly subordinated to
Access to the hall is through two gateways centered
the display of wealth,
between huge masonry elements called Pylons grandeur, and power
with a large open courtyard between. Beyond the conveyed by the rich-
vast royal building projects. Surviving traces have Tutankhamen (c. 1340 b.c.e.) are well-
the pharaoh
formed a basis for suggested reconstructions of known examples of the colorful and ornate phases
houses built at one end of an enclosed garden used of Egyptian design (fig. 1.16). Many smaller objects,
for food production as well as amenity. In some pieces of pottery,and glassware have also survived.
tombs, wooden models of houses, shops, and other Small wooden boxes, sometimes inlaid with ivory,
facilities of everyday life have survived, giving addi- were fitted out to contain cosmetics and tools for
tional information about the pleasant and colorful personal adornment. Such objects are often
character of these aspects of ancient Egyptian life. designed with attention to systems of geometric
Egyptian use of color was both strong and effec- proportions, including the golden section.
tive. Pigments in clear primaries (red, yellow, and Surviving bits of woven textiles suggest that the
blue) as well as green were used, along with white Egyptians were also highly skilled weavers and
and black, the latter generally only for linear forms colorists of woven cloths.
that edged and defined areas of strong color. In Ancient Egyptian civilization survived, in grad-
interiors, ceilings were often painted in a strong ually diminishing strength, up until Roman
times.
blue, representative of the night sky. Floors were Its influence on later European development is a
sometimes green, possibly symbolic of the Nile. matter for debate. Certainly, other peoples around
the Mediterranean visited Egypt, but the extent to
Egyptian Furniture and Other Interior which the design of ancient Greece may have been
Furnishings influenced by knowledge of Egypt can only be
Knowledge of Egyptian furniture comes from two guessed. Whether or not there is a direct path of
sources: images in wall paintings that show scenes progressive development, the design of ancient
of everyday life in royal or other aristocratic Egypt was clearly demonstrative of the power of
houses, and actual examples that were placed in strong conceptual thinking in the generation of a
tombs and that have survived. The latter include powerful aesthetic expression.
Classical Civilizations: Greece and
Rome
Several clusters of habitation developed on the these palaces is that at Knossos, thought to have
northern edge of the Mediterranean, generating the been the palace of King Minos and his successors in
bases on which later European civilization grew. 1450-1370 B.C.E. Its ruins are complex and
The term "prehistoric" is applied to these cultures confusing as a result of many rebuildings. Recent
since they have left no detailed written history. The efforts at restoration have created portions that
first of these in chronological sequence overlaps the give some idea of what the building may have been
middle portion of ancient Egyptian history. like when it was inhabited. The plan is a loose
agglomeration around a large central open area.
On one side there is a lower level of narrow cham-
Minoan and Mycenaean Cultures bers perhaps the basis for the legendary labyrinth
where the fearsome Minotaur was supposed to
Minoan and Mycenaean cominunities developed have been kept. Stairs lead to an upper level of
on small islands in the Aegean Sea, on the larger larger chambers thought to be the ceremonial
island of Crete, and on the mainland of Greece rooms of the palace. Many of the rooms are narrow
beginning around 2200 b.c.e. The term Minoan, or small, but there are larger rooms with traces of
derived from the name of the legendary king free-standing columns in a way that
spaced
Minos, is used to refer to the society, presumed to suggests that they supported the wooden beams of
have come from Minor (now Turkey), that
Asia a roof structure. On the other side of the court
builtup a scattering of settlements on Crete some there iscomplex of smaUer rooms, including a
a
twenty towns or small cities, each with its own three-level grouping that seems to have been the
palace and a population estimated at about 80,000 royal residence. There are stairs and light courts
supported by agriculture and fishing. Some contact leading to rooms that contain traces of wall paint-
with the contemporary society of Egypt is assumed, ings. The restored stair halls and "throne room"
2.1 (below) Throne
room at the palace at although there is no clear evidence of its influence. (fig. 2.1) give some idea of the surprisingly
Knossos, Crete, informal and colorful character of these spaces.
c. 1450-1370 B.c.E^
Pannini, c. 1750.
daylight pouring in
from the oculus (round
opening) at the top of
the dome illuminates
the space The niches
(originally altars to the
various gods), the tall
Corinthian columns,
and the wall surfaces
are colored with
marbles and gilded
bronze
20
Chapter Two
2.3 Reconstruction defense. Giant rough-cut stones are laid up without intact pieces of everyday furniture or other artifacts
drawing of the and chambers, more complete sense of the interior
mortar to form complex galleries to suggest a
megaron of the palace
at Mycenae, Greece,
topped in places with stones tilted inward which vernacular of houses. The cities on Crete were all
second millennium meet to form a stone roofing. Enough stonework destroyed around 1400 b.c.e., probably by an
B.C.E.
survives for plans to be reconstructed which earthquake. Mycenaean civilization lasted until
The megaron was a exhibit the same complex and labyrinthine plan- sometime between 1200 and 1000 b.c.e., when it
large rectangular or
ning encountered in the Cretan palaces. At Tiryns a was displaced by the migration of Dorian invaders
square room, with a
central hearth below a gateway leads to a courtyard with a columned from northern Greece.
raised roof with an surround on three sides and, on the fourth side, the
opening through which
the smoke could
facade of the major hall of the palace, a large room
escape. The entrance called a Megaron (fig. 2.3) with an outer vestibule Greece
was from a porch with and Portico. Internally, there was a round central
two columns, which,
hearth, four columns supporting a wood roof The migrating and invading Dorians and lonians
like the intenor
columns, tapered from structure, and a raised throne placed at the center brought into Greece their own systems of wood
a larger capital to a of one side wall. The floor was paved with deco- building, but also seem to have absorbed aspects of
smaller base. Although
rated tiles and surviving traces suggest walls with the earlier Aegean architecture and even to display
the style of roof IS
unknown, the artist's colorful painted decorative The
patterning. traces of Egyptian design. The development of the
impression shows that symmetrical plan and placement of the megaron in Greek alphabet and the related system of writing
it may have been deco-
relation to the forecourt suggest the beginnings of a around 900 b.c.e. made it possible for the Homeric
rated with complex,
abstract, painted formal and monumental approach to planning. stories and others to be preserved, along with an
patterns. Excavation of town sites has revealed compact increasingly complete historical record.
clusters of houses, usually of four or five rooms,
grouped along narrow streets or alleys winding
The Temple
about without formal plan. Painted tiles, pottery,
and wall paintings give some idea of the design The Greek temple developed from the Aegean
vocabulary of the Aegean cultures, but there are no megaron, the main room of the palace it was thus
22
3
1
12 Tnglyph
must have been used in the joinery of wood 1 Metope
The functions of the Greek temple were which is the style used
at the Parthenon,
minimal (strictly ceremonial or symbolic), its
Athens, is austere and
construction simple, and its design limited to a simple, its columns
narrow range of variations on a formula. The having no base and a
simple capital. The
enclosed space of the temple, the Cella, was
column typical of the
usually only one or two rooms dedicated to a god worked out as multiples or submultiples of the Ionic order (right) is
discovery for many centuries. front elevation fits into a rectangle of the same
The best-known and most obvious character- golden proportion, whUe the column spacing
istic is the use of an Order, a systematic means of makes it possible to discover a series of related
organizing elements according to a carefully inte- harmonious relationships. The Parthenon also 2.5 Plan of the
Parthenon, Athens,
grated plan (fig. 2.4). The oldest and most admired displays many of the more subtle departures from
Greece, 447-435 b.c.e.
order, called Doric, uses a column with no base strict regularity, called Refinements, that are char- 1 Naos
that rises from a three-stepped platform (the acteristic of the most successful Greek temples. 2 Pronaos
3 Opisthodomos
Sylobate) made up of a round
to a simple capital Corner columns are spaced closer to their neigh- 4 Treasury
Echinus with a square block or Abacus above. bors than the regular spacing based on the 5 Base of Athena's statue
6 Peristyle columns
The column is slightly taperedfrom bottom to top governing module. In addition, the horizontal lines 7 Solid wall
curvature or Entasis. The entab- of the stylobate base platform are found to be bent 8 Steps (stereobate and
with a very slight
styiobate)
lature band above is made up of three parts: a plain upward in a slight curvature, columns lean slightly
Eight columns at front
Architrave; a Frieze made up of alternating inward, and the lines of the entablature are also
and back form, with the
panels
the Triglyphs that recall wood rafter curved. These slight shifts from total regularity columns at each side, a
penstyle surround. At
ends, and the blank or sculptured Metopes serve to correct the optical or perspective distor-
front and back an addi-
between; and above, a projecting Cornice or tions that can make straight lines seem to curve or
tional row of SIX
crowning element. All of these parts are given verticals to lean. They also introduce an aesthetic columns stands in front
23
Chapter Two
2.7 Creek ornamental quality that might be called "humane" in its delicate
detail.
shifting of forms away from strictly mechanical
The patterns called a
precision.
Creek key and the more
complex vanant, known Internally, many Greek temples contain only the
as a Greek fret, were simple single room of the megaron house, but some It is the most ornate of the three orders, using both
executed in mosaic tiles
larger temples have internal rows of columns small volutes at the corners of the column capital
and are a frequent
feature of Greek supporting a Mezzanine or balcony with an upper and carved forms of acanthus leaves ringing the
interiors. range of columns supporting the roof above. lower part of the capital. The Corinthian order was
Although no complete interior of any Greek temple widely used in Roman times and has been a favorite
has survived, the ruins of the temple of Poseidon at of later users of classical architectural detail.
Paestum (fig. 2.6), for example, give an idea of the Even the smallest details of Greek design have
aesthetic success of this arrangement. The white become elements in our understanding of the
ruins mislead modern viewers; the original build- concept of classicism. The moldings that are part of
ings used strong color, as we know from traces the orders and the ornamental details that were
discovered in the stones. Such Polychromy (use of used
including moldings given names such as
color) must have made these buildings quite Bead and reel or Egg and dart, bands of carved
different from the pristine image so often imagined. Dentils or Greek key ornament (fig. 2.7)
Following the Doric order, two other orders continue to be used in classical design.
came into use in Greek architecture. The Ionic The influence that the design of Greek temples
order uses a column taller and thinner in propor- has had on western architecture and design is
tion than the Doric, adds a base detail, and is most remarkable considering their small number,
clearly identified by its capital with its twin scroll- modest size, and specialized purpose. Ancient
form Volutes. The small temple called the Roman design borrowed heavily from the admired
Erectheum and the Temple of Athena Nike on the work of the Greeks. Roman architecture was redis-
acropolis in Athens both used the Ionic order, covered in the Renaissance, bringing back the
which also appears in the interior of the Doric romanized version of Greek design as the ideal of
Temple of Apollo at Bassae. The Ionic order is classical beauty. In the latter part of the eighteenth
usually viewed as more gentle, perhaps more "femi- century, when travel to Greece became easier,
nine" than the austerity of the Doric. The third knowledge of actual Greek sites through printed
order, called Corinthian, came into use much later. illustrations and detailed drawings became the
basis for a revival of design based on Greek prece-
2.6 The Temple of dents. Imitation of Greek orders, of temple build-
Poseidon, Paestum,
ings, and of Greek ornament was a frequent theme
Italy, c. 460 b.c.e.
of nineteenth-century design. In more recent
This view of the Doric
temple, which originally
times, interest in the conceptual aspects of Greek
had a roof looks down design has overshadowed literal imitation. Le
into the naos (principal
Corbusier, the influential French modernist, in his
room). The lower tier of
columns supported a manifesto Towards a New Architecture, praised the
balcony, where another aesthetic logic of Greek design and illustrated
series of columns would
details of Greek temples in direct comparison to
have supported the
wooden roof images of automobiles and aircraft that he viewed
as having parallel merit.
Secular Interiors
24
Classical Civilizations: Greece and Rome
2.8 Reconstruction
drawing of a typical
Greek house at Priene,
Asia Minor, fourth
The Growth of Athens century b.c.e.
A central courtyard,
Thucydides chronicled the long Peloponnesian War open to the sky, is
writing between 433 and 404 b.c.e. He comments on flanked by a portico on
how the situation caused an unplanned and one side, various rooms
haphazard expansion of the city of Athens: on the opposite side,
and by a columned
The Athenians took the advice he [Pericles] gave megaron (large room)
them and brought in from the country their wives at the end. The street
and children and all their household goods, taking front IS blank, apart
to living in the country .... So they were far from a second floor; a second courtyard is rare. A room the interior court.
pleased at having to move with their entire with a bathtub of terracotta is not unusual. Only
households. was sadly and reluctantly that they
It
excavated foundations survive so that knowledge ot
now abandoned their homes and the temples time
interior detail is limited; evidence suggests that
honoured from their patriotic past, that they
prepared to change their whole way of life, leaving rooms were generally plain with white-painted walls
behind what each man regarded as his own city. and floors of Tamped earth or, .sometimes, ot tile.
When they arrived in Athens, a few had houses No furniture survives, but images in Greek
of their own to go to, and a few were able to find on vases and
painting, particularly the paintings
shelter with friends or relations; but most of them
other ceramics, give an idea of its design. A recur-
had to settle down in those parts of the city that
had not been built over, and in the temples and ring image shows a chair of great elegance prob-
shrines of the heroes-except in the Acropolis.
'
meeting place. The Stoa at the edges of the agora The bas-relief shows an
elegantly dressed lady
provided shelter for commerce within long colon-
seated in a chair of the
nades with small rooms at the back serving as unique Greek type
shops, for storage, or as work spaces. The stoa of called a klismos. The
outward curving legs of
Attalos (fig. 2.10) in the Athenian agora (c. 150
wood support a square
B.c.E.) has been extensively restored, giving a frame, which has a
of the chair.
rooms around an open court (fig. 2.8). In cities the
houses were packed together along streets with
largely blank exteriors except for the entrance
doorway. Material was sun-baked brick or, some-
times, rough stone with surfaces plastered or stuc-
coed and whitewashed. Plans vary in response to
the preferences of individual families, but there is
25
Chapter Two
thestoa of Attalos in
or marl<et place) in
Athens, now restored,
was partly surrounded
by a covered colon-
nade, called a stoa. A
line of Done columns
on the left and a row of
Ionic columns at the
center supported a
wooden roof. The doors
at the right led to
rooms that were used
for dining and storage
by the merchants,
whose wares were
displayed in the open
portico.
semicircular tiers of
seating facing down
toward the circular
floor or orchestra, where
a chorus might dance
or sing. Actors played
on a temporary raised
platform or stage
behind the orchestra.
The theater was usually
sited in a spectacular
landscape that formed
a natural backdrop.
26
Classical Civilizations: Greece and Rome
corner uprights that continue the rear legs. The to control all of Italy until, from about 150 b.c.e. to
seat is an open square of round wooden members 400 C.E., its empire controlled most of the known
webbed with some material, probably leather. Both western civilized world. In design, the Romans
front and back legs take a strong outward curve, were content to borrow the aesthetic concepts of
the characteristic of the Klismos chair type. The the Greeks, expanding, elaborating, and orna-
form suggests curved animal parts that may have menting as they chose, usually to the detriment of
been used in early versions of the klismos. It is not quality. Roman skills were organizational and tech-
a structurally logicalform and raises questions nical. It is in the great engineering works roads,
about how such chairs were made to have adequate bridges, and Aqueducts and in the creation of
strength. The legs could have been bent from vast interior spaces that Roman achievement is
connected Greek city states came under the domi- spaces within major buildings. An arch is an
nation of Rome. arrangement of wedge-shaped stones put together
so that each stone, or Voussoir, is held trapped
between its neighbors on either side. Many small
Rome stones can thus be made to reach across wide open-
ings that no one stone lintel could span. Arches are
Ancient Roman design drew extensively on Greek most often made in the familiar curved form
precedents. The links were the Etruscan civilization (although they can be slightly curved or flat); its
on the Italian peninsula that had in turn been semicircular form is often called a Roman arch
influenced by the Greek colonies in Italy, and the (fig. 2.12).
27
Chapter Two
Arches pose two technical problems. The first vaults. Such a Groin vault requires support only
involves technique of construction: all of the stones at its four corners as it exerts outward thrust in two
of an arch must be in place before it will stand. This directions at those points.
means that a temporary scaffolding structure, In addition to their skilled exploitation of these
usually of wood, called Centering must be built to constructional techniques, the Romans also devel-
support the stones as they are put in place until the oped the dome, a kind of round vault having the
arch is complete. The Romans understood how to form of a half or smaller segment of a sphere. A
support centering from projecting stones near the dome can only cover a circular space and requires
base of an arch, which avoided the need to build support around its perimeter. In addition to arch,
the wooden structure from the ground up, and vault, and dome building in neatly cut stone called
they reused centering for the successive arches of Ashlar, the Romans added the use of a strong and
an Arcade, removing the centering from under a lasting fired brick. Roman bricks, unlike their
complete arch so that it could support the next one modern equivalent, were thin, flat The
squares.
under construction. Romans also developed concrete, a mix of cement
The second problem of arch construction or mortar (the Romans used a volcanic ash called
results from the fact that the wedging action of the pozzolana) with stones or gravel and water to make
voussoirs transmits pressure sideways through the a substance that would flow into place in any
arch, generating an outward force or Thrust that desired form and subsequently harden into an
must be resisted in some way. In a series of arches artificial stone. Stone was the material most used
making up an arcade, the thrust of each arch is for visible exterior and interior surfaces, but the
2.13 The Pontdu absorbed by the balancing thrust of the neigh- structure behind the surface often made use of the
Card, Nimes, France,
boring arches on either side. In a bridge or aque- easily handled (and ine.xpensive) brick or concrete
late first century b.c.e.
duct (fig. 2.13), the last arches of the series press in whatever combination was most practical and
This Roman aqueduct
bridge uses three tiers
against a hillside or a massive abutment heavy efficient.
28
Classical Civilizations: Greece and Rome
2.14 Reconstruction
drawing of the Baths
of Caracalla, Rome,
211-17C.E,
Enormous Corinthian
columns supported the
overhead vaulting,
while openings and
clerestory windows high
in the walls flooded the
interior with light. The
floors, walls, and
vaulting were covered
with richly colored
marble as an expres-
sion of the greatness of
the Roman empire and
Its emperor
29
Chapter Two
cello of this Roman rows of four columns each make the portico a deep
temple. It is a simple space leading to the great bronze entrance doors
chamber with a barrel-
(still in place and working on their original hinges).
vaulted roof of stone
Its fine construction has The main body of the buOding has walls 14 feet
kept the building in thick hoUowed out with spaced columned recesses
nearly anginal condi-
each dedicated to a particular god. The total height
tion. It has been the
inspiration for many of the space matches its diameter, making the lower
laterworks-such as the half a cylinder matching the height of the dome
American eighteenth-
above. The walls below the dome are in the
century Virginia State
House by Thomas Corinthian order with a simulated Attic, or upper
Jefferson. story, above. The dome is coffered with five tiers of
30
Classical Civilizations: Greece and Rome
thick at the top and becoming thicker at its lower vastly aided through the extraordinary way in Only three bays survive
levels to carry the increasing load and add weight to which whole towns were preserved when the erup- of this massive public
assembly hall, but they
aid in resisting outward thrust. The wails are of tion of Mount Vesuvius in 79 c.e. buried the cities
reveal the scale and
concrete and brick with stone facing inside and of Pompeii and Herculaneum in lava and ash. nchness of this exercise
out. The vast size of the Rotunda interior, its rich These were resort towns where the well-to-do had in concrete vaulted
construction High
surface ornamentation, the dramatic effect of the houses of considerable luxury, but they can be clerestory windows
beams of sunlight which stream in through the taken to be quite typical examples of the Roman admitted light to illumi-
oculus to be reflected from the polished marble approach to domestic architecture. Excavations at nate the nch decoration.
Secular Buildings
hall built for use as a courtroom, had a central 2.18 The marl<ets
part of a complex of
in the nave walls, forming a clerestory. Walls of
commercial buildings
masonry supported a wooden roof This arrange- built under the Emperor
ment of nave and aisles with a focal apse turned out Trajan as part of an
urban renewal project.
to be highly suitable to conversion into a Christian
It included a basilica,
church after Christianity became an accepted forums, and other
31
' '
Chapter Two
2.19 Plan of the the sites of the disaster have uncovered streets,
Houseof the Vettii,
Pompeii, Italy,
houses, shops, even people caught in the eruption.
63-79 C.E. An astonishing variety of small objects, paintings,
Entrance
1
and Mosaics make it possible to understand
2 Atrium
3 Kitchen
ancient Roman design in great detail. Although
4 Dining room quite varied in plan in response to the sizeand
5 Parlor
shape of and to the needs and means of its
its lot
6 Main room
owner, the Pompeiian house follows patterns that
The House of the Vettii
Juvenal's Satires made the same point: reclining posture. Windows were rare since the
light admitted by the door openings facing the
Living in Rome forces one to expensive social
displays, such as wearing one's toga every single
atrium were considered ample. Smaller special
day. purpose rooms such as a kitchen, baker)', and baths
were fitted in where they served their purposes
And moreover,
most conveniently.
The cost of housing is so expensive that the annual
Pompeiian houses varied in size from a few
rent of a dark and dingy abode in Rome would buy
the freehold of a fine house and garden in a nearby
rooms off an atrium to large mansions occupied by
town [0]ne has to spend heavily in order to wealthy families. Larger houses often had two
manage to live in vile lodgings with enough food for courtyards, an atrium in front surrounded by
'
the slaves and only a modest dinner for oneself rooms making up a formal outer zone linked by a
In addition to these heavy costs of living, public- transitional room to a larger court or peristyle
spirited citizens were expected to pay for municipal surrounded by another set of rooms forming a
amenities as part of their duties as citizens. The public
private living realm. The House of the Vettii (figs.
baths at Bononia, built by the emperor Augustus and
2.19-2.22) at Pompeii has a very large peristyle
restored by the emperor Caligula, bear the inscription,
court but a small number of rooms, although there
Ut ex reditu in perpetuum viri et impuberes
''
is a kitchen andservice zone with its own small
utriusque sexsus gratis laventur
open court. The very large House of Pansa is
which, translated, records thatT. Avasius Servandus
arranged around two courtyards arid has a large
had paid 400,000 cestercii to restore the baths for
the free use of both sexes in perpetuity as part of his
garden at the rear. The planning of such Roman
civic duty. houses is developed from the interior outward, so
that the outermost perimeter is often surrounded
1, Martial. Epigram 12,3^; 2. Juvenal, Sot/re i, 171, 3. /fori, 223; 4.
by smaller houses and shops fronting on the public
Quoted in Duncan Jones, The Economy of the Roman Empire
(Cambridge, 1974), p. 230 streets. Thus the house can be described as having
32
Classical Civilizations: Greece and Rome
2.22 Wall paintings in Loggia facing toward it. Plans are quite varied from the House of the Vettii illustrates a fanciful
theHouseof the Vettii. according to the size and shape of the lot: often scene of cupids at work (fig. 2.22) in what appears
A wall painting in there was an upper story with rooms having to be a pharmacy, which is shown furnished with
another room of the
secondary functions, perhaps rooms for children, work tables, stools, and cabinets that give an idea of
house of the Vettii
includes a band of servants, or storage. what the varied and rich furniture of Rome must
amusing cupids, which have been.
may illustrate a story Furniture and Other Interior Furnishings
no longer known. The
cupids appear to be at The hot volcanic lava and ash that buried Pompeii The Legacy of Rome: Technology
work in a pharmacy, and Herculaneum destroyed the wooden structural
mixing up potions in
parts of houses and objects of wood, but elements Technological skills of the Romans can be traced
great vats. The details
of cabinets and caul- that were not of inflammable materials survived in the surviving evidence of their well-planned
drons provide informa- stone couches and tables, iron and bronze artifacts, water supply systems, using aqueducts and tanks to
tion about the design
oil lamps and charcoal braziers, and decorative feed efficient plumbing, their sanitary sewage
of the furniture and
eguipment that might fresco paintings and mosaics. Taken together, the disposal arrangements, and even a central heating
have been found in ruins, the surviving objects, and the images in system of considerable sophistication. While the
Roman houses of the
paintings and mosaics have made it possible to Mediterranean climate hardly required any heating
time. The wall surfaces
above and below are reconstruct Pompeiian, and therefore ancient beyond that provided by portable charcoal
painted in the orange- Roman, design in considerable detail. Walls of burners, as the Romans pushed northward they
red generally known as
rooms, uncluttered by windows, were generally faced colder weather. As far north as the great wall
Pompeiian red.
painted with simulated architectural detail of built by Hadrian across the British Isles at the limit
moldings and pilasters forming a plain Wainscot of Roman colonization, houses (or Villas) were
below; the Panels above might be painted in solid built where surviving ruins make it possible to
color or with naturalistic painting of exterior inspect a radiant heating system. This involved a
scenes or imagery from mythology or scenes of stone floor supported a short distance above the
daily life. Perspective was partially understood and ground on brick or stone posts. The hollow space
used to heighten realistic, Trompe L'oeil effects below the floor was connected with a furnace on
framed paintings seemingly hung on walls, false one side of the building and a chimney on the
decorative details, and, in mosaic, objects that opposite side. When a fire was built in the furnace,
appear to lie on floors. Favorite colors were black combustion gases were drawn through the under-
and a vermilion red that has come to be called floor chamber, the same technique used to heat the
"Pompeiian." Roman furniture was developed great baths in Rome. The warmed floor surface
from Greek prototypes with a tendency toward reached a mild but comfortable temperature. This
greater elaboration of ornamental detail and the approach to heating was not rediscovered until
use of fine woods and inlays of ivory or metal. modern times when it appeared with the name
Folding stools and certain types of chairs developed "radiant heating."
a role as symbols of rank or status rather than as Knowledge of Roman design is considerably
devices solely for seating comfort. A wall painting aided by the oldest extant text on architecture, De
34
Classical Civilizations: Greece and Rome
.^
^^
V^
Architectural written sometime between 90 and 20 useful basis for understanding the complexities
B.c.E. by the Roman architect and engineer Marcus that all design involves. In the Renaissance, study
Vitruvius PoUio, now generally known simply as of surviving Roman remains was supported by
Vitruvius. Ten books dealt with many technical study of significant portions of Vitruvius's text. It is
matters, fortification building, the making of bricks still valued as the oldest surviving written work to
and concrete, machinery, clocks, and water supply present a thorough study of architectural practice.
systems, and the education of the architect. It also From a modern point of view, Roman design
included chapters on the design of temples, public seems technically advanced, orderly, systematic,
buildings, and houses, discussion of aesthetic and aesthetically impressive, although often osten-
issues, and a full account of the Roman Doric, tatious, overly decorative, and lacking in subtlety.
Ionic, and Corinthian orders (fig. 2.23). It sets Influence of Roman design can be traced through
forth the analysis of design goals as made up of the subsequent periods, recessive in the Middle Ages,
three phases utilitas, firmitas, and vemistas. but reemergent in the Renaissance as the dominant
Translatedby Sir Henry Wotton in 1624 as theme of European architecture and design. The
"commodity, firmness, and delight," and often gradual decline of Roman civilization and its even-
rendered today as function, structure, and tual collapse form the background for the complex
35
Early Christian, Byzantine, and
Romanesque
By 400 C.E., Roman world domination had Christianity such as baptism and, in particular, the
declined significantly. The empire split into sepa- celebration of the mass called for new building
rate eastern and western empires, each with its own types. Earlier temples had not been intended to
capital and emperor. The western empire was accommodate a public gathering, but a Christian
destined to collapse under the pressure of northern church was primarily an auditorium where a
European invaders whom the Romans called congregation could assemble to watch and partici-
Vandals. From several competing religions, pate in religious rites. To serve this need, the
Christianity took a dominant role, with its center Christians turned to the earlier Roman building
moving eastward to Constantinople (now type that came closest to serving their needs; this
Istanbul). In design history, a time of conflicting was the basilica, a public meeting hall used by the
trends begins with the growth of the European Romans as a courtroom.
direction usually called Early Christian design, the The Early Christian basilican church had a high
work centering in the eastern empire called central nave suited to processions and the gath-
Byzantine, and the emergence of the Romanesque ering of a congregation. At one end, in an apse, was
style that came to dominate the design of medieval the altarand other arrangements for the clergy
Europe. These aspects of design history overlap, conducting a mass or other service. On either side
interrelate, and to a degree conflict so that the years of the naves. Aisles, in larger churches sometimes
from the "fall" of Rome, usually dated at 410, until twin aisles, provided space for the public and for
1000 or 1 100 can seem disordered and confusing. various shrines and secondary functions. The nave,
higher than the aisles, was lighted by high
3.1 (below) S. Maria
clerestory windows. Walls were constructed of
In Cosmedln, Rome,
772-95. Early Christian Design masonry, the roofs spanned by large wooden
The basic scheme of the members. The upper walls of the nave were
Roman basilica-a long When Christianity was made an officially accepted supported by rows of closely spaced columns
nave with aisles on
religion by the Roman emperor Constantine in 313 carrying lintels or arches. The change in height and
either side and an apse
at the end has been C.E., it became possible for Christians to abandon the line of columns made a clear separation
convened to serve as a secret meetings and catacomb burial places in favor between nave and aisles. This simple configuration
Christian church. The
of a public and visible presence. The rituals of was the basis on which most subsequent church
ancient Roman
columns have been building developed. In the Early Christian era,
reused to support a elaboration developed in several ways. Columns
wall with a high
were generally based on one of the Roman orders,
clerestory. The roof is of
wood. A choir has been sometimes Ionic, most often Corinthiarft Their
built that extends into material was stone, frequently marble of rich color.
the nave. The largely
The walls above the columns were often painted,
red and green floor
mosaic adds color the half dome over the apse painted or lined with
mosaic illustrating religious themes. Floors were
3.2 [opposite] S.
often paved with colored stones in geometric
Marco, Venice, Italy,
Five domes on penden- complete columns with their capitals, were often
tives-three for the taken from earlier Roman temples and other build-
nave, one for each
ings, thereby transferring Roman design into basil-
transept-create the
space of this famous ican churches in a most direct manner.
church The mosaics The large Roman basilican churches of S. Paul
that cover the surface Maria Maggiore
Outside the Walls (386 c.e.) and S.
of every wall and dome
introduce spectacular
(432) are examples of the type although much
color into an otherwise altered by later elaboration. The smaller churches
dim interior The
Maria Cosmedin in Rome
of S. in (fig. 3.1)
building represents a
(772-95) or of S. Apollinare in Classe (c. 500) in
link between the earlier
36
y*"
,>(
c:
J I
y^?
M
Chapter Three
3.3 S. Costanza, Rome, forward extension of the apse to make a Chancel type. In both designs, painted and mosaic decora-
c. 350,
or Choir, an element that gradually became an tion in rich color contributed to internal richness
Built as a mausoleum important part of church buildings. while also serving as a teaching tool through the
for the daughter of the
Emperor Constantine,
An alternative type of religious building used a illustration of events of religious historical signifi-
the building was later round or octagonal plan to focus on a centrally cance to a generally illiterate public.
converted to a Christian placed baptismal font, altar or tomb. S. Costanza
church. The central
domed space is
(fig. 3.3; 350 c.e.) and S. Stefano Rotondo (468-83 Byzantine Design
surrounded by an aisle C.E.), both Rome, are of this type. Such central
in
or ambulatory with a
planning with its Radial symmetry has been used With the relocation of the Roman capital to
mosaic-covered barrel
vault overhead.
for many Christian churches, but the basilican Byzantium (330 c.e.), renamed Constantinople by
Clerestory windows model with its Bilateral symmetry and its strong the emperor Constantine, and with the eventual
light the central space,
orientation toward an altar, usually placed at the break into separate eastern and western Roman
while marble wall
surfaces and the
east end to establish an eastward-facing direction empires, a new center of development was created.
mosaic introduce for its symbolic significance (facing toward the The influence of Byzantine architecture and design
varied color Holy Land), tended to become the favored plan developed in the east, flowed back to Italy to
38
The Ravenna Mosaics
The great Italian poet Dante Alighieri wrote these mingle with the Early Christian work evolving 3.4 (above left)
The lines of another, unknown, poet were and freer use extending to the east
architecture faded in favor of limited
the Archiepiscopal The domed central
transcribed into the mosaics in
The
of such basics as the column and its capital.
space IS surrounded by
Chapel:
engineering skills of ancient Rome were, however, an aisle with an upper
Aut lux nata est, aut capta hie libera regnat (Either
retained and developed with skillful use of vaulting gallery. Light enters
their own portraits set into mosaic in the church of S. Ravenna block type, typical of
vi/all decoration.
" stylistic attribution can be supported by the richly to an octagon. The
entrance narthex
decorated interior, with wall surfaces covered in
Dante Alighien, The Dwine Comedy, trs, Melville Anderson; 2. (vestibule) is angled to
colored marbles in complex patterns together with
1 .
Quoted in Cuiseppe Bovini, Ravenna Mosa/cs (London, 1957), p. 6, relate to two adjacent
3. Ibid. p. 474; 4. Ibid p. 9 mosaic images representing figures from religious faces of the octagon.
39
Chapter Three
Hagia Sophia
By far the most important of Byzantine works is the
great church of Hagia Sophia (S. Sophia; 532-7) in
Constantinople (figs. 3.6 and 3.7). The vast,
been preserved-
tion of realistic representation in art. The much
3.7 Plan of Hagia The central domed century) church of
Columns with typically later (tenth to eleventh
Sophia, space IS extended by
Byzantine capitals
1 Atrium half domes at the front S.Marco in Venice (fig. 3.2), built with five domes
support arches that
open to aisles and
2 Narthex and back to give the on pendentives that cover the four arms of a Greek
3 Nave exterior a strong length-
galleries above the CROSS plan and its central crossing, has retained its
4 Apse ways axis, which
aisles.
5 Baptistry extends from the elaborately carved choir screen, chancel fittings,
6 Minaret entrance narthex and rich interior lining of mosaics. It is probably
toward the apse facing
the most complete and best example of Byzantine
the southeast
church interior treatment.
40
Early Christian, Byzantine, and Romanesque
by the eastern Roman empire following earlier between the often brutal leader and the exploited only remaining part of
the proposed building.
Roman practice, but almost nothing remains population that lived under his protection. The
The octagonal interior,
intact. Residential building and the buildings of development of this pattern in the early Middle based on S Vitale,
early monasteries have also largely disappeared or Ages (before 1000) established the context for Ravenna, has an
eight-sided vault roof;
have been extensively reconstructed. Some houses design, art, and architecture usually identified by
two galleries surround
in Venice date from the era of Byzantine influence. the stylistic designation Romanesque. the space, with a
41
6
3
5
Chapter Three
3.9 Plan of the the arts to parallel developments in other aspects of justified their use. The early Romanesque vault was
monastery of S. Call,
820.
life. The term Carolingian (which derives from a simple barrel vault, invariably semicircular in
Switzerland, c.
1 Church the name Charles) is used to describe the work of form. Eventually more complex vaulting systems
2 Cloister
which can be viewed as an early phase of
this era, developed and groin vaulting appeared, but always
3 Infirmary
4 Chapel Romanesque architecture and art. The term with semicircular form.
5 Novitiate
Romanesque derives from the continued use of Barrel vaults were often used in placing a stone
6 Orchard/Cemetery
7 Carrien aspects of Roman design, the semicircular arch in roof over a long church nave, a problem that was
8 Barn
9 Workshops
and versions of the detail of Roman
particular, approached in a variety of ways during the
10 Brewery and bakery is somewhat misleading in its implica-
interiors. It Romanesque era. In general, continuity of space was
11 Stables
tion of a strong connection with Rome. The best served by a continuous barrel vault which made
12 Animal pens
1 Hostel Roman empire, its culture, and its art had been provision of vndows difficult and so led to a dark
14 Guesthouse
largely lost and forgotten in the early Middle Ages. interior. Other solutions tended to break the nave
1 School
1 Abbot's house At Charlemagne's capital at Aachen (Aix-la- up into a series of separate units, each topped with
17 Scriptorium and library
18 Dormitory
Chapelle) a great palace, built with regard for its own vault, or regressed to the acceptance of a
19 Refeaory concepts of order and symmetry, is the epitome of wooden roof with limited lasting qualities. At
20 Kitchens
Romanesque style. Only the chapel survives (fig. Tournus in France, the abbey church of S. Philibert
21 Cellars
22 Hospice for the poor 3.8), a centrally planned octagon topped by an (960-1120) has a nave higher than the adjacent
23 Baths and latrines
eight-sided vault v^th surrounding passages at groin-vaulted aisles. The roof is a series of transverse
The early medieval by neighbor
floor level and at the two levels of galleries above. barrel vaults, each thus buttressed its
Benedictine monastery,
now replaced by a later Semicircular arches and barrel vaults recall the leaving the clerestory wall available for large
building, is known only techniques of ancient Rome. The building is now windows. The interior effect of the many vaults
from a plan that shows way that
embedded in later construction, but the interior breaks up the unity of the nave in a left this
Its extensive elements.
Such a monastery was survives much as built. approach an experiment not repeated. There is also
conceived as a closed, The visual element most readUy identified with at S. Philibert a Narthex or vestibule on two levels,
self-sustaining commu- West work
Romanesque design is the semicircular arch. It was approaching the concept of the German
nity, able to provide for
all of its residents' the most advanced structural technique remaining (see below). The chancel end with an apse
needs. The church's
double-ended design-it
in use clearly a primary device of Roman archi- surrounded by a curving aisle or ambulatory with
tecture remembered or, perhaps, rediscovered for radiating small chapels was to become a character-
has an apse at each
end-was intended to use in stone building. Wood was the usual material istic element of later French church building.
be the ideal scheme for
other churches and
for everyday structures no longer survivingand
was the most common material for floor and roof
Churches
cathedrals of Germany
and adjacent regions in construction of stone buildings. Vaults eventually
the ninth century. came into use where the desire for permanence Germany
42
Early Christian, Byzantine, and Romanesque
BH^^^^^V
Michael's, Hildesheim,
Germany, 1010-33
(reconstructed after
World War
n n fi n/*"*^, iQOQOOOQDQQ II).
connected
on either side
to the nave
and
Michael's,
and tower are placed symmetrically at each end of width. A small apse on
the east was later
the basilican nave with aisles.
outmatched by a large,
The cathedrals of Speyer (fig. 3.12; begun c.
vaulted chancel
1024), Mainz (after 1009), and Worms (begun extending to the west
a view into a lower Crypt level below the chancel. above eye-level. Con-
trasting black and white
S.Ambrogio, Milan (1080-1128), has a plan based
marble covers the walls.
on the Early Christian basilica with an open atrium The windows are of thin,
in front. The nave is in four Bays (units), three translucent marble
Chapter Three
3.14 Church of S.Foy, roofed with a square groin vault, having the diag-
Conques, France,
onal lines of the groins emphasized as stone ribs.
1050-1120.
The fourth bay is the chancel, now topped by an
The pilgrimage church
IS built to a cruciform octagonal stubby tower or Lantern. The two-level
plan, with toll, narrow aisles are topped by square groin vaults.
proportions- An octag-
onal tower tops the France
crossing The
barrel-vaulted nave has The church of S. Conques in France (fig.
Foy at
arches defining each
3.14; 1050-1120) is on one of the great
a station
bay, and the arched
openings into aisles pilgrimage routes of the Middle Ages. The relic of
and galleries above the martyred saint, housed in a gilded and jeweled
permit only limited
statue, attracted hordes of worshipers on the tradi-
light to reach the nave
from small windows in tional route to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
the outer walls. At the Its nave, high and narrow in relation to width, is
east end, in contrast,
topped by a barrel vault with aisles two levels in
larger windows admit
light to the ambulatory height on either side. The upper aisles are covered
choir. The church was with half barrel vaults rising to the top of the nave
originally richly deco-
side walls so that there is no clerestory level.
rated with carvings,
paintings, and tapes- Windows here are large enough to light the aisles
tries, but all have been so that they are brighter than the nave; the octag-
removed. The reliquary
onal, domed tower above the crossing where
statue of the saint (see
p 50) gives an idea of transepts and nave meet is also windowed. Except
the nature of the ang- for carved column capitals, the interior is simple
inal ornamental
and austere, although the "treasure" that attracted
richness.
the pilgrims' attention would have been displayed
in the chancel in mountings of gold and jewels.
44
Early Christian, Byzantine, and Romanesque
1066. The plan is Cruciform (having the shape of groin vaulting above,
and clerestory level above at the level of the main grey stone was prob-
a
ably originally painted
vaulting. The vaults are square, but each is divided
in bright colors, while
by a cross arch match the spacing of
at its center to the carved patterning
of the round
the supporting columns, two bays to each main piers,
45
Chapter Three
mination of medieval
their main structure.The typical stave church is example. The church at Torpo (c. 1 190) is remark-
manuscripts. small, usually about 30 x 50 feet in ground plan, able for its colorful interior paintings that line an
but tall often as much as 100 feet high. The central arched partial ceiling, which suggests an intention
body of these churches is a tall space formed by the to simulate a stone barrel vault. The painted figures
acting out events of religious legends suggest the
style of medieval manuscript illumination.
and roof
Some early castles, called Tower houses, were
simply towers with rooms stacked up vertically
inside, often with corner projections to make
defense of the walls easier. GraduaUy, as military
techniques for attack improved, castles were
improved with defensive towers along the walls,
very slowly as medieval life became increasingly and chimney were late innovations. At one end, a
settled and orderly v^rith the passage of time. raised portion of floor, the dais, made a separate
Since castles were usually stone built (although space for the table where the family and honored
with most floors and roofs of wood) a number of guests would sit. In the body of the hall, boards set
examples survive or have been restored which give up on trestles served as tables and serving stands.
us an idea of what interiors were like. A feudal lord Seating was on benches or stools if there was a
would often hold several castles, each intended to chair at all it was an honorary seat for the lord at
enforce his authority over a particular area. Exercise the head table. Eventually hangings appeared as a
of that authority meant appearing periodically at way to cover bare walls and make them less cold
each castle in sequence to conduct audiences, settle and forbidding. Tapestries developed as an art
legal disputes, and simply be visible in a context form that provided portable wall covering along
where there was no organized system of communi- with decoration. The main fire and burning
cation. The casde family and garrison were, accord- torches placed on stands or in wall brackets were
ingly, transient, setting up housekeeping for a time the light sources at night.
in a particular casde before moving on. Most flirni- In England there are a number of castles with
ture and other possessions of value were portable so intact halls dating from around 1 100 or 1200. The
that they could move with the family. hall of Hedingham Castle (fig. 3.19; c. 1140) in
The rooms of a castle usually had walls of bare Essex is two stories high with doors, windows, and
stone (sometimes whitewashed), floors of bare overlooking balconies topped with Norman
stone or bare wood boards, a structural wooden (Romanesque semicircular) arches. There is a great
ceiling, and tiny, slit windows for protection and stone arch across the center of the room to support
because there was no glass available to keep out the the ends of the wooden beams of the roof over-
weather. The hall might have a hearth for a fire at head. An arched fireplace is an indication of
3.19 Hedingham
Castle, Essex, England,
c 1140.
47
'
Chapter Three
means of protection to those inclined toward reli- renowned for his ascetic and hermit-like ways and the
gion, learning, and the arts. This was the institution austerity of his rule, as his first community of monks
atVicovaro witnessed:
of monasticism, the development of religious
communities whose members gave up the life of Itsoon became evident that his strict notions of
monastic discipline did not suit them, for all that
the secular world in exchange for the protected
they lived rock-hewn cells; and in order to get rid
in
isolation of the monastery. The protection came of him theywent so far as to mingle poison in his
not from defensive structure, but from remote wine. When, as was his wont, he made the sign of
location, the vows of poverty that meant the the cross over the jug, it broke in pieces as if a
absence of treasure that might tempt attack, and stone had fallen upon it. "Cod forgive you,
brothers," the abbot said without anger, "Why have
from the respect granted to those who devoted
you plotted this wicked thing against me? Did not I
in France, the monastery of S. Martin du Canigou there attracted many rich benefactors, prompting the
reforming St. Bernard to thunder in 1115 against the
(fig. 3.22; 1007-26) is still today a small cluster of
richness and grandeur found in the abbey, which,
buildings built in a virtually inaccessible location
while they attract the eye of the worshipper, hinder
high in the mountains. The church is a basilican
the soul's devotion. However, let that pass; we
structure with nave and side aisles roofed in stone
suppose it is done, as we are told, for the glory of
with simple barrel vaults. The outward thrust of Cod. But as a monk, I say, Tell me, ye professor of
the nave vault is restrained by the vaults of the poverty, what does gold do in a holy place ... by
aisles whose vaults are in turn buttressed by thick the sight of wonderful and costly vanities, men are
-
prompted to give rather than to pray
3.20 Monastery of S.
Martin du Canigou, 1 Discourses of St Gregory, quoted in Butler, Lives of the Saints, ed.
France, 1007-26. Herbert Thurston SJ (London, 1 956), p. 552; 2. St. Bernard, Apologia,
quoted in Olive Cook, English Abbeys and Priories (London, 1 960),
The monastery's church 67
p,
has a barrel-vaulted
interior, with the vault
resting on walls that
are, in turn, supported walls. Only tiny windows penetrate the thick walls
by a simple arcade of
leading to a dark interior. The columns that
arches resting on
simple columns, the support arches opening between nave and aisles are
capitals of which are simple drums with capitals that carry a slight
only a faint shadow of
suggestion of the Roman Corinthian type. The
their l^oman prototypes.
Tiny windows at the adjacent Cloister with arcaded passages around
distant apse end and in an open central court, an important element of the
side walls admit limited
monastery plan, led to the dormitory, refectory
light, and the only color
is that of the natural (dining hall), and other rooms serving the various
stone. functions of the community.
The Cistercian abbeys of Le Thoronet (fig.
48
Early Christian, Byzantine, and Romanesque
3.21 Dormitory,
no glass for windows, interiors were generally dark
Abbey of Le Thoronet,
with a fireplace of some masonry material used for France, c. 1 1 30,
both heat and cooking. The house was often a barn The dormitory was in a
as well as a residence, with people and animals room in
barrel-vaulted
poles carrying thatch (bundled straw). Such houses would have been
surrounded by a screen
survive, some still in use, in remote rural locations of wood and cloth. The
in Europe. floor tiles are banded to
thrust is absorbed by massive masonry side walls. rial, upper floors of houses often projected out over 3.22 Farmhouse,
Fmland, Middle Ages;
Only tiny windows were possible, except in the end the street to gain extra interior space.
now preserved in the
wall where larger vWndows could be placed. There Simple house types emerged within the towns. Norsk Folkmuseum.
was originally no furniture in the church except for Surviving examples are those built with stone walls; 7776 kitchen was the
stone benches at the sides and stone altars in the the wooden floor and roof structure has generally most important room of
center apse and in the secondary apses two on been replaced with periodic rebuilding. A number the farmhouse The
natural wood used for
each side, making up the five required by the of houses in the French city of Cluny built in the the and
floor, walls,
typical Cistercian monastic plan. The church had twelfth century are good examples (fig. 3.23). The roof establishes a color
tonality interrupted
only a small door at one side of the front, indi- houses are built with shared side walls (Row
only by the white
cating its closure to the outside world: primary houses) and fill their lots completely. A small plaster of the fireplace
access was from the adjacent cloister and by a stair courtyard near the rear gives some light and venti- and the black iron of
thewood stove. A
that led directly from the dormitory to be used by lation to the back room. The ground-floor front
bench and the hanging
the monks coming in to nightly services. room can be opened to the street; it was usually a cradle are the only
Stone vaulting was used to roof the other prin- shop, a workshop, or a storage space rather than a pieces of furniture.
Houses
Serfs working the land lived in a simple, wooden
box-like houses of one room topped with a gable
49
Chapter Three
3.23 Viollet-le-Duc,
Habitations of Man in
with warm water for washing. Plumbing in the
all Ages, 1875, modern sense was unknown. In castles there were
A reconstruction of the sometimes small chambers in the thickness of walls
exterior of a house in or projecting out from the walls that served as
the French city of Cluny
latrines, with the waste simply discharging through
shown as it would have
looked c 1200. wasIt openings or chutes into the moat or adjacent
the home and shop of a stream or gutter.
bourgeois merchant or
craftsman who lived
with his family above
Furniture and Other Interior
the place of business.
Furnishings
attic or loft used by children, servants, or workmen make the chest as valuable as the materials it
and for storage. A well in the courtyard was the contained. The richly ornamental Reliquary at
source of water. S. Foy in Conques (fig. 3.24) is a well-preserved
Inside, the house in town was no different from example of this type. A simple box chest was a stan-
the farm cottage except that, when wood was used dard feature of every church as a money collection
for multistoried building, a heavy wood frame with
diagonal bracing was visible inside as well as
Crusades when word of Islamic bath methods was encrusted with gold
and jewels.It is a
brought back by returning crusaders. Bath houses
symbol of the venera-
were often places for social gathering and tended to tion felt by those who
be viewed dimly by church authorities because of visited this church,
which was sited on the
their association with nudity and possible (often
pilgrimage route to
actual) sexual freedom. Private bathing was occa- Santiago de Compos-
sionally introduced into aristocratic homes where a tela. (See also p. 44.)
50
Early Christian, Byzantine, and Romanesque
X u:iv.vfft'n
shows the king seated on the only chair, his elabo- King Edward I is seated
on a throne between
rate throne (fig. 3.25). His vassals, rulers of
the kings of Scotland
Scotland and Wales, are seated on a bench which is
and Wales. Churchmen,
covered with an embroidered textile. Judges are barons, and others form
a parliament, while
seatedon sacks of wool, four to a large sack, while
judges are seated on
bishops and barons sit on long bare benches woolsacks in the center.
without backs. It can be assumed that the walls of The minimal furniture is
Color came most often from textiles as the 3.26 (left) Manuscript
illustration of Christine
ability to produce many dyes developed. Clear,
of Pisan presenting her
bright colors were used for apparel while, in of undyed textiles, the colors of unpainted wood poems to Isabel of
pictures of interiors, they appear in bench or table and stone walls, and the earth, stones, or tiles of Bavaria, c, 1300,
covers, in wall hangings, and in curtains (fig. 3.26). bare floors established the most usual color range The elaborate costume
Windows were not treated with drapery, but of neutrals, relieved by the occasional bright dyed and hair arrangements
of the ladies seem
curtains were used to give some privacy to beds, to colors of clothing. Artificial lighting was generally
appropriate to the room
provide some limited space division, and probably confined to the candles used in churches and in the with Its embroidered
to control drafts. Curtains were simply panels of dwellings of the rich. Candles were usually of wall hangings, the rich
red of the bed and seat
cloth with cloth loops or metal rings to permit tallow; those made from beeswax were a great
coverings, and the
hanging from rods in the manner of the modern luxury. Lamps were simply wicks of cord floating colorfully painted
shower curtain. Even these limited luxuries were in a bowl of fish or vegetable oil. In the houses of ceiling structure over-
head. A chair can be
probably only available to aristocrats. Common common people, light was generally daylight or
seen between the bed
people had to make do with bare waUs, peg-legged whatever light might come from an open fire. and the open shutters
benches, boards on trestles as tables, slabs of bread Water came from a jug, pitcher, or bucket filled at a of the window. A woven
rug with abstract
for plates,and earthenware mugs or crocks for well and poured into a basin for washing or into a
pattern covers the floor.
drinking and storing liquids. The greys and browns cook pot as needed.
51
Chapter Three
785-987.
Christian and Jewish culture until the time of the
Inquisition, established in 1233, and finally leading
In the extensive hall
regularly spaced While the Crusades (1095-1144) brought some to the expulsion from Spain of both Muslims and
columns support arches awareness of Near Eastern culture into central Jews in 1492. In architecture and design, medieval
with contrasting white
Europe, another connection developed as a result Spanish work exhibits a parallel coexistence of two
and red voussoirs. The
column capitals are of the earlier spread of Islamic religion and related traditions: the Romanesque direction emanating
decorated with carvings customs across northern Africa and eventually, from southern France and the Islamic or
of abstract forms, and
through military invasion, along the north edge of "Moorish" work coming from the east via northern
these and the pattern
of the repeating striped the Mediterranean into Italy, France, and Spain. Africa.
arches, with their Cordoba in Spain grew to become the largest
suggestion of infinite
medieval city with a population of some 600,000. The Mosque
distance, are the only
decorative elements. Although this Islamic influence was driven back
and eventually largely obliterated in most of The special building type developed by the Islamic
religion is, of course, the Mosque. A mosque is
52
Early Christian, Byzantine, and Romanesque
3.29 Poblet
Blanca in Toledo (built in the twelfth century as a
monastery, near
synagogue) have arcades of such Moorish Tarragona, Catalonia,
ARCHES. An aspect of Islamic belief that has had a Spain, twelfth century.
53
From c. 1250 onward, as feudalism became more came to be regarded as crude and barbaric like
established and all aspects of life improved, the that of the Visigoths who were supposed to be
crafts of building, woodwork, metalwork, and lacking in the taste and elegance of succeeding
weaving produced a greater variety of objects. generations.
Knowledge of design, of interior spaces in partic- Within the stone structure of the Gothic
ular, was greatly enhanced by the increasing use of church, increasingly complex fittings, metal grilles
pictorial illustration in manuscript books and gates, carved stone screens, altars and tombs,
produced by artist monks and court illustrators wood stalls, thrones, and pulpits were developed in
(fig. 4.1). These books provide an important the later Middle Ages. The carved ornamental and
source of visual data for the historian. representational sculpture applied to the stone
structure was closely paralleled by the wood
carving of choir stalls and the seats provided for the
Elements of Gothic Style clergy. Candelabra, liturgical paraphernalia, and
vestments of embroidered textiles which were used
Great walled cities, large and elaborately defended on altars and lecterns were movable elements that
castles, knights in armor on horseback, great cathe- made the Gothic church richly elaborate and
drals with their stained glass, buttresses, and colorful. Paintings that illustrated religious subject
gargoyles all these make up our picture of Europe matter were often placed at the back of altars
in the twelfth to fourteenth centuries, the era char- both the High altar and other
in the chancel
4.1 [below] Limbourg acterized as "Gothic" in recognition of the impor- altars in side chapels. Altar paintings were often
brothers, a plate from tance of the kind of architecture that has been arranged in the form of a Triptych with a center
Les Tres Riches Heures
given that stylistic name. The term "Gothic" was panel painting and two painted hinged wing panels
du Due de Berry,
1413-16. Musee originally pejorative: came into use in post-
it shaped to fit over the center panel when closed.
Conde, Chantilly. medieval times when the work of the Middle Ages The outside of these door-like panels might also be
In this illustration of painted or carved, usually in quiet colors so that
the month of January,
the triptych would, when opened at the time of a
the duke is seated at a
banquet with his back service, present a brilliant display of color. Color
to a great fireplace. The was often also present in painted pattern on walls
table IS of boards, set
and on the under surfaces of vaulting. Surviving
on moveable supports.
The colorful decoration examples of such interior treatment have often
on the chimney breast been restored and reworked in more recent times,
and ceiling suggest a
or covered over or removed to leave the stone in its
space of great luxury.
natural color.
the French Gothic images of saints and biblical figures illustrating reli-
cathedral plan. The
gious legends and stories. These served the church
emphasis on light is
54
i.'
WrR .
Chapter Four
Realistic images of
animals, birds, and
even a giant snail,
56
The Later Middle Ages
introduce windows large enough to light the inte- square was desired to match the bays of aisles, the
rior space satisfactorily. Groin vaults made possible problem became worse, as the arches of the front
vaulted bays open on four sides, so that the front and back, those of the sides, and those of the diago-
and back openings to adjacent bays created the nals of the bay were all of different heights.
lengthwise space of a church nave while the open- The solution to the problem was to build the
ings to the side could be used for the high windows diagonals as semicircular arches and to invent
of a clerestory. This left one problem: the vaulted arches for front, back, and sides that would be of
aisles at either side below the clerestory level must less span, but the same height. A strictly geometric
either be topped with square vaults matching those solution to this problem would have used half
of the nave, making the aisles too wide (and as elliptical arches for the four surrounding spans, but
difficult and costly to construct as the nave itself), ellipses are geometrically complex forms, not parts
or each bay must be split in two at the sides to of a circle, so that they cannot be drawn with a
match aisle vaults half the width of those of the compass. The medieval architect and medieval
nave. The latter approach was taken in a number of stone mason were not prepared to lay out and cut
buildings such as Ambrogio in Milan or the
S. the forms of elliptical arches.The Gothic solution
cathedrals of Mainz and Worms in Germany. was to turn to an arch that could be of any height
Another problem arises from the fact that a square in relation to any width which could also be laid
ellipses, or they rose higher than the surrounding way. The diagonal groin lines can also be made into four sides, pointed
arches. If a vault that was rectangular rather than pointed arches. The pointed arch itself has its own arches are laid out with
required height and
aesthetic and symbolic appeal: pointed arches depth. This forms a
4.6 Construction of a
rapidly replaced semicircular arches, not only for Gothic vault, as shown
Ribs nbbed vault.
57
Chapter Four
4.10 Cathedral of S^
sideways, outward thrust required a structure that
Etienne, Bourges,
France, 1195-1275. would rise above side aisles and not block the light
The medieval architect worked on the basis of trial and octagons underlie the layout of many floor
and error, aided by accumulated experience, rule- plans. Similarly, geometric figures can be devel-
of-thumb practice, and intuition. oped to fit cross-sections and elevations, suggesting
Medieval guilds provided training to the master that aesthetic controls were established through
masons who might become expert in the esoteric sophisticated knowledge of theoretical systems of
art of stereotomy, the technique of developing the proportion. The west front of Notre Dame in Paris
geometry that governs stone cutting so that many can be fitted to a grid of squares, six wide by nine
individual stones could fit together to form the high, with the main subdivisions of its design
complex shapes of ribs and vaults. Some interesting falling on the grid lines. The golden section
studies have recently been undertaken, using proportion (fig. 4.11) shows up time after time,
modern techniques of structural analysis, in which laid out with the aid of a simple geometric exercise
cross-sectional models of several of the best-known that could easily be developed with cord and pegs
cathedrals have been subjected to stresses that as the only instruments required.
simulate those of gravity and wind forces of the sort The simple 3-4-5 right triangle was used to
that would be applied to the buildings in violent establish a and as a basis for
true right angle
storms. Findings suggest that the engineering was in geometric modular planning. The south tower of
general surprisingly good, carrying loads down to Chartres has been shown to fit a 1:6 ratio of width
the ground through vaults, columns, and buttresses to height, a ratio that corresponds to the vibration
that were logically sound and, within the materials rates of the notes of the harmonious musical
and techniques available, quite economical. interval of a sixth.
58
The Later Middle Ages
Gothic Cathedrals and Churches stone ribs with the space between filled with stained
glass, so that the interior seems entirely bounded by
the brilliant light and color of the windows.
Although it is possible to describe a "typical" Gothic
cathedral, there is actually great variety. Albi in
France
France (1202-1390), for example, is built of brick,
has no aisles, a very wide nave, and buttressing The Gothic cathedrals of France are both most fully
contained inside the high outer walls of the representative of the type and most dramatically
building. Gothic churches of less than cathedral successful in design. The Gothic way of building
scale also vary widely. The church of the Jacobins at went through a gradual process of change. The
Toulouse (1260-1304) has a simple single space terms used to describe the development of French
topped by two lines of vaults supported by a row of Gothic work are:
tallcolumns on the center line of the building, Early and High Gothic: These terms refer to the
which generates a most surprising and dramatic development of the building technique using
interior. The famous small church, actually built as pointed arches and vaults that took place from
a royal chapel, of S. Chapelle (fig. 4.12; 1242-8) has about 1150 to 1250. Cathedrals built over a
a low, ground-level nave with a tall church above. period of several centuries, such as Chartres,
The supporting structure has been reduced to thin often include both early elements and High
4.12 S. Chapelle,
Pans, 1 242-8.
59
Chapter Four
to a sense of over-
whelming intensity.
Church of S. Maclou,
Rouen, France,
c. 1436-1520.
the
derived,
French cathedrals Amiens (fig. 4.13), Laon, more bays ending in a semicircular apse. Around
windows at the far end Chartres, Bourges, and Beauvais are character- the choir there is a double-aisle passage or ambula-
of the choir. This church The entire building topped with pointed
istically High Gothic examples. tory. is
is not as large as the
great cathedrals, but it
Rayonnant: This term refers to the elaboration vaults built to a consistent height for nave,
displays themost elab- of decoration in work from about 1230 to 1325 transepts, and choir, generating a tall, open, and
orate of Flamboyant The make
when radiating lines of tracery became an impor- unified space. slim structural supports it
detail, especially in the
west porch.
tant element. The great rose windows of many possible for the walls to appear to be built almost
French cathedrals are typically Rayonnant. entirely of stained glass windows.
S. Chapelle in Paris is the best-known Rayonnant Cathedrals that followed Sens, Laon, Notre
building. Dame in Paris, with double aisles for its whole
Flamboyant: Literally meaning "flame-like," length are variations on this Gothic norm.
this term describes the decorative detail of the Chartres (figs. 4.15-4.19), however, departs from
late phase of French Gothic design. Complex the formula, with its two unmatched towers (built
patterns of tracery and elaborate, sometimes centuries apart), its Romanesque early portions, its
excessive, decorative detail are characteristic. later Gothic completion, and its extraordinary
S. Ouen and Maclou (fig. 4.14), both
S. in stained glass. The entrance from the west is made
Rouen, are Flamboyant examples. up of a triple grouping of doorways, each in an
The abbey of S. Denis (fig. 4.2), just north of arched portal opening with richly sculptured
Paris, had been founded in the fifth century. Its panels (called Tympani). The triple arrangement
church was rebuilt several times in Carolingian and makes reference to the Trinity of Christian belief.
Romanesque times, but it was the rebuilding On entering, the vast interior seems to be a tunnel
undertaken by Abbot Suger c. 1130 and continued or cave, as one's eyes adjust slowly to the dim light.
in the thirteenth century by Abbot Eudes Clement The nave stretches ahead with an arcade on each
that transformed the building into the earliest side opening into the aisles. Above the arcade the
example of the prototypical Gothic cathedral. Like narrow band of the triforium is windowless. Above
most cathedrals, it is of cruciform plan, with the the triforium, the walls rise upward to form the
entrance front facing west, the chancel at the east clerestory, which is filled with stained glass. Each
end, and the transepts to the north and south. The bay holds tracery, dividing the window into two
nave is made up of seven rectangular bays, with tall, pointed panels with a round element above.
60
4.15 (/eft) West front,
Cathedral of Notre
Dame, Chartres, France,
c, 1130-1290.
Romanesque in char
octet, but above, the
Gothic pointed arches
assert themselves, and
the two unmatched
towers represent the
advancing styles. The
one on the right, the
south tower, begun in
1 145, IS in the early
surrounded by saints
and prophets. Below,
five lancet (pointed)
windows show images
of David, St Anne,
Aaron, and other
saints.
61
Chapter Four
Cathedral, Wiltshire,
England, 1220-66.
The cathedral Is a
supreme example of
consistent Early English
Gothic architecture
built from a single
design in a compara-
tively short period. The
almost black Purbeck
marble, seen in the
nave and choir,
Cathedral, Devon,
England, 1328-48,
England as Decorated
Gothic. The nave is
dominated by the fan
vaulting, with its many
radiating ribs. The
massive screen sepa-
rating the nave and
choir, once present in
effects of their color and richness are over- parallels in France, but it is varied in a way that
whelming. Turning back to the western entrance makes each building a strongly individualistic
front, the end wall above the entrance doors is expression. Salisbury (fig. 4.20; 1220-66), built in a
filled with three large, Romanesque arch-topped short time with a consistent design, might be
windows with a huge, round Rose window above. regarded as the prototypical English cathedral.
The end walls of the transepts each have an Wells (1175-1338) may appear more interesting
entrance door with exterior porch and five narrow and original, with its strange and vaguely
windows above, with a rose window high up. disturbing inverted bracing arches under the
Reims (begun 1211) is more consistent and so crossing tower. In English Gothic vaulting with
more formally "perfect" as an example of the e.xtra ribs was sometimes used, dividing surfaces
Gothic cathedral type; Amiens (begun 1220) is with radiating bands called Fan vaulting, in
more dramatic, with the amazingly tall proportions recognition of the supposed suggestion of the
of its high nave. Beauvais, begun at about the same appearance of a palm fan. The fourteenth-century
time, was to be even more spectacular in size and nave of Exeter Cathedral (fig. 4.21) is a spectacular
62
The Later Middle Ages
A simple rectangular
space with walls of
Perpendicular tracery
holding richly colored
display of the striking patterns of fan vaulting. Norman: the English term for Romanesque. stained glass. The spec-
tacular fan vaulting
Most cathedrals were originally parts of abbeys This is work of the early Middle Ages discussed
dates from the last
or monasteries. The fan-vaulted cloisters at in the previous chapter. Norman works falls phase of building,
Gloucester and the octagonal chapter houses at between 1066 and about 1200. 1508-15. Most of the
interior is devoted to
Salisbury, Lincoln, York, and Wells are parts of the Early English: This term refers to the Gothic
the choir, which was
original groupings of monastic buildings. work of the thirteenth century. Major parts of intended to hold all the
Westminster Abbey (fig. 4.22; 1045-1519) is often Lincoln and Wells cathedrals are Early English; students of the college
The screen divides this
thought of as the most French of English cathe- Salisbury is a clear and complete example.
large choir from the
drals. The Gothic cloister and chapter house Pointed arches and vaults are used with relatively small space reserved for
survive along with parts of the early Norman simple decorative detail. the public. As at Exeter
(see p. 62), the large
abbey, while the Henry VII Chapel dates from the Decorated: Fourteenth-century work is usually
organ mounted on the
late Gothic period when the richly decorated style of this period. Exeter Cathedral and the nave of screen (1530s) is
called Perpendicular was at its height. Enough is Lincoln are examples. Carved decoration based post-medieval.
known of the building of English cathedrals to on curving lines of foliage is a primary character-
make it possible to identify some architects by istic.
name: William Joy at Wells, Hugh Herland and Perpendicular: This is the term referring to the
William Wynford at Winchester, and Henry Yevele Gothic of the fifteenth century, the last phase of
at Westminster. Identification of such architects English Gothic work. Parallel vertical division of
makes clear that, although craftsmen certainly had windows and the use of fan vaulting are aspects
freedom to contribute to the totality of Gothic of this period. King's College Chapel at
building, they worked under the direction of highly Cambridge (fig. and the upper parts of the
4.23)
skilled professionals whose control of both concept towers at Lincoln and at York are examples.
and detailed realization was in some ways similar
to modern practice. Elsewhere in Europe
Since many cathedrals were built over a long
period, different parts of one building often belong The Gothic way of building spread from France in
to successive periods; different stylistic terms there- all directions so that Gothic design can be found in
fore often apply to different parts of a particular almost every part of Europe. In Germany, Cologne
structure. The usual classification is: Cathedral (begun 1270) parallels French Gothic
63
Chapter Four
64
'
large open central space surrounded with curtained The great hall of the
staff behind the patients' enclosures. Visitors and each side contained
beds. The wooden
ambulatory patients could walk about in the
barrel-vaulted roof uses
central space (where religious services also took tie beams and vertical
place), while doctors and staff could move about king posts to contain
Work Medieval Building
Construction in a
behind the scenes in their own work space an theoutward and down-
ward thrusting forces
The Close Rolls of 1 246 records a series of arrangement better in many ways than the often The painting of the
instructions and pleas from King Henry III of England chaotic circulation mix in modern hospitals. The wood and the glass of
the windows add color.
to various officials of the court demanding building roof of the ward is of wood; the ceiling is curved in
work at the old Palace of Westminster to be finished
satisfactorily, whatever the expense:
65
Chapter Four
market days and shelter college were the chapel, actually often a large At the Ca d'Oro in Venice (fig. 4.28; c. 1420), the
from the sun and rain.
church such as the elaborately fan vaulted King's ornamental forms of tracer)' demonstrate the deli-
College Chapel Cambridge 1446-1515), and the
at ( cacy of Italian Gothic design.
dining hall where all students assembled for an With the more settled conditions of the later
evening meal. The dining hall was an enlarged Middle Ages, the wealthy and powerful began to
version of the great hall that was the main living give up castle living in favor of large houses, some-
space of a castle. The dining hall of St. John's times with moat and drawbridge but vs'ithout the
College at Oxford (1555) has Gothic arched elaborate defenses of walls and towers. In England
4.28 Ca d'Oro, Venice, windows and doors, oak paneled wainscot, and a many such manor houses (so called because they
Italy, from c 1420
hammer-beam wood trussed roof
In Italy Gothic design
Buildings vsith uses relating to trade activities
used pointed arch
forms as decorative were slow to appear. The shop of the craftsman or
details even when they dealer in goods tended to remain a room on the
had no structural signif
lower floor of a house where the proprietor and his
icance. In the central
room of the piano family (and often some of his employees) lived.
nobile (pnncipal floor) Larger spaces eventually appeared for special
of this aristocratic town
purposes. At Valencia in Spain, the silk exchange
house, which looks out
over the Grand Canal, (Lonja de la Seda, 1483-98) occupies a large Gothic
the highly ornamental hall topped by ribbed groin vaults. The ribs are
window tracery
carried down columns as carved moldings
the
becomes the pnmary
visual feature of the twisting around the columns in a spiral. A wooden
space. roofed hall, with open arches on all sides providing
66
The Later Middle Ages
"restored" in the nineteenth century under the might provide. Most furniture was movable and 4.29 Haddon Hall,
Derbyshire, England,
direction of Viollet-le-Duc that its medieval char- temporary although more elaborate beds, often
fifteenth century.
acter has been almost completely The Swiss
lost. with canopies and curtains to favor both warmth
This banqueting hall,
castles of Aigle (thirteenth century) and Chillon and privacy, appear in the chambers of the impor- with Its stone walls,
(ninth to thirteenth centuries), however, are largely tant occupants of castles. The most detailed infor- wooden gable roof with
tie-beams, and pointed-
as they were in the Middle Ages, although original mation about aristocratic interiors of the Middle
arch windows, was the
furniture and smaller details have disappeared. Ages comes from the paintings that illustrated
gathering space for the
Many rooms at the lower levels of castle buildings manuscripts and books. Such books were often lord of the manor and
and within towers are stone vaulted given by the wealthy and powerful as tokens of his dependants- The
in Gothic
wooden paneling on
fashion. Larger rooms are usually wooden roofed. honor or love. Although knowledge of correct the lower walls extends
Major rooms usually have a large fireplace, gener- perspective drawing was not available to the across one end of the
ally a hood projecting outward from the wall over a medieval artist, spaces are often shown in quite room to form the
"screens, " a service area
hearth rather than a recess made into the wall. realistic ways, including details in color of furni- leading to the kitchens.
Windows are generally small with leaded glass and small objects.
ture, textiles, It supports a gallery,
traditionally the place
panes and internal wood shutters. Stone bench The paintings that have most to tell about the
window seats, arranged below and at the sides of
medieval interior fall into two classes those that
of entertainers The
window niche seating,
windows within the thickness of walls, provided illustrate biblical or other religious subjects, in table, and chest are
typical pieces of
seating close to the light and whatever heat the sun which figures are placed in settings familiar to the
medieval furniture.
67
Chapter Four
4.30 {above) Loyset artist in his or her own time; and illustrations of are hinged at the top and swung open by pulling
Liedet, The Birth of the cords that run on overhead pulleys. In a miniature
festivals, banquets, marriages, coronations, and
Two Sons of St. Mary,
similar events of the time. The painter Loyset Liedet of the fifteenth century, an artist is at work on a
mid-fifteenth century.
Bibliotheque Royale de (d. 1478), for example, shows the birth of the two small painting in a kind of L-shaped work station
Belgique.
sons of St. Mary as taking place in a medieval oddly suggestive of the modern office. She is seated
The artist has set this
bedroom where there is a huge open fireplace, a in a chair that displays the technique of barrel
scene in a late medieval
interior with furniture
canopied Gothic bed occupied by the mother, a making it has a round back made up of wood
typical of an affluent Gothic arm chair alongside, and an elegant Gothic staves bound together with hoops. Such chairs
household of the rocking crib for the newborn infants (fig. 4.30). The developed in the late Middle Ages, an actual cut-
period.
bedclothes, pillows, sheets, and blankets are all of down barrel later being adapted to support a seat
colorful textiles that seem amazingly modern in and provide arms and back. The artist's work place
4.31 (above right)
character. The same artist painted a marriage is made up of boards of solid wood put together
Master of Flemalle
(probably Robert banquet taking place in a hall with an elegantly tiled with ToNGUE-AND-GROOVE joiuts, or with panels
Campm), The make up
floor; musicians are playing trumpets on a balcony. inserted into surrounding frames so as to
Annunciation, c, 1427.
The wedding party sits at the head table, while larger surfaces from narrow boards while coun-
The event is shown as
taking place in a room
guests sit at a long side table, each covered with fine tering the warp and shrinkage characteristic of
of the late Middle Ages. linens. An elaborate Gothic sideboard holds plates wood planks. Panels were often carved in Gothic
Mary sits on a bench and tankards. The few plates are passed by servants arched motifs or with bands that suggest a folded
that has a swinging
back. There is a footrest to the banqueters, who appear to take food in hand textile the so-called Linenfold paneling. Color is
along the side away as guests now take appetizers at a reception. generally the natural grey of stone walls, the
from the The floor browns and tans of natural wood, and the clear,
fire.
The artist Robert Campin (1375-1444) painted
is tiled, and the ceiling
various religious subjects set in late medieval bright reds, greens, and blues of the dyed textiles
is of exposed wood
construction, with rooms. In the center panel of a triptych of the that cover cushions and beds.
beams resting on stone
Auiiunciatioiu there is a large fireplace with a fire
corbels. The windows
contain frames filled
screen in front (fig. 4.31). Nearby there is a narrow Medieval Houses
with parchment wooden bench with a back rail arranged to swing
Shutters could be most
from front to back so that the user, seated on The scenes that appear in artists' paintings are
adjusted to control
light and temperature plump cushions, has a choice effacing into the fire often based on the environment of the wealthy and
or facing away toward a table. The table itself has a powerful. The living places of the common
silver candlestick with a single white candle and a people the peasants or serfs continued to reflect
blue and white pitcher holding flowers. Light pours the simplicity, austerity, even poverty of the earlier
in through windows equipped with shutters that Middle Ages. The typical house had only one, or at
68
The Later Middle Ages
4.32 House of
Jacques Coeur,
Bourges, France
(c, 1443),
In this house of a
wealthy merchant,
almost a small palace,
the hall or principal
room of the mam living
floor IS ornamented
with an elaborately
caned fireplace
over-mantel. Each of
the doors of wood
paneling is set in an
ii I
OS D~ V elaborately carved
frame while a highly
decorative cornice
molding tops the wall.
1
most two rooms, a dirt or plank floor, bare walls of 4.33 Plan of the
House of Jacques
stone or wood, and minimal furniture of benches, a
Coeur,
table, and perhaps a chest or wall-attached
The floor plan of the
cupboard. Beds were sometimes, particularly in house shows the irreg-
and other stores. A shop was typically open-fronted nor convenient in a time when transport was virtu-
toward the street, with a table or counter for wares ally non-existent. Only the nobility could own
and work and storage space to the rear. It was of horses, and the poor state of roads made walking
strictly utilitarian character, having no decoration. more practical in any case. Late medieval houses of
In the late Middle Ages, a few merchants affluent burghers survive in many European towns
69
Chapter Four
and cities. Medium-sized examples were similar to Elaboration of panel surfaces and moldings with
the houses at Cluny (see p. 50). More elaborate carved detail became a favorite device for showing
houses approached the scale of a miniature palace. off the wealth and taste of the owners of Gothic
The fourteenth-century house of the banker houses. Ornamental detail might be simple and
Jacques Coeur in the cathedral town of Bourges in geometric, or it might draw on the vocabulary of
France, for example, is a virtual chateau in the city Gothic stone architecture with its theme of pointed
(figs. 4.32 and 4.33). It is a cluster of multistory arch forms and carving of details based on leaves
sections built around a courtyard with stair towers, and flowers. Wood carving became a highly devel-
arcaded galleries, gable roofs, and Dormers in oped and art in some regions in Germany,
craft
picturesque confusion. Interiors are full of elabo- Switzerland, and in England. Interiors in the
rately carved doorways and fireplace mantels, and Perpendicular style might include wainscoting or
colorfully painted wooden ceilings. Tapestries whole wall surfaces covered with panels carved in
would have added warmth, color, and richness to the linenfold design with its parallel, vertical lines.
Toward the end of the Middle Ages, both feudal the cellars, kitchens, pantries, and stables, were
aristocratic families who occupied castles and generally designed in strictly functional ways but
manor houses and affluent merchant families often have lost their original character through
looked for ways to improve interior comfort. successive modernizations. The King's New
Lining rooms with wood paneling to cover cold Kitchen at Hampton Court Palace was built during
surfaces of stone or plaster became common in the reign of Henry VIII (fig. 4.34; 1520). It is a huge
regions where extensive forests made wood a room, 100 feet long and 40 feet high, with three
readily available material. Wood was the usual enormous fireplaces each 18 feet wide and 7 feet
material of floors and ceilings almost everywhere high. There are bake ovens and various fittings to
since it was the only alternative to stone vaulting as hold pots for roasting and boiling. The floor is
a means of spanning open spaces. Paneling walls stone and the walls are bare, but the windows, high
created interiors that were entirely lined with up in the walls, are topped with pointed arches. In
wood, usually left in its natural brown color except more modest houses, cooking was done in a fire-
for occasional decorative detail (coats of arms, for place which was also the main source of heat for
example) painted in bright colors. In the Tyrol, in the house, making the kitchen the most impor-
southern Germany, there are many small castles, tant often the only room.
houses of prosperous burghers, and inns with The arches, vaulting, and ornamentation that
wood-paneled rooms, often with built-in benches, differentiate Romanesque, Gothic, and subsequent
cabinets, and washstands, so that the rooms are architectural work were not present in simple town
almost completely furnished without need for houses and farm cottages, so that there is little
movable furniture other than a bed, a table, and change over many centuries. In fact, houses like
perhaps a few stools. The development of stoves in those of the Middle Ages continued to be built
Germany as a source of heat led to the introduction until modern times. A gradual increase in the size
of elaborately ornamented tile stoves, almost small and number of windows can be noted as glass
buildings in themselves, standing near a corner of became more available and less costly, although
almost every major room. windows were not always welcomed in cold
Since the width of wood boards is limited by climates where they might be a source of drafts, or,
the size of tree trunks, paneling of whole wall in the south, where too much sun was equally
surfacesmust inevitably make use of many boards undesirable. In England, and to some extent in
placed side by side like the planks of a wooden Holland, there seems to have been an under-
floor. A floor must be smooth for practical reasons, standing that, if facing south, windows would let in
but wall paneling can use strips of molding to cover sunlight and heat that would more than offset
the joints of boards, or can be made up of many winter cold. Wooden shutters served to cover
separate wood pieces fitted together with moldings windows at night and on dark days. The wood
that form frames around the individual panels. framing of half-timber buildings formed a grid that
70
The Later Middle Ages
1520.
had to be filled in with some material brick, years after newer ideas and newer forms in design
stone, plaster, or rubble to form a solid wall. had surfaced, interest in the Middle Ages continues
Windows were a practical alternative where light to be based on the realization that this was the last
was needed. Leading was required to make up era in western history that was truly different from
windows from many small pieces of glass, the modern times in a fimdamental way. The word
largest that medieval technology could produce. "middle" in the designation of the period is signifi-
Multistory houses continued to be built in towns to cant in defining its position between the civiliza-
conserve land use within wall-enclosed areas anci, tions of classical antiquity and the modern world.
when wood was the structural material, upper In ancient Greece and Rome, literature, philos-
floors were often cantilevered out over streets to ophy, and a probing curiousity about nature and
increase the space within buildings. The habit of human nature were current, even if in a form that
projecting upper stories was also carried over into now seems truly ancient. Gods and goddesses
building in villages and in open country. The diag- presided over a world of highly organized human
onal bracing of the framing of half-timber build- institutions. In the Middle Ages, these classical
ings is often exposed inside some rooms where, traditions gave way to another world view in which
along with other structural frame members, faith and mysticism struggled, with gradually
wooden ceiling beams, and leaded glass windows, it increasing success, against the forces of anarchy
becomes a characteristic element of medieval and chaos. After the latter part of the fourteenth
interiors. century, a new world view began to surface in
which human thought and human effort came to
Although medieval ideas and medieval design be seen as worthy means to improvement in the
remained extant in Europe for several hundred human condition.
71
The modern western world can be thought of as rather augmented them with belief in the possibili-
having its beginnings in the Renaissance. The term ties of human endeavors in a balanced relationship
describes a cluster of developments that gradually with the teachings of the church. It is interesting to
pushed medieval ways of thinking aside and made notice how rarely individual names can be associ-
way for changes in human experience as great as ated with medieval works of art and architecture.
those that came with
the founding of the first The cathedrals were designed and built by human
around 5000 b.c.e. Exactly
historic civilizations beings, but there are few names known and scant
why these changes occurred when and where they records that associate a name with a work. The
did is unclear. What is quite certain is that in Italy, history of Renaissance art, by contrast, is a
particularly in Florence, about 1400, medieval sequence of names, many of them known as
thinking began to give way to ideas that brought distinct personalities; they were the subjects of
about changes in art, architecture, interior design, biographies and were celebrities in their own times.
and every other aspect of human life. In Brunelleschi, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da
Renaissance Europe there was a succession of styles Vinci, like Galileo, Copernicus, and Columbus, are
that came to dominate the settings of life for the Renaissance men whose names and achievements
powerful and wealthy and the institutions of are widely, almost universally known. The ability to
5.1 (below) Francesco
di Giorgio, drawing, church and state that they controlled. For a major write, documentation of individual achievement in
sixteenth century. part of the population that was not wealthy and written texts, and the development of printing that
The Renaissance powerful, stylistic changes were less important made written texts widely available were all factors
humanist and architect
medieval ways survived with some small changes in making the individual significant.
Francesco di Giorgio
(1439-1502) placed that were more cosmetic than basic. Medieval thinking did not really believe in
the human figure causal relationships. Supernatural powers willed
within a grid of
events in the medieval view, and human ques-
squares, which he then
developed as a plan for The Rise of Humanism tioning of reasons suggested a lack of faith.
an ideal church, with Miracles could occur, truth might be revealed in
nave, transepts, choir,
By 1400, the city of Florence had established a knowledge of the most basic actualities
visions, but
and chapels.
stableform of government, great wealth through was often missing. The earth was flat because
5.2 [opposite] success in trade and the developing business of anyone could see that it was so; ships that sailed too
Michelangelo, vestibule
and staircase,
banking (based on the decline of the medieval far from land often never returned they had
Laurentian Library, prohibition against the "sin" of usury), and a kind fallen off the edge. The growth of humanism
Florence, from 1 524. of communal sense of optimism and power. The fostered the idea that the obvious could be ques-
In the library's small, desire to progress and expand led to curiosity tioned, that the mysterious could become less
square vestibule half
about the physical world and about the pre- mysterious through probing and discovery. Even
columns pressed back
into recesses, false
medieval civilization that had left so many traces the human body could be studied in order to learn
windows in unique visible in Italy. These traces were both the ancient the secrets of anatomy and functioning (fig.
its
pedimented frames,
Roman ruins and the Greek and Roman manu- 5.1). The idea of the experiment that could demon-
and the great staircase
Itself assert the
scripts preserved in the libraries of monasteries. strate a cause and effect relationship and define it
Mannerist movement From Florence, Renaissance confidence, optimism, with precision is the basis on which modern
toward a newly expres-
and curiosity spread out to Milan, to Rome, and to science is built. It is a Renaissance concept, devel-
sive vocabulary for
classicism.
other Italian cities, and then, over centuries, to oped and made known in written materials newly
every part of Europe. available through printing.
The term Humanism describes the Renaissance
thinking that gave importance to the individual. It
Renaissance Interest in History
developed the idea that each human being had
potentialities to learn, discover, and achieve. The Along with scientific curiosity, aiding its develop-
medieval world view did not encourage individual ment and being aided by it, came a new curiosity
curiosity and imagination it taught that heavenly about history. The historical enthusiasms of the
rewards outweighed anything possible on earth. Renaissance are probably its most familiar aspect,
Saints were identified with miracles and the aspect that justifies the name Renaissance
martyrdom while even feudal knights and kings itself literally "rebirth," a rebirth of the long
I * V I'-Hf I
rarely learned to read or write. Renaissance forgotten wisdom and skills of ancient times. In
humanism did not reject religious values, but ancient Greece and Rome there had been strong
72
Chapter Five
currents of humanism, important personalities chamber and an outer private "studio," a room for
who left wTitten texts telling of their achie\ements use as a study, office, workroom, or for private
and setting forth points of view in drama, poetr\', conversation. A closet-like space adjacent was the
philosophy, and mathematics. The Greeks had equivalent of the modern bathroom; water was
more scientific knowledge than the most learned of brought from a fountain or well. Many houses
medieval alchemists. Plato, Archimedes, and were built with a well below, connecting to a shaft
Euclid were redisco\'ered in the Renaissance, while rising through the building where water could be
Vitruvius became an authorit)' who could help to brought up in a bucket or other container. The
explain the Roman ruins and fragments built into level above the piano nobile was often similar in
later structures that were so \'isible in Italy. plan, pro\'iding similar living and bedroom spaces
Learning through individual thought and experi- but with lower ceiling height. On an upper level,
ment could be augmented by learning from ceiling heights became lower still and the spaces
history. were more open: here were li%'ing and sleeping
It may seem paradoxical that the movement accommodations for serx'ants. Stairways, usually
that opened up the way to modem thinking should winding spiral or in narrow slot-like spaces in the
have turned back into histor\' for stimulus, but Middle Ages, now became major \isible elements
Renaissance interest in histor)' did not aim toward with wide, straight flights turning to reverse direc-
mo%ing backward. It was rather another expression tion at a broad landing. Secondary stairs, straight
of the new curiosit)' that sought to learn what the or winding, were often placed in obscure locations.
ancients had known. The goal was to move forward The countr)' \Tlla could afford a more spread-out
on the basis of the best human achievements of the plan and so was often only two or three levels in
past, while pushing ahead into an advancing height, but the same assignment of levels
future. In the arts, it is easy to observe the ways in prevailed ser\dces only at ground level, main
which ancient elements came to be admired and rooms on the level above, and ser\'ants' accommo-
used, but mistake to suppose that
it is a dation in an upper floor or attic.
town came to be three or four (or more) stories in quite limited by modern standards. Cushions were
height. The ground floor was devoted to entrance used on chairs and benches and offered another
spaces, services, stables, and storage. The le\'el opportunit)' for the introduction of strong color.
above the Piano nobile pro\ided the large and Beds could be massive structures, up on a platform
richly decorated salons for formal life. Often, and with car\'ed headboard, footboard, and comer
where space permitted, bedrooms were also on this posts supporting canopies and curtains. Carving,
level, arranged in suites for members of the owner Inlays, and Intarsia were present according to
family. A private suite usuaU\' included both bed the wealth and tastes of owners.
74
The Renaissance in Italy
The Early Renaissance ture, suggest an established aesthetic of dignity that tiled, and the ceiling,
which of exposed
holds luxury and austerity in a fine balance. In such is
wood construction, is
The Davanzati Palace in Florence (fig. 5.3) of the a building it is possible to sense the Middle Ages painted with a decora-
latter part of the fourteenth century is a beautifully giving way to something new. tive pattern. The furni-
preserved example of the kind of town house that ture is minimal-a bed,
a cradle, two chests,
existed at the transition point when medieval ways Bruneileschi and two chairs-but the
moved into a new The building stands on a
era. room is richly decorated
narrow, irregular, and somewhat cramped site The first or "early" phase of the Renaissance in by the fresco painting
of wall surfaces, with
typical of the medieval town. On the ground floor Italy becomes clearly recognizable around 1400 repeating patterns on
there is an entrance loggia opening on the street and fits, roughly, into the fifteenth century. The the lower surfaces, at
that would have served as a store or shop. A central first important personage whose name is well the level of a fneze, and
in the arcaded pattern
court gives access to stairs that lead up to the three known was Filippo Bruneileschi (1377-1446), a above Strong reds give
floors of living spaces above
spacious and quite Florentine trained as a goldsmith who eventuaUy an overall effect of
luxurious, but irregular and jumbled in plan in the became a sculptor, geometrician, architect, and warmth. A shuttered
window and the corner
manner of a medieval castle. Externally, the what would now be called an engineer, making him fireplace complete the
building is symmetrical and orderly and many of an example and prototype of the versatile functional equipment
of the room.
the rooms are handsomely detailed with patterned "Renaissance man." He made a five-year visit to
tiled floors, ornamentally treated wood beamed Rome and was able to study at first hand the
ceilings, and fireplaces with richly carved mantels. surviving buildings and ruins of ancient architec-
Evidence of a new awareness of classical antiquity tural works. On returning to Florence, he was
can be found in small details, such as the moldings drawn into discussions about ways to complete the
and the brackets that support the ceiling beams, Gothic cathedral which had only a makeshift roof
but the leaded glass of the windows and the over its huge octagonal crossing. It is hard to
75
Chapter Five
shown, but their posi- pointed form, well suited to the Gothic cathedral,
tions
the base
can be located at
and at two
suggests medieval vaulting but the construction
without external buttresses involved a number of
upper levels
ingenious technological devices. At each of the
ture on which the semi- follows his design and is the only part of the dome
circular (Roman) arches
that has overtly classical details both outside and in.
rest The clerestory
above provides light Although the great dome (that has given the
from windows, and the cathedral its informal name of Duomo) is
wooden roof construc-
tion IS hidden by a
Bruneileschi's most visible work, other projects
coffered ceiling There demonstrate his approach to interiors more
are minimal transepts completely. In the Florentine churches of S.
(not visible here), which
Lorenzo (fig. 5.6; begun c. 1420) and S. Spirito
create a nominally
cruciform plan. (begun 1435), Brunelleschi undertook the
reworking of the typical Gothic cruciform plan
with transepts, choir, and aisles into the new
Renaissance vocabulary of classicism. Each church
has a plan worked out on a strictly geometric grid
of squares that establish a module for the complete
design. In each there is a nave arcade of Roman
arches, with vaults over the aisles supported on
Corinthian columns. The ancient Romans did not
support arches on individual columns, considering
them, we assume, too weak either structurally or
visually. In both Greek and Roman work, columns
always support a continuous band of entablature,
the basic character of a classic order. In
Bruneileschi's designs, the columns are topped by a
76
The Renaissance in Italy
5.8 Filippo
fragment of entablature, a square block sometimes
Brunelleschi, the Pazzi
called an impost block or Dosseret. This is an Chapel, S. Croce,
arrangement that was not unusual in Early Florence, 1429-61,
Christian and Byzantine work, but its use in the The domed chapel is
the design of a small chapel-like Sacristy (known area). What color there
IS comes from the
as the Old Sacristy to distinguish it from the later
greenish-grey marble
New Sacristy by Michelangelo, now usually called and the warmer tone of
the plastered wall
the Medici Chapel). It is a square room topped by a
surfaces. The blue and
dome on pendentives, with a smaller connecting white bas-relief rondels
chancel area (called a Scarsella), also a square are by Luca della
Robbia
space topped by a dome on pendentives (fig. 5.7).
The interior of the room is lined with a classic
Corinthian order using pilasters and an entabla-
ture. The problem of treating an interior corner
with pilasters is dealt with by the curious Early
Renaissance means of simply trimming and folding
a pilaster to fit the corner. Eight rondels are
arranged around the base of the dome, four on the
wall surfaces and four in the pendentives. While
unlike anything Roman, this space, with its orderly The small Pazzi Chapel in the courtyard of the
organization of square and circular elements, has a church of S. Croce in Florence (fig. 5.8; 1429-61)
strongly classical feeling unlike anything in earlier has usually been attributed to Brunelleschi
Gothic design. although there is uncertainty about the extent of
his role in its design. It was not completed until
space which is extended to either side with barrel- Originally, the color
would have been
vaulted wings that convert the square plan into a
limited to grey and
rectangle. A square scarsella with its own dome white, but in the 1430s
balances a domed portion of the entrance loggia. modifications were
introduced by
This chapel was built as the chapter house of its
Donatella, the designer
monastery and so has a continuous bench around of the doors and their
its internal perimeter as seating for the assembled colorful surrounding,
including the blue and
monks of the chapter. The walls are treated with a
white bas-relief panels.
pilastered order in grey-green stone, and there are The doors are accurate
rondels high up on the walls with medallion reliefs reproductions of
ancient Roman doors,
by Luca della Robbia (1400-82). The use of folded
such as those of the
pilasters and slivers of pilasters at interior corners Pantheon The central
here repeats that characteristically Early altar table is placed
over the tomb of
Renaissance interior detail. The tentative quality of
Giovanni di Bicci de'
the design can also be traced in the curious scale of Medici and his wife,
the floor.
recessed in
77
Chapter Five
Michelozzo
78
The Renaissance in Italy
Alberti
V 5.11
facade of
this
Elevation of the
church
S, Andrea.
5.13 Donato
Bramante, S. Satiro,
Milan, reconstruction
begun 1475.
paint
converted to a Greek cross by four columns that but surviving drawings show that Bramante
support the lantern above. It serves as a chapel to planned a circular space surrounded by a ring of
the larger church which has a domed crossing at columns matching the order that wraps the round
the intersection of barrel-vaulted transepts and chapel with a portico of sixteen columns
nave. There is, surprisingly, no chancel because a supporting an entablature. The enclosed center of
street outside limited the plan to a T-shape. the building is a drum that rises above the portico
Bramante dealt with this issue by making use of his to be topped by a hemispherical dome. In eleva-
knowledge of the rules of optical perspective, a tion, the portico has a proportion of height to
newly developed Renaissance artistic discovery. width of 3 to 5, the same proportion as the drum
The end wall of the church is made into an illusion- above the portico; total width to total height
istic deep space by a painted bas-relief that, when (including the dome) is 3 to 4. The enclosed drum
viewed from the nave, appears as a barrel-vaulted has a ratio of width to height of 2 to 3; with the
chancel which seemingly completes a cruciform addition of the dome, 2 to 4; the width of the
began the second phase of his career, and became ships that correspond to the golden section ratio of
one of the first exponents of High Renaissance 1 to 1.618. The interior uses eight pilasters
work in Italy. At the monastery of S. Pietro in arranged in pairs separatingwindow panels and
Montorio Rome, Bramante was given the task of
in larger niches, while the drum above has eight
reconstructing the existing cloister to make it the windows below the domed ceiling. There is also a
site of a small chapel. Only the chapel, now known round subterranean chapel reached by twin stairs
as the Tempietto (figs 5.14-5.16; 1502), was built. leading to a door at the rear. Although it is not
80
The Renaissance in Italy
based on any one ancient Roman building, there is 5.17 (/eft) Donate
81
t0 &
Vasarfsi
iisJaeofI
HHiwdi ng Brft MS^^ ao'fce waly art egxs-r of
"^
re 3-r!E iiM*t
151 3-89
-, The coun
I the dassic
^^- .i.-^
82
The Renaissance in Italy
5.19 Annibale
Carracci, ceiling frescos,
Palazzo Farnese, Rome.
1597-1600.
continuous entablature. This is the system of the the court, gi\ing access to ranges of rooms of
ancient Roman Colosseum, which gives the court a various sizes. The largest room of the palace, the
sense of solidit)' and, incidentally, solves the Salle des Gardes, is of double height, its two levels
problem of corner treatment since arches bear on of windows continuing the e.xternal pattern of
comer-angled piers and two columns stand on the fenestration without change so that the exterior
adjacent surfaces without interference. At ground design gives no clue to what is within. There is an
level the order is a correct Roman Doric; at the elaborate fireplace mantel, classically framed door-
second-floor level the order is Ionic, \sith pedi- ways, a coffered ceiling, and a decorative tiled floor.
mented windows fitted within each arch. The third Othen\ise, the room is simple and austere except
level was planned as Corinthian but, before it was for small relief rondels half way up the walls and
built, Sangallo had been replaced by Michelangelo tapestries hung high above. Other rooms var%- from
as architect in charge, leading to a more complex severe simplicitv' to elaboration with tapestries and
treatment that omits arches and substitutes over- fresco paintings. The room called the Carracci
lapping Corinthian pilasters framing windows Gallen.' (fig. 5.19) at the center rear of the main
topped with cur\ed pediments. The pilasters rest floor level is treated in a way that became increas-
on a podium base with rectangular panels under ingly common in Renaissance practice. This
each window. Some of these turn out to be small involved the fresco painting of most or all of the
windows lighting a service mezzanine tucked surfaces of a room. In such an interior, the pres-
between the second and third floor levels for part ence of furniture becomes no more than an inci-
of the building perimeter. dental practical necessity. Here the barrel-vaulted
A monumental stair leads to the main (second) ceiling is entirely covered by Annibale Carracci's
floor where a passage runs around three sides of (1560-1609) mythological scenes framed in
83
Chapter Five
Baldassare Peruzzi,
intermix niches and pilasters in three-dimensional The term Mannerism first came into use in art
Palazzo Massimo alle plaster work, off-white with gilded details, with historical literature to describe painting that devel-
Colonne, Rome, additional panels of fresco painting. oped a freedom of personal expression within the
1532-6.
While framed (easel) paintings hung on walls Renaissance tradition. The term is equaUy useful in
The salon interior by
were seldom used, the treatment of a complete identifying the parallel developments in design.
Peruzzi IS shown in an
engraving in interior with painting covering all surfaces had The design of the Renaissance had, by the middle
Letarouilly's Edifices de come into use as early as 1305 when Giotto of the sixteenth century, settled into a well-estab-
Rome Moderne. Ionic
The
(1266-1336) painted the interior of the Arena lished system of classically based elements.
pilasters support an
entablature band, and Chapel at Padua with religious paintings banked in Roman orders and Roman ways of using them had
above this, a frieze of rows. Gozzoli's frescos in the Medici-Riccardi been codified and made the subject of illustrated
decorative panels is
Palace in Florence have already been mentioned. books; these showed "correct" ways of producing
inserted below the
cornice. The ceiling is The Villa Medici at Poggio a Cajano, reconstructed interiors that were serene and generally simple. As
deeply coffered and in the 1480s by Giuliano Sangallo (1443-1516), has tends to occur when a style has arrived at a well-
richly decorated.
a central drawing room linking the front and rear established norm, some artists and some designers
84
The Renaissance in Italy
Michelangelo
Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), one of the
greatest as well as most versatile of Renaissance
lower levels. rhythmic pattern by dark pilasters that separate the 5.22 Michelangelo,
Medici Chapel, S.
At S. Lorenzo in Florence, Brunelleschi's Old windows, upper and lower, arranged in the fifteen
Lorenzo, Florence,
Sacristy discussed above (p. 77) was balanced by a bays. Wooden reading desks are banked under the 1519-34.
symmetrically placed New Sacristy designed by windows on either side of a wide aisle. The coffered The "new sacristy" was
Michelangelo beginning in 1519. The plan is the ceiling is ornamented with a grid that matches the the setting for the
famous Media tombs,
same simple square with a smaller square scarsella spacing of the windows, and the floor is patterned
with their elaborate
and a dome on pendentives above, as in in a corresponding geometric rhythm. All of the sculpture. The solemnity
Brunelleschi's project, but the treatment of the detail, pilasters, window frames, floor and ceiling of the setting-the dark
grey, almost black
interior is as active, aggressive, and personal as ornaments is delicate and subtle. In dramatic
marble architectural
Brunelleschi's was serene and classical. Pilasters contrast, access to the reading room is from an detail and black and
and moldings in dark grey stone stand out against entrance space that is a striking example of grey floor tiles-is in
stand at either side of the space, giving it its more the space from one side rather than on axis. If the personal use of clas-
sical elements justifies
usual name of Medici Chapel (fig. 5.22). They are stairs are active and aggressive, the room that they
the use of the term
powerful and active sculptural works, adding fill is even more overwhelming in its powerful and mannerism to describe
intensity to the highly individualistic use of clas- unusual use of classical elements crammed into a his work here.
sical elements that gives the space its strongly space that seems hardly able to contain their
mannerist character. energy. Paired columns divide each of the four
Also at S. Lorenzo, Michelangelo was given the walls into three panels. Their bases are raised up to
task in 1524 of designing a new library at one side the level of the stair top with great curving brackets
of the monastic cloister, a second story superim- below each column, while the columns themselves
posed on a preexisting lower floor. The exterior, do not stand out from the wall, but are rather
embedded amid the older structure, is scarcely pushed back into recesses cut into the waUs. The
visible. The library reading room within is a long order used seems at first glance to be Doric or
narrow room with side walls given a strongly Tuscan, but a closer look at the capitals reveals
85
Chapter Five
Caravaggio. dizzying.
tone.
Romano
If the mannerism of Michelangelo can be said to
86
The Renaissance m Italy
position that suggests an almost mischievous disre- treatise became one of the most popular of
spect for the rules of classic design. Many of the Renaissance publications, known and used
rooms of the palace are lined with fresco paintings, throughout Europe, particularly in England (where
some with curious or strange subjects. A large an English translation appeared in 1676) and even-
room is lined with painted, simulated architectural tually in America.
detail with, high up on the walls, horses painted in Palladio was the designer of a number of town
full life size standing in incongruous positions houses in Vicenza and of villas in the surrounding
(apparently a reference to the passion of the owner, countryside. The Villa Barbaro at Maser (fig. 5.25;
Duke Federigo Gonzaga, for his famous stable). A begun c. 1550) has a temple-like central block
smaller, windowless room known as the Sala dei between extended wings with farm-related func-
Giganti (Room of the Giants) is lined, four walls tions serving the surrounding estate. The interior
and ceiling, with Romano's fresco paintings of planning of the main house is typically Palladian,
giants rebelling against the gods and, in the with a Greek cross plan using a central space with
process, tearing down the stones of some great smaller rooms fitted into each corner. The interiors
building, possibly this palace itself (fig. 5.24). The are architecturally simple, but the fresco paintings,
desire to shift, modify, and distort accepted clas- largely by Paolo Veronese (1528-88), simulate
sical formulae along with a strongly dramatic architectural detail and include illusionistic 5.25 Andrea Palladio,
his personal stamp on Renaissance classicism but sure pavilion on a hill overlooking the town. A details merge into the
illusory imagery of
can hardly be viewed as a mannerist. Palladio was a square structure with a domed central rotunda, it is
landscapes, sculptural
northern Italian who worked in his home city of one of the best known of Renaissance buildings. figures in niches, and
Vicenza as well as in Venice and the surrounding Each of its four sides has a pedimented, six- doorway pediment. The
stem of a vine in the
country of the Veneto. In 1549 he provided bracing columned Ionic temple portico reached by a broad
panel on the left rises
for a late medieval town hall in Vicenza that was stair. Palladio's plan, symmetrical around the two up and reappears in
threatened with collapse. Palladio's way of dealing main axes, is a study in modular layout. A grid of the panel above.
87
Chapter Five
r I Vn '
4, 2, 4 from side to
the mathematically systematic proportions of the Redentore, and into aisles at S. Giorgio where there
rooms which are all related to the proportions of are full transepts repeating the vaulted form of the
the building as a whole. A balcony overlooks the nave. At II Redentore, the transepts are really apses
rotunda and there is elaborate plaster ornamenta- on either side of the crossing. In both churches
tion. The domed rotunda at the center of the plan decorative detail is strictly limited to Roman order
invites a view outward through four passages architectural elements executed in a darker stone
leading to the four porches vth their orientation that contrasts with the near white of the vaults and
to the north, south, east, and west, where views other plaster surfaces. The total effect in each
stretch out toward the infinite distance. The church is open, bright, and restrained.
concept suggests the humanistic view of man at the In the Teatro Olimpico at Vicenza (fig. 5.29;
the choir and the mam (1725) are clearly based on Palladian precedents.
church Even Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, near
Charlottesville, Virginia (begun 1770), draws its
Furniture, textiles, and smaller artifacts that are sky and clouds suggest-
ive of the open nature
easy to remove or replace generally survive only as
of the Roman theater
museum exhibits or as antiques treasured by The stage is backed by
collectors. Fortunately, Renaissance painting an elaborate architec-
tural backdrop with
turned toward increasingly realistic representation three openings that
and, with the development of skill in linear offer views up streets-
Vjgnola
89
Chapter Five
5.31 Carpaccio, St. base with painted ornamentation, with an elabo- storage.
Augustine in his study,
rate headboard and tall posts supporting a high Credenza: a somewhat taller cabinet, the
c. 1502,
canopy. There is a small book cabinet and a stool credenza served as a sideboard or serving table. It
A spacious studio
where the saint
pulled up to a table, and a book stand holds an also provided storage for silver, glassware, dishes,
is seen
seated at his desk on a open book indications of the increasing knowl- and linens.
platform raised a step edge of reading. A wall-hung candle holder Sedia: This was a somewhat massive chair with
above bare floor The
back wall is painted
suggests that lighting using candles must have been four square legs supporting arms. Seat and back
green and there is minimal. The door frame, window details, and were bands of leather attached to the frame with
green wainscot The moldings show Early Renaissance detail of consid- nails, the nailheads acting as a form of decorative
doorframes are of a
erable elegance. St. Augustine in his study, a trim.
reddish marble or are
painted wood. A favorite subject of Renaissance artists, is often Sgabello: This might be a stool or a small,
strange chair
reading stand at the
and surrounded with trappings of learning, shelves simple chair really a stool with a wooden slab
scholar. The central accommodate new tastes for luxury and artistic piece of furniture. It was named after the famous
niche lined in red expression. Important people had books, papers, preacher who, it is thought, favored this design.
appears to create a
small private chapel
documents, maps, jewelry, changes of clothing, Dante chair: A similar chair to the savonarola,
with suitable fittings. table coverings, and table wares, even such special- this had a more solid frame, pivoted in the same
The ceiling is of wood; ized objects as musical instruments, timepieces, way but with a cushioned seat and stretched
it is flat but painted in
a geometnc pattern.
scales, globes, and works of art. All of these things cloth back.
called for places for storage and display. Chairs Tables were solid planks placed on trestles,
appeared in increasing variety as alternatives to pedestals, or carved stone bases. Small paintings
benches and stools. As they were gradually intro- were often elaborately framed with many frames,
duced into the basically simple living spaces of the their architectural detail suggesting a tiny temple
Renaissance, all of these things began the move- facade. Mirrors, a development of Venetian glass
ment toward the increasingly cluttered "fully production, remained small but were also often
furnished" interiors of the modern world. The new elaborately framed. Lighting came from candles
fashions, of course, were largely restricted to the placed in many varieties of mounted, or
table, wall
homes of the wealthy and powerful (figs. 5.32 and floor standing holders. Burning torches were also
90
The Renaissance in Italy
Coverings
a final phase of the Renaissance or as a totally new following chapter deals with the Baroque era in tural details present a
direction, the work of the Baroque era is an Italy and with its spread northward into the regions vision of idealized
Renaissance space.
exciting development of design history. The closest to Italy's northern border.
91
Baroque and Rococo in Italy and
Northern Europe
The word Baroque designates a development, not a space peopled by figures full of movement and
time period, and may be a source of some confu- activity. The terms Quadratura for architectural
sion because of its use in everyday speech to space painted in illusionistic perspective; Quadro
describe elaborate, or even over-elaborate, orna- RiPORTATO, for images enclosed by illusionistic
mentation. While ornamentation is certainly char- framing; and Di sotto in su, for painting showing
acteristic of much Baroque design, it is not the an illusionistic view upward into a seeming dome,
only, or even the most important, aspect of sky, or heaven, have come into use to describe typi-
Baroque work. Further confusion can arise with cally Baroque techniques of decoration.
the use of the term Rococo to describe a later, Stage techniques developed in the Baroque. A
more delicate extension of Baroque style. Some proscenium arch was used to frame the opening to
historians seem to treat the terms as interchange- a stage so that it was a separate compartment in
able, others see the Rococo as a kind of sub-species front of the audience seating area. Stage design,
of Baroque, while in general use the terms have creating illusions of space through painting on flat
thought to derive from a Portuguese word, barocco, ence on Baroque and Rococo interior design. Stage
that referred to pearls that were distorted or irreg- design was in turn influenced by Baroque skills in
ular in shape. The word "rococo" derives from the use of perspective and related spatial effects and
French and Spanish words meaning "shell like." in the use of light as an active element.
As used here, Baroque refers to design as it Baroque architecture and interiors served the
developed in Italy following the mannerist transi- aims of the Catholic Counter-Reformation. It
tion from the High Renaissance of the sixteenth provided exciting imagery that contrasted with the
century. It flourished in Italy, Austria, parts of iconoclastic ("image-smashing") inclinations of
south Germany, in adjacent regions of Europe, and the Protestant Reformation led by Martin Luther
in Spain and Portugal in the seventeenth century. in northern Europe and offered new visual stim-
Related work in France, England, and northern ulus to a peasant population that had little access to
Europe may be described as Baroque, although the richand beautifial settings in everyday life. Entering
rather different character of contemporary work in a Baroque church where visual space, music, and
these regions makes the use of the term question- ceremony combined was a powerful device for
able. The term Rococo is used to describe work of securing the loyalty of congregations. Along with
the eighteenth century as it developed in France, decorative techniques. Baroque design turned to
south Germany, and Austria. Rococo development more complex geometry in spatial forms. Oval and
overlaps the severely restrained design referred to elliptical shapes were preferred to square, rectan-
as Neoclassic. In general. Baroque design appears gular, and circular. Curving and complex stairway
in religious building while Rococo work is more arrangements and intricacy in planning offered a
often secular, but there are certainly areas of cross- sense of movement and of mystery. The aims of
over. It is, for example, possible to speak of a design changed from simplicity and clarity toward
Baroque building with Rococo interior detail. complexity, readily augmented by illusionistic
6.1 Vignola, II Gesu, painting and sculpture.
Rome, 1565-73.
The prototypical
Baroque church, the
Elements of Baroque Style
home church of the The Baroque in Italy
Jesuit order, is shown Baroque architecture and interior design came to
here in a 1670
include a new emphasis on sculptural and painted The mannerist tendencies in the work of Giulio
painting by Andrea
Sacchi and Jan Miel forms. Shapes from nature, leaves, shells, and Romano and in Michelangelo's work at the Farnese
with richly colored deco- scrolls provided a vocabulary to enrich the classical Palace and the Laurentian Library suggest growing
ration superimposed on
form of earlier Renaissance design. The basic impatience with the classical code of High
the normally elaborate
ornamentation of the shapes of walls and ceilings were modified, even Renaissance design. The very perfection of that
building. Effects of eclipsed, with three-dimensional sculptural deco- code, its presentation in the examples in Palladio's
color and light make
ration, figures, and floral elements. These in turn treatise, and the "rules" for the use of the orders set
this interior space
excitmg and highly were painted in varied colors and merged into forth by Vignola invited rebellion at limitations on
dramatic. painted settings that offered illusionistic views of creativity. At St. Peter's in Rome (fig. 6.2),
92
'"-^
^^
"'T
"lliB
Chapter Six
6.2 {left) 6.3 (below) Michelangelo took hold of the unfinished project
Michelangelo, Cianiorenzo Bernini,
begun by Bramante and gave it its final form with a
St, Peter's, Rome baldacchino, St. Peter's,
Rome
Vignola, although one of the rule makers whose
efforts tended to rigidize Renaissance design, was a
factor in the development of the Baroque. His
design for the church of II Gesu in Rome (fig. 6.1)
Bernini
94
Baroque and Rococo in Italy and Northern Europe
leading into the Vatican, was designed by Bernini The church is based on
with lines of columns on either side supporting a an oval plan with radi-
ating chapels and a
sloping barrel vault. The entire passage tapers in
dome above. Sculptured
width and height as it moves upward, while figures cling to the
windows light landings half way up and at the top dome's surface. The
classicism of the
of the stairs. The forced perspective of the tapered
pilaster and entabla-
form and the contrast of light and dark spaces ture is given Baroque
Above the canopy top, S-curved half arches and angled corner gives
some hint of the
support a gilded cross on an orb. The whole struc-
complex interior within.
ture is encrusted with sculptured vines, cherubs,
and figures, making the surfaces alive with activity. 6.6 (left) and 6.7
(below) Plans of S.
Behind the altar at the apse end of the church there Carlo alle Quattro
is another Bernini composition. The supposed Fontane.
Via Quattro Fontane
chair of St. Peter, surmounted by a giant gold
1
95
Chapter Six
embodies complex complex geometry on actually based on equilateral triangles but, instead
spatial relationships which the plan was
of being abutted base to base as at S. Carlo, the
that have made it based. Six circles drawn
known as an on a six-pointed star triangles are overlapped to form a six-pointed star
outstandmg example of create alternating (fig. 6.10). Vertical support piers (each with two
Baroque design. convex and concave
applied pilasters) are placed at the inner angles of
curves It is possible to
trace the forms of trian- the star to form a circle. Of the outward extending
gles, hexagons, overlap- points of the star, the three that relate to one of the
ping circles and stars.
overlapping triangles define the positions of the
altar apse and two apsidal niches on either side of
the entrance, while the three that are the apexes of
the other triangle locate the recesses of the entrance
and those on either side of the chancel niche. This
alternation of two differing treatments for the six
points of the star sets up a complex rhythm which
is continued up into the dome above.
The white, gold-starred dome is not simply
96
Baroque and Rococo in Italy and Northern Europe
round, but is hollowed out to carry the forms of the Venetian interiors, such as some of those in the
six alternating concave and convex panels of the medieval Doge's palace (fig. 6. 1 1 ) that were recon-
walls upward to the oculus with its windowed structed after a fire in 1574, display an amazingly
lantern. Externally, the lantern is topped by a rich surface frosting of paintings and ornate plaster
sculptural element of spiral or helical form. Its work. In the Sala del Senate a giant wall clock
symbolic significance is ambiguous and uncertain, shares space with paintings lined up above a band
but its visible wild gesture is highly characteristic of of wainscoting while the ceiling presses down on
the Baroque. the viewer with its panels of painting framed in
ornate gilt. Veronese was the artist who provided
the paintings in 1585 for the similarly elaborate
Venice
Sala del Gran Consiglio where Baroque architec-
ture appears in quadratura illusionistic perspective
Longhena as a setting for the figures acting out The Triumph
Venice is not a city where Baroque design estab- of Venice above the Doge's chair.
lished a major presence. The one exceptional
Baroque building there is the church of S. Maria
Turin
della Salute (begun 1631) by Baldassare Longhena
(1598-1662). It is an octagonal building with an
Guarini
aisle or atrium surrounding a tall, round, domed
central space. The eight sides of the octagon offer Baroque work was carried north by Guarino
six radiating chapels, an entrance portal, and, on monk who had
Guarini (1624-83), a Theatine
the eighth side, an arch opening into the chancel. worked in Portugal, Spain, and in Paris before
The chancel, almost a separate adjacent building settling in Turin, where his major work is located.
with its own smaller dome, is visible from the body Guarini was also a philosopher and mathematician;
of the church through the arch. The church is his Architettiira Civile (1737) helped to spread his
brightly lit by the si.xteen windows of the
large influence. His major secular work is the Palazzo
dome and has a geometrically complex patterned Carignano in Turin (1679-92), a massive block
floor in bright yellow and black marbles. The built around a center court which is reflected exter-
chancel is relatively dim, while there is an opening nally by a central part of the facade that bulges
into the Coro, or monks' choir, beyond. This forward in an undulating curve. The entrance leads
establishes a sequence of varied light levels that is into an oval, columned atrium that opens on the
typical of Baroque spatial richness. court. On either side small vestibules lead to twin
97
Chapter Six
6.13 Cuarino CuannI, Stairways that curve as they rise, meeting at the top
Capella della SS. at the access point to the huge oval main salon.
Sindone, Turin, begun
This room is topped by a ceiling dome which is
1667-9a
open at its center to permit a view of a second
The black and grey
stones used to create
ceiling high above, lighted by hidden windows.
the chapel of the Holy Guarini's church of S. Lorenzo in Turin (fig.
Shroud are topped by a 6.12; 1666-80) is embedded in the buildings of the
dome with a ring of six
windows at its base
Royal Palace. Its square external block, with a
and with nngs of many projecting smaller block to house the chancel, is
98
Baroque and Rococo in Italy and Northern Europe
effects of light and dark make the chapel seem Juvara. Stupinigi
of the Alps and to what extent he was influenced by rich overlay of painted and gilded plaster work that hunting lodge,
that work remains uncertain. suggests awareness of the contemporary French Juvara's ground plan is
design in which basic forms tend toward simplifi- focused on the central
At the huge Stupinigi Palace built for Vittorio
hall, from which rooms
Amedeo II of Savoy (figs. 6.14 and 6.15; 1729-33), cation whOe surface ornament becomes increas-
radiate at angles to
outside Turin, Juvarra designed a complex of low ingly rich. The term Rococo may be more form a rough hexagon
99
Chapter Six
6.16 Jakob
Prandtauer and
Antonio Carlone,
Monastery of St
Florian, Linz, Austria,
1718-24.
6.17 Jakob
Prandtauer, Abbey of Baroque in Northern Europe
Melk, Austria,
1702-38,
100
Baroque and Rococo in Italy and Northern Europe
6.18 Jakob
Prandtauer, library,
close to rococo
simplicity of form but
with elaborate decora-
tive overlay.
Karlskirche, Vienna,
Italians. The nearby abbey of Melk (figs. 6.17 and
Austria, 1716-37.
6.18; 1702-38), a vast complex of connected build-
The oval, domed inte-
ings on a high bluff overlooking the Danube, is rior of Karlskirche (the
entirely the design of Prandtauer. The church inte- Church of St Charles
Borromaeusj is
rior with stucco architectural detail and illusion-
surrounded by chapels.
istic ceiling painting draws on Italian precedents.
The deep chancel is illu-
The secular spaces such as the library with its mined by side windows
that focus light on the
cantilevered balcony, both functional and orna-
sunburst design above
mental, and the Marble Hall (or Kaisersaal) lean the altar, and columns
toward Rococo ornamentation typical of
the below permit a
screened view into the
Austrian, German, and French palace design.
monk's choir beyond.
In Vienna, Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach The high windows
(1656-1723) was the designer of the Karlskirche admit limited light into
the generally dim inte-
(Church of St. Charles, 1716-37; fig. 6.19). The
rior, which IS crammed
central space topped by an oval dome; there are
is
with nch marble archi-
two large and four small radiating chapels, and a tectural detail and
ornamentation.
great arch that opens into a deep chancel backed
101
Chapter Six
Moosbrugger showed a
mastery of complex
spatial relationships in
the abbey church,
where successive bays
move toward the
distant altar while an
overwhelming overlay
of stucco ornament and
painted detail make the
space dissolve into
florid richness.
7 1
\
6.22 (right)
Domenikus
Zimmermann, Die Wies,
Fussen, Bavana,
Germany, 1744-54.
with a screen of columns that allows a glimpse of a Saints, 1742-72), stands alone on high ground (fig.
monks' choir beyond. The wall surface detail uses a 6.23). It is the work of Johann Balthasar Neumann
Corinthian pilaster order with generally restrained ( 1687-1753), initially a military engineer who had
6.23 Johann
decorative detail so that attention is focused on the been sent by his patron, the Prince-Bishop of Balthasar Neumann,
great sunburst (lighted by hidden windows) above Wurzburg, to Vienna and Paris before returning to Pilgrimage Church of
Vierzehnheiligen, near
the main altar. Franconia to devote his efforts to architecture. The
Bamberg, Germany,
somewhat forbidding twin-towered exterior of the 1742-72.
building hardly prepares the visitor for the Baroque
Switzerland The great pilgrimage
complexity of the interior and its Rococo orna- church was built with a
central shrine to house
The abbey of begun 1703)
Einsiedeln (fig. 6.20; mentation. The plan is based on a Latin cross, but
the venerated object,
near Zurich, another huge church and monastery the arrangement of aisles and the related ovals of but the ground plan is
complex, was designed by Kaspar Moosbrugger the low domes of the ceiling elaborate and obscure based on interlocking
ovals at balcony,
(1656-1723). A small chapel stands within the the plan form. A pilgrimage shrine-altar dedicated
floor,
architect Peter Thumb (1681-1766). The church sculpture and painting contributes to the theatrical merges into lavish
plaster ornamentation.
has a long narrow-aisled nave with, at its midpoint, sense of light and movement.
Only the floor of diag-
a round, domed interruption. Neumann was also the designer of the Residenz onal squares of marbles
at Wurzburg (fig. 6.24; begun 1735), a huge palace IS simple.
Germany
Thumb was the architect of the smaller German
pilgrimage church at Birnau (often identified as
Neu-Birnau) of 1745-51 (fig. 6.21). A cantilevered
balcony that runs around the walls of the relatively
103
Chapter Six
6.24 Johann
Balthasar Neumann.
Residenz, Wurzburg,
Germany, 1735.
ceremonial movement
Most of the surfaces are
white, embellished with
nch decorative detail
and sculptures in the
Rococo manner The
colorful celling fresco
(1751-3), with its view
upward into a celestial
realm, is by Tiepolo.
with a spectacular Rococo chapel, a ceremonial landing into twin flights, leading to the salon that
grand stair, and a Kaisersaal with fresco painted stands at the center of a long row of formal rooms.
ceilings by the Venetian artist Giovanni Battista The stair hall is a simple square in shape, but it is
Tiepolo (1696-1770). Stucco decorative detail lined with Rococo sculptural ornamentation. Huge
merges into painting with illustrations of endless ornamental lanterns supported by sculptured
space and foreground details that spill out of the cupid figures stand at the upper and lower corners
painting over the plasterwork. Pink, blue, and gold of the baluster railings, while one more lantern
form the color palette. hangs from the center of the ceiling. Each of the
The Viennese architect Lukas von Hildebrandt formal rooms is treated with a different lining of
(1663-1745) worked as a consultant to Neumann Rococo architectural ornament and fresco
at the Wurzburg Residenz. His reputation had been painting.
established with his work on the Piaristen Church The design of a palace often included individual
in Vienna (1715-21) and on the palace known as rooms decorated in the newly current style. At
the Upper Belvedere ( 1 700-23 ) also in Vienna. The Augsburg in Germany, for example, a Festsaal or
palace stands at the upper end of a large formal ballroom was created in the Schaezler Palace (fig.
garden and looks down toward another palace at 6.25; 1765-70). Its walls were covered with Rococo
the lower edge. A projecting central entrance plaster work and wood carving, elaborately framed
element gives access to a grand stair hall. Here a mirrors, wall bracket candle holders, candle chan-
lower flight of stairs at the center divides at a deliers, and fresco painting on the ceiling and in
104
Baroque and Rococo in Italy and Northern Europe
105
Chapter Six
wall panels. All of this grandeur was intended to bulbous, jug-like shapes. Carving of plant forms,
symbolize and emphasize the importance of the figures, allegorical images, and coats of arms were
owner of the palace, a banker and silver merchant favorite forms of ornamentation, along with archi-
who had been elevated to the nobility in recogni- tectural moldings, pilasters, and columns. The
tion of his financial help to the Empress Maria development of veneer made it possible to create
Theresa of Austria. wood surfaces in varied colors and patterns, often
The influence of French Rococo interior design used together with inlays of other decorative and
was a strong factor in shaping German palace inte- exotic materials. Ivory, tortoise-shell, and silver
riors and also in small, less formal palace buildings, were sometimes used, and techniques for simu-
often almost pavilions placed in gardens. Francjois lating materials by marbling, graining, painting,
Cuvillies (1695-1768) spent four years in Paris and gilding were valued not as economy measures,
working with the French designer Jacques-Francois but as demonstrations of skilled technique.
Blondel (1705-74) and returned to Germany to Baroque furniture tends to be large and domi-
produce the kind of restrained yet florid interior nated by fat and bulging forms, while Rococo
thathad become fashionable in the salons of Paris. design, in contrast, strives for delicacy and
His best-known work is the Amalienburg elegance. Legs are slim and gently curved, inlay
(1734-9), a small garden palace, planned as a patterns are small in scale and often very elaborate.
shooting box for pheasant hunting in the grounds Applied ornamentation is often of pewter, silver,
of the Nymphenburg Palace in Munich (fig. 6.26). bronze, or gilded. Cabinet tops may be of colorful
Its central room placed between adjacent rooms marble. There was increasing use of upholstered
decorated in silver and lemon yellow is of simple elements in seating furniture; wood frames of
windows open to the gardens.
circular shape; three curving form support cushioning that may be
Mirrored panels on the waUs have the effect of edged with gimp, braid, cord, or with closely
transforming the simple form of the room into spaced nails with ornamental heads. Mirrors and
seeming complexity a kind of kaleidoscope effect pictures had carved and gilded frames which some-
that repeats and elaborates the silvery stucco deco- times overwhelmed what they surrounded. Shell,
ration of the walls and ceiling and the glitter of the scroll, or volute shapes were favorite S-curved
great central chandelier. decorative forms.
Cuvillies was the designer of many other impe- Since candles were stUl the usual source of artifi-
rial interiors, including the gloriously elaborate cial light, candlesticks, wall brackets, and chande-
Rococo interior of the court theater in the Residenz liers were functionally important and ideal vehicles
at Munich (1751-3). It is a miniature prototype for for Rococo ornamentalism. The harpsichord, the
the Baroque-Rococo opera house interior, with basic keyboard instrument of Baroque music, was
horseshoe tiers of boxes and a huge central royal often decorated with paintings both outside and on
box. Such opera houses as La Scala in Milan the under surface of the lid. Its legs or stand
(1776-8, by Giuseppe Piermarini) are similar followed the Baroque and Rococo fashions in table
spaces on a grander scale. base design or, occasionally, became ornamental
sculpture. The organ in the back gallery of the
typical Baroque church was a massive construction,
Furniture and Other Interior usually carvedand ornamented in a way that rivaled
the treatment of pulpit and altar. The clock, an
Features
important mechanical development of medieval
technology, at first a large and costly device to be
Furniture of the Baroque era does not differ in put to work in the tower of a church or towm hall,
basic character from that of the Renaissance, but gradually came to be made in smaller size with
since Baroque design served only the wealthy and greater accuracy and at lesser cost, although it was
powerful, elaboration even ostentation are still symbol to be put on display in the
a status
typical of objects made for the rooms of palaces. rooms of luxurious houses. Clock forms were elab-
The basic forms of cabinet furniture were modified orated with large decorated cases or with sculptured
to introduce curving or bulging shapes for door or bases.
drawer fronts. Legs were often turned on foot or on The color palette of the Renaissance with its
water-powered lathes to create round ball or basis in grey stone, marble, white (or off-white)
106
Baroque and Rococo in Italy and Northern Europe
plaster, and natural walnut wood survived in the Renaissance, and new building continued to follow
Italian Baroque, although bright, chromatic color older traditions. Furniture in these houses was
began to appear in textiles, rugs, and, of course, in limited in variety and generally simple, although it
paintings. Gradually, more daring use of color, is possible to trace some movement toward
such as marble in varied yellows, reds, and greens Baroque forms in "folk" or "provincial" furniture
and gilding, contributed to the shift toward more where curving forms appear along with surface
theatrical visual effects in interiors. In Germany decoration, sometimes carved and sometimes
and Austria pastel tones of pink and light greens painted.
and blues were favored along with gilding and
white stucco. The use of more color but in more The richly complex aspects of Baroque and Rococo
delicate hues is a characteristic of Rococo design, design were for many years labeled by historians as
where both wood and plaster are typically painted a decadent and declining phase of Renaissance
in soft colors with carved or stucco detail picked work. Older books often provide no coverage of
out with gold or some delicate pastel shade. The Baroque design or deal with it in only a few
covering of walls with textiles in rich colors also sentences of negative comment. A new apprecia-
came into use in residential interiors. Curtains tion for Baroque and Rococo design has emerged,
were most often part of the appointments of the however, with an understanding that the Baroque
canopied bed where they were useful in controlling emphasis on spatial complexity relates to modern
drafts and in maintaining the privacy that the plan concepts of design. In his book Space, Time and
layout of even the most luxurious houses generally Architecture (1943), for example, Sigfried Gideon
ignored. Panels of textile were used occasionally for began his study of modern trends with a discussion
screens or at doors, but window curtains and deco- of the links between the Renaissance and the
rative drapery at windows did not appear until well enriched spatial concerns of the Baroque. Far from
into the eighteenth century. Floors were usually of being a decadent and declining aspect of the
polished wood Parquetry (small blocks arranged Renaissance, the Baroque era is now seen as the
in patterns), of marble or tile, also usually in most significant link between the classicism of
patterns of several colors that relate to the shape of what went before and a new and adventurous spirit
the room and the geometry of its other design that can be traced to the best of recent design work.
elements. Carpets or rugs were rare luxuries. Before discussing the role of Baroque and
Outside of major churches, abbeys, and the Rococo design in other parts of Europe, it is neces-
elaborate palaces and houses of the rich. Baroque sary to go back to an examination of the ways in
and Rococo design had limited impact. Most which Renaissance thinking moved into France,
people continued to live in houses that dated from Spain, the Low Countries, and England. This is the
medieval times or from the earlier years ot the material of the following chapters.
.(^P
^K^y
f 0^^ y o-
107
Renaissance, Baroque, and Rococo in
It is often said that the art and design concepts of of fortification of cities and castles (made obsolete
the Renaissance spread outward from Italy into by the development of firearms) led gradually to
France, central Europe, and Spain. The use of the the abandonment of medieval ways.
word "spread" suggests that this was a natural and As the power of the church was checked by an
inevitable process. New ideas do, it is true, tend to increasingly powerful monarchy, religious building
spread, but that process may be resisted or blocked tended to become less important as compared to
and suspect, or welcomed and encour-
as "foreign" secular building. France was already amply
aged, depending on events and attitudes in a supplied with churches and monastic establish-
particular place at a particular time. French mili- ments, while the powerful aristocracy centered on
tary involvements in Italy from 1494 to 1525 the king felt a need for visible expression of power
brought an awareness of Italian ideas to the French equivalent to the castle, but more practical and
aristocracy. Primaticcio, Sangallo, Serlio, Leonardo more comfortable. The palace, the country
da Vinci, and Bernini were all active in France and chateau, and the city residence increased in impor-
enabled Italian thinking to be translated into tance and, without the need for defense, their char-
French practice. As in Italy, a tentative Early acter could change.
Renaissance shaded into a high style. The use of the Alongside these changes in society, French
term Baroque for later French work may seen ques- kings became involved in military efforts to expand
tionable since Frenchwork toward the end of the their power and dominance. In 14945 Charles
Renaissance was more
restrained and conservative VIII (r. 1470-98) launched a campaign against the
in character than the developments in Italy and kingdom of Naples. In the course of this adventure,
south Germany. The subtleties of Rococo work in he and his followers had an opportunity to become
France interlace with the Baroque style extending acquainted with the art and architecture of
into the eighteenth century. Renaissance Italy. Twenty-two Italian craftsmen
In Spain, a similar pattern can be traced, with were brought back to France and put to work on
ideas flowing both directly from Italy and indi- various royal projects, including work at the
rectly ft'om France. Spanish architects traveled and chateau of Amboise where the king had established
even, in some cases, worked in Italy; they brought his principal residence. Louis XII {r. 1462-1515),
back the High Renaissance style and incorporated who succeeded Charles, was also involved in Italian
it into the existing, somewhat restrained, approach. conquests, successfully taking both Milan and
Spanish love for rich ornamentation aided the Naples. The wing added to the chateau of Blois that
movement ornamented interiors that
into richly is called by his name (Louis XII wing) is conserva-
are strongly Baroque in spirit. The Rococo char- tive, that is, medieval in concept, but details of
acter of Spanish design of the eighteenth century is moldings and column capitals demonstrate that
clearly based on French examples, but developed the craftsmen executing the work were aware of the
with a unique regional character. The role of Spain latest Italian practices.
pilasters and
tlie
the
Ionic
France seen the High Renaissance work then current in
108
Chapter Seven
7.2 Domenico da
Cortona (?) and
Jacques and Denis
Sourdeau, Chateau de
Chambord, Loire,
France, begun c. 1519.
no
Renaissance, Baroque, and Rococo in France and Spain
even when the building was new, would have been that the house is made
up of a square central
moved to and from Paris along with the royal
block with wings that
court. The stone details of fireplaces, doorways, stretch out to round
towers on either side.
coffered ceilings, and the central stair are full of
Low wings complete a
references to Italian practice.
square. The central
It is thought that Domenico da Cortona (d. block holds rooms in
details of arches, pilasters, and moldings. On the working under the direction of others is uncertain. ideals.
roof, an amazing collection of chimneys, towers, The smaller Loire valley chateau of Azay-le-
domes, and dormers are full of details that make Rideau (fig. 7.4; 1518-27) is the work of unidenti-
reference to Italian Renaissance classicism, fied designers. It is an L-shaped building with a
although the way in which they are applied haphaz- moat and lake surround, creating a visual composi-
ardly is typical of the Early Renaissance in France. tion of great charm. Its corner turrets and moat
The interiors of the main, central block at suggest castle architecture, but its rear elevation
Chambord are organized by an open circulation facing the moat is symmetrical, and the detail of
space, a kind of lobby in the plan of a Greek cross. pilasters and moldings clearly belong to the Early
A double spiral staircase at the center dominates Renaissance. A grand stair is placed at the center of
the space. SinceLeonardo da Vinci was living at the main wing. A fanciful entrance bay marks its
nearby Amboise, there has been speculation that he location on the front of the building, but the
might have inspired the stair on the basis of projecting L-wing places that entrance near a
sketches that appear in his notebooks. Living corner of the L, making the facade asymmetrical.
spaces are fitted into the four corners of the square. Azay-le-Rideau is fortunate in having its interiors
7.4 Chateau de
Azay-le-Rideau, Loire,
France, 1518-27.
m
Chapter Seven
ture and decorative details. In a building of such another, establishing a tonality for each room.
Primaticcio, Palace of
Fontamebleau, near size and luxury, it is surprising to note that rooms
before 533.
Paris, 1
are simply lined up in sequence on either side of High Renaissance
The Caller/ of Francis I
the main stair, so that each room is the access
was a simple
passage to the next. There was no particular effort The turn from the tentative experiments of the
passage-like space
made elaborate by the to differentiate room functions or to provide French Early Renaissance to the more assured High
panelmg on the walls privacy. Each of the major rooms has a beamed or developed phase of the era came about with the
with the ornately
wooden ceiling, stone walls covered by stretched aid of several expatriate Italians who modified their
framed painting and
stucco above, which cloth, and a large and richly carved fireplace Italian ways to create work that is specifically
was largely the
the Italian artist
work of
and
mantel probably the work of an Italian sculptor. French. Under Francis I, Francesco Primaticcio (c.
Rosso
Windows set in the thick stone walls open into a 1504-70) and Giovanni Battista
sculptor Giovanni
Battista Rosso, known space in the wall thickness which can be curtained (1494-1540), a Bolognese and a Florentine respec-
as Rosso Fiorentino. The to give some privacy to the alcove. Since rooms had tively, were put to work on the decoration of the
beamed ceiling carnes
no fixed functions, furniture could be placed in any Gallery of Francis I at Fontainebleau (fig. 7.5;
some decorative detail.
The floor is simple room to serve whatever function was chosen for before 1533). It is a long, narrow room with a
wood parquet. it a canopied bed in one room, a dining table and beamed ceiling. The wood panels between the
chairs, for example, in another. Color, other than beams are geometrically carved, and there is a
the natural tones of the wood and stone, comes wood-paneled wainscot. Above the paneling, the
112
Renaissance, Baroque, and Rococo in France and Spain
nm ht m m 9^^
A
7.6 Sebastiano
Ancy-le-Franc,
Burgundy, France,
c,1546.
symmetrical square
Serlio,
Francois Mansart (1598-1667) was responsible
for a series of projects that define the character of
French Renaissance work
character during the
as
reigns
it developed
of Louis
a Baroque
XIII (r.
plan with all spaces 1610-43) and Louis XIV (r. 1643-1715). The
arranged around a
central courtyard mdi-
chateau of Balleroy in Normandy {c. 1626) is a
1
^ f* M < a^ r
cates the Italian influ-
ence on the design of
this French chateau.
symmetrical block with a
flanked by lower wings.
taller central
A high and prominent tiled
roof with chimneys and dormers gives the building
section
details. Strapwork the use of bands of relief that tation of plasterwork and paintings that cover the
suggest straps of leather rolled out into patterns wall surfaces. The Grand Salon that overlooks the
appears here for the first time. gardens has a bare wooden floor of simple planks
7.7 Francois Mansart,
The Italian architect Sebastiano Serlio arranged in panels, contrasting with the elaborate
Chateau de Maisons,
(1475-1555) was known for his published books fniix marble painting of wall surfaces surrounding near Pans, 1642-51.
on architecture before his arrival in France in 1540. the paintings. The plan of this
He was the designer of the chateau of Ancy-le- Mansart's name has come to be associated with symmetrically perfect
chateau, which is also
Franc (fig. 7.6; begun 1546) in Burgundy. It is a the steep tile or slate roofs that so often top French
known as Maisons
hollow square, symmetrical on all four sides both Renaissance buildings. Attic space was e.xempt from Laffitte, forms a
outside and in the inner court. Classical pilasters real estate taxation and so was a desirable way of U-shape, with the
simplicity of the basic plan concept. Arcades and its white stone exterior is detailed with classical in unobtrusive corners.
113
Chapter Seven
eighteenth century.
114
Renaissance, Baroque, and Rococo in France and Spain
architectural trim, pilasters, moldings, and pedi- entrance from the street is a gateway opening on a
ments. A grand stair, all in white, richly carved forecourt between twin buildings on either side
marble, leads up to a sequence of rooms, each that house stables, carriage house, kitchens, and
opening into the next, each an elaborate but chilly service quarters, with the main house facade facing
display piece. While such aristocratic interiors may the court. Nearby, on the lie S. Louis, the Hotel
seem overbearing in their richness, the smaller Lambert (fig. 7.9; begun 1640) was an early but
7.10 (below left)
houses (mostly eighteenth-century) built by major work of Louis Le Vau ( 1612-70), a key figure Louis Le Vau,
powerful and wealthy families, the so-called hotels of in the development of French architecture and Vaux-le-Vicomte, Melun;
interiors by Charles
Paris and a few other French cities, with their decoration. It has a grand stair in the space behind
Leburn, 1656.
Rococo interiors, follow parallel stylistic trends on a its main facade at the rear of a square court. From
This bedroom was
more modest scale. the top of the stair there extends a sequence of
intended for the king
Royal favor was the source of power and wealth formal rooms rectangular, octagonal, oval, and, should he make a visit
and those who had access to it wanted to live in in one and narrow gallery. Each room
case, a long The canopied bed
stands in an alcove
circumstances that recalled royal living style in opens into the next except where small stairs and area fenced off from
interior decoration and furniture. The Hotel de passages provide for some private circulation the room by a railing,
Carnevalet in Paris ( 1655, now the City Museum), around bedrooms and for the use of servants. Some thereby establishing
privacy. The elaborate
also by Francois Mansart, is a good example. of the rooms have survived unchanged, their rich detail of the opening
Although its interiors have been subjected to gilded plaster decoration surrounding paintings by frame, the painted and
various renovations and redecorations, they high- various artists. The paintings provide the fanciful sculpted ceiling, and
ornate chandeliers
light the way in which the grandiosity of royal inte- names given to the rooms: Cabinet de I'Amour or expressed the symbolic
riors was adapted to the life styles of the Cabinet des Muses. The painter Charles Lebrun status of the king.
Elegant ceremonial
approach to landscape design. The chateau has a
bedrooms open in
bulging oval central bay that houses a salon, the sequence, but there is
circulation. Stairs
mirrored doors opposite are arched and set
connecting levels are in
bqtween Corinthian pilasters. Above a classic unobtrusive secondary
entablature and below the ceiling dome, an upper locations.
+^
Cfratui tiaUon
^1 f f ifl
i I
GjjU di U Cour
115
"
Chapter Seven
game that had become popular as an aristocratic Due de Saint Simon, a courtier, recorded amusingly
pastime. Vaux-le-Vicomte's interiors have survived and pithily in his memoirs what life was like there:
with little change even the kitchens are intact to Louis XIV was made for a brilliant Court. In the
provide a particularly fine display of interior design midst of other men his figure, his courage, his
first visit
him till his death, as the King Bee '
obvious cost. Investigations that followed led to the Towards women his politeness was without parallel.
Never did he pass the humblest petticoat without
removal of its owner (to prison), and the transfer
raising his hat; even to chambermaids that he knew
of the designers, Le Vau, Lebrun, and Le Notre to
to be such He treated his valets well, above all
Versailles, where they were put to work trans- those of the household. It was amongst them that
^
forming the royal palace. The oval exterior form he felt most at ease
and the vast extent of gardens with long vistas, His own apartments, and those of the Queen, are
waterways, and fountains at Vaux-le-Vicomte inconvenient to the last degree,
established the Baroque qualities of French land- I upon the monstrous
might never finish
defects of a palace so immense and so immensely
dull, close, stinking
scape planning.
^
dear.
Since work in the Louis xiv style comes from the The Queen has only two rooms ... a bedchamber
latter part of the Renaissance in France, and a drawing room-in the first she sleeps, dresses,
it is often
prays, chats, sees her Sister or any other person
designated as Baroque. In fact, French design never
who is admitted to privacy. She has no room for
moved to the extremes of complexity and elabora- even a Closet to put her Close Stoole
solitude, nor
tion that characterize the Baroque work of Italy, [chamber pot] in which always stands by her
south Germany, and Austria. Even at its most rich bedside.
and heavily decorated, there is a certain reserve, an Another Versailles courtier, Mme Roland wrote along
emphasis on logic and order, that makes it possible similar lines in the 1770s:
directly from the High Renaissance into the Rococo slates] opening out on to the same corridor as
and Neoclassic phases that foUowed. Whatever those of the Archbishop of Paris, and so close to his
that the prelate had to be careful lest we should
terminology is used, it is certain that such vast
hear his talking, and the same applied to us. There
projects as the palace and gardens at Versailles, and were two rooms, meanly furnished .with an . .
the related replanning of the whole town with radi- approach rendered horrible by the darkness of the
ating roadways focusing on the palace itself, passage and the smell of the latrines. ^
demonstrate a Baroque love of grandeur used as a
1 , Memoires of the Due de St Simon, trs, Bayle St John (London,
tool for the glorification of the king. 1902), p, 216; 2. Ibid, p 229; 3. Ibid, p. 212: 4, Quoted m Ml.
Kekewich, Princes and People 1620-1714: Anthology of Primary
Sources (Manchester, 994), 73; 5. Quoted in Evelyn Farr, Before
Versailles 1 p. 1
the Deluge: Parisian Society in the Reign of Louis XVI (London, 1 994),
pp. 25-6
At Versailles (fig. 7.12), the Sun King commis-
sioned the creation of a setting that would justify
his self-ordained status as the leader of victorious
armies, the world's most powerful figure. Interiors
were of staggering opulence. Marble walls and
floors, stucco decoration, painted walls, paneling
and ceilings,and furniture of gilded bronze or
silver were designed by Le Vau and Lebrun. In
116
Renaissance, Baroque, and Rococo in France and Spam
7.12 Engraving of
Versailles, showing the
chateau and the
gardens beyond.
1668, shortly after Le Van's death, a second phase level of a balcony. There is a clerestory at the level of
of elaboration was undertaken by Jules Hardouin- the painted, vaulted ceiling above, and windows at
Mansart (1619-90), a nephew of Fran(;ois Mansart. each level that flood the space with light. With the
He was responsible for the great gallery room that largely white and gold color, the space is remarkably
overlooks the gardens, the Galerie des Glaces (fig. bright. The gilded organ case at the gallery level
7.14)where mirrors on the inner wall face the above the altar is a reminder that the music of such
windows that overlook the garden. The painted composers as Rameau, Lully, and Couperin was
ceiling (by Lebrun) and the gilt and marble archi- given first performances here, as well as in the
tectural trim generate a room of spectacular theater which was not completed until 1770 iti the
grandeur somewhat unimaginative,
in spite of its reign of Louis XV.
even monotonous concept and detail. The adjacent
Louvre
anterooms, the Salon de la Guerre and the
symmetrically matching Salon de la Paix, each have At the Louvre in Paris (fig. 7.15), Louis XIV aimed
a huge oval decorative panel above a lavish fire- to achieve a city palace comparable to Versailles
place and mantel. The rooms are rich with gilt, through extensions and renovation of the existing
marble, paintings, mirrors, and chandeliers. They somewhat diverse conglomeration of pavilions.
are, like the other seemingly endless formal rooms Rooms such as Lebrun's Galerie d'Apollon (begun
ot the palace, showcases for the extremes of 1662), a long, barrel-vaulted room with sculptured
splendor that the style of Louis XIV produced. and painted decoration (a forerunner to the
Among the more interesting spaces in the vast Galerie des Glaces at Versailles), brought the inte-
wings added to the palace by Hardouin-Mansart riors up to royal standards. Bernini was summoned
are the Royal Chapel (fig. 7.13; begun 1689) and from Italy to prepare designs for a renovation that
the theater or small opera house known as the would convert the exterior to a suitably Baroque
"Entertainments Room." The tall central space of structure. His three successive attempts were each
the chapel issurrounded by an arcade at the lower found "too Italian" too much like the palaces of
level and a colonnade of Corinthian columns at the Rome and so failed to please the king. In 1665
117
Chapter Seven
of patterned wood
parquet
1661-2.
119
Chapter Seven
7.16 Jacques
Lemercier and Francois
Mansart, Church of
Val-de-Crace, Pans.
1645-1667.
columns above. This forms a kind of loggia on Paris by Jacques Lemercier (1585-1684). This has a
either side of a pedimented entrance element with plan symmetrical about tvvo axes to emphasize two
pilastered, slightly projecting end wings. The major entrances, one from the street and the other
general effect is more strictly classical than the from within the college. The similarly domed
work of Louis XIV's era and indicates a turn
earlier church of the hospital of Val-de-Grace (fig. 7.16)
away from Baroque ostentation to the increasingly in Paris (begun 1645) was by Franc^ois Mansart and
reserved Neoclassicism that was to follow. Jacques Lemercier. During his stay in Paris, Bernini
120
Renaissance, Baroque, and Rococo in France and Spam
^X5 t^^>
1^
prepared the design for the baldachino at Val-de- windows that cannot be seen from the main floor
Grace. not unlike the huge baldacchino at St.
It is below, and creating a dramatic effect of space and
Peter's in Rome, but has six twisted Corinthian light that can be called truly Baroque. The some-
columns (two more than Rome), each topped with what overbearin grandeur of the space has made it
of an angel. The most spectacular
a gilded figure an ideal setting for Napoleon's monumental tomb,
and best known of these Parisian domed churches which is now placed below the floor in a central
is S. Louis des Invalides (fig. 7.17; 1677-1706) well. The design of these churches leads French
the church, now the tomb of Napoleon, attached to classicism toward the later S. Genevieve (see p. 129).
121
Chapter Seven
7776 clock became a gilding bronze ornament that was then attached to
favorite ornamental the corners and edges of furniture. Mercury was
element in anstocratic
heated to plate the gilt onto the cast bronze trim
interiors of the eigh-
teenth century. This a process that generated poisonous fumes with
example in gilded disastrous results to the workers using it. The fact
bronze elaborately
is
that it was costly in human lives as well as materials
sculptured in Rococo
taste with only its
probably added to its role as an element of status
simple white enameled display. BouUe's workshops were continued by his
face to suggest basic
its
four sons and the term Boulle has come to be
function. The clock-
maker Michel identified with his style of work.
Stollewerke provided Along with this heavy and elaborate furniture,
the mechanism within,
smaller objects followed parallel stylistic directions.
similar to a musicbox,
that marked the hours Lighting came from chandeliers using metal,
by playing tunes. carved wood, and crystal in various combinations.
122
Renaissance, Baroque, and Rococo in France and Spain
Regency to Rococo
Between the death of Louis XIV in 1715 and the
beginning of the reign of Louis XV when he came
of age in 1723, there intervened a regency which
gave the name Regence to the decorative styles
that are transitional between the more clearly
defined periods of Louis XIV and XV. In general,
the work of the Regence is less heavy, clumsy, and
overbearing than that of the earlier period. Curving
forms became more commonplace; for example,
the gently S-curved leg shape called Cabriole
came into use. The artist-designer Juste-Aurele
Meissonier (1695-1750) published more than 100
engravings showing wall panel decorations, candle- Paris Hotels 7.20 Cross-sectional
Regence and the periods that followed. Louvre and the domed churches such as those of floor of this luxurious
The style of Louis xv (r. 1723-74) is usually Hardouin-Mansart complete, the time of Louis XV house has rich Rococo
detailing, including
identified with the term Rococo, which describes was more concerned with modest design of town paintings, a fine
the decorative style that characterized the later houses, smaller royal projects, and the completion mantel, and even a
and renovation of more small fountain to the
phases of French classicism. Regence design interiors in the delicate
right of the chimney
became more delicate, light, and florid, with Rococo style. In Paris, many large houses built by breast. On the second
flowing curves. It developed most strongly in the wealthy and powerful families under royal floor, the level of prin-
cipal bedrooms, the
design of interiors and the associated elements of patronage are interestingly varied in plan and
paneled detail is simple
furniture and related decorative arts. Architecture generally richly decorated in Rococo style. Comfort except for can/ing
of the Louis XV era moved from Baroque exuber- became a major issue in the discreet private living above the door On the
third level, inside the
ance toward a more restrained classicism, finally, accommodation of the elite (fig. 7.20).
mansard roof, bare
deserving the stylistic designation Neoclassical,, Gabriel-Germaine Boffrand (I667-I754), a
rooms and shelves for
while rooms within can better be described ^s pupil of Mansart, planned the Hotel d'Amelot in storage indicate the
territory of children and
Rotoco^ French Rococo design was quickly Paris as a forecourt of oval shape with services
sen/ants. The basement
imported and imitated in Austria and Germany fitted around it and side and with the
at the front
chambers are stone
and had considerable influence in England as well. curved facade of the house proper at the rear. vaulted.
Francois Cuvillies was a key figure in carrying the Rooms of unusual shape such as a pentagonal ante-
style eastward. His work in Munich such as the room and stair hall are neatly fitted into the inge-
Amalienburg Palace Pavilion is a masterpiece of nious plan that provides for convenience and
French Rococo in spite of its German location. privacy. In 1735 Boffrand designed an oval salon
123
Chapter Seven
that was inserted into the eadier Hotel de Soubise different facades relate to the surrounding gardens
(fig. 7.21). Windows, doors, mirrors, and paintings and reflect its plan. Three of the facades, each with
are surrounded by gilded Rococo ornament four Corinthian columns (or pilasters), are
applied to white paneled walls and a pale blue composed with elegant simplicity controlled by a
ceiling. The basic shape of the room is simple, but system of geometric proportions based on the
the filigree of sculptured and gilded cupids golden section. Within, the spaces are superb
disporting on floral and shell ornament, along with examples of the Rococo style at its best. The stair
a huge central crystal chandelier, all repeated in hall is a simple square lined with cream-white
kaleidoscopic fashion by the mirrors, makes this an stone. Florid detail is restricted to the metalwork of
astonishing display of Rococo virtuosity. the iron stair rails, with gilded monogram inserts
escape from the pomp and ostentation of parquet floors that were originally elevators
Versailles. Externally, the four similar but subtly arranged to lower the dining table into service areas
7.21 Gabriel-
Cermaine Boffrand and
Charles-Joseph Natoire,
Salon de la Princesse,
''^'f|*'*^f
Hotel de Soubise, Pans,
1735.
Pnncesse (Princess's
Hall), contains elabo-
placed on a marble
mantel White plaster
cupids cling to the
gilded ornamental
detail at the edges of
the ceiling, and a
crystal ornamented
chandelier hangs in the
center of the room. The
ceiling is blue but the
walls are paneled in
white.
124
Renaissance, Baroque, and Rococo In France and Spain
7.22 Ange-Jacques
Gabriel, bedchamber of
Mane Antoinette, Petit
Trianon, Versailles,
1762-8.
125
Chapter Seven
7.24 Francois-Joseph
Belanger, Hotel
Baudard de
Samt-James, Place
Vendome, Paris,
c. 1775-80.
(including the theater-opera house) and the well- tends toward parallel bands of molding, Fluting,
known twin facades facing the Place de Louis XV in or Reeding, while a new awareness of ancient
Paris (now the Place de la Concorde) are typical. design developed as knowledge of the work discov-
Speculative real estate developments such as Jules ered in excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum
Hardouin-Mansart's 1690 Place Vendome, its (beginning in 1748) spread. Even ancient Greek
buildings around a great central square, provided design began to be known, so that Greek orna-
elegant living apartments for the affluent. Behind mental details were introduced to further the
such elegantly classical fronts, various buildings are connection with ancient classicism. Window
placed with no special regard for the formal facade. draperies, previously rare, became increasingly
Inside, rooms were often richly decorated and common; colors included crimson red and golden
redecorated according to changing fashion (fig. yellow, often with trimmings of fringeand tassels.
7.24). Rococo rooms of simple shape with paneling The Revolution of 1789 put an end to period styles
in quiet, pastel colors and surface ornamentation based on royal patronage and encouragement,
of carved curvilinear ornament were typical. The although a number of politically agile architects
furniture of the Louis XVI era takes on a more and designers managed to survive and resume their
rectilinear and geometric quality than its predeces- careers in the post-revolutionary climate.
sors. Mahogany became increasingly popular. The DiRECTOinc
post- revolutionary style called
Carved and gilded detail is typical, but the carving ( named for the form of governmentthatinl794^
126
Renaissance, Baroque, and Rococo in France and Spam
followed the Reign of Terror^ was developed under and brocades arranged with valances and trim-
the influence of Georges Jacob (1730-1814) who mings to suggest spears and lances. Tables with
had been a cabinet maker with commissions from metal tripod bases and marble tops were made to
the court of Louis XVI. His designs follow the imitate ancient Roman designs and suggested
general style of the Louis XVI period, but attempt a Roman military power.
more austere classicism, with rather stiff forms and
straight lines and details based on Greek and
The Empire Style
Egyptian precedents. Ornamental details are
intended to make reference to the Revolution: the The Directoire and Consulate styles precede the
French tricolor, clasped hands, swords, and spears Empire stylb, which took its name from the self-
are common motifs. When Napoleon I came to proclaimed elevation of Napoleon I to emperoi
power in 1799, such references increased in popti- status in 1804. The partnership of Charles Percien
^
larity, creating a sub-period sometimes identified (1764-1838) and Pierre-Francois- Leonard Fontaine*
as the Consulate style. Egyptian motifs and* (1762-1853), who had met as architectural
military elements that could be identified with students in Paris and Rome, led architecture and
Napoleon's campaigns in Egypt often appeared.^ interior design under the emperor's patronage.
Window draper)' and draper)' covering wall They are often thought of as the first professional
surfaces came into increasing use, with striped silks interior designers as that term has come to be used.
127
'
Chapter Seven
by French architects Charles Percier and Pierre- A room with a semicircular end and walls of green
Francois-Leonard Fontaine gave birth to a new style in and gold silk held by vertical golden rods, it was
France entirely suited to the warlilce nature of the
designed as a workroom for the emperor himself.
times and the taste of Napoleon I. At the chateau of
At the chateau of Malmaison near Paris (fig. 7.26),
Malmaison, Napoleon gave the architects carte
blanche. Fontaine described the military-style they undertook a redesign of interiors in order to
decoration designed for the Council Chamber at create a setting for the occupancy of Napoleon's
Malmaison: wife, Josephine, that would make her husband's
It seems suitable to adopt ... the form of a tent role, status, and character apparent in every detail
supported by pikes, fasces and standards, between of every room. A bedroom at Malmaison was
which hang trophies of weapons, recalling those designed to suggest a luxurious tent interior of the
used by the most famous warlike people in the
sort that Napoleon might have occupied on a
world.
battlefield. The tent theme led to frequent use of
The precision of the decorative effects displayed the
loosely draped fabric along walls and around beds.
architects' concern for keeping strict control over all
The Lit en bateau, a large bed surrounded by a
aspects of interior design and furnishings:
virtual tent of fabric, was a favored furniture type.
the structure and decoration are closely connected;
Detail based on the classical orders is rare in
and they cease to appear to be so there
if is a
defect in the whole [F]urniture is too much a
Empire design, although the library at Malmaison
part of interior design for the architect to remain has Doric columns of polished light mahogany
indifferent to it.
'
which appear to support the flat domes of the
The Empire style did not find favor with everyone, ceiling. Dignified furniture was often finished in
Mme de Cenlis, an acid commentator on all things black with gilded details such as carved eagles and
modern, criticized the craze for chaises longues that Fasces, the bundled sticks that were the symbol of
had been initiated by Mme Recamier:
power of the Roinan emperors. A gold N initial
ladies should cover their feet when reclining. appears everywhere as a reminder of the emperor's
Decency demands it because, stretched out like
identity. The rich red considered to be Pompeian
that, the smallest movement may uncover the feet
was a favorite color, along with black and gold.
and even the legs. Besides a pretty couvre pleds
lacquard's invention in 1801 of the mechanical
[foot-cover] is a very decorative ornament-people
do without them these days, but nothing looks so pattern-weaving loom made possible the quantity
sloppy. ^
production of damasks and velvets with motifs
such as wreaths, rosettes, or the bee, a symbol
1 . Percier and Fontaine, Recueil des decorations interieurs, 1812,
quoted in Joanna Banham ed,, English Interior Design, vol, 2 chosen by Napoleon as his own. Background colors
(Chicago, 1997), p. 942; 2. Ibid; 3. Mme de Cenlis, Memoires, 1818
were deep brown, green, and dark red; the small
128
Renaissance, Baroque, and Rococo in France and Spam
7.27 Jacques-Germain
church of S. Genevieve in Paris (fig. 7.27;
Soufflot, Church of S.
1756-89), designed by Jacques-Germain Soufflot Genevieve (Pantheon),
(1713-80) and built as a royal project, became, Pans, 1756-89,
his designs for thirty-seven toll houses for the gates with ambulatones all
In spite of political changes which are reflected Empire architecture is the church of the Madeleine
in successive period names, there is a strong styl- (fig. 7.28; 1804-49) in Paris, a focal point at the
istic continuity in the Neoclassical theme that flows end of the Rue Royal, the grand avenue that begins
through work of the Louis XVI, Directoire, and at the Place de la Concorde and passes between the
Empire periods (fig. 7.25). The great domed twin facades by Gabriel. The church, a work of
7.28 Alexandre-Pierre
Vignon, Madeleine,
Pans, 1804-49.
129
Chapter Seven
Provincial Style
7.29 (fop) Provencal 7.30 {bottom) to take a small step toward the grandeur that the
kitchen; now displayed Provencal bed-sitting rich and powerful enjoyed (figs. 7.29 and 7.30).
in the Musee Fragonard, room; now displayed in Provincial furniture varies somewhat from one
Crasse, France. the Musee Fragonard,
Crasse, France. region of France to another, but it always takes
This kitchen is typical
of those that would Rooms similar to this
elements from the high styles of Louis XIV or XV
have existed in the would have been found and simplifies them. Carved detail tends to be
south of France in country houses in the florid and curvilinear, but the material is usually
between the sixteenth south of France m the
and nineteenth eighteenth or nine-
solid (as distinguished from veneered) wood, most
centuries. The tiled teenth centuries. The often oak, walnut, or one of the woods of fruit trees
stove offers improved carved fireplace (apple, cherry, or pear, for example). A large
means of cooking, but surround and mantel
storage cabinet with double doors, the armoire,
the open fireplace on introduce a degree of
the right survives in its elegance, while a hand- was an important display piece that usually
traditional role. There is some bed fits into the suggested Rococo design in its carved details. Metal
no ornamentation other arched and curtained
than the moldings alcove. A simple striped
hardware, such as hinges and escutcheons around
along the lower edge of wallpaper covers the keyholes, added decorative detail. Chairs were
the smoke hood. walls. usually small and simple: ladder backs, rush seats,
130
Renaissance, Baroque, and Rococo in France and Spain
and tied-on cushions were commonplace. Chairs plateros silver (or gold) smiths who developed a 7.31 Diego de Siloe,
of detail. As clock mechanisms became affordable, work intermingled with Moorish details to form a A double aisled nave
leads to an east-end
tall clocks with wood cases in carved, Rococo form distinctive mixture. Granada Cathedral (fig. 7.31;
choir in the form of a
became important display and status posessions. 1529), a Gothic structure, was detailed in rotunda. Classical
Furniture made in the popular Biedermeier Plateresque style by Diego de Siloe (c. 1495-1563) forms are used with rich
decorative detail typical
style in early nineteenth-century Germany with classical moldings and column capitals and
of the Plateresco style.
combined the Neoclassical direction of Empire the huge iron screen or reja that guards the royal
design with forms borrowed from German peasant chapel there. It is a fine example of the metalwork
furniture. The style took its name from a German characteristic of Spanish church interiors.
Spain
Plateresco
131
Chapter Seven
132
Renaissance, Baroque, and Rococo in France and Spain
related to Baroque.
Rococo, or Mannerist
directions. It seems to
133
Chapter Seven
bedroom so that he
could have a view of
the altar from a loca-
tion high up on the
right.
134
Renaissance, Baroque, and Rococo in France and Spain
only source of artificial light. The brazier, a metal into England would take place. The next chapter
container on a metal stand served to hold burning will deal with the resulting developments in design.
135
Renaissance to Georgian in
the Low Countries and England
The northward movement of Renaissance ideas expressed through the growth of Calvinism, with
continued into Holland and Flanders (now the its doctrinal opposition to religious imagery
Netherlands and Belgium) and to the British Isles. thought to be too closely identified with
The movement of ideas, unlike the movement of Catholicism. The Iconoclastic Revolt in which
goods or peoples, does not need to flow in a churches were stripped of Gothic sculpture,
continuous stream, but can make leaps in both painting, and other decoration (regarded as repre-
space and time. Ideas that originated in Italy sentative of Catholic traditions) left interiors plain,
moved into these regions by way of Spain, France, white painted, and flooded with light from the
and Germany, but they were also conveyed directly clear glass windows that replaced the destroyed
by individual travelers and by printed materials. stained glass (fig. 8.1). During and after this period
Increasing trade, both overland and by ship, meant of conflict, artists in the Low Countries produced
that an increasing portion of the population were work that documents the everyday life of the times
able to see new things in faraway places and to in great detail. BruegeFs paintings of peasant life
bring home ideas from abroad. often show scenes in taverns or farm interiors. The
works of Jan Steen, Jan Vermeer, and many other
Dutch painters are full of wonderftilly detailed
Low Countries images of the interiors of comfortable houses of the
middle class and wealthy burghers who lived with
The Netherlands, parts of Belgium, and what was an interesting mixture of simplicity and luxury in
formerly called Flanders developed a Renaissance the town houses of Dutch cities.
from Spain by the Treaty of Munster in 1648. wood carving and in plaster. Strapwork plaster ceil-
8.2 {opposite) Great
In 1566, Protestant anger against repression, ings found their way to England through the work
Hall, Hatfield House,
Hertfordshire, England, especially in the form of the Inquisition, was of Dutch and Flemish craftsmen and gradually
from 1 508, came to exemplify Early Renaissance design
The Marble Hall is a there.
Jacobean English inte-
The Hague by
The Mauritshuis (c. 1633) at
rior of exceptional rich-
ness. There was an Jacob van Campen (fig. 8.3; 1633-5), an architect
underlying intention to who had traveled to Italy where he became
recall the hall of
acquainted with the designs of Palladio and
medieval castles, but in
136
1
^,*H
f
'ii>'i i;\
%ciUfKV?
:?
fj(f?
I
:'<,^^
fc.--^^^'
^^ j
"
4^1
i 1
1
^y
Chapter Eight
Private Dwellings
8.3 (top) Jacob van 8.4 [center) P. Philippe 8.5 [right] Cornells de
Campen, Mauritshuis, (after Toorenvl let), a Man, The Gold Weigher,
The Hague, banquet at the c. 1670-75.
alcove bed.
138
Renaissance to Georgian in the Low Countries and England
the fixed structure of houses, such pieces became window of leaded glass.
Only the fine paintings
important as wealth made possible the acquisition
suggest the higher
of much clothing and objects of every sort. Panels, status that the house
appear as ornament on the exteriors of buildings, successive royal reigns. English design was not as
but only to a very limited extent in interiors. dominated by royal patronage as in the parallel
Furniture was often large in scale and handsomely periods in France, and styles often overlap. The
detailed. Beds were often enclosed in built-in, box- usual period terminology is retained here, never-
like Dutch bed spaces or, when free-standing, theless, since it is widely used even if occasionally
were canopied and draped. Oriental rugs, imported confusing.
139
Chapter Eight
approaches symmetry in its plan, introduces lage The house is a near-square rectangle, symmetrical
windows along its south side made up of many
8.8 (r/g/jt) Sitting small panes of glass, has a plaster ceiling orna-
room, Plas Mawr,
mented with strapwork ^(no doubt the work of
Conway, Wales,
c, 1577.
craftsmen from the Low Countries), and-weed
This modest, paneling where pilasters and arches can be seen in
low-ceilinged room has arrangements suggesting Palladianism. Tihe room
been carefully presen/ed
dates from about 1530, although some of the orna-
because was once
it
typical of the
Elizabethan intenor.
The Elizabethan era (1558-1603) is generally
recognized as a time of English greatness. The
defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588-tebtibed
140
Renaissance to Georgian in the Low Countries and England
England, 1591-7.
on all sides, with two inner courtyards. The exte- rior wall is largely window; other walls are covered
rior is divided into three stories by entablature with tapestry, and the ceiling has restrained strap-
bands and projecting window bays are trimmed work detail. Other rooms at Hardwick are fine
with classical pilasters. Windows are many and examples of the Elizabethan balance of almost
large. The rooms are arranged in a complex plan, modern simplicity along with luxury and grandeur.
Tudor in its irregular spirit, but fitted into the
Elizabethan Furniture
order established by the exterior. Most of the inte-
riors have been changed and redecorated over the Elizabethan furniture differs from Tudor and
years so that a better idea of interior spaces can be earlier medieval practice in the introduction of
had at Hardwick Hall (1591-7), a considerably more carved, ornamental detail, and in the devel-
smaller great house, probably also designed by opment of some new types of furniture. One such
Smythson. Its symmetrical block is a rectangle with was the caufiLjcujabaarti actually an ap.a> shelf
six projecting bays that rise one extra story above unit with three tiers intended for the display of*
roof level. The exterior is without ornament except silverornamental and serving pieces. The supports
for moldings at each story level marking off the low and edges of the shelves were car\cd with a richness
ground level, the middle height second level occu- intended to equal the silver on view. In large
pied by rooms for everyday living, and the highest houses, extremely large beds were made with a
third level where the major ceremonial rooms are roof-like wooden canopy supported by headboard
located. The towers extend above, ending in a and foot posts that often stood free of the bed itself.
picturesque topping of strapwork ornament. The In addition to simple square chairs with more or
entrance hall is a double height room with a gallen' less carving, chairs were often made up of many
which recalls medieval practice, but is supported by lathe turnings, often three main turned uprights
four correctly detailed Doric columns. Wood making a chair with a triangular seat. The ease with
paneling with tapestries above covers the walls; which a turner can make Sw>ol an knob, forms
fireplace detail is classical, but the chimney breast led to designs of curious complexity. A massive
above is covered with plaster strapwork. Wide folding chair known as a Glastonbury chair also
stairs lead to the upper level where a long gallery appeared, often with a carved back suggesting a
runs the length of the building along one side (fig. two-arch arcade. Oak remained the usual wood,
8.9). This room is entirely symmetrical with twin although ash, yew, chestnut, and other woods were
stone fireplaces and twin window bays. The exte- sometimes used. Upholstery was limited to an
141
Chapter Eight
Occasional cushion or a covering of cloth, some- carving, classically columned fireplaces, and plaster
Vlinies embroidered with Turkey-work. Colors strapwork show off the Jacobean mix of Italian and
were usually the natural tones of wood, stone, and Dutch influences., <,,-
plaster, with details sometimes painted in rich reds
8.10 Inigo Jones,
Banqueting House, and dark greens.
Whitehall, londo>i, Inigo Ione?(l 573-1 652) was responsible for itra
1619-22
Jacobean ducing the more consistent classicism of the Higl^
The high Renaissance,
Renaissance into England. Me had \'isited !taly#
with Its acceptance of
Italian practice, came The JacobeaA period (1603-49) takes its name studied ancient buildings, and brought back some>
to England in the work from lames I, but also includes the reign of<#inii)6s of Palladio's drawings to England. His first work
of Inigo Jones. His
^l^iatfield House (from 1608) is an irregular was as a stage designer for the royal entertainments,
plans for a vast palace
were put aside and only
although symmetrical block, U-shape in plan. It is called masques. His appointment as royal surveyor
the Banqueting House really two houses (intended as guest accommoda- (really official architect to the government) in 1615
was built. Its galleried,
and queen) hnked by a connecting
tion for the king led to his major works. The Queen's House at
symmetrical interior,
142
.
1603-25). of basi
-
cube rooms (fig. 8.11). The walls are white with It IS
, framing areas where paintings are hung. A series of design. I athe turnings with spool forms or spiral
Van Dyke portraits hang amid doorways and the twist patterns were often used for legs and'
richly ornamented fireplace. CeiKngs are coved stretchers. Cushions came into use, loose or
with painted panels and Cove surfaces framed m attached, often edged with ornamental nail heads
Jjdiister ornamentation. The richness of these rooms used decorativeh^. Oak remained the most popular
*^ints toward the Carolean and later periods. wood, but walnut was also used. An increase in
textiles, silks, velvet, embroidered turkey-work,
Jacobean Interior Furnishings
and tapestries contributed to a sense of comfort
lacobean furniture, although generally massive and and luxury (fig. 8.12).
cian, physicist, inventor, and astronomer, truly a with white and gold
versatile "Renaissance man." His only travel to the paneling. Van Dyck
portraits, and a fabu-
continent took him to Paris (where he met
lously decorated, coved
Bernini), but he was cl^rly aware of Italiart ceiling, with lush paint-
(c 1635-95). The
as his major life work.' This happened after the
central oval provides a
Great Fire of London in 1666; after which he was view into a fantastic
chosen to design replacements both for the rmmy' dome. The gilded and
ornamented furniture
small city churches that had been destroyed and foV
by William Kent (c.
the old Gothic cathedral of St. Paul's. In 1669' he 1685-1748) suggests
was appointed surveyor-general, gi\iiig him an awareness of French
Rococo themes.
responsibility for city planning in London and for
many important architectural assignments. Wren's
scientific and mathematical work interests gave his .^^//
combined with
a theoretical or logical quality; this
his interest in French and Italian Baroque work td
143
-
Chapter Eight
again sixteen coffers. Each church steeple was given a unique term, each
The resultant space has
a study in vertical arrangement ot" classical
been called one of the
most beautiful interiors elements. Miwiy af H i t di ui tthes are very small, an^
i
exterior, a lasting
London landmark.
Paul's Cathedral,
London, 1675-1710.
144
Renaissance to Georgian in the Low Countries and England
arrangements. There is a lower inner dome set at a room opens into its neighbors. With kitchens in a Gibbons, although
there are records of
height planned to relate to the internal space remote building, servants would have had to bring
payments to Edmund
below. Externally, a much higher dome, actually food into the dining room directly through a main Carpenter The ornate
built of wood with a lead top surface, achieves the outside door. Such seemingly impractical arrange- plaster ceiling is typical
supports the wood dome and the stone lantern at eighteenth century.
its top. An oculus at the center of the inner dome
Carolean and William and Mary Interior
allows a glimpse up into the cone (lit by hidden
Furnishings
windows) and into the lantern. Hidden buttresses
and an iron chain absorb the thrust of the stone During the Carolean era, walnut came to be the
inner dome and the cone above. most used wood, often with inlays of ebony and
There is no house that can be proved to be by other woods. Cuived forms appeared in chair
Wren, although tradition suggests that he may have backs and in the legs of chairs and cabinets.* The
been the architect of Belton House (fig. 8.16; cabriole leg with its gentle S-curve form began to
1685-8), a handsome mansion near Lincoln. It is a appear. Round tables came into use. Very elaborate
symmetrical H-shaped block of sedate grey stone carving was not unusual, sometimes lacquered or
with simple windows arranged two story levels,
in gilded. An increasing emphasis on luxury, comfort,
pediments at the center of the front and rear and practical convenience can be traced in the use
145
Chapter Eight
8.18 Engraving of
work, previously only available as an import, was
furniture from several
English great houses,
developed in England as an altsrnative form of
1660-1702, as shown surface decoration for furniture (fig. 8.18). The
in a book illustration of
on btcame
Highboy, a drawer cabinet raised legs,
1907.
popular, along with such inventions as the Gate-
Left: a silk-upholstered
leg table. French weaving techniques were intro-
chair from Hampton
Court Palace; center: a duced into England, and printed chintz began to be
chair from Hardwick used for window and bed curtains.
Hall (seep. Ml); right:
a silk-upholstered chair
from Knole, a great
Queen Anne
house at Sevenoaks,
Kent. The designs span
periods from William III
The reign of Queen Anne (1702-14) corresponds
(r 1689-1702) to of more upholstery and the appearance of such to Late Baroq\ie design in English architecture.
Queen Anne types as the Wing-back chaAi, various types of Furniture and interiors display a new sense of prac-
(r 1702-14).
desks, and the development of ^awer cbests) ticality, modesty, and comfort. Architecture, in
previously almost unknown. Pottery imported contrast, continued to reflect Baroque gvdadevttf
from the Far East and oriental rugs from the Near Wren's successors John Vanbrugh
were Sir
East came into use in Restoration era houses as the (1664-1726) and Nicholas Hawksmoor (1676-
increasing sea trade of British merchant ships 1734). Vanbrugh's Blenheim Palace (1705-24) was
brought such exotic materials into England. a vast and monumental gift to the Duke of
From 1689 to 1702, during the reign of William Marlborough to honor his victory over France at
and Mary, there was some retreat from the elabo- the Battle of Blenheim. Its endless lines of state
rate extremes of the Carolean period. Walnut was rooms, its huge three-story-high gallery (now the
8.19 [below left) John now the preferred wood for paneling and for furni- library), and complex layout of kitchen and
its
Vanbrugh, the saloon, tiire, veneer began t9 be used as a means of creating stable courts make it a rival to Versailles. The clas-
Blenheim Palace,
decorative surface treatments with wood grain sical vocabulary is pushed into original variations
Oxford, England,
1705-24, matched in various patterns with edging of that generate an active skyline and justify the
Nicholas Hawksmoor,
Christ Church,
Spitalfields, London,
1714-2a
The daring spatial
composition includes
columns supporting an
arcade, which opens to
side aisles At the
chancel end, columns
support a high bar of
entablature, intro-
ducing a sense of
Baroque complexity
into the otherwise
simple, flat-ceilinged
space.
obelisks, and interiors such as that of the "saloon" stretchers came into wide use. Elaborate carving
(formal dining room; fig. 8.19) of overwhelming and and painted decoration still appeared in
inlaid
scale with illusionistic architectural wall and ceiling more costly examples made for the houses of the
painting that is highly theatrical. wealthy.
Hawksmoor's designs for London churches are
ingenious, original, and forceful, with surprising
Georgian
interior spaces and exteriors of great power. Christ
Church, Spitalfields, for example (1714-29), has a In the design of residential interiors and related
huge and astonishing tower, its arched elements furniture, the Queen Anne period merges with the
stacked up with strange and disturbing overlaps beginnings of the Georgian era, the dominant
below a tall spire. Inside, there is a high nave with a style of eighteenth-century England. The reigns of
flat ceiling (fig. 8.20). The columns on either side George I (1714-27) and George II (1727-60) cover
carry arches that open to aisles, originally with the early Georgian period, usually defined as
galleries, now removed. At the chancel end, two ending around 1750. A handsome room of this
columns support a bar-like entablature that spans period from a lesser house, Kirtlington Park
across the nave, complicating the space and adding (1748), near Oxford, has been preserved in the
a surprising and theatrical sense. A contemporary Metropolitan Museum in New York (fig. 8.21).-il8
critic described this interior as "Solemn & Awfull." walls and ' ceiling are covered with decorative
plaster -work painted white. Mirrors, paintings, and
Queen Anne Furniture
a great gilded candle chandelier add color and
Queen Anne furniture is generally somewhat glitter. A drawing of the room by its designer, John
smaller, lighter, and more comfortable than it Sanderson, is also part of the museum collection. It
pedecS8*s. Curving shapes, the cabriole leg, shows the ceiling design surrounded by the four
cushioned seats, wing-back chairs, and practicd wall elevations rotated into their relative positions.
secretary desk-book case pieces were in general ust?. The building of great houses in which the influ-
The WfNnsoR chair (\'ith its back of slim turnings ence of Italian Palladian practice often mingled
hiiid by a bent houp, a wood saddle carved seal, and with references to ancient Roman Pompeian orna-
k^ ;hat were usually turnings with turned mental detail continued on the estates of the.
147
'
Chapter Eight
design of the great house of Chiswick (1725) at the Robert Adam wrote in great detail in 1 764 about his
edge of London. This is a square, domed building, work remodeling Syon House for the Duke of
clearly Palladian, its central rotunda and facade Northumberland. He discussed the function of various
rooms as well as their decoration:
portico based on a free interpretation of the Villa
Rotonda at Vicenza. The interiors use ornamental the French style is best calculated for the convenience
work and painted details based on and elegance of life The hall both in our houses
plaster
and those in France is a spacious apartment intended
Pompeian precedents.
as a room of access where servants in livery attend. It
is here a room of great dimensions, finished with
Robert and James Adanfr
stucco, as halls always are.
details efficiently but with a unique personal style attention is paid to the beauty of decoration. The
that came to be greatly admired.. Their work is reason of this is obvious; the French meet there
only at meals, where they trust to the display of the
partly Palladian in character, but also partly
table for show and magnificence, not to the
Rococo and, like French Rococo work, moves decoration of the apartment, and as soon as the
toward the restraint of Neoclassicisnfw Publication entertainment is over, they retire immediately to
of examples of their work in the beautiful engrav- the rooms of company ... It is not so with us.
Accustomed by habit or induced by the nature of
ings of The Works in Architecture of Robert and
our climate we indulge more largely in the
James Adam (1773-1822) made their style well
The eating rooms are
enjoyment of the bottle
8.22 James and blown in England and, eventually, in America as
considered as apartments of conversations soon . . .
Robert Adam, Luton well. after dinner the ladies retire ... left alone [the
Moo, Bedfordshire,
MaflVlftdaiifrprojects were reHOV9flOIft'6f pre^ men] resume their seats, evidently more at ease,
England, 1767.
1 Corridor existing buildings. Some weie never completed, and the conversation takes a different turn-less
2 Bedroom of the 3rd Earl reserved and either graver or more licentious.
of Bute
some involved interiors only, but taken together
3 Main staircase their work can be understood as a miittki/^^itgmttt Despite Adam's undoubted skill in creating beautiful
4 Secondary stans houses in the Classical style, Lady Mary Wortley
final phase of Georgian design. The house called
5 Powder room Montagu, a poet and essayist, trenchantly doubted
6 Water closet Luton Hoo in Bedfordshire (fig. 8.22; begun 1767)
their suitability:
Rooms are accessed has been so much altered that the Adam design can
from a
Vistas are laid open over barren heaths, and
corridor,
best be studied in the plan and elevation that
although the Earl's apartments contrived for a coolness agreeable in
^
bedroom is screened by Italy, but killing in the north of Britain.
adjacent rooms.
Secondary stairs 1 . Quoted in Peter Thornton, Authentic Decor, (London, 1 983),
connect to the base- p, 145; 2. Robert and James Adam, Works in Architecture of Robert
and Jomes Adam {London. 1778), vol. I, pp. 10-11, 3, Lady Mary
ment kitchens and
Wortley Montagu, Diaries, 1 753, quoted in Peter Thornton, Authentic
servants quarters on an
Decor, p. 88
upper floor. The powder
room IS to provide for
the powdering of the
wigs worn by
gentlemen at the time
All of this IS within a
classically symmetncal
overall conception.
I I
'
I r-H
H I
I
I
148
Renaissance to Georgian in the Low Countries and England
library with Pompeian detail. The library at and gold. painting was done on
paper by Angelica
Adam designs for London town houses, such as
Kauffmann (1741-
the house for Lord Derby on Grosvenor Square or 1807), and other
the house at 20 Portman Square (1770s), fitted a artists completed doors,
some wall areas, and
complex layout of rooms into narrow sites with
the ceiling with some _
great ingenuity. The dining room from Lansdowne very shallow relief, ffle.
149
Chapter Eight
noA\' be called speculative real estate subdivision^. closets" (toilets), supplied with water from streams
Houses weie planned in well-coordinated rows and or springs, appeared. Heat came from fireplaces
built by developers to standard designs for sale (r thatburned wood or, as it became available, coal.
lease) to individual buyers. Cooking was done in a fireplace, possibly improved
Less wealthy classes of English society had to with various iron accessories until the development
make do with older houses,* often dating back fo of iron kitchen ranges at the end of the eighteenth
medieval times, in neighborhoods that had deterio- century. Lighting depended on candles that
rated into slum#. In the late seventeenth and eigh- required constant trimming and replacement. Oil
teenth centuries, speculative building began to lamps, although known in ancient times, did not
replace such neighborhoods and create new group- come into wide use in England until the very end of
ings of houses planned to serve a socially stratified, the century.
class society. Facing on the squares and major
Other Building Types
streets, largerow houses were built, usually four or
five stories high. The basements were occupied by The Georgian era also produced examples of a
kitchens, laundries, and service facilities. The variety of other functional building types. They
ground floor was used for formal reception rooms included clubs where gentlemen could meet,
and, sometimes, a dining room. The floor above converse, or doze in handsome and comfortable
held the largest formal entertaining rooms of the settings. Retail shops in towns and cities were
house. Above that, large bedrooms occupied the generally small establishments, often the ground
third floor; smaller rooms for children or guests floor of their proprietors' homes. Shop fronts with
occupied the floor above. At the top of the house, large, often bowed windows of many glass panes
small rooms were provided for live-in servants. and pleasantly designed signs gave access to inte-
Back stairs made it possible for servants to move riors that were geperaUy lined with shelves and
through the house without intruding on the formal cases displaying and containing the wares on sale.
built for sale to middle-class owners, professionals, stage with a decorative proscenium.
and tradesmen. On still lesser "back streets" and
Georgian Furniture and Interior Furnishings
mews, small houses were built for the families of
servants, artisans, and workmen, along with Within Georgian houses, according to the wealth
stables, coach houses, and servants' quarters, to and status of the owner, the basically plain and
service the large houses on major streets and dignified rooms were given "^'^'^'Vfntal plffiari
squares. In the Georgian era, all of these houses, ceilings, decorated fireplace mantels, and furnittw*
from largest to smallest, were of generally simple as comfortableand as ostentatious as the occupant?
and functional design, fronted in red brick with might Paintings and mirrors, elegantly
prefer.
painted wood window and door trim. The richness framed, might hang on the walls, while windows
of trim and detail was varied to match the class of received increasingly elaborate draper)' treatments.
the occupants, but was invariably handsome, The taste for exotic imports, particularly th(*se
logical, and orderly. Such Georgian housing from the Far East, influenced furniture designee
remains an example of good neighborhood design that actual imports, teak tables, and cabinets might I
rarely equalled in modern times. mingle with Chinoiserie carving of chair backs
A rather primitive level of convenience and table legs. Vyallpaper from China, displayed
remained the norm, however. Water came from a nature and scenic landscape themes (fig. 8.25).
well, hand pump, or from the collection of rain Imported porcelain (called, of course, "china") was
water. It was carried to pitcher and basin in bed or fashionable for dishes but also for ornamental
dressing rooms. Hot water had to be heated in the bowls and vases. Handsome Georgian silver bowls,
kitchen and similarly carried. A bath tub, a luxury candlesticks, boxes, and other accessories, often of
present only in some larger houses, was a small, very simple design, were also favorite objects for
portable affair set up in a dressing room and filled display, along with the useful and decorative silver-
150
J
Renaissance to Georgian in the Low Countries and England
8.25 Thomas
Sheraton, an engraved
plate illustrating the
'
Chinoisene, a fondness
for decorative detail
made in the factory of Josiah Wedgwood design of other Georgian furniture. The mahogany
(1730-95) is amodel of classic simplicity and prac- case had veneer banding, and often satinwood
ticality, still produced and still appropriate for veneer in the keyboard area. Wheruj|ig>iOS^ began to
modern users. replace harpsichords, the same case design was
English clock makers took great pride in the retained. Beethoven owned a Broadwood piano. A
accuracy and quality of their products. Clocks were smaller version of the harpsichord was called a
driven by gravity weights and regulated by spinet. It was made in a compact triangular case
pendulum motion so that means had to be found and was a popular instrument in smaller houses.
to deal with the hanging weights and swinging Although pipe organs were most usual in churches,
pendulum. Clocks were often made with a small small versions called chamber or cabinet organs
wooden case that could be mounted on a high shelf were often present in large houses. A cabinet organ
or bracket, with the weights hanging below in the was housed in a large vertical case with doors that
open. Tlwtafr t^grandfather" ) clock was an alter-. opened up to expose keyboard and pipes. Other
native arrangement in which the weights and designs displayed pipes in a decoratively carved
pendulum could be enclosed. The cases of such surround. Even the smallest of such organs were
clocks were large and followed the fashions of other inevitably massive and were often designed to be a
furniture styles. A clock case often resembled a major visual element in a room, with exterior deco-
small temple building, complete with pediment rative treatment to relate to the general style of
spring drive mechanisms and cases ranging from Georgian furniture can be classified as
restrained to ornate, intended as both functional belonging to the three sub-periods, early, middle,
and decorative elements to suit the style of partic- and late. The early phase (1714-50) begins with a
double keyboard example of the latter makers' Ball and claw feet, carved lions' heads, and
151
Chapter Eight
preferred designs for whose influence came not only from his own fine
legs, backs, stretchers, design and craftsmanship, but also from the impact
and arms.
of his book of engravings and instruction. The
Gentleman and Cabinet Maker's Director, published
in editions of 1754, 1755, and 1762 (fig. 8.26). A
kind of catalog or style book showing typical
Chippendale designs, it also served to make his
design known to many other cabinet makers in is also florid and decorative. Simple square legs,
England (and eventually in America) who based cabriole legs, perforated back splats with carving in
their designs on Chippendale's work. The Chinese or even Gothic style, ball and claw feet,
Chippendale style might be called a restrained form and carved arms' are all used for chairs. Settees,
of Rococo combined with various exotic influ- glass-fronted bookcases, and massive desks were
ences, particularly Chinese elements taken both made in related designs. Massive bookcases or
from Chinese furniture and from forms known breakfront units were often topped with pediments
from Chinese landscapes as they appeared in wall- suggestive of Baroque architecture. Broken pedi-
paper pagoda forms, carved dragons, and lacquer ments (with an open space at the center) and a
work. Chippendale furniture has an underlying central urn or other fmial are illustrated, along with
simplicity, is well made, sturdy, and practical, but it candelabra, stove grates, candle lanterns, cases for
8.27 George
Hepplewhite, a library
152
Renaissance to Georgian in the Low Countries and England
8.28 Thomas
Sheraton, a library
table, 1793.
An illustration from
Sheraton's The
Cabinet-Maker and
Upholsterer's
Drawing-Book
(1793-4) shows an
oval table with inlaid
veneer surfaces. Slides
can be pulled out from
each end to open up
easel stands to support
the large and heavy
books of illustrations
that vi/ere favored by
wealthy book collectors.
makers, George Hepplewhite (d. 1786) and called a Carlton House desk is a Sheraton develop-
Thomas Sheraton (1751-1806). Each of these men ment.
developed a personal style, and each published a The Georgian era of English design has become
book of illustrations that served to promulgate that one of the most admired of all historic periods. It is
style. Hepplewhite's The Cabinet Maker and a period in which consistency of character, order
Upholsterer's Guide (1788-94) illustrates chairs and logic in concepts, and elegance and restraint in
with perforated backs in shield or oval shapes along detail became widely accepted by architects,
with breakfront bookcases, and upholstered seating builders,and craftsmen, so that a sense of unity
pieces. Legs are square, often tapered, and usually extends from the largest works to the simplicity of
carved with parallel lines of reeding. Round modest terrace houses. In studying the beginnings
tapered legs with a carved ring detail are also of Modernism in the twentieth century, it is
shown. Small tables and framed mirrors, pedestals frequently suggested that a return to the consis-
topped with vases, elaborately draped beds, wash tency of style (but not the specifics of detail) of the
stands and "night tables" (incorporating a space for eighteenth century is the logical starting point.
a covered chamber pot) also were made in Eighteenth-century order and consistency gave
Hepplewhite style (fig. 8.27). way at the beginning of the nineteenth century to
Sheraton's Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer's an era of technical innovation that upset Georgian
Drawing Book (1790-4) illustrates a somewhat traditions and presented challenges that designers
more rectilinear style, with small scale and delicate struggled to resist or accept. Arkwright's invention
elements. Chairs have square backs and straight of the spinning jenny in 1 764 and Watt's successful
legs, cabinet pieces are veneered and often have steam engine of 1769 laid the foundations for
curved parts, creating bulging fronts, curved ends, developments that were to make the nineteenth
and whole pieces such as desks of oval form. Inlays century a time of sweeping change in every aspect
of contrasting color, sometimes with painted and of life in western civilization.
153
Colonial and Federal America
The discovery of the Americas by the explorers of cathedral in Mexico City (1563-1667) follows
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries opened up a Spanish Renaissance and Baroque traditions its
variety of possibiUties to Europeans ready to nave and aisles are of equal height, there are side
uproot and relocate in the "New World." chapels along both sides and twin towers flanking
Motivations varied from the hope of financial gain an ornate Baroque facade. Polychrome sculpture
to the desire to escape religious persecution; there illustrating religious themes is rendered with
was also the simple desire for new experiences and powerful realism. Claudio de Arciniega, a
adventure. Spaniard, was the principal architect. The Mexican
Beginning in the seventeenth century, the Church of the Sanctuary of the Virgin Guadalupe
American continents were settled by colonists from at Morelia (fig. 9.1) is similarly ornate. The church
several European countries. The new settlers gener- of S. Jose at Teptzotlan (c. 1750) is an extreme
ally had little interest in or sympathy for the native example of the use of Baroque Churrigueresque
populations they encountered, and either ignored ornamentation, more florid and more dense that
or pushed aside (as in North America), or devas- anything in Spain itself Some sixteenth-century
tated in the search for plunder (as in Central and churches in Peru also derive from Spanish practice.
South America). A colony was invariably regarded In Brazil native craft skills were less developed,
as an effort to reproduce, insofar as possible, the forcing the Portuguese colonials to depend even
European environment that had been left behind. more heavily on importation not only of design
This view of the New World as an empty space best but of actual components. Stone carvings were
filled with duplication of the old world may seem brought by sea from sources in Portugal. S.
strange in view of the desire of many colonists to Francisco de Assis at Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais
escape from poverty or repression in their old (1772-94), and the nearby church of S. Francisco at
homes. Desire for new freedoms or new wealth Sao Joao del Rei are fine examples of the Brazilian
rarely found expression in genuinely new design. Baroque style, their twin towers and white walls
Typically, the aim was to build new houses and trimmed with a fantastic display of ornamental
new towns to recall the European past. Thus the carving and sculpture, repeated internally with the
Spanish and Portuguese settlers in South and addition of color and gilding. These churches are,
Central America built churches in the Plateresque, usually attributed to a sculptor-architect, Antonio
Baroque, and Churrigueresque styles that were Francisco Lisboa, known as O Aleijadinho
current in Renaissance Spain and Portugal. French (1738-1814), who was certainly a key figure in the
154
Chapter Nine
Palace of the Governor at San Antonio, Texas leaks. With wood so readily available, the natural
(1749), is a typical example that might be mistaken solution was to cover the frame with a skin of wood
for a comparable space in Spain. that served as exterior wall. Planks could be nailed
to the framing and then covered with an outer
surface of overlapping Shingles or Clapboards
Colonial Styles in North made by splitting logs rather than by sawing.
Internally, such houses exhibit their structure as a
America
major element of their character.
The typical early colonial American house was
English settlers brought with them the styles that simply an English medieval house with a wood
were to become dominant along the eastern coast exterior. It often had overhanging upper stories
of North America, and it is the design of these typical of medieval towns, and small windows with
English settlers that has come to be called leaded glass. Gabled roofs were invariably shingled,
Colonial. French colonial, Dutch colonial, or while a chimney marked the location of the interior
Spanish stj'les are generally thought of as fireplaces. Brick, at first brought from England as
156
..
have a full second floor with rooms on either side of An early American
Internally, early colonial houses were rigorously house on Cape Cod.
the chimney, sometimes with additional fireplaces.
The massive timbers of
With on the north, bringing the roof
the lean-to functional. The wood frame members were
the braced frame are
down close to the ground helped to protect against exposed, their diagonal braces often visible. The hidden by the shingled
were wide wooden planks; the ceiling was exterior Only the
winter wind and storms and generated the typical floors
chimney is of brick.
Salt-box shape. The much admired and imitated simply the exposed wood framing and underside of
Cape Cod cottage was a house of this type, often the floor planks above. Wall surfaces might be of
9.4 (above) Interior of
buUt by ships' carpenters entirely without founda- wood, or, between the frame members, plaster on Hoxie House.
tions so that it "floated" on the sand dunes of the Split lath, that is. Lath made by partly splitting The interior of the
cape.The carefully preserved and restored Ho.xie thin boards so that plaster can be forced through typical early American
house was very dark
House (figs. 9.3 and 9.4; c. 1637) at East Sandwich, the splits to form "keys" holding the plaster in
because there were only
Massachusetts, is of this type. It is one of the earliest place. A large brick fireplace dominated the main a few, tiny windows.
of American colonial buildings. The more typical room, which was used as kitchen and all-purpose This view shows a half
attic loft, providing
New England house on Cape Cod and inland has a living space. Ftrmiture, usually of pine but occa-
may be one or two stories in height and usually has native wood, might include a trestle table, benches, '
wheel in the corner of
157
Chapter Nine
hold a straw, leaf, corn-husk, or feather mattress. roof, said to be the work of ships' carpenters,
Posts to hold a canopy were an occasional luxury. resembled the interior of an inverted ship's hull
Cradles and trundle beds served children of various (the source of itsname). The framing supported a
sizes. There might also be a blanket chest with a lift belfry centered on the Hipped roof. Inside, the
lid and possibly a spinning wheel since all textiles white walls and wood framing are entirely without
were homemade. A braided or "rag" rug would be ornament. A central pulpit is backed by a pair of
a luxuryon the floor, and homemade quilts on arch-topped windows.
beds were a source of color. The functional
9.6 Old Ship Meeting austerity of such interiors accorded well with the
House, Hingham, religious attitudes of the Puritan inhabitants,
Massachusetts, 1681.
whose beliefs found the display of wealth and status
The dignified simplicity
through ornamentation contraiy to the need for
of early American reli-
158
Colonial and Federal America
to give way to more elegant and luxurious styles Renaissance-based European models in its use of
both brought from England by craftsmen and symmetrical planning and ornamental detail,
inspired by books that illustrated the architecture including pediments, pilasters, and often a
and furniture of the Queen Anne and Georgian Palladian window. In a typical plan, a center hall
eras. Ship owners, merchants, some tradesmen and was entered from the front door, and often ran
craftsmen, and affluent land owners became suffi- through to a rear door. In the hall a handsome stair
ciently wealthy to be able to afford a style of life would lead to a matching second-floor hall. On
comparable to that of the "gentlemen" of England. either side of the entrance halls, one or two rooms
In the southern colonies, particularly in Virginia would be placed as parlors, dining room and,
and the Carolinas, vast plantations were established upstairs, bedrooms. Chimneys to serve fireplaces
(often by younger sons of titled English families) were placed at the end walls and a hipped roof
that, with the help of slave labor, made their owners (sometimes with dormers) became more common
rich. Houses to please those owners began to than the gable roof. Kitchens and service quarters
approach the "great houses" of England, although might be placed in wings or, particularly in the
none ever reached the extremes of their prototypes. south, in outbuildings arranged in a formal plan.
As wealth increased in
colonial America, more
luxurious houses with
interiors rich in
clock, Chippendale-style
159
Chapter Nine
Interiors in the Georgian house became more In New England, the lohn Vassall House (later
formal, with plastered waUs or wood paneling, occupied by the poet Longfellow) of 1759 in
wood wainscot, and moldings and classically Cambridge, Massachusetts, good example of
is a
inspired details around fireplace mantels, doors, the Georgian type, with its pediment and two-
and windows and as cornice trim moldings. story-high pUaster order, all executed in wood.
In cities such as Philadelphia and Boston, brick Outside of Philadelphia (now within the city's
row houses were built with Georgian detail in Fairmount Park) the house called Mount Pleasant
much the manner of English city houses. The (1761-2) is a beautifully preserved miniature
Powel House in Philadelphia (1765-6) is a good version of the English great house. It has a simple
example of the type. Rooms removed from the symmetrical plan a parlor on one side of the
house have been reconstructed (one in the center hall (fig. 9.8), a dining room and stair on the
Philadelphia Museum of Art, one in the other side, with bedrooms symmetrically arranged
Metropolitan Museum in New York; fig. 9.7) and above. Services were placed in small twin outbuild-
furnished with appropriate furniture and decora- ings in front on either side. The material is brick
tive details, giving a good idea of how such rooms plastered over with corner Quoins. There is an
appeared in the eighteenth century. A Chinese elaborate pedimented entrance door with a
hand-painted wallpaper in the room in New York Palladian window above. The interiors are well
was added by the museum, but such wallpaper and preserved with fine wood paneling, pediments over
the oriental rug on the floor are appropriate every doorway, and, in one upstairs room, twin-
reminders that imports from Europe, the Middle arch top-doored cupboards with broken pediments
East, and the Far East became available in America above on either side of a marble-edged fireplace.
as its merchant shipping increased in importance. No architect or designer has been identified. The
based on classical
prototypes and includes
a Palladian window,
pediments over door-
ways,and Ionic
and capitals.
pilasters
The woodwork is
painted in a soft
grey-blue to contrast
with the white plaster
160
Colonial and Federal America
not as classically
perfect as some other
examples, but the
overall effect is digni-
161
Chapter Nine
details seem to be derived from English pattern rical in spite of the pediment and cupola above. A
books, but they are used with extraordinary skill. ballroom added in George Washington's last
Farther south, great houses were sited on plan- expansion of the house is a double-height room
tations. Stratford Hall ( 1725-30), the Lee mansion with window dominating the end
a large Palladian
at Westmorland, Virginia, is designed with an H- wall (fig. 9.10). The many rooms of the house
plan in which two square blocks that rise up to follow Georgian formula treatments with wood
chimney clusters are linked by a central waist. The paneling in some, ornamental plaster work in
plan seems to be based on Italian villas illustrated others. The smaller rooms have fireplaces placed
in Palladio's Four Books. The low-ceilinged lower diagonally on a cut-off corner, each with orna-
floor houses a number of bedrooms, while the mental mantel and most with rich over-mantel
main floor above is a sequence of more formal detail.
rooms with rich classically based detail. Most of the In the deep south, in Louisiana and Mississippi,
furniture is English, imported to suit the taste of many-columned and porticos that
porches
the wealthy owners. Other houses, such as Carter's provided shade and outdoor living spaces were
Grove (fig. 9.9) in Virginia, are great brick typical exterior features of plantation house
mansions suggesting awareness of Wren and his mansions. French doors and windows opened up
followers in both plan concept and interior detail. interior spaces to connect with the surrounding
Mount Vernon, the plantation house of the verandas. Other regional differences derive from
Washington family, is ^inusual in having an eight- the points of origin of the settlers. Dutch settlers in
columned portico running the length of the rear, New York built houses in wood or stone but
which faces the Potomac River. The house began as preferred the Gambrel (two-slope) roof that
a smaller farmhouse in 1732, but was expanded creates more usable attic space. The Dyckman
over the years until it reached its present size in House in New York (c. 1783), built in stone, has a
1799. It is built of wood, with the entrance facade gambrel roof that projects to form a porch across
treated with nailed-on wood block painted to the full width of the house in front and at the rear.
ceiling,and tnm of
natural-colored wood
The walls are white
plaster. The cabinets,
tables, chair, and
child's rocking-chair are
all of traditional
vernacular character,
although the large
storage pieces show
evidence of a sophisti-
cated knowledge of the
ornamental detailing of
European prototypes.
The various containers
and utensils are typical
of the period.
162
Colonial and Federal America
walls, a wood plank floor, and a large hooded fire- A "highboy, " a tall
drawer can be
place dominate each of the two rooms. Two chest,
in that city, such as John Folwell (active in the number of churches. As the stringent beliefs of
1770s), who was sometimes called "the American Puritanism gave way to more varied religious prac-
Chippendale," and William Savery (1721-88), best tices, churches tended to take on the character of
known for fine highboys. Highboys and tall secre- English religious The Carolean and
buildings.
tary desks often had plain tops, but pediments, Wren and James
Georgian churches of Christopher
particularly broken pediments with S-curved scroll Gibbs became models for many American
shapes, were used on the most elaborate versions. churches. -Christ Church (begun 1727) in
In Newport, Rhode Island, a unique version of Philadelphia, variously credited to Robert Smith
the Queen Anne style developed in the workshop of and to an amateur architect, John Kearsley, is a fine
Goddard and Townsend, makers of greatly admired example of the Wren-Gibbs t|pe. It is built in
tall secretary desks and low desks of the type called brick, with the upper part of the spire in wood;
Blockfront. a fluted semicircular form suggestive inside, white-painted wooden Roman Doric
of a scaUop shell, a carved motif that seems to have columns topped with square entablature blocks
163
Chapter Nine
support galleries and a graceful arrangement of Other colonial public buildings tend to follow
arches. A Palladian window forms a focal point the simple Carolean and Georgian tradition estab-
above the altar. Peter Harrison (1723-1805) was lished by Wren at the Chelsea Hospital in
the architect of King's Chapel in Boston (fig. 9.13; London red brick with white-painted woodwork,
1749-58) where paired Corinthian columns with symmetry, and ornamental detail concentrated at
entablature blocks carry the galleries and the coved doorways and, where there is one, in a spire. A
forms of the plaster ceiling. St. Paul's Chapel in building for the College of William and Mary in
New York (1764-6) by the New York architect Williamsburg, Virginia (begun 1716), is known as
Thomas McBean is of similar design, but is of the Wren Building because of a tradition that the
special interest because recent restoration efforts design was actually provided in drawings by Wren.
have discovered the original paint colors not the Certainly the design is a fine example of the Wren
conservative white, grey, or beige usually thought style, both outside and in the great hall v\athin,
to be typical of the colonial church, but strong modeled on the wood-paneled dining halls of
shades of blue and pink that set off the white- English university buildings. The Williamsburg
painted wood detail. Waterford crystal chandeliers Capitol (1701-5) and Governor's Palace (1706-20)
imported from Ireland add to the sense of richness. are also handsome examples of the Wren style,
Many American churches and meeting houses with beautifully detailed interiors, but it must be
follow similar patterns in brick or in wood, with noted that these buildings were drastically recon-
the level of elaboration adjusted to the religious structed in 1928-34on the basis of very limited
beliefs and the wealth of their congregations. documents and remains.
164
Colonial and Federal America
Neoclassicism and Greek rather than Roman rather the roof of a curious and hard to reach
The colors and details
are simple The book in
precedents that was also developing in Europe at upstairs room. Although it appears to be a one- the foreground and the
this time. story building, Monticello* actually had a full upper microscope on a stand
are reminders of
story of bedrooms (fig. 9.14) and an extensive Jefferson's wide-ranging
lower floor of services that extend outward in long intellectual and scien-
Jefferson
wings. A balcony overlooking the entrance hall tific interests.
165
-
Chapter Nine
floor covering is
simple wallpapers in some other rooms.
wall-to-wall carpeting At the -Wliwrsity of Virginia-, a central mall is
shape, fitted on three floors into the larger circle of at the time of the American Revolution, who spent
the plan. The total concept is clearly based on some years in voluntary exile in England where he
Palladio's villa schemes, expertly adapted here to a became devoted to the Adam brothers' work. The
different purpose. house has a double-level, columned portico, a
grand central stair with Palladian window, and
Charles Bulfinch (1763-1844) was the architect of house of William Hamilton in Philadelphia called
the Massachusetts State House (State Capitol, The Woodlands (1788-9), or in the central rooms
1795-7) in Boston. Bulfinch had visited England of Gore Place, a large Adams-like mansion at
and become acquainted with the work of the Adam Waltham, Massachusetts (1797), by an unidenti-
brothers, who were a major influence in the exte- fied architect. Sweeping curved stairs became an
rior design of the State House, as well as in the important feature of many houses and public
design of the large galleried and domed buildings. Such stairs appear in Bulfinch's 1807
Representatives Hall. The golden dome that tops town house for Harrison Gray Otis in Boston, for
this building was the first example of the use of thrft example (fig. 9.15).
architectural element as a virtually obligatory
symbolic marker for the capitol buildings ot
Thornton and Latrobe
various states, as well as for the national Capitol.
The Adam style, with its Palladianism and awaqs-* The tangled history of the national Capitol in
mess of French Neoclassicism, can be traced in' Washington begins with a 1792 competition in
many Federal period buildings, especially in their which none of the ten designs submitted was
delicate ornamental detatl. entirely satisfactory. In 1793 an amateur architect,
The most dutiful effort at Adam style design, a Dr. William Thornton (1759-1828), submitted a
both externally and internally, appears at Boscobe^ design that, with favorable comments from both
(1805), Garrison, New York. It is a spacious huu^ lefferson and Washington, was accepted by the
o^^fttBlf construction built and presumably Commissioners for Federal Buildings to the
166
L
annoyance of Etienne Hallet whose competition element to accent the center, entrance axis. The
design had already been approved. Thornton's triangular site of Octagon House gives rise to an
Capitol was burned in the War of 1812 so that interesting plan with a circular entrance hall (fig.
extensive reconstruction was required, particularly 9.17) and round bedrooms above acting as a pivot
internally. The English-trained Benjamin Latrobe between the two wings that angle to follow the
(1764-1820) was largely responsible for the detail adjacent streets. Recent restoration has repaired
of the two large legislative chambers (fig. 9.16) and and recovered much of the furniture
interior detail
for the many smaller spaces that make up the intri- and related that were originally in the
objects
cate internal plan of the building. His invention of house. The round entrance hall has a grey and
American variations on the Greek orders column white marble floor, with walls of light yellow and
capitals using tobacco leaves and corn husks in grey woodwork. The same colors extend into the
place of acanthus leaves was much admired by adjacent stair hall, where the floor and stair rail are
members of Congress. After 1819, the project was natural, dark wood, the balusters and stair trim a
taken over by Charles Bulfinch who was respon- dark grey-green. The walls of the drawing room are
sible for the original rotunda with its low dome. a warm grey with darker trim; dining room walls
The present dome and House and Senate wings are are green with a lighter green trim.
Octagon House (1799-1800) in Washington and professional, the work of the two men is closely
the large house called Tudor Place (1816) in the parallel in defining the Federal style at its best.
Georgetown district of Washington. Both houses Latrobe had many more commissions for a variety
exhibit a reserved classicism based on Adam prece- of building types. His Bank of Pennsylvania in
dents, and both use a single projecting curved Philadelphia (1798-1800, now destroyed) is the
9.16 Benjamin
Latrobe, Old Senate
Chamber, The Capitol,
Washington, DC,
1 803-1
167
Chapter Nine
9.17 William
Thornton, Octagon
House, Washington,
D.C., 1799-1800
A circular entrance hall
opens through double
doors topped by a
lunette window into a
central hall where a
stair leads to the floor
above.
first American building to make use of a Greek Centre Square until it was replaced in 1827. The
order in its six-columned front and rear Ionic domed Baltimore Cathedral (181418) is a monu-
porticos.The banking room was a round chamber mental Neoclassical church with a broad and open
topped with a flat dome. The simple exterior interior space quite unlike the typical galleried
suggested the Neoclassicism of Ledoux in France or Georgian churches of the eighteenth century. It
168
Colonial and Federal America
low ground floor for services and two floors of The late Federal period favored heavier, more
living spaces above. Externally, the only ornament massive forms with carved ornament, inlays, and
is at the entrance where there are side windows and brass trim elements. Claw and lion's paw feet,
a delicate fan-light window above the \vide door. scroll-carved chair arms, lyre and Curule (X-
Internally, the house has been changed many times form) chair backs, and chair and couch forms
over the years, but recent restoration has been suggestive of the images on Greek vases came into
based on available documentation. Latrobe's draw- use in accordance with Empire and Regency tastes.
ings for the entrance hall have survived, showing The best-known cabinet makers of the period
his careful treatment of the domed and ceiling were Samuel Mclntire (1757-1811) and the even
niches, and subtle ornamental detail throughout. more famous Duncan Phyfe (1768-1854), whose
The original colors were a soft grey for the wall and name is often attached to the sub-style credited to
an ocher yellow for the woodwork. Ceilings are him. Mclntire was an architect based in Salem,
entirely white. Massachusetts, who began his career carving
St. Church (1815), across Lafayette
John's figureheads for ships. Houses that he designed for
Square from the Decatur House, was also a Latrobe wealthy sea-captains and merchants were generally
project. Originally with a Greek cross plan, its of simple form, ornamented by his carving outside
lengthened nave, front portico, and spire are of and in. He often carved ornamental details for
later date. Like many of the educated professionals other cabinet makers, making it uncertain whether
of the time, Latrobe had wide-ranging interests. He he ever designed complete pieces of furniture. His
served as the first organist and choirmaster at St. name is attached to Hepplewhite- and Sheraton-
John's, for example. His involvement in the engi- inspired furniture with details carved in his partic-
neering of various waterworks, utilitarian struc- ular style. A carved basket of fruit or flowers was a
tures for the navy, canal building projects, even the favorite Mclntire decorative motif.
introduction of a steamboat on the Ohio River are Duncan Phyfe was born in Scotland, served an
evidences of his technical versatility. Although apprenticeship as a cabinet maker in Albany, New
Thornton and Latrobe can be regarded as equal York, and then moved to New York City to estab-
leaders in the development of the Federal style, and lish his successful furniture business around 1792.
although the U.S. Capitol resulted from their Although his design incorporates the Hepplewhite
combined efforts, the two men became involved in and Sheraton influences that dominate Federal
bitter disputes. Thornton's verbal attacks became style furniture, his work took on a unique character
so excessive that Latrobe undertook a libel suit that made his name widely known as a leading
against him in 1808. In 1813 Latrobe won his suit American designer-craftsman. His career lasted
and was awarded damages of one cent! until he retired in 1847 and so spanned a time of
stylistic
changes changes to which he adapted
readily and which he sometimes led. His early
work, close to Sheraton's models, included produc-
Furniture of the Federal Period
tion of tables with a three-legged pedestal base,
Furniture of the Federal period is sometimes classi- often with a folding top arranged so that the table
fied as "early" dominated by the late Georgian could stand against a wall or be opened to make a
styles of Hepplewhite and Sheraton or "late," free-standing dining table. Ornamentation varied
showing the influence of French Empire fashions as from simple reeding to elaborate carving, ranging
interpreted by English cabinet makers and from spiral reeding to carved eagles. Swags,
Regency design. Design of the early phase tended pedestals, and pineapple Finials. Applied brass
toward the delicate, straight-lined forms of ornament was common; legs of larger pieces were
Sheraton. Veneered surfaces often have decorative often equipped with casters. Mahogany was the
inlays and small carved details using shell, leaf, wood most used, often in the form of figured and
flower, and basket motifs. Legs are usually tall and matched veneers, sometimes with inlays of
slim, straight or turned. Mahogany remained the contrasting colored woods.
favored wood, with banding and inlays in Duncan Phyfe turned to imitation of the
woods such as maple or satinwood.
contrasting French Directoire and related English Regency
Tambour doors are often used for desk or side- styles and then, after 1815, to the French Empire
board storage compartments. style, as these became known successively in
169
Chapter Nine
America. Adoption of the Pillar and scroll style known as a banjo clock. The bottom element was
using carved versions of classical columns and S- usually glass-fronted to provide a view of the
and C-shaped scrolls was a late development (after swinging pendulum within.
about 1830) in his production. As the Federal Makers of musical instruments who had begun
period moved into the nineteenth century, the building harpsichords and spinets changed over to
development of a sequence of historical revivals the building of pianos most often small instru-
supplanted late Georgian influences, leading the ments in a flat, rectangular case with the keyboard
adaptable and commercially ambitious Phyfe into along the long side. Such instruments, called
production of designs suited to the interiors of "square pianos" (fig. 9.18), were usually of hand-
revivalist architecture. These stylistic developments some appearance but, unfortunately, of limited
are dealt with in the following chapter. quality musically. Tall pianos built in the form of a
Other cities grew to support local cabinet and secretary desk were also attempted, with limited
chair makers who established high standards for success. They may be regarded as ancestors of the
both the design and the quality of their craftsman- later upright piano. Organs built for churches were
ship. In Boston, John and Thomas Seymour were housed in simple cases with a frontal display of
experts in inlay work, while John Cogswell and pipes as their main decoration. Tiny organs, often
Stephen Badlam made skillful use of sliding called harmoniums or melodeons, using reeds (like
tambour doors in cabinet pieces. Thomas Affleck, those of the accordion) instead of pipes for sound
Benjamin Randolph, John Aitken, and Joseph Bany production, were built for use in small churches
became well known in Philadelphia. Barry also and homes.
maintained a shop in Baltimore where John and Framed mirrors, sometimes with attached
Hugh Findlay worked with marquetry decoration. candle brackets, were popular ornamental and
A highly individual style of chair design was functional objects. The convex, round mirror that
developed by Lambert Hitchcock (1795-1852) who gives a condensed became a popular decora-
iriiage
established a factory at Barhamstead (now tive accessory, usually with elaborate, gilded
Riverton), Connecticut, to produce what he called frames, and often topped by the ever-popular
"fancy chairs" based on Federal or Regency styles. carved American eagle.
They had turned wood front legs, a rush seat, and American textile production included printed
simple ladder back, but were characterized by their fabrics, at first hand-blocked but, after 1770, also
finish black paint with brightly colored, painted cylinder-printed. Woven textiles were made in
(usually stenciled) decoration. These chairs became solid colors, narrow stripes, and in complex
extremely popular in simple farmhouse interiors patternswoven with the recently developed
where they introduced a note of decorative fantasy Jacquard loom. Favorite colors were strong blues
into otherwise plain, vernacular interiors. and greens, golden yellows, and deeper shades of
Hitchcock chairs are still popular with some collec- red. Woven horsehair became a popular upholstery
tors and are often made in modern reproduction cover material: its glossy surface and tough-
form. wearing qualities made it and availability
practical,
was excellent as long as the horse remained the
Other Furnishings of the Federal primary motive power for farm work and trans-
port.
Period Wood paneling tended to be used for only one
wall of formal rooms (the fireplace wall) or for the
During the Federal period, a wide variety of objects chimney breast alone. Other walls might display a
were locally produced that had most often been wood wainscot and cornice, or might be painted,
imported during the colonial era. Among these wallpapered, or covered with a woven textile above
were clocks of fine quality in various models, tall the wainscot. Direct trade with the Far East by
and shelf size, with weight or spring drive. Eli Terry American ships brought 'OiiknBdk wallpapers,
and Seth Thomas became well known for the porcelain, and small decorative objects to America.
development of a shelf or mantel clock with detail These became popular accessories in affluent
based on Sheraton furniture. Simon Willard devel- households. Chinese dinnerware was often made
oped a wall clock with a round face at the top of a specially for the American trade, using pattern
vertical element and box-like bottom that became motitis such as stars and eaglc^i tliat made lefaeuce
170
Colonial and Federal America
9.18 Cardner-Pingree
House, Salem,
Massachusetts,
1804-05.
to the newly founded republic. Oriental rugs, archeological correctness can already be detected in
I>utch tiles, French scenic wallpapers, and English the Greek orders and detail used by Thornton and
?ilver and glass remained popular imports Latrobe. Duncan Phyfe, always ready to adapt to
implying wealth and status as well as taste. Fine changes in taste, developed designs suggested by
silver and glassware fully equal to the quality of any the furniture depicted in fNHMilii^iiaaiiaaHK
imports were also made in many eastern American pw i wttng. In the 1820s and 1830s American archi-
cities. tecture and interior design found a new devotion
Although 1820 is usually given as an end-date to G*eek modek, generating the first of several
for the Federal period, the transition into subse- nineteenth-century revivals of the historic past that
quent developments was gradual. Emphasis on are dealt with in the following chapter.
171
The Regency, Revivals, and Industria
Revolution
The nineteenth century encompasses some of the of fancifully ornamented rooms. Fantastically elab-
most sweeping changes in human affairs since the orate chandeliers using the newly developed gas
beginning of history. Life experience as it devel- light introduce a new level of brilliance. Chinese
oped through the Renaissance and into the eigh- wallpaper and bamboo furniture, elaborate drapery
teenth century had a continuity of quahties in reds and golds, gilded and carved furniture with
combined with gradual change. Scientific develop- brass inlays and trim, carpets in exotic pinks and
ment and the coming of industrialization in the greens, and strongly chromatic wall colors make
nineteenth century, however, has made modern the Brighton Pavilion representative of the playful,
lifetotally different from anything that preceded it. fantastic, and decorative aspect of Regency design.
The enormous growth of world population along A more restrained and classical aspect is repre-
with the vastly improved nature of transportation sented by the work of the same architect when he
and communication that characterize the twentieth designed groups of row houses terraced houses as
century had their roots in the nineteenth century. they are called in England with simple forms,
The world of design had enormous difficulty in plain white walls, and details often based on Greek
dealing with changes of such depth and magnitude. precedents. Houses arranged in a sweeping curve
The nineteenth century is, therefore, a study in
10.1 (top right) John
Nash, Royal Pavilion,
contradictions
in change and in the efforts to
supported by slim
Nash
columns around the
edges, but the walls of The most spectacular building of the Regency
the room are in a period is the Royal Pavilion at Brighton (figs. 10.1
square larger than the
and 10.2; 1815-21), a residence and pleasure palace
dome. The space
between the dome and designed to please the whims of the Regent. It was
the walls allows hidden designed by lohn Nash (1752-1835) in a mixture
windows to add light
of oriental styles with great onion-shaped domes
appear over the
Mirrors
mantel and in rondels dominating the exterior and giving it a Moorish
at the dome's edges. aspect. Internally the Royal Pavilion is 3* sequence
172
J ft
r )
....
Chapter Ten
or crescent such as Park Crescent (1812) at the are intricate in form but simple in detail. The
entrance to Regent's Park or the grand arches and rooms within called the Old Dividend Office
Ionic columns of Cumberland Terrace (1827), both where paired Caryatids stood in the high center
in London, with white-painted stucco detail
drum the Old Colonial (or Five Per Cent) Office,
covering simple brick, are typical of Nash in his the Consols Office (fig. 10.4), and the great central
most monumental phase. Ornamental iron railings, rotunda were large public halls, dignified, spacious,
bow windows, and small hood roofs over porches and remarkably imaginative.
or projecting bays set off against white stucco walls Soane's own house at 13 Lincoln's Inn Fields in
were typical of the Regency style groups built in London (1812-32) served as a kind of laboratory
London and many other English cities. These for architectural experiments and as a gallery to
formal groupings were speculative real estate devel- house his vast collection of art works and architec-
opments made up of individual houses owned or tural fragments. The house is now a museum with
leased by occupants who treated the rooms within remarkable interiors. A flat dome over the center of
however they chose most often in some version of the breakfast room (fig. 10.3) is bordered by higher
the rich but reserved Georgian manner. boundary spaces, with clerestory windows that
admit daylight from hidden sources so that the
174
The Regency, Revivals, and Industrial Revolution
development drawing
on Percier's French
grand
work. In this
room Hope suggests
built-in couches with
winged sphinx motifs,
armchairs, and a table
with other decoration
of supposed Egyptian
origin. The basic form
of the room is simple,
with framed pictures
and ceiling surface
ornament
From the earliest Renaissance beginnings, there several styles to permit a client a choice. His most
had been an interest in learning from the past and successful works were adaptations of ancient classi-
in borrowing elements to be used in a new context, cism, using an order, entablature, and often a pedi-
but the idea of reproducing past design quite liter- ment, but his use of this material was quite free and
ally for modern uses is a nineteenth-century idea. imaginative. He never attempted a literal reproduc-
tion ofany Greek building. Schinkel's best-known
work is the museum in Berlin now known as Das
Creek Revival
Altes Museum (Old Museum, 1824-30). The
The design of ancient Greece was the material for facade is a simple portico of eighteen Ionic
the first of a series of revivals. Visits by travelers to columns that stretch across the entire width of the
the Greek ruins at Paestum in Italy, as well as visits building, supporting an entablature band. A simple
175
Chapter Ten
Gallery, Altes Museum, vast "great hall" (fig. 10.7) with stairs leading up to
Berlin, 1824-30. a screen of Ionic
columns a glorious space, but
The engraving shows scarcely Greek in spirit. The difficulty of devising
how the Greek revival in Greek interiors appropriate to Greek exterior
Germany was advanced
by Schinkel's skilful
architecture may have been a factor in bringing the
adaptation of Greek Greek Revival to an early end in England.
architectural elements
to this monumental United States
building. In this
engraving, based on In the United States, Greek Revivalism was
Schinkel's own drawing, supported by an element of ideology. The newly
the many Ionic columns
that surround the
independent nation was the first modern country
building externally can to declare itself a democracy (actually a republic),
be seen through the attic block rises above at the center of the building. just as ancient Greece had been. Towns were given
four-columned entrance
opening. The stair rail-
In this building, Schinkel faced a basic problem of Greek names Syracuse, Utica, Schenectady, and
ings, floor, and ceiling the Greek Revival: the interiors of Greek temples, Ithaca in a flurry of enthusiasm for Greek art,
designs are Schinkel's only ancient Greek interior spaces of any
the literature, architecture, and governmental system.
effort to extrapolate
Creek practice into the
importance, were relatively small and dark spaces The aim was to recreate the glory of the Periclean
forms of a nineteenth- not suited to any modern use. The Greek Revivalist age on the North American continent. In architec-
century building. had to invent a Greek approach to interior design ture and design, the Federal style, already inclined
and was thus driven to originality. This was at the toward the use of Greek detail, moved into a
time often criticized as unauthentic, but it now Revival phase in which the aim was to create whole
appears creative and interesting. In the Altes buildings that would appear to be Greek.
Museum behind the facade portico, an outdoor
the railroad station, rectangle with two inner light courts. The interiors
brought forth many are full of rich detail, paintings, sculpture, and
monumental projects.
Neoclassical architectural motifs arranged with
This dignified hall (now
demolished), which is great skill.
176
The Regency, Revivals, and Industrial Revolution
spaces functional. In the interest of fire safety as American state capitol buildings without a dome.
well as monumentality, the building is entirely of Internally, lobbies and stairs and the legislative
stone, and all interior spaces are vaulted in a chambers all use Greek details in ways that are
manner unknown to ancient Greece. The main restrained and handsome.
banking room that occupies the center of the The Greek Revival quickly became a favored
building is a handsome chamber with six columns style for residential building, with results that
along each side supporting an entablature below spread from the northeast states into the south, and
the simple barrel-vaulted ceiling. into the mid-west as far as the Mississippi River.
The new federal government encouraged Greek The Lee Mansion at Arlington, Virginia (1802-26),
Revivalism by commissioning a number of official largely the design of its original owner, G. W. P.
buildings in the increasingly popular style. In New Custis, in simple Federal style, was transformed by
York, the firm of Town and Davis (Ithiel Town, the addition of a massive Doric portico and pedi-
1784-1844, and Alexander lackson Davis, 1803-92) ment by George Hadfield (c. 1764-1826). The
produced another Parthenon-like temple to be the wood paneling, fireplace, and window and door
U.S. Customs House (1833-42; now called the trim are typical of Federal style, although there are
Federal Hall). It is also an all-stone building with arched openingsand a triple-arch separation
Doric porticos front and back and windows along between parlor and dining room that give these
The interiors
the sides alternating with pilasters. rooms a special character. The Greek portico gives
were work of John Frazee (d. 1852), who
largely the the building the form that became known as a
was the designer of the main public room, a Temple house. Hundreds of such houses were
rotunda with a circle of Corinthian columns and built, often with designs developed by local
pilasters supporting a coffered dome fitted under carpenter-builders who found their Greek details
the main gable roof (fig. 10.8). This totally non- in books. One such was the Modern Builder's
Greek interior space is another reflection of the Guide, by Minard Lafever (1798-1854), a
continuing problem of dealing with interiors of successful professional practitioner in the Greek
what appear externally to be Greek temples. vocabulary. Small houses were generally built
Greek Revival buildings that made freer adapta- entirely of wood, and the skill with which the stone
tions of Greek precedents were often functionally detail of Greek temples was reproduced in that
successful as well as dignified and impressive. material is remarkable. Temple houses often
Robert Mills (1781-1855), best known for his 1836 exhibit strange compromises in the elTort to fit
design for the Washington Monument, was the reasonable complete with
dwelling plans
architect for a number of government buildings windows and chimneys where needed into Greek
177
Chapter Ten
Gothic Revival
United States
10.9 Row house, New temple forms. Row houses in the large cities could Impatience with the less practical aspects of Greek
York, 1832.
not be made into temple houses, but they were Revivalism, criticism of departures from archeo-
The typical city house
often fitted with small doorway porticos such as logical accuracy, and probably simple boredom
in Creel< revival style is
opening, and plaster favorite. There is a fine rendering of such a room, ruins by moonlight, Greek art and architecture
detail uses Greek- thought to be designed by Town and Davis for a were at base classical and disciplined. Readers of
inspired elements. The
New York City tovm house, showing two pairs of Romantic novels longed for settings evocative of
furniture seen here is by
Duncan Phyfe, and the
Ionic columns separating front and back parlors in Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe. The English Pre-
patterned carpet is a city house. Greek-inspired furniture, klismos Raphaelite painters with their rediscovery of
typical of the period.
chairs,and a sofa with upholstery embroidered in medieval art as a precedent for their work offered
The elaborate window
drapery would be usual Greek motifs are set beneath Greek cornice mold- another connection to the Gothic era.
in the home of wealthy ings and a plaster ceiling rosette. Even the wall-to- Medieval Gothic design, known in America
people. The hanging
wall carpeting of the floor uses a vaguely Greek only through verbal description and the engravings
gaslight fixtures are of
a somewhat later date pattern. The modest row house built in New York in European books, was inherently exotic and
than the house. for Joseph Brewster in 1832 (now called the appealed to a public satiated with ancient Greece.
178
The Regency, Revivals, and Industrial Revolution
10.10 Richard
Upjohn, Trinity Church,
New York, 1846.
detailed version of an
English parish church
of medieval date.
Upjohn had wanted to
design a church with a
simple timber roof, but
his client's building
committee wanted
vaulting, here executed
in plaster in imitation
nineteenth-century
origin.
Richard Upjohn (1802-78) was born and trained as aisles, ambulatory, clerestory, and stained glass.
a cabinet maker in England. His Trinity Church The vaulting which appears to be stone is actually
(fig. 10.10; 1846) at the end of Wall Street in New papier-mache, with the result that the external
York is a convincing version of an English Gothic flying buttresses that would restrain the thrust of
parish church; it stands only a short distance from stone vaulting are absent. While Gothic forms may
the Greek temple Federal Hall by Town and Davis seem to have a certain appropriateness in the
completed only four years earlier. The vaulted nave, design of churches, the style quickly spread to every
stained glass, and rich Gothic detail gave Americans phase of architecture and interior design, including
a first view of medieval design of the sort that was many sorts of public buildings and residential
already being revived in England. design. Renwick's design for the original Main
Almost immediately, other specialists in Gothic Building of the Smithsonian Institution in
design emerged, lames Renwick, Jr. (1818-95), Washington (1844-6) is also medieval in style,
won a competition with a Gothic design for Grace although in this case it is Romanesque or Norman
Church on Broadway in New York (1843-6), a in inspiration, with picturesque towers externally
rival to Trinity Church in its sensitive and accurate and Gothic detail internally.
recreation of English Gothic church building. Town and Davis, alert to the shift in popular
Renwick's most important Gothic revival work taste, abandoned their Greek enthusiasm and,
was St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York particularly in the contribution of A. J. Davis,
(completed 1878). This was modeled on French became Gothic Revivalists. The mansion over-
Gothic examples, complete with cruciform plan, looking the Hudson River near Tarrytown, New
179
Chapter Ten
York, called Lyndhurst (1838-65) is a remarkable books Cottage Residences (1842) and The
essay by Davis in the application of Gothic Architecture of Country Houses (1850), with their
elements, including a grand tower, to the design of many engravings showing plans and perspectives of
a country house. The plan of the house as originally houses in a range of became popular and
sizes,
built was symmetrical, but when it was enlarged in influential. Designs were shown in a variety of
1864 (by Davis) for a new owner, the changes styles, including a simplified version of Gothic
converted the one of picturesque
plan to intended for wood construction. The kind of
Asymmetry. Most of the rooms are filled with building called Carpenter Gothic, produced by
Gothic detail ceilings with plaster ribs suggestive local builders cutting pointed-arch forms in wood
of Gothic vaulting, pointed windows with tracery with the aid of the widely used Scroll saw,
and stained glass inserts, and much carved orna- became a staple of American house building for
mental detail (fig. 10.11). The billiard room-art many years. Exterior walls given vertical emphasis
gallery has a wooden roof structure suggesting a with board and batten siding and pointed-arch
baronial hall. Davis designed furniture in what was windows, often with leaded glass, were favorite
supposed to be a Gothic mode for the house: chairs elements for houses and small village churches.
with carved backs (called Wheelback), suggesting
Gothic rose window tracery, an octagonal dining England
table with Gothic carving, and beds with massive The Gothic Revival in America was at least in part
Gothic pointed-arch head- and foot-board details. stimulated by a comparable revival in England.
Davis was friendly with the landscape gardener Even in the late eighteenth centurv' there were
Andrew Jackson Downing (1815-52). Downing's English forays into the Romantic implications of
180
The Regency, Revivals, and Industrial Revolution
medievalism, with the building of country houses illustrations are used to make direct comparisons
such as Strawberry Hill, near London, a modest between classical and Gothic approaches to similar
cottage remodeled in 1750 by Horace Walpole design problems always much to the disadvan-
(1717-97) with interiors that are lacy, delicate,and tage of the classical which was made in many of the
playful interpretations of the Gothic mode. It is a plates to seem foolish or absurd. The intensity of
surprise to learn that Robert Adam was among the Pugin's attack on classicism and the moralistic tone
professionals that Walpole employed, working here of his arguments set off what is often called "the
in his notion of a Gothic vocabulary. Beginning in battle of the styles" in which Greek and Gothic
1796, a wealthy English eccentric, William Revivalists aired opposing views with considerable
Beckford, commissioned the building of a huge heat. Many architects and designers were happy to
mansion on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, designed work in either style as their clients might request.
by James Wyatt (1746-1813) and given the name Pugin not only propagandized in favor of the
Fonthill Abbey (fig. 10.12). It was an astonishing Gothic mode, he also urged a true or pure Gothic
agglomeration of battlements, pinnacles, and that would rise above the decorative trivialities of
towers with vast Gothic halls and a 276 foot high the first Gothic Revivalists. When the time came to
tower above an octagonal vaulted chamber all build the Houses of Parliament (the New Palace of
conceived as a kind of stage set on which the Westminster) in London, the architect chosen was
dramas of medieval life could be replayed. Fonthill Sir Charles Barry (1795-1860), whose previous
Abbey is known only from paintings and engrav- work had been in a sedate Neoclassical style. His
ings; built largely in wood and stucco, the tower logical and orderly plans for this large and complex
collapsed in a wind storm, turning the entire struc- building were well received, but pressure was
ture into a suitably romantic ruin. brought (probably generated by Victoria herself)
The emotional and aesthetic leanings toward for an English Gothic treatment, outside and in.
Gothic medievalism were soon backed up by a Barry turned to Pugin for direction, and the two
body of criticism and philosophy. As the Regency men together produced the famous building that
gave way to the Victorian era, a movement toward became a symbol of British strength and power at
and moralistic theories thus joined to urge products of the Industrial Revolution, were used,
Gothicism as the only virtuous and acceptable hidden behind the seeming Gothic detail. Pugin
style. Several writers became polemicists for this was the leading designer of the interiors, which
philosophical line of criticism. lohn Ruskin include some of the finest work of the Gothic
(1819-1900), in his Seven Lamps of Architecture Revival.The Peers' Lobby, the Victoria Lobby, St.
(1849), sets forth a highly moralistic theory of Stephen's Hall, the Central Octagon, and St.
architecture in which "good" design is not merely Stephen's Porch added at the end of the genuinely
an aesthetic matter, but a matter of moral virtue as medieval Westminster Hall all demonstrate Pugin's
well. According to Ruskin, a return to the Gothic Revivalism at its best. The chamber for the
"Christian" style was the only proper and accept- House of Lords (fig. 10.13) is probably the most
able direction for art and design to take. rooms the chamber for the
spectacular of these
Ruskin was not himself a designer, but his House of Commons went through several alter-
themes were advanced with parallel force by a ations that left it not to the satisfaction of either
highly professional architect, Axisus tus Welby N . Barry or Pugin (or, for that matter, of the Members
Pugin (1812-52), the author oif Contrasts (1836), who met there).
True Principles of Pointed or Christian Architecture Pugin designed many churches in the Gothic
(1841), and a number of other works in which idiom, but their very correctness in imitation of
181
Chapter Ten
Michael's Gallery,
Fonthill Abbey,
Wiltshire, England,
from 1795.
This extraordinary
house, shown in a
1823 engraving, was
built for an eccentric
English client, William
Beckford, who was
early in demanding the
style that was to domi-
nate the Gothic revival
Despite Its name, it was
not an abbey, but the
stained glass, tracery,
and fan vaulting, simu-
lated in plaster, was
typical of the many
grand spaces with
subtle coloring. Red
carpet, curtains, and
chair cushions set off
the more delicate pink
and grey of painted
surfaces. In 1825 the
building was destroyed
when a wind storm
blew over its 276 foot
high wooden tower.
182
The Regency, Revivals, and Industrial Revolution
system of building. His ornament was an original tion of the processes of industry in the eighteenth 10.14 William
Butterfield, All Saints,
approach to expressive sound structure
detail for century. The articles, illustrated with wonderfully
Margaret Street,
a foretaste of the emphasis on "honesty" and struc- detailed engraving, show the techniques of glass London, 1849-59.
tural expression that would develop in the blowing, shipbuilding, cabinet making, and dozens Although Butterfield's
modernism of the twentieth century. of other trades. Virtually work is hand work
all work can be viewed as
belonging to the Gothic
not, of course, without tools and equipment, but
revival, it has an energy
the tools are simple and the equipment is hand and originality that
The Industrial Revolution made. There is no assembly line, no machinery. goes beyond historic
imitation. The great
The most advanced machinery shown by
arches and buttress
The term Industrial Revolution is used to describe Diderot is the wooden gearing of a mill grinding half-arches have an
the complex of developments that transformed hops for the making of beer. The power is supplied almost harsh forceful-
It is helpful, in trying to grasp the extent of change wood even to the wheels and gears. The only which are in the
strongly contrasting
in the last two centuries, to consider what tech- sources of power are human, horse, water, and
colors typical of much
nology was available in the eighteenth century. The wind, all of the last three only used in limited ways. Victorian work.
French encyclopedist Denis Diderot (1713-84) Through all of human history from the stone age
produced in his many-volume work documenta- until the late eighteenth century, these had been
183
T/l
Chapter Ten
the only ways in which things could be made. A used to build more factories, making their owners
quick survey of the possessions of any modern wealthy and, eventually, making the countries that
family will reveal few, if any, hand-made objects. turned to industrialization rich and powerful.
The plumbing fixtures, the lamps, the stove, and England became a dominant world power. France,
refrigerator; the telephone, radio, television, and Germany, the United States, and, eventually, other
computer; the fiarniture, the bedding, the countries rose in wealth and status as the process of
clothing not to speak of the car, the lawn mower, industrialization progressed. While all of this was
even the children's toys: all are factory made, and happening, the world of design paid little attention
most would be useless without the ready supply of except to offer a few complaints about the noise
pumped water, electric current, gasoline, and spare and dirt associated with the new inventions. The
parts which are in turn products of industrial revivalists, Greek or Gothic, took little notice of the
processes. great changes taking place in their world. John
Nash used iron columns in the Brighton Pavilion,
Huston Station had a Greek entrance gate, Latrobe
Early Industrialization and
designed a steam-powered water pumping station
Inventions with Greek detail. Steam engines often incorpo-
rated structural parts of cast iron in the form of
The first wave of industrialization was based on a classical columns. Locomotives sometimes had
few key inventions. The steam engine, the first domes shaped like Roman temples or curiously
great "prime mover" to be turned to use as a source squat versions of Greek columns. Wealthy clients
of power for pumping water and running the were less often titled aristocrats and more
machinery of textile mills, was developed by a frequently self-made industrialists or the managers
series of inventors culminating with James Watt and professionals who served industry. The
(1736-1819) of Glasgow. His stationary engines of segments of populations who would have been
1769 to 1788 offered the first practical alternative "peasants" working in agriculture and living in
to hand, horse, wind, and water as a source of farm houses became the "mill-hands" who worked
power. Steam engines and the boiler that fed them in factories and lived in cities, most often in grim
required metals for their working parts. Iron had slums made up of squalid tenements.
been known and steel made in small quantities for
special purposes (armor, weapons, and knife
Industry and Interiors
blades) since ancient times, but the quantities
needed for engines required mines and blast The impact of the early phases of the Industrial
furnaces, foundries and steel mills. Transport of Revolution on interior design was more technical
coal from mines, of iron from foundries, and of than aesthetic. First steps toward modern
steel from mills to the shops where engines could plumbing, lighting, and heating appeared, making
be made called for something better than ox carts some important elements of earlier interiors obso-
pulled along muddy roads. Making a road of metal lescent. Cast iron became an inexpensive and prac-
rails, a "rail road" with cars
no longer pulled by tical material for the making of stoves. Stoves
horses or oxen but by the special mobile version of heated with wood, and then coal, had major advan-
the steam engine, the locomotive made it easier tages in terms of efficiency and convenience over
to build more steam engines, to make more rails the open fireplace (fig. 10.15). Ready availability of
for more railroads, and to bring raw materials to coal resulted from improved mining and rail trans-
factories and take their products to markets. The port. For cooking, the special form of stove called a
building of iron ships powered by steam engines kitchen range, also of cast iron, made kitchen fire-
introduced similar improvements in sea travel and places obsolete. Kitchen ranges were developed,
the inter-continental transport of goods. The with water reservoirs kept warm by the stove fire to
power loom of Joseph Cartwright (1785) and the provide hot water as needed. In cities, central piped
steam engine together made possible a textile mill water systems began to appear, the pressure
capable of producing cheap cloth in quantity. provided by steam pumps that could lift water to a
The products of engine-powered factories high reservoir or water tower so that gravity would
required less hand labor and so could be inexpen- make water available to bathrooms on the upper
sive. Profits earned by mills and factories could be floors of buildings. Running water, flush toilets.
184
The Regency, Revivals, and Industrial Revolution
and the drain trap that blocks the escape of sewer 10.15 Restored flat,
tenement building,
gases were all introduced into general use in the
Glasgow, c, 1892,
1800s. Bath tubs and showers were luxuries at first
The Industrial
but eventually became standard in city houses and Revolution brought
air which was circulated to living spaces through workers and their fami-
lies often were crowded
pipes and grilles called "registers." The larger
into tiny quarters, such
spaces of churches, theaters, schools, hospitals, and as this room, where
public buildings could also be heated by warm air cooking stove, alcove
bed, and clothes drying
systems. Furnaces were also arranged to heat water
lines share the same
so that piped hot water could be available in bath- small space The
end of the eighteenth century, was improved would have been in its
through a series of inventions. Oil lamps that original state. The neat
wall clock and small
burned a fuel called colza oil (made from a
objects introduce an
vegetable seed) were developed with wick holders improbable touch of
and feed mechanism. That could be factory made elegance. The radio is,
of course, modern.
in quantity and provided better light than candles
with less inconvenience. Whale oil replaced colza
oil as a fuel and was eventually replaced by
"mineral oil," that is, petroleum and its derivative,
kerosene. Various improved burners such as those Iron and Class
using a mantle, a curtain of ash that produced a
bright incandescent glow, gave better light than a The Industrial Revolution brought new ways of
direct flame. The development of oil lamps with building that resulted from the interaction of new
their functional advantages and varied appearance needs and new technology. The availability of iron
displaced candlesticks, sconces, and chandeliers in as a material of great strength and low cost,
many applications. The invention of illuminating produced for engines and railroad rails, introduced
gas, originally coal gas, made possible the gradual a new alternative to wood and masonry as building
introduction of piped gas for lighting supplied by materials. At the same time the need for great
centralized city systems. The same gas was also bridges to carry railroads and great train sheds for
usable for cooking ranges and for various heating stations presented new engineering problems.
devices such as the gas grate which could be placed Engineering emerged as a technological profession
in fireplaces to make an open fire unnecessary. which had little connection with the gentlemanly
The visible evidences of these technological aesthetic concerns that had been the bases of earlier
developments remained minor in the early nine- architectural practice. Although early engineering
teenth century. The bathroom emerged as a new first had little impact on the designers
structures at
kind of space, but it was usually given a minor of Greek and Gothic Revival buildings, they
place in house and other building plans and treated demonstrated new techniques that were destined to
in a utilitarian way, perhaps with some marble trim bring about basic changes in design comparable to
or colorful tiles in luxury examples. Kitchens, those developing in every other aspect of life.
viewed as the workplaces of servants, were often The first iron bridge was built in England to
early exercises in functional design by default since span the River Severn at Coalbrookdale,
they were not given any particular aesthetic atten- Shropshire, in 1779, its arches cast in sections in
tion. In living spaces, the role of the fireplace and the foundry of Abraham Darby III. Thomas
mantel diminished, giving way to a small coal Telford (1757-1834) was the designer of a major
grate, a "parlor stove," and finally to a hot air aqueduct, Pont-Cysylltau in Wales, built in 1805 to
register inserted where the fireplace opening would carry a canal across the River Dee. Great stone piers
have been. support nineteen arches made up of cast-iron
185
'
Chapter Ten
segments bolted together. Telford designed a great attention to finding proposals for a suitable
suspension bridge to carry a carriage road from the building. Various architects presented schemes too
mainland of Wales to the island of Anglesey across elaborate, too expensive, or otherwise impratical. It
the Menai Strait. This opened in 1826: it had a span was reported that a chief gardener (really an estate
of 579 feet, and the roadway was held high enough manager) for the great estate of Chatsworth, loseph
above water level to permit large sailing ships to
pass underneath. The suspension elements are not
cables, but chains made of great iron bars bolted
together so that the chain could hang in the
graceful catenary curve typical of all such bridges. The Public's Perception of Crystal Palace
The bridge is still in regular use carrying modern
The radical nature of Joseph Paxton's design for
traffic. A giant ship built of iron, the Great Eastern
London drew sharp condemnation
Crystal Palace in
of 1851 designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunei from many quarters, adding to criticism of the very
(1806-59), was powered by two sets of steam notion of a "Great Exhibition." The writer and art critic
engines, one driving paddle wheels and the other John Ruskin dismissed it as a "cucumber frame
turning a screw propeller. Its luxurious passenger between two chimneys," adding,
accommodations were decorated in the prevailing In the year 1851, when all that glittering roof was
ornate taste. built in order to exhibit all the petty arts of our own
While the building of engines, fashionable luxury-carved bedsteads of Vienna,
railroads, ships,
glued toys of Switzerland and gay jewellery from
and bridges may seem to have little connection
France-in that very year, say, the greatest I
with interior design, it was the techniques for the pictures of Venetian masters were rotting at Venice
use of industrial materials developed in these In the rain for want of a roof to cover them.
projects that made new ways of constructing build- Politicians followed suit:
ings possible. Railroad terminals needed sheds to
Are the elms [of Hyde Park] to be sacrificed for one
protect trains, passengers, and baggage on a scale
of the greatest frauds, greatest humbugs, greatest
that would reach across many tracks. Wood and absurdities every known [T]hey are going to
masonry were not ideal materials for the purpose expend 26,000 on this building when the Irish
and engineers designing railways found it logical to poor are starving. '
apply their knowledge and build in iron. Glass, However, when Paxton's design was completed, and
now factory made in quantity in large sheets, was the exhibition opened, Queen Victoria made the
an ideal and transparent material for filling in
light following entry in her journal:
iron frames to make train sheds. The two side by The glimpse of that transept through the Iron
side that covered King's Cross Station in London gates, the waving palms, flowers, statues, myriads
of people filling the galleries and seats around,
(fig. 10.16; 1850-2) were designed by Lewis Cubitt
with the flourish of trumpets as we entered, gave us
(1799-1883); here the masonry facade reveals the
a sensation which can never forget, and felt
I I
iron sheds within in two great arches separated by a much moved .... The sight as we came to the
simple clock tower. There is no Gothic, Greek, or middle, with the beautiful crystal fountain just In
other historically inspired detail. London's front was maglcal-so vast, so glorious, so
^
Paddington Station (1852-4) has glass and iron touchlng-a day to live forever.
building was built in London in 1851. It had been fortunate as to see It hardly knew what most to
admire or In what form to clothe the sense of
decided to hold a "Great Exhibition," what would
wonder. .the edifice, the treasures of art collected
.
now be called a World's Fair, in London to cele- therein .... Above them rose a glittering arch far
brate the greatness of Victorian England. The more lofty than the vaults of our noblest
''
shown in Hyde Park in a huge exhibition hall. Hansard Parliamentary Report, June 8, 1 850; 3. Patrick Beaver, The
1
186
The Regency, Revivals, and Industrial Revolution
Victorian ornamen-
talism here gives way
to a functional
emphasis that points
toward the modern era.
removal.
187
Chapter Ten
10.18 Pierre-Franfois- long and had an area of more than 800,000 square
Henri Labrouste,
feet) with structural elements so slim as to be
Bibliotheque St.
Genevieve, Paris, almost negligible, glass walls and roof. A giant elm exhibits that filled the Crystal Palace during the
1844-50. tree on the site was left undisturbed within the Great Exhibition were also thoroughly docu-
The reading room, the building. The beautifully simple and airy interior mented in well-illustrated publications. They form
mam space of the was greatly admired by the crowds that attended a strange contrast with the building, as they are
library, has one of the
first all-iron structural
the exhibition so that, when the time came to generally of the decorated or over-decorated sort
systems to be put to remove the building, it was decided to dismande it that became the norm of "high Victorian" design
architectural use. The
and reassemble it at Sydenham, then on the edge of (see Chapter 1 1 ).
outer walls are stone,
but the support struc-
London. It stood there until 1936 when it was Iron and glass, were increasingly used as
ture IS iron, with the destroyed by a fire. building materials in the second half of the nine-
row of columns
slim
We can see from the many engravings and color teenth century, most often for buildings that were
down the center of the
space supporting the prints that were made of the building how strik- thought of as strictly utilitarian train sheds,
iron arches of the roof. ingly modern the vast interior space was indeed, market halls, mills and other factory buildings, and
The detail of the arches
IS ornamental but also
Crystal Palace appears in every architectural exhibition halls all structures where the economy
suited to the
history as the first fully realized achievement of and ease of iron construction were more important
wrought-iron structure what much later came to be called modernism. The than monumentality.
188
The Regency, Revivals, and Industrial Revolution
reach a grand double stair at the rear; this in turn grid stairs and floors, permitting daylight from roof
gives access to the great reading room that occupies skylights to light all of the levels. A glass wall
the entire upper floor. The walls are lined with permits a view from the reading room into the
bookshelves with windows high above. A row of stacks. A high, open central space runs through the
thin iron columns on the center line of the room stack room, with bridges for easy access from one
supports the two simple barrel vaults, made up of side to the other. Ornamentation is minimal,
iron arches, that support the curved plaster ceiling. giving the stack room an entirely functional, and
The ironwork is perforated in a decorative pattern therefore surprisingly modern, aspect.
with no historical precedents. The provision of gas Other iron structures for various uses gradually
light made it possible for this to be the first French became more common in the nineteenth century.
library to remain open after dark. The great wholesale food markets of Paris, Les
The much larger Bibliotheque Nationale in Halles Centrales, begun in 1853 by Victor Baltard
Paris (1859-67), also designed by Labrouste, is a (1805-74), were a virtual neighborhood of iron
more complex main reading room
building. In the pavilions with covered streets until their demoli-
(fig. 10.19), sixteen thin iron columns support tion in 1964. Exhibition buildings, such as the
interconnecting iron arches to form nine square Galerie des Machines built for the Paris
bays. Each is topped by a dome made up from International Exhibition of 1889, used giant trusses
curved plates of earthenware ceramic. An oculus with pivot points at their bases and at a center
window at the center of each dome floods the space point where the trusses meet to form a "three-
with light. The outer walls are of masonry, inde- hinged arch" with a span of more than 480 feet.
pendent of the iron structure, and are lined with The purpose of the pivots is to allow movement as
three tiers of bookshelves with balconies for access. thermal expansion and contraction occur in the
Adjacent to the reading room, the nmgasin central metal of the trusses. The French desire to demon-
or stacks occupy an equally large space filled by strate equality or superiority in engineering as
four tiers of stack shelving, all of iron with open compared to English achievements is demon-
strated by these stuctures and, close by, for the
same exhibition, by the famous tower by Gustave
10.20 touis-Charles
Eiffel (1832-1923). It was for many years the tallest Boileau and Custave
structure ever built. The elevators that serve the Eiffel, Bon Marche,
Pans, 1876-
tower were evidence that tall buildings could be
Grand stairways lead to
made useful to the general public. The restaurants
the upper levels of this
on the platforms of the tower combined the engi- Pans department store,
neering vocabulary of iron with the fashionable seenin an engraving.
189
The Victorian Era
Until the nineteenth century, European society had functionalism is a precursor of twentieth-century
been made up of a small, powerful, and wealthy developments. Victorian design thus seems to be
"upper class" of titled aristocrats whose wealth was strangely split into two worlds, with florid decora-
based on feudal land holdings inherited from tion dominating the formal and "respectable"
generation to generation, and a very large class of worlds of home life, religion, and government,
"peasants," mostly agricultural workers on the land while the functional tradition developed in
owned by The middle class of
the titled class. industry, transport, and in the growing fields of
tradesmen, skilled craftsmen, and professionals science and technology.
was so small as to be a minor factor in the social A striking demonstration of this seemingly
and economic order. In the nineteenth century, the inconsistent design view can be studied in the
aristocratic upper class began to lose its domina- documentation of the Great Exhibition of 1851 at
tion for both political and economic reasons. The the Crystal Palace. This famous proto-modern
class of agricultural peasants decreased in size as building (see pp. 187-8) was a dramatic demon-
work and mines supplanted farm
in mills, factories, stration of the possibilities of the new industrial
work. The growing middle class was made up of a materials, iron and glass. Within, however, the
rising stratum of society that learned to turn the materials exhibited were a riot of decorative
Industrial Revolution into a source of new wealth. frosting, each exhibitor seemingly trying to outdo
The rich and powerful who lived in great houses, all competitors in an excess of tastelessness that
chateaux, and palaces had always been surrounded now seems ludicrous. A complete illustrated
by richly decorated objects, ornate rugs, and catalog of the exhibition and a fine set of colored
11.1 (be/ow) Catalog
page, Great Exhibition,
draperies, all hand made of costly materials by lithographs make it possible to study these curious
London, 1851. skilled craftsmen. The new middle class could contrasts in considerable detail (fig. 11.1).
Despite the logic and afford such things now that they were inexpen- In the background and overhead, the
simplicity of the Crystal produced and the wonderful
sively in quantity; the decorative simplicit)' of the great structure can be
Palace, where the exhi-
ornamental became the dominant theme of all
bition took place, the
objects on display design.
varied from the "Light TnE WDnSTRY OF ALL NATIOSS.
Park Phaeton" (top) to ,1. &
A. HouiBi, caniagf-biiililniv qf
H. haldathii blgli npuUUuoBhlclLthiHgTDlIwi '
aiiulniEtiiML tnu tna uobhuvj artir
Ikriir. cDntribuU i Liost FiiiE at Pnmm, lun nequlnd In til fmiU of Ean>\t T
the riot of meaningless - '
o wignTiog: ll up- I
pttHloi) lietagut ID oulluii, Li(til muil ien|>l~
Lewis Mumford called nical, practical, and functional design where deco-
" ctgnt* oel^ tbtt
the "brown decades. cDninDfUachiirMnria iMrfcrsM bm^ ud v* 'aecbjilunMB
rative elements were restrained or absent. Such iitlu '
*U ili* iu>ntl> of Biitiali fast h|(i,
190
Chapter Eleven
glimpsed. The hoop-skirted ladies and stovepipe- That the quality of ornamentation declined so
hatted gentlemen in the illustrations are viewing, dramatically calls for further explanation. In the
and one assumes admiring, chairs and tables, pre- industrial world, design was produced by a
mirrors, and pianos, stoves and mantels, china and small number of creative people artists, architects
glassware, all encrusted with an amazing variety of (often self-taught), and craftsmen-designers who
ornamentation. In general, the ornament is not worked within traditions that had developed slowly
based on any historic precedents. Greek columns over long periods. The cabinet maker learned his
and Gothic arches are rarely to be seen; instead trade as an apprentice, and learned the ornamental
forms borrowed from human and animal figures, detail of his period in relation to the best art and
leaves and flowers, and complex florid arabesques architecture of the time. The weaver was the
having no discoverable sources cover almost every designer of the cloth he wove and had a knowledge
object. Here and there a locomotive, a pistol, an of and respect for the materials and patterns that he
astronomical telescope, or the gears of machines produced. The silver smith, the glass blower, the
offer some contrast, but these functional objects clock maker, the wood carver, and the plaster
are almost lost amid the plethora of "artistic" deco- craftsmen all worked in related traditions for a
rative works. There were tables supported by cast- clientele that respected excellence in aesthetic as
AxMiNSTER carpets, flowery chintzes. The pianos printing became a mechanical process, the design
of Collard and CoUard, one grand and one upright, to be printed was no concern of the workers
are barely visible beneath their overlay of orna- producing the cloth. Factory-made furniture was
previously have required slow and costly skilled knew only that the buying public wanted a
handwork. Power looms could weave elaborately maximum of ornamentation and that industrial
ornamented textiles and carpets as easily as plain production could deliver what was wanted easily,
and simple equivalents. Cast iron was an ideal cheaply, and profitably. As garish ornamentation
material for making ornamental carving once became the norm of Victorian style, the ever-
molds were made, repeating an elaborate design present desire to be "in style" made such design
was cheap, easy, and cost effective. In fact, orna- virtually a universal norm.
mentation could conceal minor defects in castings The Victorian fondness for free combinations
that would be objectionable in plain surfaces. The of decorative elements in all styles finally defeats
scroll saw and more complex carving machines efforts at classification. The term "eclectic,"
could produce details in wood reminiscent of hand meaning borrowing fi-om many sources, is descrip-
carving of the past. Industrial production also tive, but that term has become so attached to a
generated wealth. The owners of factories and mills more formal practice of the twentieth century that
became rich, while their industries created a need its use for Victorian examples creates confusion.
for a new class of managers, salespeople, and The interior design of Victorian buildings is, if
accountants, and the supporting systems of anything, even more difficult to The
classify.
banking, securities markets, insurance, and all the mixture of styles and the use of invented ornament
related professions that make up modern business. having no clear stylistic bases were typical of the
People who worked in became
these fields also design of furniture and other objects of the time,
increasingly affluent, and so able to afford to buy while the owners and occupants of buildings felt
the products of industry that would make for a free to mix, aher, and redecorate according to
192
The Victorian Era
designation The
this kind of middle-class residential interior was furni-
193
Chapter Eleven
Chelsea Interior,
Carlyle's House,
London, 1857,
is usually some version of Regency or Gothic painted wood trim are the primary materials, while
Revival, sometimes with touches of decorative windows are many small panes of glass.
large with
detail in the Victorian mode. Inside, the occupants Bay windows common. There is a hint of Gothic
are
arranged whatever level of Victorian detail that Revivalism along with some reference to Dutch
appealed to Most public spaces, clubs,
them. Renaissance work, but Shaw's work is unique and
restaurants, theaters, hotels, and railroad stations original. Interiors in his houses, rich in decorative
were carpeted, padded, and stuffed in order to detail, are full of asymmetrical spaces with nooks,
achieve a special comfort typical of the "gas-light" bays, and other irregularities that favor comfort and
era that provided the settings in which Arthur charm (fig. 11.5). Shaw's clients, and Shaw himself
Conan Doyle's famous fictional detective, Sherlock in his own house, filled Queen Anne interiors with
Holmes, conducted his practice. framed pictures, ornamental objects, and the ornate
furniture so beloved by Victorians .
Shaw and the Queen Anne Revival Shaw was also the designer of anumber of
office buildings (New Zealand Chambers of 1871-3
Richard Norman Shaw (1831-1912), in a long and in London is the best known), banks, and churches.
productive career, produced a large body of work New Scotland Yard, London, is a Shaw design of
quintessentially English Victorian in character. His 1887-90. Shaw's churches are invariably in a
earlywork belongs to the Gothic Revival, using, for Gothic Revival mode, so carefully correct as to be
country houses, a mix of half-timber and masonry virtually indistinguishable from medieval build-
often called "Old English;" but by about 1870, he ings. He was much concerned with technical
developed a more creative and individualistic style matters, such as the arrangement of efficient
194
"
of a Victorian interior
arranged for both convenience and picturesque much American Victorian design.
external effect; some were staggeringly vast in scale. Although Americans aimed for a classless
Shaw remained aloof from the Arts and Crafts society after the Revolutionary War, the same
movement (the subject of the following chapter) in processes operated as in Victorian Britain. Simple
a way that emphasizes the gulf between Queen farmers became middle-class city dwellers,
Anne and the Aesthetic movement. At the end of managers, professionals, and businessmen.
his career, Shaw turned toward classicism, antici- Awareness of the mansions of the wealthy, the
pating the twentieth-century reaction against the prosperous merchants, and the plantation owners
norms of Victorian design. created an appetite for the fancy and the elaborate.
Ornamentalism was supported by an increasing
flow of imports from Europe. The American
United States: Victorian clipper ship, the McCormack reaper, the Colt
revolver, and the Waltham watch represented a
Variations
strain of Yankee ingenuity, honesty, and simplicity,
but architecture and interior design turned away
Victorian design in America produced work ot from such functional concerns in order to embrace
similar elaboration, although English work of the the other, more pretentious and ostentatious,
period tends to be somewhat more ordered and aspect of Victorian taste.
disciplined, more "professional" and therefore There are several sub-species of Victorianism
perhaps less creative, than the free improvisation of often referred tp by historians. They include:
195
Chapter Eleven
Carpenter Gothic: the term apphed to the vernac- railroad stations as well as for houses. The term
ular adaptation of the Gothic Revival style in General Grant style is often given to mansard-
America(fig. 11.6). The material used is usually roofed Victorian buildings.
wood, often with board and batten siding. Queen Anne (or Queen Anne Revival): This is a
Pointed-arch forms are used along with applied term applied to late Victorian design that uses a
woodwork in spiky decorative patterns. Leaded somewhat sophisticated application of orna-
glass windows are common, sometimes with mental detail as it developed in England in
colorful stained glass. Small railroad stations and parallel with the Arts and Crafts movement.
village churches were often built in this style. Typical features are the asymmetrical arrange-
Italianate: This term describes designs using ment of elements, bay windows, mixtures of
low-sloping hipped roofs, porches, and loggias brick, terracotta, shingles, and decorative inserts
with columns, bracketed roofs, and cornices, and of bas-relief ornamentation and stained glass in
often a tower. Windows and doors are often some windows.
topped with semicircular arches. The Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in
Mansardic: These designs take their name from 1876 was a showcase for Victorian design in
the mansard roof (see p. 113). A mansard roof America, much as the Great Exhibition had been in
has a steep, visible front surface, usually of slate, England. A number of halls showed off machinery,
visible from the street. Cast-iron decorative trim horticulture, and art, while various industries and
is often present, along with as much carved detail individual states erected smaller buildings in a
as the owner could afford. Mansardic design was chaotic variety of styles. An actual pagoda was
often used for public buildings, courthouses, and brought from Japan and stimulated interest in
196
The Victorian Era
to admire its impressive functional beauty. At the styles crowded every available space, inside and
same time, exhibitions of products for household out. Colonel Samuel Colt, the inventor of the
use leaned toward excesses of decorative detail. A revolver, had a house (named Armsmere) built
Mason and Hamlin organ suitable for the Victorian close to his factory in Hartford, Connecticut, in an
parlor is encrusted with ornamental inlays, carv-
amalgam of styles vaguely Italian with Moorish
ings, and crockets, but was described by Walter domes in prominent locations. Frederick E.
Smith, a contemporary critic, as "free from all the Church, a landscape painter, built his dreams into
abortions in the shape of ornament with which his house called Olana, overlooking the Hudson
many pretentious instruments are disfigured." River (fig. 1 1.8). He was his own designer, working
The style of the organ and of much furniture of inwhat he believed to be the "Persian" style, with
the time is often called Eastlake in recognition of some assistance from the professional architect and
the aesthetic values advanced by an English landscape designer Calvert Vaux (182495). 11.7 Charles Locke
Eastlake, dining room
designer and writer, Charles Locke Eastlake Vaux was English by birth, but made his repu- sideboard, 1874.
(1836-1906). His book. Hints on Household Taste tation in America (in parnership with Frederick
Eastlake was an active
(1868), was widely read in America and exerted Law Olmstead) designing great public parks, arbiter of Victorian
considerable influence (fig. 11.7). Eastlake urged including New York's Central and Riverside parks taste, using his worl< as
a journalist to moke
simplicity and restraint, but the illustrations that and South Park in Chicago. In 1857 he published
suggestions to his
accompany the text seem only additional examples Villas and Cottages, a manual based on his architec- readersand promote
of the Victorian taste for excess elaboration. tural work with A. J. Downing. The book begins his own designs An
Arts and Crafts orient-
ation is evident in his
work, but it shows an
urge toward extra elab-
oration. The craftsman-
built sideboard shown
in this plate from Hints
on Household Taste in
Furniture, Upholstery,
and Other Details
(1868) IS modified by
the extensive display of
ceramics rich in "art"
ornamentation.
197
Chapter Eleven
with highly practical suggestions for logical, func- lators or developers for sale or rental, and the value
tional planning of homes, and designs for of fashionable decorative detail to attract occu-
improved water closets. It then proceeds to illus- pants was well recognized. Books and magazines
trate the ornamental details, both exterior and inte- offered "ideal" plans and designs incorporating
rior,and then presents thirty-nine designs for ornamental details that could be factory made,
houses ranging from modest cottages to gigantic bought from a lumber yard, and added to a basic
mansions. Given such titles as "Picturesque Villa house. Internally, paneling, fancy mantels, stair
with Wing and Attics" and "Irregular Stone Villa rails, and moldings served to introduce a level of
with Tower" (with twenty-nine rooms not clutter that the occupants could then amplif)' with
counting the attic and tower; cost $30,000), it is not wallpapers, drapery, and furniture to taste.
surprising that the designs express ornate Victorian The Gothic Revival slipped into the mode of
taste. carpenter Gothic, which in turn led to the produc-
11.9 Blakely Hall
ornament in scroll-sawn wood
tion of gingerbread
House, New York,
or in cast iron. Thus a simple wooden house could
1896. Vernacular House Styles
turn into a Victorian house fully decorated with
The contemporary
photograph of the The American farmhouse of the Victorian era trim. Inside such houses, flowery wallpaper
stairhall of this typical
moved away from its colonial and Georgian prede- covered the walls; patterned carpeting covered the
New York City row
house on West 45th
cessors to give up symmetry and classical detail in floors. Woodwork was full of carvings and turn-
Streetshows how the favor of "picturesque" irregular plans, more ings, usually finished in dark tones. The parlor
owners assembled a and detail that varied from stove might be a fantasy of decorative elements in
vertical proportions,
characteristically late
Victorian interior with
the severe plainness of the houses of the settlers of cast iron, the parlor organ (or harmonium) a
dark woodwork, dull the mid-west to the ornate Gingerbread favored comparable fantasy in wood. Furniture was
wallpapers, and a crowded into every room, filling up space with
by more affluent families in the east and south.
profusion of dra penes,
Around the factories of mill towns, districts of carving and upholstery. Oil lamps, now the usual
carpet and fabric-
covered furniture to small houses were built to accommodate workers source of artificial light, invited elaborate shapes
generate the sense of and colorful decorative shades. Any otherwise
and mid-level managers, somewhat in the manner
richness through orna-
mentation that was the
of modern suburbia. Houses varied from minimal unused spaces could be filled with such newly
norm of late Victorian rows or groups of two (twin houses), built to house developed furniture types as the What-not, a shelf
The elaborate
taste.
workers, to more generous single family houses unit intended to hold a display of generally useless
newel post at the base
of the stair baluster sets
standing on their own lots even when placed close ornamental objects. Blank wall spaces could be
the tone for the space. together. Such houses were usually built by specu- hung with "artistic" prints in decorative frames
while the small sculptural groups in plaster
198
The Victorian Era
York, the brick rows ot Philadelpliia and walls.Minimal daylight entered the narrow
Baltimore, for example produced overall windows by day; and gas lamps provided light at
oil
monotony, but had the virtue of establishing visual night. Colors of brown, black, olive green, and
order which, when streets were planted with trees, mauve made such interiors seem cluttered and
created attractive neighborhoods that can still be
gloomy more quaint than beautiful by modern
admired where they have survived intact. The standards.
Italianate mode was a favorite for brownstone
Shingle Style
rows, while mansardic roofs ami veranda porches
raised the status of free-standing houses that often Queen Anne style, developed in Britain by Shaw,
were intermingled with the rows. Internally all of was taken up with considerable enthusiasm in
these house types showed evidence of technical America alongside Gothic, Italianate, and
progress through the introduction of central Mansardic alternatives. A book by the architectural
(usually hot air) heating, gas lighting, bathrooms, historian Vincent I. Scully, The Sliingic St)'le
and kitchens. These were improved with the intro- ( 1971 ), has led to that term being used to describe
duction of running water, first coal and, then, a few American country and suburban houses that
years later, gas ranges, and ice boxes for refrigera- echoed the Queen Anne of Shaw and his followers.
tion. Built-in closets and cupboards were worked Wood was the dominant material of such building,
into house plans, along with extra dressing spaces the basis of Carpenter Gothic, and the simplified
adjacent to bedrooms, often with wash basins with version of that style that Scully calls "the stick
running water. Larger houses had such luxuries as style" a reference to board and batten exteriors
marble top surfaces and built-in mirrors. Long which featured external frame members. Shingle
flights of ornamental stairs led to upper floors style buildings often use
some masoni-y particu-
(often three or four) and narrow "back stairs" were larly for ground-floor walls sometimes of rough
usually provided for the use of servants. rubble stonework, but otherwise exterior walls and
Victorian taste favored vertical emphasis in roofs are generally covered with cedar wood shin-
proportions so that ceilings were often unreason- gles left to weather to a natural grey. Exterior orna-
ably high while doors and windows were made ment is usually sparse or absent, but building
both tall and narrow. Ornate overmantels above forms are often complex, with gables, projecting
the now largely useless fireplace (often with a gas wmgs, porches, dormers and rounded bays, turrets,
grate or hot air outlet) reached up to the high ceil- and occasional towers.
ings where plaster moldings ran around the tops of Most Shingle style buildings are houses, but
199
Chapter Eleven
11.11 Camp Cedars, hotels, casinos, and clubhouses were built in this
Forked Lake,
Adirondacks, New York,
idiom as well. Kragsyde, a coastal private mansion
1886. at Manchester-by-the-Sea (Peabody and Stearns, c.
The "camps" built as 1882), is a good example of the type, with its
trimmed with
Shingle style when designing the W. Watts
rough-hewn logs, and Sherman House at Newport, Rhode Island (fig.
the bed is built of
11.10; 1874). The firm of McKim, Mead, and
similar wood members
The lanterns, fans, and
White was responsible for many examples of the
curios are typical of style, such as the seaside mansion at Elberon, New
Victorian taste. Jersey ( 880-8 1
1 for Victor Newcomb, and casinos
) ,
recently given the name Adironback in recogni- Shakers came to America from England in 1774
tion of its development in that mountainous region seeking freedom from religious persecution.
of New York. As railroad networks developed and Shaker communities were villages built at the
train travel became reasonably fast and comfort- center of agricultural lands where members shared
able, those who could afford summer vacations property and work in a simple form of commu-
sought out locations in unspoiled natural regions nism. By 1800 a number of these villages had been
where the mountainous landscape and cool established. Large communal dwelling houses
summer climate provided an escape from city life. provided separate living quarters for men and
In the Adirondack mountains, cabins and camps women. In pursuit of the goal of total indepen-
were built as summer houses and as lodges for dence from "the world" or outsiders. Shaker
hunters and fishermen. Although camps and communities built their own buildings and
lodges tended to grow in size and comfort in the produced, insofar as possible, all of their needs
latter part of the nineteenth century, the rustic through subsistence agriculture and workshops.
character of simple cabins was usually retained and Religious beliefs that forbade "worldly" ostentation
even developed as yet another Victorian form of and favored efficient use of human efforts led to
decoration. Adirondack furniture is often made up the production of a wide variety of objects of total
of tree branches (frequently still with bark simplicity and remarkable functional excellence.
remaining) cleverly assembled to make benches, Shaker design reached a peak of achievement
tables, and chairs, with smaller twigs used for orna- around 1830 and continued to hold to its idealistic
mental detail. Great stone fireplaces dominate standards throughout the Victorian era.
rooms lined with wood boards left in their natural The interiors of Shaker buildings were totally
color. Camps with quaint names such as Pine Knot free of ornament. Walls were plain and white-
and Camp Cedars (fig. 11.11) were made up of painted. Floors were wood boards that were
200
'
1
The Shaker Philosophy
i
atmosphere of the New World. She founded the
Shakers and summed up her philosophy in the
following phrase:
to decorative finishes,
Shaker: Life, Work and /Art (London, 1 987), p. 43; 2. Millennial Laws
of 1 845, quoted in ibid, p 33; 3. Ibid. p. 92; 4. Ibid. p. 1 68;
5./iwd, p. 168
\
Chapter Eleven
painted, often in strong colors. Furniture included number of Shaker villages, including those at
benches, tables, chairs, storage cabinets, and work Hancock (fig. 11.12), Massachusetts, Sabathday
tables of utmost simplicity, but of great subtlety in Lake (fig. 11.13), Maine, and Pleasant Valley,
proportion and detail. Floors were kept bare for Kentucky, are preserved in a form suitable for
easy cleaning, storage was provided in banks ot modern study and admiration.
built-in drawers; pegs mounted in bands along
walls made it easy to hang up hats, cloaks, and even Early Skyscrapers
chairs when not in use. Boxes for storage of small
objects, baskets, cast-iron stoves of remarkable effi- As cities grew larger, central districts developed
ciency, clocks, and woven materials were all that were devoted to business activities. Before tele-
produced with design of fine aesthetic quality, phone communication was available, proximity
although Shaker societies advanced no aesthetic was an important consideration in making busi-
theories and established no central control of design ness communication fast and easy. The resulting
practice. The ascetic pursuit of simplicity and effi- need for offices crowded into a central "business
ciency alone seems to have been the driving princi- district" led to high rents and high land values. Real
ples that produced design that seems to presage estate owners realized that their earnings were
twentieth-century modernism. Shaker communi- limited by the quantity of rental space that could be
ties offered
some products for sale most notably squeezed onto a lot of given area. Taller buildings
their Ladder-back chairs, rockers, and straight became profitable with the development of
chairs of simple wooden parts with woven tape passenger elevators, but the height of buildings was
seats objects that achieved surprising popularity still limited as long as masonry walls and columns
in spite of their total independence from the norms were the main structural elements.
of Victorian taste. Although Shaker communities Cast iron, an extraordinarily useful and versatile
are now reduced to a handful of members, a material, was put to work for a great variety of uses.
11.14 Schuyler,
Hartley & Graham
shop, New York, 864, 1
202
The Victorian Era
11.15 Office of a
publishing firm, New
York, cl 890.
The development of
larger business firms
generated a need for
Gas light
floors.
augmented daylight on
dark days An industry
developed to supply
suitable office desks
and chairs for the
paper processing that
was the work of an
office.
including the building of early skyscrapers. building was improved when wooden floors were
American cities often have "cast-iron districts" replaced with systems using arches of brick or
where rows of buildings were built with iron struc- terracotta tile supported on iron beams and
tural columns and with exterior walls made up, like columns wrapped with tile heat insulation.
the CPi'stal Palace, of prefabricated units of iron Fireproof structural framing and elevators together
holding glass windows. The ease with which iron made it possible to build to heights of eight, ten, or
could be cast in any desired form made it possible twelve stories. Still higher "skyscrapers" finally
for these iron facades to be made up of classical became end of the nineteenth
possible at the very
columns, Gothic arches, or any other ornamental century when the Bessemer process made steel
themes that owners and builders might think available for columns and beams. The tall buildings
appropriate. Floors were of wood, with the result of the late Victorian era presented difficult prob-
that such buildings were vulnerable to disastrous lems to their designers. Architectural history
fires, made more dangerous by lack of adequate exit offered few models for high building. George B.
stairs to serve upper floors. Many cast-iron build- Post's Western Union Building (1873-5) or
ings were utilitarian loft buildings, warehouses, and Richard Morris Hunt's Tribune Building of the
factories, often housing sweat-shop industry of the same date, both in New York, are each curious
grimmest sort. Others were retail stores, "dry- conglomerations of masonry detail, arches,
goods" shops, the ancestors of department stores dormers, mansard roofs, and clock towers
Cast iron enabled building to go higher, Offices inside such tall buildings, and many
because its high-strength characteristics made it smaller buildings, tended to strictly utilitarian
possible to reduce the size of support columns treatment (fig. 11.15). The typical office building
within buildings. Masonry, however, remained the had rows of small offices arranged along corridors
preferred material for outer walls because it offered so that every office could be close to windows for
a degree of fire safety by enclosing each building in light and ventilation. Private offices were screened
a non-inflammable barrier. Fire safety within a from the adjacent outer offices and waiting rooms
203
Chapter Eleven
204
The Victorian Era
1872-190L
windows rooms and corridors. Larger
into interior work in France, it was used for such projects as
"general offices," where many clerks or stenogra- Philadelphia's enormous City Hall (fig. 11.16; This space, known as
"Conversation Hall, " is
phers worked in a common open space, appeared 1872-1901) by John McArthur, Jr. (1823-90), a
a monumental interior
as larger businesses, railroads, newspapers, and giant hollow square with an overpowering in the huge building
many now that was the govern-
manufacturing corporations grew to a level that Mansardic tower. The interiors, care-
mental center for the
required such hives of workers. Business equip- fully restored, have a boldness and vitality that
large city that
ment, file cabinets, typewriters, adding machines, seems to be indifferent to all issues of taste and Philadelphia had
government buildings designed by become. Admiration for
and time-clocks were gradually introduced into the restraint. U.S.
the architecture of the
late Victorian office, along with roll-top desks and Alfred B. MuUett (1834-90) while he served as French Second Empire
swivel chairs. Gas light, followed by electric light, Supervising Architect for the U.S. Treasury, such as style had led to some
reduced dependency on window proximity, while the massive State, War and Navy Building in rather florid and exces-
sive efforts at grandeur
the telegraph followed by the telephone became Washington, D.C. (1871-87), now the Executive in the public buildings
vital communication devices. Floors, ceilings, Office Building, follow a similar pattern. Mansard of a democratic society.
This space, carefully
partitions, and furniture were usually of wood roofs and architectural detail applied with a heavy
most often oak in some shade of brov^n. Even the hand are external characteristics, while internal
restored to its
appearance, glories in
original
offices of powerful chiefs and board of directors' elaboration makes up for anything lacking in styl- colored marbles, a spec-
tacular gaslight chan-
meeting rooms only differed from the norm in istic quality.
delier, and a ceiling rich
having a rug on the floor, leather-cushioned chairs, in color and gilding.
Furness
and a few pictures on the walls.
Taller multistory hotels and apartment houses The work of the Philadelphia architect Frank
were encouraged by the same economic values that Furness (1839-1912) was quite unrelated to any
spurred tall The problems of suit-
office buildings. particular school or movement. It is easy to charac-
The Vv'aldorf
able exterior design were also similar. terize it as ugly, with its heavy and aggressive
Hotel (1893) and the Dakota Apartments (1884), forms, but it is also full of strength and originality,
both New York works of Henry J. Hardenbergh drawing on such varied bases as the Gothic Revival,
(1847-1918), are amazingly complex warrens of the Victorian Stick and Shingle styles, and the Arts
rooms ingeniously arranged around light courts so and Crafts movement. Furness had an extensive
as to give daylight to every major space. Externally practice which included the design of churches,
they are in what the designer called "German railroad stations, banks, and many private houses.
Renaissance" style, conceived as a Victorian His building for the Pennsylvania Academy of the
massing of arches, bays, balconies, turrets, Fine Arts (1871-6) houses an art school on the
dormers, chimneys, and tile roofs. Hotel interiors ground floor with museum galleries on the upper
were elaborated with all the grandeur of High floor. A great entrance stair hall, now carefully
Victorian style. Apartment houses were planned, restored to its original color and detail, uses florid
their main rooms rich with paneling, fireplaces iron railings and lighting standards, heavily
with mantels, sliding pocket doors, stained glass, textured wall surfaces, and Furness's unique stubby
parquet floors, and rich, luxurious materials. columns and pointed arches loosely based on
Servants' quarters were provided within apart- Gothic sources (fig. 11.2). The library for the
ments or sometimes, as at the Dakota, in attic University of Pennsylvania (1888-91), now
rooms. Individual tenants could, of course, deco- renamed the Furness Building and housing the
rate as they chose with carpets, wallpapers, drapery, architectural school of the university, is even more
and furniture of the same sort that would have original. The vast reading room and "rotunda" are
been used in a private house of comparable luxury. lined with brick and stone. There are complex arch
details and a great fireplace with a clock above of
original and curious form with much florid carved
Public Buildings
detail. Access to upper levels is provided by an
Public buildings were built in styles as ornamental extraordinarilycomplex iron stairway with orna-
as those of private dwellings, but on a more formal mental iron Houses and other smaller
railings.
and grander scale. The official architecture of buildings by Furness are full of interesting and
205
Chapter Eleven
11.17 John Henry unusual decorative details in wood, stone, and tile.
arm chair, New
Belter,
invention of techniques work has been studied and valued by such later
for carving and architects as Louis L Kahn and Robert Venturi.
pressing elaborate orna-
ment by mechanical
means made it possible
to produce at modest Furniture and Other Interior
cost the complex orna-
mentation that the Furnishings
style demanded. The
resultant, widely
popular forms are
typical of the Victonan
Factory production in the Victorian age made
view of luxury as richly decorated objects relatively inexpensive and
symbolized by decora- so available to a very large public. New materials
tive ornament
and techniques were developed that made whole
new categories of objects possible. In Austria, the
Thonet brothers developed the technique of using
steam in pressure chambers that made it possible to
bend thin strips of solid wood into curved forms.
"Thonet chairs and other furniture types made up of
a number of pieces of Bentwood were strong,
light, and inexpensive, and so came into wide use
as seating in cafes and restaurants and in informal characteristic of interiors. The
American Victorian
residential interiors. style is Rococo Revival, and Belter's
often called
Plywood, developed in continental Europe, was name is also applied to the work of other shops that
made up of many layers of thin wood veneer. It produced work in the same style.
became an alternative to solid wood, less costly and As Victorian fashion sought out exotic themes,
less subject to warping and splitting. Plywood furniture makers responded with designs intended
panels, chair seats, and curved parts that could to relate to one or another popular style. Oriental
form seats and backs for benches and church pews references were popular in England and America
were used in combination with solid wood compo- for a time, leading to furniture detailed in imitation
nents to form new furniture types. Industrial mate- of bamboo construction. Real bamboo objects
rials such as iron and brass tubing, at first made as were imported or sometimes made locally from
plumbing pipes, were turned to use to make bed imported material. Folding screens with painted
frames, creating the popular iron and brass head- surfaces or stretched fabric on wooden frames were
and foot-boards. All of these new materials could a popular means of introducing some privacy in
produce simple and practical objects, but they were part of a room, or simply to add an extra element
also adaptable to decorative designs that appeared of decoration. Wicker furniture made from woven
in forms as ornate as any traditional furniture rattan or similar flexible material was also popular
types. in Victorian interiors, particularly in informal
Most Victorian designs were ornate. The prod- spaces porches or children's rooms or simply
ucts of the New York shops of John Henry Belter mixed in with other furniture in the t)'pically
(1804-63), particularly his chairs (fig. 11.17), sofas, Victorian desire to display and enjoy whatever
and tables, used curving forms, bulging upholstery, came to hand in any and every style.
and frames carrying elaborate floral carving. Much L'pholstery, desired both for comfort and for
of it was made by mechanized processes using the appearance of opulence, is a dominant element
plywood, built-up surface carving, and mechani- in Victorian seating furniture. Cushions, usually
cally duplicated ornamental details. The resulting attached to wood frames, tend to be thick and
designs, much imitated by other makers, are highly bulging, with quilting and tufting to emphasize
206
The Victorian Era
their forms. Metal springs hidden under cushions Greek key motifs. By cutting, arranging, and
were widely used to createbouncy
soft and pasting, the paperhanger could create pattern
surfaces. Cover materials with elaborate and compositions customized to a particular room or
colorful woven patterns were the norm, with wall.
woven horsehair (usually black) and leather as Victorian color tastes gradually shifted from
alternatives. Leather was particularly favored in bright and daring toward heaviness and gloom.
rooms intended to suggest a "masculine" atmos- Owen lones's book The Grammar of Ornament
phere smoking rooms, "dens," and the rooms ol (1856) illustrated ornamental motifs in brightly
men's clubs. colored plates that encouraged the use of strong,
Furniture of the Victorian era tended to chromatic colors. As time passed, darker and more
massive size along with excesses of ornamentation. muted colors, browns, olive greens, and mauves,
Huge mirrored hat-racks were favorite elements came to be regarded as more "tasteful." The end of
for halls and vestibules. Pianos, many made in the Victorian era has been described by Lewis
rectangular "square" form, as well as in the familiar Mumford as "the brown decades"; these somber
grand and upright patterns, were important items colors were carried over into the Edwardian era at
for status-oriented display, and were designed with the beginning of the twentieth century.
particularly rich, complex, and generally heavy Llistribution of the elements of Victorian inte-
ornamentation. riors was furthered by several new commercial
Victorian textile design, separated from the techniques. Department stores in cities offered a
process of hand weaving by the use of powered wide choice of goods of every sort, so that the
looms set up in large and efficient mills, empha- Victorian shopper could compare, select, and order
sized hea\7, elaborate, and colorful pattern, both delivery of everything needed for household deco-
woven and printed. Floral designs were particularly ration at one stop. Away from American cities,
favored. Trimming materials such as braiding, particularly on the farms of the middle and far
fringe, and tassels were added to make drapery rich west, mail order catalogs from Sears Roebuck,
and complex. Lace curtains were a popular, more Montgomery Ward, and many smaller firms illus-
modest window treatment. Interior doorways were more extensive range of products
trated an even
often equipped with curtain rods so that, in addi- that could be ordered for shipment to even the
tion to doors, portieres could be hung to most remote locations. In addition to furniture,
discourage drafts and add a touch of decorative textiles, carpets, and wallpapers, the mail order
richness. firms offered heating stoves, plumbing fixtures,
Carpets, now generally made on power looms, kitchen equipment, and all sorts of useful and
were designed with themes similar to those used decorative objects. Stoves and kitchen ranges made
for textiles. Leaves, flowers, arabesques, and scroll of cast iron are ornate in form but full of practical
forms were developed in repeat patterns so that features to aid heating and cooking. Coal
carpet could be had by the yard to be sewed supplanted wood as a fuel, to be followed by gas in
together and tacked down wall-to-wall. Linoleum, cities. The patented 1871 Wilson adjustable chair
a newly invented floor covering material, was simi- uses cushions supported on an iron frame that
larly produced in floral patterns and in designs permits adjustment into a wide variety of configu-
imitating woven rugs. Wood floors or hardwood in rations. Bathroom fixtures include flush toilets,
parquet patterns, and floors of colored tile in bath tubs, and wash basins in a variety of styles
varied patterns were also common. from the sternly utilitarian to elaborately ornate.
Wallpaper became a particularly popular form Oil lamps in great variety, from simple to
of wall treatment, used whenever plain plaster ornate, were the most used lighting devices, but
might be visible above wainscot or other wood city gas led to fixtures in forms similar to candle
trim. Factory-printed papers provided a simple brackets. Chandeliers were popular, often similarly
way to cover surfaces with pattern which might be ornamented with brass work and hanging crystal
geometric, floral, or even scenic; oriental themes prisms. With the development of electric light,
were also popular. Some papers were embossed to older lamps and gas fixtures were regularly
create a bas-relief effect. Printed paper borders converted to use the new Edison bulbs wherever
were available using designs based on architectural electric service became available. The first electric
molding and trim details such as egg and dart or fan was made in 1889 and, by 1893, a fully electric
207
Chapter Eleven
208
The Victorian Era
11.18 [opposite]
Horace Trumbauer, The
Elms, Newport, Rhode
Island, 1901.
Trumbauer's work
marks a transition from
the creative ornamen-
talism of the Victorian
eramto the more disci-
pimed historicism of the
eclectic work that
followed after the turn
of the century This
grand house attempted
to recreate a French
Renaissance chateau. It
kitchen was ready for display at the Columbian Single, named for its designer, Patrick Stirling interior design in this
special private car,
Exhibition in Chicago. Singer's first sewing (1820-95), and for its single pair of giant eight-foot
which was built for the
machine of 1851 developed into a household driving wheels in gleaming green paint with no queen by the London &
necessity. In its developed form, the mechanism decoration except simple stripes emphasizing the North Western Railway.
Surfaces are padded
was embedded in a table supported on a cast-iron form of its mechanical parts, contrasts with a
and quilted, fringed
base that carried the foot treadle and flywheel. The passenger coach outfitted as a private carriage for drapery is everywhere,
iron parts, perforated to save material and weight, Queen Victoria (fig. 11.19). The coach interior is furniture is can/ed and
quilted, lamps are
were invariably made into ornamental forms, while padded and quilted, trimmed with woodwork in
shaded and fringed
the machine itself carried gilt-stenciled designs. A Gothic style,and furnished with opulent uphol- The door at the end of
plywood top cover was usually provided. stery. Fringed curtains hang at the windows, and the car is of wood
carved in Gothic,
The astonishing mixture of the functional and no trace of its role as transportation, intended to
pointed detail.
the practical with ornamentalism and sham is the speed along steel rails behind a steam locomotive,
characteristic of Victorian design that makes this can be discovered.
period so complex, so contradictory, and so inter- The contradictions and problems of Victorian
esting (fig. 11.18). The Victorian design dilemma design did not go unnoticed, and eventually move-
can be summed up at British transport museums ments dedicated to reform emerged. The most
where it is possible to view steam locomotives of effective and interesting of these movements is the
great elegance and simplicity. The great Stirling subject of the following chapter.
209
The Aesthetic Movements
During the Victorian era, various reactions devel- into architecture, there can be but little hope for it."
oped in opposition to the historicism, decorative The "seven lamps" of which he wrote were desig-
display, and excess of the prevailing design fash- nated as "sacrifice," "truth," "power," "beauty,"
ions. Opposition coalesced in several more or less "life," "memory," and "obedience," suggesting the
organized movements that are nowf usually thought strongly idealistic tone of Ruskin's ideas. It was
of together as constituting the Arts and Crafts Ruskin's bitter denunciation of the design of
movement or, as it is sometimes called, the industrially produced objects that impacted most
Aestheticmovement. These movements had their strongly on the Arts and Crafts movement. The
beginning in England and developed there in the assumption that machine-made things would
second half of the nineteenth century. Eventually, inevitably be tasteless and garish led to advocacy of
these developments generated the Craftsman a return to hand craft as the only possible route to
MOVEMENT in the United States. Influence can also reform.
be traced into Germany and Austria in later styles This combination of a desire for honesty in
and movements which in turn have direct links to terms of expression of function, material, and tech-
the modernism of the twentieth century. niques of production, combined with a conviction
In this chapter, developments are considered in that only hand craft can achieve such honesty, is
relation to the theorists, philosophers, and the central doctrine of the movement. Excessive
designers whose names and works define the move- and ugly ornamentation is to be banished, but
ment of design history. The individual becomes "meaningful" decoration devised by the craftsman
increasingly important in this respect as the nine- is to be welcomed. Since craftsmen with the inven-
teenth century advances. The emergence of the tiveness and might require hardly
taste that this
celebrity designer was promoted by the expanding existed. Arts and Crafts designers either turned
availability of publications that served to make the into craftsmen themselves, or produced designs on
work of individuals known to a broad public. paper of the sort they thought craftsmen should
invent.
Crafts emphasis on many of the ideas that dominated Arts and Crafts ( 1824-81 ), a Gothic Revivalist architect in London.
simplicity and honest and Morris did not himself practice architecture, but, at
design. There are substantial areas of overlap
craftsmanship and the
Art Nouveau urge cross-influence between Gothic Revival and Arts the time of his marriage, turned to his friend Philip
toward more adven- and Crafts ideas, but whereas the Revivalists simply Webb (1831-1915), another former employee of
turous new forms In
who had established an architectural office,
advocated return to medieval Gothic practice, the Street
this interior the use of
geometric forms in the
Arts and Crafts movement sought original design for the design of a house to be built at Bexleyheath,
furniture and hanging of its own time based on the ideology of Ruskin then on the edge of London.
lights IS combined with
and his followers. Ruskin's admiration for Gothic The Red House (fig. 12.2; 1859-60) that Webb
directions that point
toward later
work arose from his conviction that itwas "honest" designed is a demonstration of the ideas that
modernism. The carpet of materials and in its
in its use emphasis on crafts- Morris had formed. Its red brick walls and red tiled
uses small pattern
manship of the highest available quality. roof carry no ornamentation, while its plan,
elements of tiny
squares in contrast to In The Seven Lamps of Architecture (1849) external form, and placement of windows and
Its simple overall color. Ruskin asserts, "Until common sense finds its way doors are strictlv the result of internal function.
210
Ji^-a toi'iaft,
f t
^v.
Chapter Twelve
212
The Aesthetic Movements
well house on the lawn serves a real water well. The Webb designed the Red
irregular plan is based on functional realities, not House for his friend
disastrous level that Victorian design had reached. furniture and rugs are
of later date: the radi-
Morris was equally belligerent in his denunciation ator IS modern.
of the industrial products that were featured in the
products they produce. He focused on two-dimen- treatment, the art work, and the furniture all main-
sional design for textiles, wallpapers, books, and tain a relationship orchestrated by Morris. The
typography. His textile designs were always based room is richly colorful, with green as a unifying
design appeared as pretentious, heavy, and overly for use in Morris's interiors as well as for his own
decorative. In 1875, Morris owner of
became sole architectural projects. He was the designer of the
the firm, called then Morris & Co., which produced massive wardrobe with a front painted by Burne-
many of his designs as well as work by a number of Jones presented to Morris for the Red House.
followers. The output included designs for printed Webb also designed a number of country houses
chintzes and hand-tufted carpets and, eventually, thatform an interesting contrast with the Queen
carpet designs for Wilton and Axminster factories. Anne work of Norman Shaw. Although some of
The firm was also active in interior design, taking Webb's houses were very large, he aimed for a
213
Chapter Twelve
best.
Clouds (1881-91), a Wiltshire house designed by tion from such sources as Japanese prints and
Webb, is a large and rambling mansion, but its ceramics. Christopher Dresser (1834-1904) began
interiors, including the White Drawing Room with his design career with a study of botanical forms
white walls and a Morris carpet and the library with which he urged as a basis for "applied art," that is,
its white-painted woodwork and plaster and simple decorative design. Dresser became interested in
fireplace, seem free of clutter and surprisingly Japanese art and design in the 1860s and eventually
modern in spirit. established himself as a commercial designer; he is
Another Webb design is Standen in Surrey (fig. sometimes spoken of as the first industrial designer.
12.4; 1891-4), also large, but with the character of a He produced designs for pottery, porcelains, glass-
cluster of simple brick farm buildings. Inside, most ware, textiles, wallpapers, silver, and ironwork.
of the rooms have walls paneled up close to the Although he had no resei^vations about designing
ceiling; some are papered with Morris patterned for industrial production, he was a vocal advocate
papers instead. Paneling is generally white-painted, of simplicity and "honesty," making connections
although in the dining room it is blue-green. The between his botanical knowledge and the model for
detailing is straightforward, and the color, coming design excellence that nature has to offer. Many ot
from Morris carpets, textiles, and paper, has a his designs, particularly those for silver and glass-
214
'
12.5 Christopher
Edward W. Godwin (1833-86) concentrated the
Dresser, pattern In
(founded 1860s), was devoted to the production of Dresser moved from this
inclined elite (fig. 12.6). His designs were light and book Modern
Ornamentation, to
delicate with decoration that was, by Victorian
increasingly creative
standards, restrained and simple. A catalog of forms that make him a
Godwin designs was published in 1877, illustrated precursor of modern
industrial design.
with drawings grouped under headings such as
"Anglo-Japanese Drawing Room Furniture" or
"Students' Furniture." Other plates show complete
rooms in Godwin's own version of the Arts and
House Crafts approach. His later works were generally
Rossetti and the Aesthetic
one-of-a-kind objects, hand craft made for his own
Lady Mount Temple, a respectable Victorian society use or for clients, who included such leaders of the
hostess, encountered at first hand the starkly
Aesthetic Movement as Oscar Wilde and James
expressed artistic sensibilities of the pre-Raphaelite
McNeill Whistler (1834-1903).
poet and painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti. She recorded
Godwin was the designer of the White House in 12.6 Japanese Court,
the meeting in her Memorials:
International
Tite Street,London, for (and probably in coopera-
You remember our dear little house in Curzon Exhibition, London,
tion with) Whisder in 1887-8. Although Whisder's
Street; when we furnished it, nothing would please 1862.
us but watered paper on the walls, garlands of reputation is primarily based on his work as a
The Victorian discovery
roses tied with blue bows! Glazed chintzes with painter, he was often involved in decorative of Japanese design
bunches of roses, so natural they looked, thought, I
projects that ranged from painted picture frames promoted a new
as if they had just been gathered (between you and interest in orientalism.
and screens made up of painted panels to the deco- Visitors to the exhibi-
me, still think it was very pretty) and most lovely
I
ration of a room in a London house called the tion came away with
ornaments we had in perfect harmony, gilt pelicans
or swans or candlesticks, Minton's imitation of Peacock Room (fig. 12.7), which has been reassem- an awareness of an
exotic theme that fitted
Sevres, and gilt bows everywhere. bled in the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington,
into the Aesthetic
D.C. The room was originally designed in 1876 by Movement's urge
One day Mr Rossettiwas dining alone with us, and to
instead of admiring my room and decorations, as I Thomas Jeckyll (1827-81), a designer who shared bring the forms of
oriental design into the
expected, he evidently could hardly sit at ease with the enthusiasm for Japanese themes with Godwin
decorative practice of
them. began to ask if it were possible to suggest
I
and Whisder. The Peacock Room was a dining nineteenth-century
improvements! "Well," he said, frankly, "I should
room with Godwin furniture, walls covered with England.
begin by burning everythng you have got."
visit in 1863:
215
Chapter Twelve
12.7 Thomas Jeckyll leatherand lined with an intricate system of shelves Charles Eastlake (see also p. 197) was another
and James McNeill movement through his
on thin vv'ooden support members intended for the influential figure in the
Whistler, Peacock
Room, 49 Prmces Gate, display of a collection of Japanese blue and white publications, but his own very limited work and
London, 1876-7. porcelains. Whistler converted this setting into the work of his many imitators was closer to the
Within this dining room what he called "A Harmony in Blue and Gold" by heavy High Victorian tradition than to the spirit of
Wliistler introduced
painting the entire room even the doors, walls, the Arts and Crafts movement. The term "art
Japanese themes into
an Arts and Crafts envi-
and window shutters with decorative forms furniture" was Eastlake's name for the aesthetically
ronment. The room, based on the feathers of the peacock, a favorite "correct" design that he advocated. Bruce Talbert
with Its shelves to
theme of the Aesthetic movement. It was the drift (1838-81) was a designer of furniture and metal-
display Japanese porce-
of this movement toward the exotic, toward work he called Gothic, but which appears
in a style
had been designed
lain,
by Thomas Jeckyll. extremes, and toward pretentiousness that became in the drawings he published to be close to Arts and
Whistler's decoration
the basis for the satire by W. S. Gilbert in the Crafts uitentions. Robert W. Edis (1839-1927) was
used blue and gold
wall painting inspired
Gilbert and Sullivan operetta Patience. It is an architect working in the Queen Anne vocabu-
by peacock feathers. amusing to note that Gilbert himself lived in a lary, but in his book Decoration and Furniture of
The furniture was by Norman Shaw London house, Grims Dyke, with Town Houses (1881) he illustrates interiors where
Edward William
Godwin, a former assis-
interiors that exemplify the pretensions that Morris wallpaper and Godwin furniture are to be
216
The Aesthetic Movements
tion called the Art Workers' Guild that was for a Henry Stacy Marks, and
wallpaper by William
time a gathering point for Arts and Crafts-oriented
Morris. Edis was an
personalities. Charles R. Ashbee (1863-1942) was active propagandist for
also associated with the guild, acting as its leading the ideas of the
Aesthetic Movement
designer of furniture, and jewelry. In 1901 he
silver,
and the Arts and Crofts
was instrumental in moving the guild, by then Movement. His book
numbering some 150 craftsmen, to the Cotswold urged readers to follow
(1865-1945) designed furniture for the guild, as use in their own homes.
Scott continued to
design m the spirit of
and Crafts
the Arts
Movement well into the
twentieth century. This
cabinet is covered with
painted ornamental
detail in the manner
that Morris had intro-
duced fifty years before.
217
Chapter Twelve
those favored in typical Victorian work. Walls were interiors, originally with furniture of his design,
often paneled up to a height of six or seven feet, have a directness based on craft orientation. His
whUe a frieze or band of lighter tones, paint, or own house. The Orchard ( 1900), at Chorley Wood,
paper introduced a horizontal element that Hertfordshire, is a simple gable-roofed mass
suggested openness. Bulbous lamps and lighting suggesting English country vernacular design.
fixtures were often replaced by box-like forms with Interior spaces are of great simplicity and elegance
frosted or colored glass to screen the newly intro- (fig. 12.10). Although they appear close in spirit to
following century.
218
a
inserts, and special furniture. For private clients and Christopher Wren's
London churches. His
for his own Glasgow flat. Mackintosh developed highly onginal title
furniture designs that most often used simple, page seems unrelated
to the content and
geometric forms, but then introduced exaggerated
suggests the Art
proportions, extreme high chair backs, and white or
Nouveau direction that,
black paint finishes with decorative details in violet, at the time, had not yet
fully surfaced.
silver, or gold. Painted ornamental elements were
often added by Mackintosh's wife, Margaret
Macdonald (1865-1933), who, along with her sister
Frances (1874-1921), was an active participant in
the Arts and Crafts movement and related design
activities that were centered in Glasgow in the 1890s.
12.11). His fiarniture design made use of related Its link to Art Nouveau, with its total rejection of
flowing curved forms. He was also the founder of the historicism, makes it the starting point for all
(fig. 12.1). The most important building by a divergent movement, limited in size and accep-
Mackintosh is the Glasgow School of Art tance, surfaced and offered alternatives to the
( 1896-1909), which is devoted to studio spaces with dominant taste of the time.
large windows that dominate the exterior.
219
Chapter Twelve
operated several furniture factories. Stickley began and any other materials that came to Stickley's
his career running a furniture store selling a variety attention that would appeal to an audience both
of historic reproductions. He became interested in tastefuland idealistic. Voysey contributed an
the writings of Ruskin and Morris and, in 1898, articleon the design of houses, illustrated with
made a trip to England to see the Arts and Crafts photographs of several of his designs including The
work being produced there. He also made a stop in Orchard. Advertisements in The Craftsman offered
Paris to visit Bing's Art Nouveau shop. On his products by other craft-oriented firms. Stickley
return to America he began to design and produce eventually established his headquarters in New
simple furniture, generally of massive form and York, where offices and showrooms for Craftsman
12.12 U.S. dining
made in solid oak, assembled with craftsmanly enterprises were grouped.
room, 1904.
wood joints, iron hardware, leather cushions and The commercial success of Stickley's efforts
The Craftsman, from
other details. Ornamentation was minimal or non- encouraged various imitators until a number of
which this illustration is
taken, was a magazine existent except as it resulted from constructional factories were producing Craftsman furniture and
that promoted the detailing. The style was often given the term other products. As the excesses of Victorian design
ideals of the Arts and
Mission because of its supposed similarity to began to lose popularity at the turn of the century,
Crafts Movement,
which was known in simple furniture made for the earlier California the Craftsman movement grew in importance.
America as the missions, or was designated Golden Oak for the Gustav Stickley's factory at Eastwood, New York,
Craftsman Movement
typical yellow-brown tone given the oak wood by a found itself in competition with the Onondaga,
The magazine
suggested designs for process called "fuming." Some of the most inter- New York, shops of his younger brothers Leopold
rooms and objects that esting examples of Stickley furniture were and John George Stickley. Elbert Hubbard
were clearly inspired by
the thinking of Morns,
produced during the brief period when Harvey (1856-1915) established his own craft-oriented
Webb, and Voysey. Ellis (1842-1904) was associated with the firm. His venture at East Aurora, New York, with the name
Traditional ladder-back
designs incorporated ornamentation suggestive ot of Roycroft. Hubbard produced books and
chairs stand around a
Voysey and later English and Scotch designers. pamphlets dealing with art and literature designed
table and sideboard
from the shops of In 1901 Stickley began publishing a magazine. in a style clearly based on Morris's precedents. The
Oustav Stickley. The The Craftsman, which promoted Arts and Crafts Roycrofters also produced Mission style furniture
room Itself, with its
ideals in architecture and design and illustrated in direct competition with Stickley, and moved
wood wainscot and
plain window detail, is "Craftsman houses" (fig. 12.12). The magazine even further than Stickley toward the establish-
in strong contrast to also carried articles promoting various causes such ment of an aesthetic cult. Although it faded in
the florid ornamenta-
most Victorian
as women's rights, improved child care, and social importance after World War I, when "period"
tion of
design of the time. justice, along with art photography, poetry, fiction. decoration in various historically imitative styles
became increasingly popular, some traces of
Craftsman influence survived into the 1930s.
Themes related to the Craftsman movement
included the development of a "bungalow style"
based on a kind of vernacular one-story house that
became popular in California. A typical bungalow
had porches, overhanging eaves, walls of shingle or
stucco, and minimal ornamental detail.
Bradley
220
"
Colorful renderings of
house interiors of
Bradley's design
became familiar to an
extensive American
public through their 12.14 Henry Hobson
publication in the Richardson, Trinity
popular magazine Church, Boston, 1877.
Ladies' Home Journal.
Richardson's work was,
His support for designs
in Its day, often called
in the Arts and Crafts "
"Romanesque Revival,
or Craftsman style and
butit was far more
his hints about the
creative than that
designs of Charles
designation suggests.
Rennie Mackintosh and
This church contains
the Vienna Secession
forms unlike any known
designers helped to
in the Romanesque era,
lead to the acceptance
and they resulted in an
of the furniture that
impressive space, rich in
came to be called
color, with stained
"Mission Style
glass by Tiffany and
painting by John La
Targe.
Richardson
221
Chapter Twelve
222
The Aesthetic Movements
12.15 (opposite)
the figurative paintings of John La Farge Arts and Crafts respect for quality handwork.
Greene and Greene,
(1833-1910) in dull reds and red-browns with Ornamentation is present but generally very Gamble House,
some blue-greens and gold. La Farge also designed restrained, while panels of stained glass, lantern- Pasadena, California,
1908,
the windows of the west front. Although like lamps, and hanging light fixtures (now for
Richardson's work seemed for a time to be another electric lights), and simple furniture of great The work of the Greene
revival
in this case of Romanesque his work elegance and full of craftsmanly details fill the
Brothers is based on an
understanding of craft
gradually moved from historicism toward simplifi- spacious entrance halls and other generous interior ideals with woodwork
cation while retaining fine stonework and semicir- spaces. Color is dominated by red-brown tones of detailing in a way that
appears based on
cular arches asdominant themes. A series of library wood, mahogany, some teak, some rosewood, Japanese traditional
buildings, each based on functional plans, became ebony, and maple, with polished oiled natural design. Finely detailed
furniture, original
progressively more innovative in design. The Crane finishes. Reds, blues, and greens appear in stained
lantern-like light
Library at Quincy, Massachusetts (1880-2), is the glass and in rugs.
fixtures, and stained-
best known. main space is a double-height stack
Its Bernard R. Maybeck (1862-1957) was the glass inserts in
room with an open reading space at its center. The designer of houses in a related California-based windows generate inte-
fireplace and mantel forms a focus at one end of (1910) uses highly original, craft-oriented wood
the room. Tables, chairs, and (gas) lighting fixtures detail to generate a handsome and original church
are all of Richardson's design. The chairs used here, interior. His most spectacular work, the Palace of
and similar chairs designed by Richardson for the Fine Arts for the Panama Pacific Exposition of
other projects, are spindle-backed arm chairs of 1912 in San Francisco, with its great central
simple but elegant form, far superior to the U^ical rotunda, turns away from vernacular and craft
furniture designs of the time. traditions toward historicism, albeit incorporating
The Richardson work that became most influ- a highly personal and creative view of its classical
ential, the Marshall Field Wholesale Store in precedents.The more modest works of the Greene
Chicago (1885-7), has, unfortunately, been brothers and of Maybeck established a California
destroyed. It was a block-long seven-story stone bungalow tradition, encouraged in the east by the
mass with windows in orderly arch-topped groups. Craftsman movement, that became a staple of
The interiors were simple open lofts and ware- modest suburban development. At best it offered
house spaces of strictly utilitarian character. The simple and sensible alternatives to Victorian
fame of the building rests on the simplicity of its pretensions. At worst, it became a cliche adopted
exterior form, which can be considered a precursor by real estate speculative developers to lend a kind
to the even more advanced work of Louis Sullivan, of spurious charm to subdivisons crammed with
one of the building's most vocal admirers. poorly designed and badly built houses offered to a
public eager to satisfy the dream of "a home of
one's own."
Greene & Greene and Maybeck
In California, the brothers Charles Sumner Greene
(1868-1957) and Henry Mather Greene Developments in Continental
(1870-1954) established an architectural practice
with a highly personal style that drew on the
Europe
Craftsman tradition, on the Stick style, and on the
bungalow vernacular. Greene and Greene houses The Arts and Crafts movement and its parallel
are of wood with low sloping roofs having long Craftsman movement in America did not transfer
overhangs. It is the quality of the interiors of these to the European continent and the Scandinavian
houses, such as the Pasadena, California, Blacker countries in any clearly recognizable form. As the
House of 1907 and the Gamble House (fig. 12.15) nineteenth century came to an end, an extraordi-
of 1908 (now preserved as a museum), that distin- complex variety of developments surfaced in
narily
guishes Greene and Greene work from other On the European continent, the
the design fields.
California work of the same era. Wood is used with emergence of Art Nouveau in Belgium and France
careful and intricate joinery detailing that draws on presented anew approach to design suited to the
oriental precedents in combination with parallel modern world (see Chapter 13).
223
Chapter Twelve
224
The Aesthetic Movements
12.16 [opposite)
Germany: Muthesius Hendrik Petrus Berlage (1856-1934), an architect
Hendnk Petrus Berlage,
best known for the massive Amsterdam Stock Amsterdam,
Bourse,
In Germany, although no direct parallel to English Exchange (fig. 12.16; 1898-1903). The building is 1898-1903.
Victorian design surfaced, the English Arts and constructed of Dutch brick with a facade that is The carefully detailed
brickwork in the walls
Crafts movement became a model for attempted symmetrical except for the great clock tower on
and upper galleries of
design reform furthered by the efforts of Hermann one The arched entrance openings and simple
side.
the Bourse (stock
Muthesius (1861-1927). An architect for the brick walls suggest the later work of Richardson exchange) forms a
dignified shell for the
Prussian government, Muthesius was sent to the there is no attempt at historic imitation and the
exposed steel trusses
German Embassy in London in 1896 to study ornamental detail is restrained. The interior is that roof the space with
English design practice. He was the author of a largely devoted to a vast open exchange room, with extensive areas of glass
skylights. The work of
number of magazine articles and books dealing balconies on two upper levels looking out into the
Berlage. with its strong
with English Arts and Crafts and related design central space through brick arches. Overhead, base in Dutch tradi-
activities. After returning to Germany he published exposed iron trusses with iron tie rods span the tions of fine masonry
(particularly in brick
the three-volume Das Englische Hans (19045) open space and support glass skylights that flood
and tile), embodied
illustrating work by Shaw, Baillie Scott, Voysey, the interior with daylight. Most of Berlage's later elements of function-
and other leading figures in English architecture work was in city planning for Amsterdam, but this alism as it was to
develop in the twen-
and interior design. As a government official, he building established his reputation as an important
tieth century.
urged improvement in German design and was a figure in the reform efforts that ultimately led to
powerful influence on the development of ment and the Nouveau design of conti-
parallel Art
modernism in Germany, and made a link between nental origin would have come together and
nineteenth-century English design reform and moved into the modernism of the twentieth
twentieth-century developments on the European century in a smooth progression. These efforts at
continent. reform, however, were pushed aside by a new wave
of enthusiasm for historical imitation usually called
eclecticism (see Chapter 14). It required a new
The Netherlands: Berlage
wave of reform to push eclecticism aside and open
In the Netherlands, the effort to find an alternative up the way to the twentieth-century directions now
to Victorian excess is represented by the work of calledmodernism.
225
Art Nouveau and the Vienna Secession
The late nineteenth century was a period of relative A close relationship with the fine arts, incorpo-
peace and prosperity in continental Europe. rating painting, bas-relief, and sculpture into
Economic prosperity generated larger upper and architecture and interior design.
upper-middle classes that could support new and The use of decorative ornamentation based on
experimental directions in design. Belgium and nature forms flowers, vines, shells, bird
France became the leading regions for the develop- feathers, insect wings and abstract forms
ment of Art Nouveau (with some extension into derived from these sources.
Germany, Spain, and the Scandinavian countries). Curvilinear forms as dominant themes in both
In Austria, Vienna beccune the center for the design basic structural elements and in ornamentation.
direction that became known as the Vienna The relationship to the generally curving and
Secession. Awareness of design in remote locations, flowing forms of nature gave rise to the S curves
such as the orient (particularly in Japan), increased or "whiplash" curves usually regarded as the
as travel became easier and communication brought most visible Art Nouveau motif
objects and art works into European culture. Art Nouveau directions can be traced in
graphic illustration, typography, posters and adver-
tisements, painting and sculpture, and fashion
Roots and Characteristics of Art design, and the design of jewelry and decorative
objects such as ceramics, glassware and silver,
Nouveau picture frames, and lamps, arriving at a synthesis in
complete interiors and in architecture. Because Art
Many of these developments were quite unrelated Nouveau surfaced in many fields and in many
13.1 [below) Cf. A. to one another and had, at least at their beginnings, places, it is difficult to trace an orderly develop-
Voysey, decorative
no central core of direction or leadership. It is only mental progression. It is usual to say that Art
design, England, 1907,
in retrospect that it has become possible to see Nouveau first appeared in France and Belgium, but
Voysey stands at a
crossroads between the
commonalities and relationships that justify it is probably more accurate to identify England as
Artsand Crafts speaking of Art Nouveau as "a movement." Even the point of origin. A number of individuals identi-
Movement prevalent in
the term Art Nouveau had no currency at the time fied with the Arts and Crafts movement designed
England (seep. 210)
and the Art Nouveau
the movement was developing
it was the name of
style that was devel- a Paris shop whose wares displayed the qualities
oping on the continent that were characteristic of the movement.
of Europe. This design,
In Germany and the Scandinavian countries the
which comes from late
in his career, makes use German term Jugendstil (the "young style" or
of the nature-based and "style of youth") was generally used. In England,
curvilinear forms that
are charactenstic of Art
where Art Nouveau was at first simply an aspect of
Nouveau. the Aestheticmovement (see Chapter 12), the term
13.2 [opposite]
Liberty style came into use also taken from the
226
:.>?^-v ;{
:^:
Chapter Thirteen
228
1
'
and the graphic design of the book cover of 1883 and 1 880s in the follov/ing terms:
(see p. 219). C. F. A. Voysey's textile prints also We are called upon to create something which is
make use of plant forms in free curves (fig. 13.1), our own, something to which we can give a new
and Christopher Dresser's design philosophy was name. We are called upon to invent a style .... We
must free ourselves from foreign influences ....
largely based on his knowledge of botany. Aubrey
Nothing is beautiful in architecture unless true.
Beardsley (1872-98) is well known for his style of
curving linear forms. The editor, Edouard Allen, went so far as to advise his
illustration using fantastically
'
readers to "shun pamted plaster and stucco."
In France similar themes appear in the posters of
Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939), and then in the Such view/s found expression in the unique and
influential buildmgs of Belgian architect Victor Horta.
posters and other works of such major arists as
In describmg the design concept for his celebrated
Henri Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) and Pierre Tassel House in Brussels, Horta declared,
Bonnard (1867-1947).
I discard the flower and the leaf, but I keep the
'
stalk.
(1861-1947) produced an extensive body of work Benn criticized the style in 1 904:
that shows off all of the qualities that are typical of With regard to this "new art," said, and it has been
Art Nouveau design. The Tassel House in Brussels with some measure of reason, on the one that,
( 1 892 ) has a symmetrical row-house facade that hand, most of it which is really new, is not art, and,
on the other, that which is art, is not new; and do I
painted decorations and the mosaic tile patterns of 1977), p. 151; 4.;i/d, p. 151, S. H. D. Ber\!\, Style m Furniture
(London, 1904). p. 37
floors (fig. more open and
13.3). Spaces are
flowing than Victorian practice would have
permitted. The Van Eetvelde House in Brussels
(1895) contains a remarkable salon where iron detail. The house is now preserved as a museum. In
columns support a glass dome in a relationship the Hotel Solvay (not a hotel but a luxurious
technically suggestive of the Crystal Palace, but private house), also in Brussels, there are interiors
here with the introduction of the florid curves of with an even richer display of Art Nouveau decora-
Art Nouveau. tive vocabulary. Horta's Maison du Peuple
In his own house and adjacent office-studio in (1896-9), now demoHshed, was a larger building
Brussels (fig. 13.4; 1898), with its asymmetrical with an iron and glass facade curved to follow the
facade with twisted iron balcony supports and large form of the adjacent street. Its top-floor meeting
glass windows, Horta was able to design every hall with exposed iron structural elements and
detail furniture, light fixtures, stained-glass great electric light standards suggests directions
panels, door and window frames, even hardware that the twentieth century was to explore. Having
so that every element is an expression of Art achieved remarkable success with his early work,
Nouveau, curvilinear, nature-related decorative Horta retreated into a rather dull, conventional
229
Chapter Thirteen
France
inserts, electric lighting tioner was Henri Van de Velde (1863-1957) whose fixtures, and furniture were his designs, creating a
fixtures, and furniture
fantastic environment of closely related, original,
own house of 1894 also exemplified the Art
with flowing Art
Nouveau desire to create everything in a new and curvilinear, and complex forms. There arose a
Nouveau curves oil to
his own design. The unified mode. He designed the house and all its School of Nancy, which included other designers
white tiles and the use
furniture and contents, down to table silver and such as the master of decorative craftsmanship in
of color are typical of
Art Nouveau style.
kitchen cookware. He moved from Brussels to glass Emile Galle (1846-1904) and the furniture
Paris where he was the designer of the shop estab- designer Louis Majorelle (1859-1926), each a
13.5 Henri Van de
lished by Samuel Bing (1838-1919) that carried the master of a vocabulary of ornate and complex
Velde, magazine
advertisement for Van name L'Art Nouveau and gave that name to the decorative form. Majorelle was a specialist in the
de Velde's Atelier, style and period. Van de Velde was strongly influ- design of furniture using carving, inlay, and
Dekorative Kunst, Vol, I,
ormolu or other metal decorative elements; the
Belgium, 1898,
curving themes were generally based on floral
In this advertisement.
230
Art Nouveau and the Vienna Secession
while the water hydrant in the court has been made In the vestibule of this
histories and the tastes of occupants, but old metal wall details that
continue up to a
photographs show Guimard in the studio of his
pamted ceiling, and an
own apartment surrounded by his furniture,
entrance gate of metal.
woodwork, and plaster details, many of the All these elements use
231
Chapter Thirteen
entrances have been destroyed, but the surviving also used, therefore, for work in Spain, England,
examples have come to seem essential elements of Scotland, and America that shares some or all of
the Paris street scene, beautiful and full of local these characteristics. In Barcelona, Spain, although
color. They are among the most successful of all there is a variety of work in this style, the dominant
Art Nouveau designs. figure of Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926) stands out as
Guimard was still practicing as late as 1929, the inventor of a highly personal vocabulary of
although his later work moves away from the more flowing curves and unusual decorative details. His
florid manifestations of Art Nouveau toward a 1904-6 reconstruction of an older building, Casa
more restrained but still richly decorative style. Batllo (figs. 13.8 and 13.9), included a new facade
Guimard's work, like most Art Nouveau design, of complex, bone-like forms with a fantastic roof
demanded costly handwork. The flowdng forms of line and, for some apartments, remarkable inte-
a chair, for example, were not the result of the use riors. Paneled doors are studded with small mirrors
of a flowing material they demanded a high order of irregular shape; ceilings are of plaster in swirling
of woodworking skill. Such work was only afford- curved forms.
able by affluent clients who were also avant-garde The nearby, much larger Casa Mila, informally
in their tastes a very limited public that could known locally as La Pedrera ("the rock quarry;"
never support quantity production. begun 1905), is a large, six-story apartment house
built around open courtyards. Its rippling cement
exterior with iron-railed balconies is wrapped
Other French Designers
around a most unusual plan in which each apart-
A number of other French designers worked in the ment is a suite of rooms of irregular shape fitted
Art Nouveau vocabulary, specializing in interior together like stones of a mosaic. At rooftop level,
(1862-1948), and Eugene Gaillard (1862-1933) projects. The Guell Park (1905-14) and unfinished
were both known for their design of furniture and Sagrada Familia church (1903-26) exhibit Gaudi's
jewelry. Rene Lalique (1860-1945) was a designer fantastic and highly personal stylistic vocabulary
of textiles, jewelry, framed mirrors, and lamps, but on a major scale.
and had virtually disappeared by World War I 1869, but the style is essentially identical to the Art
232
Art Nouveau and the Vienna Secession
13.8 (/eft)Antoni
Caudi, Casa Batllo,
Barcelona, 1904-6,
233
Chapter Thirteen
13.11 LarsSonck, St
bas-relief of curving form, abstract, yet suggestive
John's Cathedral,
Tampere, Finland,
of waves or sea creatures dominated the blank
1902-7. upper wall surface. Window mullions were curved
Art Nouveau concepts irregularly, as if made from stems of vines. The
were strongly welcomed entrance hall and stairway made use of related
in Finland, where they
fantastic decorative motifs. Endell was the designer
were known by the
German term of several less spectacular buildings and some Art
Jugendstil. Sonck was Nouveau furniture, but his reputation rests on the
influenced by bnck-built
churches in Germany,
Elvira shop alone.
but the flowing curves
of the architectural
elements, the painted
Riemerschmidt and Behrens
ornamental details, the
Pankok (1872-1943) on the design of a dining suggestive of H. H. Richardson, but with details
room shown at the Paris exhibition of that year, that balance Nordic and Art Nouveau influences.
while Pankok alone produced a "smoking room" The wide open space surrounded on
interior, a
for the same exhibition, lined with wood in carved three sides by broad balconies, uses stained glass,
and shaped forms that related to windows, ceilings, wall painting, and ornamental plaster work in a
and light fixtures, all expressive of Jugendstil Jugendstil decorative vocabulary. In the Helsinki
fantasy form. The early work of Peter Behrens Railroad Station (1906-14), Eliel Saarinen
(1868-1940) is also in the Jugendstil mode, such as (1873-1950) displays a style transitional between
the interiors of his own house at Darmstadt (1901), Jugendstil and an early form of modernism.
for example. He later moved toward a more
reserved, modernist style in his work for the
German electrical industry (AEG), which included Austria: The Vienna Secession
a variety of products such as electric fans, kettles,
and lighting devices. Vienna Secession is the term that was used by a
234
Art Nouveau and the Vienna Secession
entrance there is a great hollow dome of metal with ^3.^2 {above left) 13.13 {above) 13.14 (Wow) Otto
Josef Olbrich, Secession Interior of Secession Wagner, Post Office
a surface of gilded leaves (fig. 13.12). The interior
Building, Vienna, 1897, Gallery. Savings Bank, Vienna,
of the building has been altered, but old 1 904-6.
Olbrich's Secession In the central gallery of
photographs show it as it was at its opening: the
building had a symmet- the Secession Building The main banking room
great central gallery room has an arched ceiling and ncal scheme with a the severely geometric uses an exposed metal
strongly rectilinear basis forms of door and other structure and a glass
skylight and painted wall decoration in flowing Art
and moldings sugges- openings and the barrel-vaulted roof The
Nouveau patterns (fig. 13.13).
tive of classicism, but pattern ofsguares on rivets of the steel
Other work by Olbrich included a number of with decorative detail the wall indicate the columns act as decora-
Mathildenhohe colony, founded using floral motifs that rectilinear emphases of tive elements, while
houses in the art
relate to Art Nouveau. Secession design, while other ornamental detail
in 1899 at Darmstadt in Germany under the the wall painting uses confined to a few
The gilded sculptural IS
patronage of the grand duke of Hesse. An exhibi- dome has a laurel-leaf the flowing forms black and white bands
theme and the balance similar to those of Art in the tiling of the floor,
tion hall there and the Hochzeitturm (Wedding
between straight and Nouveau work in which IS largely glass to
Tower, 1905-8) make use of geometric decorative
curving forms typifies Belgium and France. admit light to the base-
Wagner
Otto Wagner (1841-1918), who had an established
architectural career working in a conventional
revivalist style,moved toward a new direction with
the publication of his book Moderne Architektur
(1895), which called for the abandonment of
235
" ' '
Chapter Thirteen
He was appointed Professor of Architecture at the with a light, suspended ceiling of square, white
Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna in 894 and quickly 1 panels held by thin metal strips painted gold. The
gained a reputation for being a radical teacher, liturgical fittings, the altar with baldachino, the
encouraging his students to publish their opinions, pulpit and confessionals, the hanging light fixtures,
which were strongly influenced by his own. He was
the pictorial mosaics above the altar, and the
inspired by the writings of Gottfried Semper,
particularly an essay entitled Science, Industry and
stained-glass windows are all examples of the
Art, written in the 1850s: geometrically based decorative vocabulary of the
Secession movement.
unremittingly science enriches and life with itself
newly discovered useful materials and natural The best known of Wagner's projects is the large
powers that work miracles, with new methods and headquarters for the Austrian Post Office Savings
techniques, with new tools and machines. Bank (fig. 13.14; 1904-6). The exterior of the
Wagner's buildings articulated this belief in a building is sheathed in panels of stone held by bolts
purposeful, modern approach to architecture by with heads exposed as decorative detail. Interior
making use of materials and techniques in as
lobbies, and corridors are enriched with
stairs,
"honest" a way as possible. His students published
Secessionist detail in metal and stained glass. The
their impressions of his theories in the journal Aus der
central main banking room has a high central area
Wagnerschule:
with lower side spaces on either side (a "nave and
the building must function like a perfectly
aisles" in strictly modern terms) all roofed in metal
constructed machine; it must in its installation be on
the level of the wagons-lit; and it must in matters of and glass; support columns are steel with exposed
hygiene and cleanliness, of all objects for use, be up rivet heads. The metal is all white; the floor of struc-
to clinical demands. What is needed is a synthesis of tural glass gives light to the space below. Electric
hospital, sleeping car and machine. ^
light fixtures and tubular ventilator outlets are
And again: functional elements that also serve a decorative role.
All coquettish, superficial efforts, and all Simple wooden counters, check writing desks, and
individuality are avoided like a machine, a good stools are all in Wagner's increasingly simple
chair or a musical instrument the architectural design. Although a work of the Vienna Secession,
form must be a uniform designed after criteria of
this room can be viewed as the first truly modern
need and material working towards a greater
. . .
1 . otto Wagner, Moderne Architektur, 1 895; 2. Gottfried Semper, totally practical and aesthetically successful through
Wissenschaft Industrie und Kunst (London, 1 852); 3. Aus der
Wagnerschule, extract quoted m Nikolaus Pevsner and J.M. Richards, form and structure, without dependence on any
The Anti-Rationalists (London, 1 973) p. 95; 4. Ibid P 95 applied decorative ornament.
Hoffmann
historical revivalism in favor of design based on
"purpose." His major civic projects of the 1890s losef Hoffmann (1870-1956) had a long career in
included parts of a Danube canal system incorpo- architecture and design that extended from the
rating locks, bridges, and dams, as well as viaducts, early days of the Secession movement into twen-
buildings, and architectural elements for the tieth-century modernism. His most important
Stadtbahn, an urban rail transport network. works date from early in his Secessionist period. In
Entrance kiosks such as the twin structures at the 1903 he was one of the founders of the Vienna
Karlsplatz station in Vienna (1898) used a metal Werkstatte, the loose guild of craft shops that
cage structure, externally visible, to hold wall produced objects of his design and work by other
236
Art Nouveau and the Vienna Secession
13.15 Josef
Secessionist designers. His design moved toward Vienna but in Brussels. The large and luxurious
Hoffmann, Palais
strict rectangularity (he usually made his drawings house commissioned by the Belgian Adolphe Stoclet, Brussels,
on graph paper); themes of small squares in Stoclet, usually called Palais Stoclet (1905-11), is 1905-11.
patterns for textiles and papers, for perforations in an extraordinary building, an asymmetrical mass In this formal dining
and specially designed furniture including a simple rials (marbles in various colors) and restrained, warm color of the
marble walls and by
chair for the dining hall look toward the austerity geometric ornament. The dining room (fig. 13.15)
the mosaic murals of
of later modernism. He also designed various exhi- has large mosaic murals by Gustav Klimt. There is the side walls. These
were designed by
bitions, residential projects, retail shops, bars, and an e.xceptionally large bathroom with tub, wall
Gustav Klimt and were
restaurants, as well as furniture, china, table silver, panels, and flooring all in marble. Hoffmann even executed in marble,
and glassware. designed the silver toilet articles spread on a glass, and semi-
precious stones by
The most famous Hoffmann work is not in dressing table shelf
Leopold Forstner.
237
Chapter Thirteen
of twentieth-century
that became central to the development of lower floors, but nevertheless attracted anger and
modernism. Built-in
shelving, seating, and modernism. His essay "Ornament und ridicule because the upper, residential apartment
cabinets support a Verbrechen" (Ornament and Crime) of 1908 floors have plain, white walls with rows of plain,
functional approach to
attacks the use ofornament, which he viewed as a square windows. The tiny Vienna Karntner Bar of
design. The decorative
rugs and an orna- needless expression of degeneracy that modern 1907, with its ceiling of rectangular panels, floor
mental clock on the civilization could best eliminate. While Loos's tiled in squares, and rich woods and leathers for the
shelf may seem
attempt to make a clear association between orna- furnishings, is hardly an austere space. By contrast,
surpnsing, but Loos did
allow such older orna- ment and criminalit)' now seems odd, his view of Loos's Steiner House of 1910 carries austerity to
mental objects within ornament as inappropriate to modern mechanized the brink of brutality with its blocky white-walled
his austere interiors.
masses punctured by scattered window openings.
Interiors are less doctrinaire, with a clutter of
contemporary Viennese comforts.
Secession design proved to be the most influen-
tial aspect of Art Nouveau. While the florid curves
United States
Tiffany
238
Art Nouveau and the Vienna Secession
IS lighted by outdoor
America and Paris before settling in New York to These rooms tended to follow the Victorian taste
devote his attention to art. Toward the end of the for crowded rich elaboration, modified by an
1870s he became increasingly interested in the awareness of the standards of the Arts and Crafts
decorative arts, and in 1897 he established the inte- movement. In 1885 Tiffany reorganized his busi-
rior decorating firm Louis C. Tiffany & Associated ness, the new name Tiffany Glass Company indi-
Artists. This offered both design and workshop cating his increased concentration on the art of
production of many of the elements that went into stained glass (fig. 13.17). He was commissioned to
such spaces as the Veterans' Room of the Seventh produce windows for many American churches
Regiment Armory in New York (1879) and resi- (including H. H. Richardson's Trinity Church in
dential interiors for wealthy New York families. Boston; see p. 221), often using conventionalized
239
Chapter Thirteen
covering, elaborate
standing lamp, orna-
mental fireplace
surround, and shelves
for books and ceramics
come together with
hints of the urgings of
Eastlake and Edis. The
illustration is repro-
pictorial treatment of religious subjects in a and often surpassed the work of such great French
Victorian version of medieval practice. Gradually, glass workers as Galle and Lalique. His famous
his stained glass came into demand in settings Tiffany lamps use metal bases with glass shades in a
other than churches. great variety of forms. The shades are often of
In residences (fig. 13.18), clubs, and similar leaded, pieced stained glass, and often single-piece
locations his landscape, floral, and semi-abstract globes of colorful, patterned Favrile glass. Some
themes showed increasing similarity to French Art lamps are clusters of many small glass shades held
Nouveau work in glass. A window titled Four by complex metal bases suggesting the stems of
Seasons, with landscape panels for each season, was flowers or vines. Nature forms, peacock feathers, or
exhibited in Paris in 1892; it established an interna- insect wings often appear as alternatives to plant
tional reputation for Tiffany and drew the atten- forms. Tiffany also designed mosaics, rugs, and
tion of Samuel Bing, who added Tiffany designs to some furniture.The tremendous popularity of
the roster of works shown in his Paris Art Nouveau Tiffany designs faded as tastes changed after World
shop. War I, but more recent interest in the Art Nouveau
Skill in working with glass led Tiffany into the era has established Tiffany as a major figure in the
resulting designs. Iridescent color effects were often often thought of as a pioneer of modernism, the
used in the greatly admired Jack-in-the-pulpit and advocate of the idea that "form follows function."
Morning glory designs. Tiffany's glass resembled He was the first American modernist architect, as
240
Art Nouveau and the Vienna Secession
well as the early employer and mentor of Frank H. Richardson's Marshall Field Warehouse,
Lloyd Wright. Yet Sullivan was not opposed to the although visually less successful. Sullivan's principal
use of ornament. Most of his work includes rich contribution was in the interior spaces that were the
ornamentation in a highly personal style that has great glory of the project (fig. 13.19). Lobbies, stair-
its basis in nature forms thus he can also be ways, public spaces in the hotel, and those serving
understood as an exponent of Art Nouveau in the auditorium display Sullivan as an extraordinary
architecture and interior design in America. designer both in terms of spatial organization and
Sullivan studied briefly at the Massachusetts of ornament. The auditorium is topped with great
Institute of Technology and then worked for a time arches that span a space studded with electric light
in the Philadelphia office of Frank Furness. In 1874 bulbs and surrounded by florid, gilded relief orna-
he went to Paris to take up architectural study at ment in Sullivan's personal vocabulary of Art
the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, but he was dissatisfied Nouveau related detail. The sightlines and acoustics
and moved to Chicago in 1875. of the auditorium were excellent and there were
He entered into a partnership with an older, ingenious arrangements for movable ceiling panels
German-trained architect, Dankmar Adler that could be lowered to reduce the 4200 seat
(1844-1900). The firm's Chicago Auditorium capacity when an event did not require so large a
Building (1886-90) is a great opera house, hidden hall. The main dining room of the hotel, placed at
in a central space, surrounded by a multistory hotel roof level, was a magnificent arched space with
and office building. The iron structural framing windows overlooking Lake Michigan, skylights, and
permits the ten-story height, but the outside walls painted wall and ceiling surfaces edged with
are of masonry treated with detail reminiscent of H. Sullivan's elaborate decorative detail.
241
Chapter Thirteen
many of his buildings is and details continued to use nature-based, florid Sullivan had fewer clients and less work.
supported by these ornament. The Schiller Building in Chicago Sullivan's St. Paul's Methodist Church in Cedar
examples of stair rail-
(1891-2) was an office tower with a theater with a Rapids, Iowa (1910-12), combines a rectangular
ings and door knobs
used inside the 12-story richly ornamented interior
almost a smaller school block with a semicircular church audito-
Guaranty building. version of the Auditorium. The Wainwright rium that gives the building its external form. A
Although his approach
Building in St. Louis (1890-1), the Guaranty great bell tower rises from the center of the
to architecture empha-
sized function in a way Building in Buffalo, New York (1894-5), and the building. The church interior has seats arranged in
that pointed to
Bayard Building in New York City (1897-8) are curving rows, as in an amphitheater, with more
modernism, Sullivan
each studies in Sullivan's approach to skyscraper seats in an overlooking balcony. Unfortunately,
produced a highly
personal form of deco- architecture. All have a simple vertical emphasis Sullivan fell out with his clients who, in order to
rative detail based on externally, rich but appropriate decorative detail, save money, omitted much of his decorative detail
the forms of nature.
and public space interiors filled with fine ornament and substituted cheap "art glass" for the original
242
Art Nouveau and the Vienna Secession
mostly small bank buildings in mid-western cities, toward a more geometric vocabulary that was
but they include some of his finest works in their entirely his own. Wright's role as one of the key
simple and original concepts and in their rich figures in the development of modernism is
external and internal detail. The National Farmers' discussed in Chapter 15.
Bank of Owatonna, Minnesota (1907-8), the American Art Nouveau directions had, in the
People's Savings Bank of Cedar Rapids, Iowa end, no more lasting presence than they had in
the Farmers' and Merchants' Union Bank of tasteless, and overly decorative. Rediscovery of Art
Columbia, Wisconsin (1919), all belong to this Nouveau only began after World War II when
final phase of Sullivan's career. Each one is a brick exhibitions, publications, and fresh study brought
box ornamented with sculptural and decorative it back into its rightful place as an important step
detail in terracotta. Each has great round or arched in the development of modernism.
243
Eclecticism
Toward the end of the nineteenth century and until The Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris
the middle of the twentieth century, the design
skill and enthusiasm
professions developed both
work of the past. Historicism,
for the imitation of The Paris Ecole, really the first truly professional
which means relying on histor)' for inspiration school of architecture, had developed a teaching
(and for detail), has been common since the method that was spectacularly effective in
Renaissance and is a natural part of progressive presenting an orderly and logical theory' of archi-
development in design. Revivalism refers to efforts tectural planning. It also taught history through the
to return to a particular historic style, as in the making of magnificent drawings and renderings of
Greek and Gothic revivals of the early nineteenth the great monuments of classical antiquity. The
century. The term Traditionalism also came into new designs that students produced in the ateliers
use to describe an alternative direction opposed to of their Beaux-Arts mentors were studies in the
modernism. The public often came to believe that a application of classical historicism to skillful plan-
choice between "traditional" and "modern" had to ning. The great teachers at the Beaux-Arts were
be made. Traditionalism expressed the new belief also designers of hallmark buildings that demon-
that design was primarily a matter of imitating the strated the validity of the Beaux- Arts doctrines.
work of some, even oi any, historic "period." Thus Nineteenth-centur)' design in continental
"period styles" came to be viewed as a stockpile of Europe moved only gradually from the Empire style
possibilities to inspire every new project. of France and Biedermeier of Germany through
The term "eclecticism" seems to be the best Neoclassicism toward the more ornate taste so
word to describe the view that all design should be strongly developed in England and America. In
a matter of choosing some historic precedent and France, the style called Second empire developed a
imitating it as convincingly as possible. The diction- form of ornate classicism that later had so much
ary definition of the word is "selecting what influence on contemporary American work. French
appears to be the best in various doctrines, professionalism in architecture and design was
methods, or styles." The term has had currency in furthered by the increasing importance of the
philosophy where an "eclectic philosophy" is based national school of art and design in Paris. Previous
on multiple sources. In design, it has come to mean apprentice learning and self-teaching were replaced
the practice of selecting from historical precedents at the Ecole by a rigorous and organized program
\vhatever seems suitable or attractive for a partic- that included classroom lectures on history,
14.1 [opposite] ]ean- ular project. Total originality was eschewed. construction, and other specialized topics, and by
Louis-Charles Gamier,
However much the revivalists and the Victorians design teaching using a method now generally
Opera House, Pans,
1861-75- may have drawn on historic precedent, they all adopted by almost aU design and architectural
associated with atten- own time from the origins on which they drew. written "program" of requirements for a building
dance at an opera is
some imagined Each student then
The essence of eclecticism, by contrast, is a slavish desired by client.
expressed through the
florid elaboration of
aim to reproduce the past some past, any past prepared designs under the direction of a "critic"
lobbies and stairs. as long as the reproduction can be made who operated an atelier or studio. On a given date,
Sculptured figures hold many
convincing. all of the designs by the students in a class
up giant candelabra,
and marble columns in Eclecticism thrived in America, in particular, were presented in the form of elaborate drawings to
varied colors and gilded perhaps because there was so little past on which to be criticized and judged by a "jury" of established
detail make the grand
build. The idea of importing something from the professionals. High marks in many such judgements
staircase an experience
to match the excite-
past that would bring with it culture, style, and could earn a diploma that certified a high level ot
ment of the opera that status became an obsession that offered to the achievement and skill. The Beaux-Arts method was
will take place in the
newly rich and powerful in America some identifi- so successful it attracted students from all over the
main auditorium. This
engraving shows off the cation with the European aristocracy. It offered to world, and the kind of design encouraged at the
architectural detail American institutions visible monuments that Ecole came to be called Beaux-Arts style.
with great clarity but
could compete with the universities, cathedrals, A number of leading French architects were
cannot convey the
actual effects of color
and monumental governmental buildings ot the teachers at the Beaux-Arts at the same time that
and light old world. they produced work typical of Beaux-Arts style.
244
^^^
Chapter Fourteen
Laloux, Care du Quai Gare du Quai d'Orsay, by Victor Laloux (fig. 14.4;
d'Orsay, Pans,
1850-1937), now recycled into a highly successful
1898-1900.
museum of art. The vast iron-framed vault of the
Laloux overlaid the
main train shed, where electric trains came and
great railroad station in
the Beaux Arts style went at a lower level visible from the passenger
with classical detail. circulation spaces above, is one of the finest inte-
Tracks earned trains
rior spaces of the nineteenth century. Its typically
through the station at
a lower level, and the florid Beaux-Arts sculptural decoration is skillfully
platforms were reached integrated into a highly functional scheme. Giant
by stairs from street
clocks facing out toward the Seine and facing into
level in the vast, skylit
main hall. The huge the public area provide decorative accents and are,
clock dramatizes the in a railroad station, highly functional as well.
railroad company's
Louis Sullivan studied at the Beaux-Arts, but
commitment to
schedule The building left it when his drive toward personal expression
has survived to be put and individuality was not accepted. Other
tomodern use as the
Americans were more accepting, and brought
Orsay Museum.
home Beaux-Arts classicism as the cornerstone of
their eclecticism.
246
Eclecticism
Hunt
In the United States, as elsewhere, styles formed a
stock of treatments from which the designer could Richard Morris Hunt (1827-95) was at the
choose whatever seemed appropriate for each vanguard of the Beaux-Arts invasion of America.
proiect. Cities, towns, and countryside were turned He had studied at the Ecole from 1846 until 1855
into exhibits of varied, unrelated works
classical and brought back to New York the skills and pres-
for banks and courthouses, Gothic for some tige that his Parisian training had given him. His
churches, Georgian colonial for others. Houses typically eclectic viewpoint made it possible for
might be colonial, Norman, French Renaissance, him to work in whatever style suited a particular
Tudor half-timbered, Gothic, Spanish Mission, project or the taste of a particular client. For
ranch-house, or even odd combinations of styles. William K. Vanderbilt's New York town house
The only firm rule came to be that originality was (1879-91) he adapted the design of early French
forbidden, only imitation of the past tolerable. For Renaissance Loire Valley chateaux to a corner city
many years this approach was defended as "tradi- lot. Hunt's Marble House, the Newport, Rhode
tional" and, it was claimed, as satisfactory to the Island, mansion of 1885-92 for the same William
general public that tended to like whatever was K. Vanderbilt, has interiors that match the
247
Chapter Fourteen
248
M
Eclecticism
mansion, this time for Cornelius Vanderbilt II, is in superficial appeal of the monumentality of Beaux- 1 4.6 (opposite)
Richard Morris Hunt,
a classical Renaissance style with rooms symmetri- Arts eclecticism.
Biltmore, Asheville,
cally arranged around a two-story central court Hunt's place in design history depends less on North Carolina,
designed to be used as a ballroom. The walls are his own work than on his role in setting the course 1890-5
ornamented with Corinthian pilasters and the ot American design toward eclecticism. He can be In this building, some-
times described as
entrance portico uses four free-standing thought of as having brought the Beaux-Arts
French Gothic, Hunt
Corinthian columns. For the bedrooms on the approach to America, but with his own urge attempted to reproduce
second floor, Ogden Codman (1863-1951) devel- toward emphasis on imitative historicism. At the a French chateau on a
grand scale Some of
oped interiors of relative simplicity of the sort Paris Ecole, such historicism was not a primary
the intenors, like the
suggested in his book The Dccomtioii of Houses focus. Students studied and made drawings of banqueting hall, go
(1879), written in collaboration with Edith historic buildings (most often ancient Greek and beyond anything actu-
ally built in
Wharton. Roman monuments) in order to understand their
Renaissance France in
The huge country chateau named Biltmore (fig. qualities. In design projects, the emphasis was on order to satisfy the
14.6; 1890-3) near Asheville, North Carolina, was skillful planning and composition, not on imita- desires of the client for
a fantasy version of
designed by Hunt for George W. Vanderbilt. The tion.The works of Gamier and Labrouste were not
ancient grandeur. The
style is again the French Renaissance of the time of narrowly imitative and can hardly be considered monumental scale of
Francis I, with elements recalled from Chambord examples of eclecticism. Hunt was most successful the room makes the
table and choirs appear
and Blois. Within each of these houses, interiors when he was most narrowly imitative (as at
lost amid the tapestries,
were designed to follow the overall stylistic char- Biltmore) and least successful when confronting carved bas-relief sculp-
acter of the house, making each room a virtual problems (as in the Tribune Building) where ture, banners, and
trophies of the hunt.
museum piece of antique decorative style. historicism offered no ready models.
Hunt's unhappy struggle to apply historicism
to the problem of the tall building in the New York McKJm, Mead, & White
Tribune Building has been mentioned in Chapter Charles Follen McKim (1847-1909), another
11 as an example of late Victorian uncertainty in member of the architectural board for the Chicago
the face of new opportunities provided by 1893 Fair, was also a product of the Paris Ecole des
advancing technology. Hunt was able to design Beaux-Arts. He had worked for a time for H. H.
with greater confidence monumental buildings for Richardson, where he met Stanford White
which antiquity offered more reasonable prece- (1853-1906). McKim established his own practice
dents. The great front entrance hall of New York's in 1872, then joined in a partnership with William
Metropolitan Museum of Art (1895-1902) was Mead (1846-1928) in 1877 and with White in 1879
designed as a Renaissance version of Roman classi- to form the successful and influential firm of
cism, with a facade and monumental vaulted inte- McKim, Mead, & White. Early work of the firm,
rior of impressive dignity. such as the house Kingscote (1880) at Newport,
At the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 Rhode Island, or the William Low House (1887) at
in Chicago, Hunt was a key figure on the board of Bristol, Rhode Island, was in the picturesque idiom
architects responsible for the general concept of of the Victorian Shingle style, but the originality of
monumental columned white palace-like struc- such work gave way to eclectic historicism as larger
tures around a great lagoon. The Administration commissions offered opportunities for classically
Building that he designed had a dominant central based monumentality. McKim was a specialist in
position and, in spite of its rather poorly conceived carefully "correct" adaptations of Italian
domed mass, served to symbolize the ascendency Renaissance and Roman classicism. White was a
of the kind of eclecticism that Hunt favored. The brilliant and imaginative designer inclined to a treer
rich classical detail of the gleaming white buildings use of historic precedents, while Mead provided
(all temporary structures, using plaster to simulate organizational back-up for the design partners and
stone) captured the popular imagination and made dealt with matters of construction. In the group of
Louis Sullivan's far more original Transportation six New York town houses for Henry Villard
Building with its strong colors and Art Nouveau (1882-5), the firm established its mastery of eclectic
detail seem odd and out of place. The fair is often practice with a sober Italian Renaissance palazzo
viewed as a turning point, where the promising exterior housing richly decorative interiors. The
directions developed by H. H. Richardson and by Villard group has been preserved, serving in part as
Sullivan were overwhelmed and defeated by the an entrance to the adjacent modern hotel.
249
Chapter Fourteen
marble, band of
and a
mural painting above
Any citizen of Boston
could enjoy the glories
of a Beaux Arts inspired
interior while waiting
for a book
250
Eclecticism
The Boston Public Library (fig. 14.7; 1895) in New York was a vast complex loosely based on
established the primacy of McKim, Mead, & White the baths of Caracalla in ancient Rome. The
in the design of American public buildings. It vaulted, majestic main concourse with its tremen-
recalls the Labrouste Bibilotheque S. Genevieve in dous Corinthian columns and coffered vaulting
Paris Vkfith its line of upper-story arched windows was one of the most majestic interior spaces of the
above a simple base, but internally a grand stair twentieth century. The adjacent train shed made
gives access to the upper level where a richly deco- use of glass and iron in a roof structure equally
rated reading room stretches across the Copley impressive even if hemmed in by a surround of
Square front. The work of several distinguished neo-Roman classicism. The building was destroyed
American artists John Singer Sargent, Augustus in 1964.
Saint-Gaudens, and Daniel Chester French Stanford White is usually credited with the
enriches the interior spaces, which are arranged in more and decorative character of other
delicate
a hollow square around a central court. works of the firm, such as the first Madison Square
McKim, Mead, & White's block square station Garden (1887-91, now demolished) and the
for the Pennsylvania Railroad (fig. 14.8; 1904-10) Century Club (1889-1891), both in New York.
had absorbed
tects
251
Chapter Fourteen
Around the turn of the century, state capitols, city base stoiy and a simple rolled cornice give the mass
halls, public libraries, courthouses, churches, and an articulated bottom and top of great dignity.
private homes on a palatial scale were built by Internally, the iron structure and elevator cages
eclectic architects projects that remain among the provide the only decorative elements. The Reliance
important structures of every major American city. Building in Chicago (1890-5) by the same firm (but
Where planning followed the sound concepts of completed after Root's death) finally abandons
Beaux-Arts teaching, and where eclectic histori- masonry exterior walls in favor of "curtain walls" of
cism was controlled by a sense of what might be iron, terracotta, and glass that do not support floors
appropriate, the resulting buildings of what is but are themselves supported by the metal struc-
sometimes called the American Renaissance tural frame. This is the system that became univer-
remain serviceable and impressive. The New York sally adopted for tall buildings, even when a
Public Library (fig. 14.9; 1902-11) by John M. masonry exterior was desired.
Carrere (1858-1911) and Thomas Hastings The distinguished tall buildings of Louis
(1860-1919), both Beaux- Arts trained and both Sullivan (see Chapter 13) suggested an appropriate
ex-employees of McKim, Mead, & White, has a direction for skyscraper design that did not attempt
complex plan which arranges many handsomely to disguise the structure within but simply
detailed spaces around two interior courtyards sheathed it in an aesthetically satisfactory fashion
with admirably efficient circulation. The building without the pretense of massive masonry. Eclectic
continues to serve modern needs and recent designers, determined to cling to the traditions of
restoration has made the interiors as impressive as pre-industrial constructional techniques, insisted
they were when new. instead on developing designs that had little rela-
Another surviving example of highly successful tion to the realities of modern high-rise construc-
Beaux-Arts eclecticism is New York's Grand tion. Internally, tall buildings were sometimes
Central Station (1907-13) by Whitney Warren given distinguished spaces for entrance halls and
(1864-1948) and Charles D. Wetmore (1866- elevator lobbies. The Chicago office building called
1941). The ingenious planning includes viaducts The Rookery (1886) by Burnham and Root has a
for traffic, arrangements for train movements on central court roofed over with glass and iron at the
two levels, and remarkably efficient movement of ground-floor level, creating a space that was given a
passengers, baggage, and, at least as originally distinguished ornamental interior by Frank Lloyd
provided, vehicles. The main concourse, a vast Wright in 1905. Sullivan provided beautifully
space roofed with a simple vault (painted with a detailed Art Nouveau decoration in his buildings.
star-studded sky), and the adjacent public spaces The upper floors of office towers were hives of
are among the greatest interiors in America. The small offices, partitioned with walls of wood and
classic columns of the facade and the florid sculp- glass or solid partitions like those on the guest
tural detail at its top represent the Beaux-Arts style room floors of hotels. Tenants could, of course,
at its best. Other great American railroad stations decorate as they chose, but most were content with
were built in various cities, such as the Union a strictly utilitarian "business-like" space. A few
Station in Washington, D.C. (1908), by Daniel H. buildings had a central court with skylights at roof
Burnham (1846-1912). level and open balconies to take the place of corri-
252
Eclecticism
dors giving access to offices. This approach created New York that survives, showing off a finely
an impressive internal atrium where stairs and detailed glass, terracotta, and metal exterior that
elevator cages could be seen as interesting visual fronts a twelve-story loft building of L-shape plan,
elements. The Bradbury Building (fig. 14.10; fronting on two streets. A fine interior by Flagg
1893), Los Angeles, by George Herbert Wyman is survives in the ground-level store of 1913, origi-
an outstanding example of this approach. nally the retail outlet for the Scribner publishing
Ernest Flagg (1857-1947) was unusually firm's headquarters that occupied the entire
successful in applying the florid decoration of the building. The store has a remarkable glass and
Second Empire style to the forty-seven-story Singer metal facade, permitting a view of the vaulted and
Building in New York (1907-8, now demolished). balconied interior space within.
Itwas the headquarters of the prosperous Singer The long struggle to find an appropriate eclectic
Sewing Machine Company and served to glorify style for skyscraper design produced many strange,
that firm as the owner of the world's tallest even absurd, The 1915 design by Welles
efforts.
building a status soon lost to competitors. Its Bosworth (1869-1966) for the New York head-
highly original exterior mass, a mansard-topped quarters of the American Telephone and Telegraph
tower rising from a larger massive block below, and Company (now known simply as 195 Broadway) is
the florid public space interiors with stairs and made up of nine Roman Ionic colonnades stacked
balconies and vaulted ceilings made it strikingly one on top of another, each representing three
superior to the high buildings that rose around it in floors of the building. At ground-floor level, the
lower Manhattan. Flagg had designed an earlier, public lobby spaces are a virtual hypostyle hall with
smaller Singer Building (1904) on Broadway in their rows of huge Greek Doric columns certainly
253
Chapter Fourteen
254
Eclecticism
the Woolworth tower (1913) in New York, the the first successful professional decorator. She was Called a "Cathedral of
work of Cass Gilbert (1859-1934), a prominent an actress and a society figure before she began to Commerce, " the outside
of the Woolworth
eclectic designer who had developed Beaux-Arts remodel her own home, transforming typically
Building was clothed in
skills as an employee of McKim, Mead, & White. Victorian rooms with stylish simplicity by using Gothic style detail. In
white paint, cheerful colors, and tlowery printed the public lobby,
Gilbert reasoned that the only historic precedent
however, Gilbert turned
available for a tall tower structure was to be found chintzes. Her distinguished guests often admired to Byzantine detail, for
in the towers of Gothic cathedrals. The Woolworth what she had done and began to ask her for help which he used marbles
building is a simple block from which a tall central with their decorating problems. Stanford White, and mosaics. Gargoyles
provided a setting for
tower rises, all clothed in white glazed terracotta for example, asked for her help with some residen- entrances to the eleva-
sheathing detailed with the vertical lines, tracery, tial interiors, as well as with the interiors of the tors that sened the
and pinnacles of French Gothic church architec- New York Colony Club (fig. 14.12; 1905-7). De many stories of what
was, for some years, the
ture. The steel framing, elevators, and sixty stories Wolfe also gave public lectures; she published The tallest building in the
of offices were thus converted into a "cathedral of House in Good Taste in 1913. While historicism was world.
styles. There is much marble and mosaic decora- quarters of his Fifth Avenue mansion (designed by Good Taste 9 /i|de("Z
and Arkansas), libraries, and the sternly Roman a writer (she probably wrote most of TJic House in any particular past era.
255
Chapter Fourteen
Good Taste), became her assistant, and eventually Eclecticism in Professional Practice
established her own business as a decorator. Her
own book. The Honest House (1914), urges In the design of larger, more public, institutional
simplicity and "common sense." The eclectic and commercial interiors, eclecticism was the
historicism of her own work is characterized by the norm. Designers with specialized knowledge and
use of English period furniture, often with florid skill in a particular style became well known and
wallpapers and strong colors. William (Billy) admired for their ability to achieve a convincing
Baldwin (1903-84) started his career as an assistant reproduction of the work of a particular historic
to Ruby Ross Wood and pushed the work of her era. Ralph Adams Cram ( 1863-1942), for example,
firm in a theatrical and fantastic direction that was both a propagandist for the virtue of Gothic
became typical of his own output as an indepen- design and a skilled practitioner in that style. In his
dent decorator after World War II. book Church Building (1901) Cram makes a case
for the virtues of medieval English Gothic work,
McMillen illustrates examples of medieval excellence, and
McMillen Inc. was established in 1924 by Eleanor makes comparisons with illustration of "vicious,"
McMillen (1890-1991). Her leaning was toward "affected," and "unintelligent" design. His design
French period furniture arranged within rooms for All Saints" Church, Dorchester, Massachusetts
that mixed period details in a truly eclectic fashion. (1891), was a careful and accurate recreation of a
The firm provided many wealthy and powerful typical English parish church. Cram and his firm.
families with residential interiors that showed off Cram, Goodhue, and Ferguson, came to be enor-
their wealth and taste for display. Eventually she mously successful in producing Gothic churches
turned to work for business and corporate clients and Tudor Gothic groupings for college campus
as well. construction that made the Gothic style the eclectic
Rose Gumming (1887-1968) was less concerned the dormitory groupings at the University of
with accuracy of period reproduction than with the Pennsylvania in Philadelphia (1895-1901 ) by Cope
use of period elements in settings with strong and
14.13 Ralph Adams aggressive color, elaborate draperies, much use ot
Cram, St. Thomas's gilt, and smoked-glass mirrors. Other American
Church, New York,
1906-13.
eclectic decorators who established successful prac-
tices included Nancy McClelland (inclined to a
Although Cram worked
in various eclectic more conservative and "correct" use of historic
styles, he became best precedents), Elsie Cobb Wilson, Francis Elkins,
known as an expert in
Syrie Maugham, and Dorothy Draper (whose work
producing Cothic
design that convinc- was largely in commercial rather than residential
ingly recreated the practice). The work of these and of many others
architecture of the
became well known through such magazines as
Middle Ages. In this
large city church forms House and Garden, House Beautifid, and other
that merge French and publications that were showcases for the homes of
English traditions
wealthy and famous people. Another tier of maga-
create a rather cold
ambience that is. in zines that combined coverage of decorating with
reality, enriched by other household matters The Ladies' Home
strong blues and reds
Journal Good Housekeeping, Delineator, and
stained gloss
in the
256
Eclecticism
Cram's own firm designed a number of build- paper company. Howells and Hood's winning Saarinen brought from
ings for Princeton University, including some design was a piece of Gothic eclecticism suggestive his native Finland a
sense of Scandinavian
impressive interiors. Those of the refectory for the of a medieval cathedral. Many professionals and simplicity along with a
Graduate College (1913) and the University Chapel critics, however, noted that several entrants respect for fine crafts-
(1925-8) are convincing reworkings of their Tudor among them modernism Adolf
the forefathers of manship The quite
Gothic equivalents at Oxford and Cambridge. The Loos, Walter Gropius, and Adolf Meyer had formal symmetry of the
living room is enlivened
large New York City church of St. Thomas submitted designs far more imaginative and by tapestries, a rug by
Loja Saarinen, furniture
(1906-13) is an outstanding work. Its strikingly advanced than the winner's. The most admired
by Eliel, and lamps by
impressive interior (fig. 14.13), with stone vaulting, design was that of the second-place winner, a Eero Saarmen-
stained glass, and a huge sculptured reredos that submission by the Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen.
combines details from many Gothic precedents, He proposed a relatively simple massive tower of
made aspects of medieval work available to an stepped form with strongly emphasized vertical
American public that, at least at that time, had little masonry lines between bands of windows.
chance to experience the original sources. Although details carried a suggestion of tradition.
257
Chapter Fourteen
14.15 Eliel Saarmen, there was no overt imitation of any historic work. Science (1933), and the Cranbrook Academy of Art
Kingswood School,
Saarinen was invited to America to head the (1942) form a progression from the Nordic eclecti-
Cranbrook, Michigan,
1931. Cranbrook Academy of Art at the Cranbrook cism of the 1920s to a near approach to
May Queen, was of buildings that gradually created a campus In the Saarinen House, simple spaces are furnished
designed by Eliel and complex of great beauty. and ornamented with custom-designed tapestries,
Loja Saarmen.
The Cranbrook School for Boys (1927), the and other decorative details. At
lighting fixtures,
Saarinen House (fig. 14.14; 1928-30), Kingswood Cranbrook, other ornamental details such as iron-
School for Girls 1931 ), the Cranbrook Institute of
( work for gates, special lamps. Andirons, and
258
Eclecticism
works of art were by the students and faculty of the geometric vocabulary that seems almost diagram-
school. Graduates of the Cranbrook Academy had matic. Fine marbles and handsome woods are
an important role in the development of design in typical materials, while the introduction of "indi-
the 1940s and 1950s; it continues to be a major rect lighting" in which sources are concealed so as
French Beaux-Arts graduate, Paul Phillipe Cret depression years of the 1930s, Cret's stripped clas-
(1876-1945), was influential in promoting the sicism came to be regarded as ideally suited to the
Beaux-Arts approach to design teaching at the many post offices, courthouses, and other build-
architectural school of the University of ings that were built under WPA (Works Progress
Pennsylvania, where became the principal
he Administration) and other Federal programs.
teacher in 1903. His own work moved from the Indeed, this style came to be informally labeled
follow a pattern of classically inspired forms and banks, hotels, theaters, and stores. Magazines,
proportions; ornament is reduced to a simple. however, illustrated and recommended the eclectic
1917 issue of House and Garden magazine, for Although Cret was best
known for his "stripped
example, devotes pages to interiors of the magnifi-
classical" design, which
cent New York mansion designed Adolph for
characterized the exte-
Lewisohn by C. P. H. Gilbert (1863-1952) and rior of this building,
259
Chapter Fourteen
OontleiDsn' -
(1895-1962) built his practice on exquisitely
I have Juet recently oonpleted building one of your "Honor Bllt" Modern Hones, and *ant
to tell you how well I aa aatlaried. I saved over 82,000,00 In building this houee, and when It was
oomplgted I was able to get a mortgage for more than the construotlon coat. It o^rtalnly Is a sub-
charming reproductions of Cape Cod cottages.
stantial house, and no one will make a alstake In buying or building an "Honor Bllt" Modern Hone.
You night alao like to know that it is furnlehed with Sears-Roebuok rugs, furniture and Kitchens with modern electric stoves and refrigera-
ourtalna, also wall papor and fixtures, and in buying ay furniture from you I saved over half. You
nay refer anyone to me as I know they will be pleased as well as satisfied in dealing with your oompany.
(Signed) A. W. Fischer, Eastwood, Ohio tors were regularly made "colonial" with knotty
See 1>escnpUon of the Puritan flome on Opposite Pane Page 25 pine cabinets and "country style" window curtains.
260
Eclecticism
hall with its sentimental vibrato. Thomas W. Lamb were housed in wood
cabinets in a variety of
(1871-1942) became a specialist in the design of
period styles This
theaters with interiors suggesting exotic and example is intended to
were also prepared to offer advice and decorating became nationally famous. Hotels and restaurants
help to hesitant customers. Furniture manufac- followed this drift toward story-book historical
turers took to making "suites" (often called "suits") settings that the householder might then attempt to
became a part of the eclectic visual experience. design meant creativity rather than historicism.
Theaters and opera houses had always been elabo- Stripped classicism came to be the official style
rately decorative, but now a mass audience could of governmental design in Europe in the 1930s (fig.
261
Chapter Fourteen
14.19 Crigorii
Zakharov and Zinaida
Chernysheva, central
hall, Kurskaya Metro
Station, Moscow, 1 949.
eclectic design as it
in this example,
Stalinist. A form of
stripped, classic Done
architecture serves the
unlikely role of subway
station entrance
14.20 Ragnar
Ostberg, City Hall,
Stockholm, 1908-23.
262
Eclecticism
the misfortune to become the architectural expres- where rugs and tapestries, metalwork, and furni-
sion of fascism in Mussolini's Italy and Hitler's ture were all fine examples of design based in craft
Germany. Great halls lined with marble were tradition. Saarinen's wife, Loja, a sculptor, weaver,
favorite settings for dictators who wished to and designer of textiles and carpets, was an active
pretend to greatness and to intimidate with the participant in the design of Hvittrask and
impersonal vastness of the spaces they built and continued to participate in many of her husband's
occupied. Albert Speer (1905-81) was the favorite projects throughout his career.
architect of the Nazi regime and produced a Saarinen's European reputation was established
number of buildings in this chillingly ostentatious with a design for the Helsinki Railroad Station
style, such as the new Chancellery in Berlin ( 1938). (1906-14), a distinguished masonry building with
Although the U.S.S.R. under Stalin was ostensibly a tall tower and handsome interiors that carry a
the adversary of fascism, the official style of design hint of Nordic traditionalism. With his move to the
in Russiabecame similarly heavy and intimidating. United States in 1925, Saarinen became highly
Even after World War II, buildings such as the influential in the development of design in
Lethaby of Shaw's
qualities that made early modernism unpopular design for a chimney
with a major part of the general public. Almost breast at Cragside indi-
painted by Prince Eugen offer both grandeur and having a basis in its
263
' ;
Chapter Fourteen
even more formal and monumental torms of clas- friendships. During one of his largest projects
London is a massive block mixing Dutch Baroque Service. Having mitially specified a large and grand
flourishes with a screen of Ionic columns. design, Hardinge became anxious about costs half
way through the project and demanded cut-backs.
Lutyens Lutyens chronicled the series of set-backs;
developed with his frequent area, contributed to the expense of his plan. Finally
landscaped garden site
working with amazing skilland energy, he reduced
collaborator Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932). At '
his plan and it was accepted.
Tigbourne Court in Surrey (1899) he produced a
The end result, despite Lutyen's unhappiness at the
complex grouping in a native stone with gables and
reductions in cost and scale, were impressive enough
chimneys clustered to suggest medievalism,
to earn him a knighthood and the following accolade
although there is no overt reproduction of Gothic from Robert Byron, writing for the Architectural
Review in 1931:
264
Eclecticism
remarkable talent tor offering to his clients the were everywhere. The smoking room of the
crystal
comforts they desired, a sense of belonging to an Cunarder Franconia (1923) was a Tudor half-
aristocratic tradition, and a genuine element of timbered hall with a huge brick fireplace. The great
creative originality. German pre-World War liners excelled
I in excess
Lutyens's status rose rapidly as he came to be eclectic
decor the swimming pool of the
regarded as the leading figure of his time among Vaterhuid (1914) (later renamed Leviathan) was
British architects. His commissions gradually "Pompeian," with Roman Doric columns two
became larger and more monumental in character, stories high along the decks surrounding the tiled
culminating in the planning of the Indian capital pool. The Italian liner Conte di Savoia ( 193 1 ) had a
city at New Delhi (1913-30). There buildings are main lounge that reproduced the gallery of the
arranged according to traditional concepts of seventeenth-century Colonna Palace in Rome,
formal symmetry, but individual buildings of complete with statuary and fresco painting.
Lutyens's design (such as the Viceroy's House)
combine elements of Indian traditional design with
The Spread of Eclecticism
British classicism in a truly eclectic mix.
supposedly Baroque
professions gradually were taken over by a new decoration was
generation rooted in the modern, technological intended to convince
class passengers
world and devoted to the rejection of all historic first
every building in forms borrowed from centuries gers, none too happy
with the time and
long past. possible discomforts of
sea travel, could be
a feeling of
lulled into
contentment with the
aid of such design.
7fi'R
By the first decades of the twentieth century, it had pioneers of modernism in design. They defined
become apparent that industriahzation and the new directions with such clarity and force that they
technology that it reHed on had brought about can be thought of as the originators of the "modern
changes in human affairs as great as any that had movement." All four were architects, but all four
occurred since the discovery of fire and the inven- were also active in interior design and in the design
tion of language. Telephone, electric light, travel by of objects and other elements that characterize
ship, rail, automobile, and by air, and structural twentieth-century modernism. They were the
engineering using steel and Reinforced concrete Europeans Walter Gropius (1881-1969), Ludwig
brought about the extensive changes in human Mies van der Rohe ( 1886-1969), and Le Corbusier
experience that are often characterized as those of (1887-1965), and the American Frank Lloyd
the "first machine age." Through all of earlier Wright (1867-1959).
history, handwork had been the primary means by
which things were made (aided by limited use of
wind, water, and horse power). In the modern Frank Lloyd Wright
world, very hand made and factory produc-
little is
tion has become the norm. Accelerating popula- Wright produced an enormous body of work
tion growth and the increase in urban poverty were more than four hundred constructed buildings and
new and pressing problems. The rise of commu- many other projects in a long career that can be
nism and fascism and the distress engendered by divided into two phases. Each phase is of sufficient
World War I presented problems that technology importance to support his major place in design
did little to solve. In art, architecture, and design it history. The first or "early Wright" phase,
became increasingly evident that the traditions that extending from the beginning of his career up to
had served past ages were no longer relevant to this about 1920, clearly established his role as the first
Art Nouveau, and Vienna Secession all remained Wright had a brief training in engineering at
tied to the past. Arts and Crafts asked for a return the University of Wisconsin in 1886. It was his
to the handcraft of pre-industrial times. Art period of employment in the offices of Adler and
Nouveau and Vienna Secession sought new deco- Sullivan in Chicago (1887-93) and the close rela-
rative vocabularies but did not recognize the extent tionship that he established with Sullivan that
of the changes that were overwhelming every established the direction he was to take in his own
15.1 Frank Lloyd
aspect of modern life. Eclecticism was devoted to work. Sullivan's dedication both to the concept
Wright, Larkm Building,
Buffalo, New York, the application of bygone design to modern reality. embodied in the phrase "form follows function,"
1904, The heavy elaboration of nineteenth-century orna- and to a style of ornament that was non-historic,
The office building was mentalism (in Victorian and parallel examples) original, and "organic" was central to Wright's own
fora moil-order
and the superficial historicism of eclectic work early work. In spite of his great admiration for
company, and Wright
arranged space for
became a focus for attack. The leaders of Sullivan and his important role in Sullivan's office
office workers on modernism were, in a sense, revolutionaries, (he was the primary designer of Sullivan's Charnley
several levels
although not directly connected with revolutionary House of 1892 in Chicago), Wright was uncom-
surrounding a central,
skylit court. Filing cabi-
ideas in politics. In design, just as in music, litera- fortable in the role of an assistant to someone else
nets are neatly fitted ture, and art, new ideas were disturbing and fright- and so moved to establish his own practice in 1893
into alcoves, and
ening to major elements of society. in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois. Oak
specially designed furni-
ture included chairs The most important development in early Park and the neighboring suburb of River Forest
attached to their twentieth-century design was the emergence of a were situated in open country where well-to-do
related desksand each businessmen who traveled daily into Chicago had
design vocabulary appropriate to themodern
with a swinging arm
support. Daylight was world of advanced technology and new
the houses built in pleasant surroundings. Wright built
augmented by electric patterns of life that it brought about. Modernism is a house for his owti family in Oak Park (1889),
light clusters of
the name given to the new forms that appeared in with an adjacent studio, and began to receive
Wright's design. The
building was demol- all of the arts in painting, sculpture, architecture, commissions for other houses there and in nearby
ished in 1950. music, and literature. Four men are regarded as communities.
266
^Vl-.
'#
-s-'-^-
Chapter Fifteen
The Early Commissions room, on the other side of the central chimney,
extends outward from the rear of the building in a
The somewhat tentative,
earHest Wright houses are semicircular conservatory. Ornamental detail
with hints of Victorianism, Arts and Crafts, and including stained-glass inserts in some windows
Queen Anne aesthetic touches and, usually only suggests Sullivan's vocabulary, but is shifted
when demanded by a client, eclectic elements (half- toward a more geometric approach that Wright
timber work in a few examples) as well. The gradually developed as his career moved onward.
Winslow House of 1893 in River Forest is, The Hickox House (1900) at Kankakee, Illinois,
however, a decisive step toward original expression retains symmetry only for the open living, dining,
(fig. 15.2). The front facing the street is symmet- and music room grouping across its front. Its gable
rical and has a classic dignity not unlike some early roof has long overhangs and horizontal bands of
projects of the Vienna Secession. Unlike the typical windows, and low walls extending outward at
Victorian house with its vertical emphasis, hori- ground level give it the long horizontals character-
zontal lines are emphasized. There is a low hipped istic of what Wright called the Prairie house
roof with a broad overhang. Decorative bands ot form, implying a relationship to the broad, flat
ornament are arranged around the entrance door, landscape of the American mid-west. The side of
and the upper-floor windows are placed in a the house facing the street is entirely asymmetrical.
continuous frieze of terracotta ornamentation. The Its white plaster wall surfaces divided by strips of
plan is a more complex interlocking of varied wood give it a vaguely Japanese flavor. This is not
spaces, with rooms clustered around a central the result of any imitative drive, but may reflect
chimney. The entrance hall has an arcaded alcove Wright's awareness of oriental aesthetic ideas as
with seats on either side of a fireplace. The dining expressed in Japanese prints favorite works with
1893.
268
The Emergence of Modernism
in specially woven rugs and stained-glass window Wright had, by the time
inserts. The forms of the sloping roofs are visible as of this house, estab-
developed in all of Wright's prairie houses. or stone and the beiges of woven materials generate strongly decorative.
Geometric design is
Drawings that Wright made for publication in the the basic color; leaded glass and an occasional small present in the stained
Ladies' Home Journal in 1901 show the open suites detail in bright red provide decorative accents. glass and in the
of living spaces, the extensive built-in woodwork, The large house for Frederick Robie in south specially designed rug.
The furniture is of
and specially designed furniture that were typical Chicago (1906) is one of the most successful of all
Wright's design.
of Wright's residential projects.
Wright's growing reputation brought him a
slabs project out above bands of windows placed himself to exalt the health, lift the spirit, and create a
complete environment in response to the immediate
near the top of the church auditorium walls. The
surroundings. The prairie houses he designed were a
interior with projecting balconies, a ceiling incor-
specific response to the landscape he saw around him,
porating a grid of square skylights, linear decora- and he wrote of his theories in an essay in 1 908,
tive bands of wood along the white walls, hanging describing the inspiration for such houses as Highland
light fixtures, and windows of
stained-glass Park and Riverside in Illinois:
geometric form generate an abstractly complex We of the Middle West are living on the prairie. The
space suggestive of directions that were to surface prairie has a beauty of its own and we should
in European art and design a few years later. recognise and accentuate this natural beauty, its
means of establishing unified control of propor- Frampton, Modern Architecture (London, 1 992), p- 1 37
269
Chapter Fifteen
De StijI
seated at the table. The supported by corner posts that rise above the table work to painting, Mondrian's work was destined to
built-in cabinet work,
top to become lighting fixtures. become a strong influence in design and architec-
stained-glass windows,
Wright's American career gradually slowed and ture.As historicism fell into disrepute, abstract
and ceiling detail are
all typical of the work then came to a halt between 1910 and 1930. A form became a primary interest. Mondrian and
Wright completed in
series ofunhappy and tragic events in his personal van Doesburg developed a theory, called
the early twentieth
life combined with the drift in public taste away Neoplasticism, set forth in a number of manifestos
century.
from work of such striking originality combined to that asserted the superiority of abstract values of
leave him with little work. An invitation by a group form and color (the primaries and black) over all
of Japanese business men to design a major hotel in naturalistic and subjective values in art. Van
Tokyo was accepted and led to a number of years Doesburg developed a number of architectural
spent in Japan designing and directing construc- projects in which abstract forms and primary
tion of the Imperial Hotel (1916-22, now demol- colors are translated into three-dimensional
ished). The large building with its vast and compositions that could become buildings.
elaborately decorated public spaces survived a great Although he developed many projects on paper
270
The Emergence of Modernism
by the public
disliked enlivens the rectilinear
ground.
Rietveld
271
Chapter Fifteen
chair,"made from four flat wooden rectangles called design.The Bauhaus developed a new educa-
arranged in a Z configuration, and the more tional program that attempted to establish a rela-
complex "red and blue" arm chair of 1918 where a tion between the emerging modernism of the fine
cage of thin wooden strips painted black with arts and a broad range of design and craft fields,
yellow ends supports the flat seat and back planes including architecture, town planning, advertising
painted red and blue. Although they appear some- and exhibition design, stage design, photography
what forbidding, they offer a reasonable degree of and film, and the design of objects in wood, metal,
comfort while acting as abstract sculpture in visual ceramics, and textiles
in short, what has come to
terms. Both are currently in production. Other be known as industrial design.
Rietveld furniture and lighting designs follow a The Bauhaus program began with an introduc-
parallel pattern of conception in strictly abstract, tory year of studies devoted to abstract design in
sculptural terms. two and three dimensions, and studies of materials,
Because of its few members, short life, and textures, and color that would form a sound basis
limited accomplishments, De Stijl influence in the for later specialization. Gropius recruited an extra-
development of modernism has been less obvious ordinary faculty that included a number of distin-
than that of the pioneers in Germany and France. guished modern artists, such as Paul Klee, Wassily
Kandinsky, and Lyonel Feininger, and many other
distinguished teachers, such as losef Albers, Laszlo
Pioneers of the International Moholy-Nagy, and Marcel Breuer. In 1925
economic and political problems led to the closing
Style
of the Bauhaus at Weimar and its relocation to
the industrial city of Dessau, in a new building
In Germany, Peter Behrens, mentioned above as a designed by Gropius (figs. 15.8 and 15.9).
significant figure in the Deutscher Werkbund, the Completed in 1926, the Bauhaus building was an
design organization promoting excellence in impressive grouping that embodied Bauhaus ideals
German production (see p. 225), had established in both plan and aesthetic expression. The most
an active practice in architecture and design and striking part of the complex was a four-story block
developed a reputation as a leader in advanced devoted to workshops where students could actu-
design thinking. In 1910, three of the employees ally produce, at least in prototype, the objects that
working for Behrens were the Germans Walter they designed. Printed materials, woven textiles,
Gropius and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and the furniture, ceramics, lamps, metal objects, stage
Swiss-born Frenchman Charles Jeanneret who later scenery, and costumes were all turned out in the
became famous under the pseudonym Le shops and, whenever possible, manufacturers were
Corbusier. It can be assumed that Behrens and persuaded to take on production of Bauhaus
these three apprentices all were aware of the early designs. A bridge across a public street contained a
work of Wright. library and offices and formed a link to a classroom
block. A low link element contained an auditorium
Gropius and the Bauhaus and dining hall; this led to a small dormitory unit
where advanced students had studio bedrooms,
Walter Gropius established his own architectural making it possible for them to live full time within
practice in 1911 and began to produce work in an the school. The striking appearance of the Bauhaus
unornamented, functional style directly descended building resulted from the three-story-high glass
from Behrens's industrial building practice. curtain walls of the shop block, the austerely orna-
Gropius's historical importance is not so much ment-free white walls of the other wings with their
related to his own work as to his role in design large ribbons of glass windows, and, for the dormi-
education. After World War he was offered the
I tory, tiny projecting balconies with tubular railings.
directorship of the schools of fine art and of The form of the building was derived from its plan;
applied art at Weimar. He merged the two schools the roofs were flat in accordance with modern
under the name Staatliches Bauhaus (fig. 15.7). industrial practice. The resulting appearance was
The German verb zii bauen (literally, to build) has sternly functional as shockingly disturbing to
a broader meaning in this context, implying traditionalists as it was exciting to the new genera-
creation of the kind that, in English, is simply tion of modernists.
272
The Emergence of Modernism
International style by the historian and critic 1923. levels connects to the an entrance and stair
Henry-Russell Hitchcock when he (with Philip classroom block, shown area is visible before
While the Bauhaus was
above. A street passes the bridge element that
Johnson) organized an exhibition of such work in still at Weimar, Cropius
under the bridge extends out of the
1932 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. designed his own office
element, and there ore photograph to the left.
using abstract
The term reflects the fact that modernism was not entrances to the
geometric forms. The
building on both sides.
marked by the strong national differences typical of rug, tapestry, furniture,
273
' a
Chapter Fifteen
the design of theDe Stijl movement. experience of living in a house designed by Mies van
The Bauhaus came under financial pressures der Rohe. Crete described the "rhythm" of the space
as being immensely uplifting, as well as practical:
and, with the hostility toward all avant-garde ideas
that marked the rising Nazi movement, political Though the connection between inside and outside
is indeed important, the space is nonetheless
pressures as well. Gropius resigned in 1928, to be
entirely enclosed and self-sufficient; in this sense
succeeded by Hannes Meyer and, in 1930, by Mies
the glass wall functions completely as a boundary.
van der Rohe. When the school was finally forced If it were otherwises, myself feel that one wouldI
to close in 1933,many students and faculty have a sense of restlessness and exposure. But as it
is, the space has precisely because of its rhythm
members left Germany as refugees. As they found
most uncommon restfulness such as a closed room
designwork and positions as teachers, they
cannot possibly have.
achieved a remarkable dispersal of Bauhaus ideas
that became central to the wide acceptance of Fritz Tugendhat was equally enthusiastic about the
design:
International Style modernism. Gropius practiced
for a time in England but in 1937 he moved to After nearly a year of living here I can absolutely
attest to the fact that technically the house has
America to become the head of the Graduate
everything that modern man could possibly wish. In
School of Design at Harvard.
winter the house is easier to heat than a house
with thick walls and small double windows. Thanks
to the floor-to-ceiling glass wall. the sun shines
Mies van der Rohe . .
less less
Houses. 1 985. p, 97 2. Cited in ibid, p. 98
use of historic detail. A full-size model of the
house, made like stage scenery of wood and canvas,
was built on the intended site, but the the house
was never actually constructed. In 1913, Mies (as Behrens, Gropius, and Le Corbusier) were invited
he is most often known) established his own prac- to design model houses that were built to form a
tice in Berlin. After World War I, he worked on a demonstration neighborhood in the new style.
number of projects for tall buildings with exterior Mies was the designer of the largest building, a
curtain walls entirely of glass, and for an office three-story and roof-deck apartment house with
building of concrete construction where contin- the smooth white walls and large bands of windows
uous horizontal bands of windows were to alter- typical of the International Style. Other exhibits in
nate with concrete bands at each floor level. the late 1920s and early 1930s offered Mies oppor-
Although unbuilt, through published plans and tunities to demonstrate his approach to interior
drawings these designs strongly influenced the design. Lilly Reich (1885-1947) was a collaborator
modernism of the 1950s and 1960s in both Europe in many of these projects, and probably had a role
and America. in the development of furniture designs such as the
274
The Emergence of Modernism
Mies won an international reputation with his production. The Barcelona Pavilion seems to have
design for the German Exhibit Pavilion at the been the first building to fully exploit the ability of
Barcelona Exhibition of 1929. The Barcelona modern structural technology of steel and concrete
Pavilion (as it is now generally known), placed on a to make walls optional elements they have no
wide platform of marble with two reflecting pools, role in holding up the roofs, so that interior space
was a simple structure made up of eight steel can be freely planned without division into rooms
columns that supported a flat slab roof. There were and with as much openness as may be desirable for
no enclosing walls, but screen-like walls of glass a particular function.
and marble were arranged in an irregular but recti- Similar ideas were introduced in residential
hnear abstract pattern, with some walls extending design in Mies van der Robe's Tugendhat House at
into outdoor space (fig. 15.10). Visitors could Brno in the Czech Republic (figs. 15.11 and 15.12;
move through the open spaces to admire the rich 1928-30). The house is on a hillside, its entrance
materials, the abstract composition of the planes, and garage at Bedrooms
the upper (street) level.
and a few works of modern sculpture. The color occupy something like a penthouse on this top
gleaming chrome on the steel columns, marble floor. The main living area on the floor below is an
walls in rich greens and orangy red, scarlet red open space subdivided only by an onyx marble
drapery, and both clear and opal glass made the screen separating living space from an adjacent
pavilion an abstract work of art in itself. Simple library-study area and a curving screen of Macassar
chairs, ottomans with chrome-bar frames and ebony that defines an open dining area. The exte-
leather cushions, and related glass-topped tables rior walls on the downhill side of this space and
were provided for useat a ceremonial visit by across its end are entirely of floor-to-ceiling glass.
and queen. These furniture designs
Spain's king The curtains can be drawn back and the walls
have become modern classics, which are still in lowered by mechanical means into the basement.
275
Chapter Fifteen
house The
floor-to-ceiling glass
polished steel surfaces. The Barcelona Pavilion and architectural and design departments. It is a simple
Tugendhat interiors have had tremendous impact rectangle of open interior space with all-glass walls
on modern interior design, emphasizing abstract on all four sides. There are no internal columns
arrangements of spatial elements, with the colors since the roof is supported by steel girders that
and textures of the materials taking the place of project above roof level. Internal subdivisions are
ornamentation. movable screen and storage units, while stairs lead
276
The Emergence of Modernism
1946-51.
down to a basement, partially above ground, where tloor is raised a few feet above the ground, allowing
all enclosed rooms are located. Externally, struc- open space beneath. It is supported by the same
tural elements are painted black so that they eight steel columns that support the roof, which is
become unobtrusive elements in the wall surfaces of identical and shape. About two-thirds of the
size
of glass. The term Minimalist is often applied to space between floor and roof is enclosed by glass on
such design, in which extreme care in the simple all four sides
the remaining space is an outdoor
detailing of the structure and a subtle sense of deck reached by five broad steps that lead up from
proportion give the building a serene, classical a wide platform reached in turn by wide steps. The
feeling comparable to that of ancient Greek columns and steel edges of floor, roof, and plat-
architecture. form are all painted white. The open glass box that
forms the interior is subdivided only by an
Later Commissions enclosed "island" that houses bathrooms and utili-
In the latter part of his American career, Mies van ties and forms a back wall for the equipment of an
der Rohe's commissions included skyscraper apart- open kitchen area. A few pieces of furniture (all of
ment buildings in Detroit, Newark, New Jersey, Mies's design) are placed in the open living space.
and Chicago, and office buildings there and in One of Mies's last major works was the National
Toronto and (in collaboration with Philip Gallery in Berlin (1962-8). A broad raised terrace
Johnson) in New York. The Seagram Building in base enclosed galleries, offices, and a restaurant. On
New York (19548) is one of the most admired of its upper surface, set back at its center, is a simple,
modernist American tall buildings (see p. 323 glass enclosed exhibition space. Its steel roof is
below). His most famous late residential design is supported by eight columns at its outer edge. Set
the Farnsworth House (fig. 15.13; 1946-51) at back under the roof, floor-to-ceiling glass walls
Piano, Illinois. The house stands in an open but enclose the unencumbered open space that can be
secluded country location near the Fox River. The arranged as necessaiy for temporary exJiibitions.
277
Chapter Fifteen
15.14 Le Corbusier,
Amedee Ozenfant developing a form of cubist
Le Corbusier in
Villa Schwob,
Chaux-de-Fonds,
abstract painting that they named Purism. In 1920
Switzedand, 1915-17, As ayoung man, the fourth pioneering leader of they joined in the publication of a magazine,
Le Corbusier demon- modernism, Le Corbusier, designed several houses VEsprit Nouveau, which dealt with every aspect of
strated his mterest in in or near his home in the town of Chaux-de- modern art. In 1922-3, Le Corbusier was the archi-
the geometric aesthetic
Fonds, Switzerland, near the French border. The tect of a Paris studio-house for Ozenfant. It is a
generated by the
golden ratio proportion style is romantic with a hint of Art Nouveau or small four-story building at the end of an attached
in this early work. In Secessionist influence. Le Corbusier spent five house row, austere and geometric in form, with
the diagram, diagonals
months in the office of Peter Behrens in 1910 and large windows for the top-level studio which is
are drawn across
golden rectangle then stopped briefly in Vienna to work for Joset topped by a saw-tooth skylight of the sort often
elements. The parallel Hoffmann. The influences of these experiences can used to light industrial buildings. The rigorously
angles of these lines
be traced in the largest of the early houses at International Style white walls and steel-framed
and their right angle
intersections demon- Chaux-de-Fonds, the Villa Schwob (fig. 15.14; windows, an outdoor projecting spiral stair to the
strate their relation- 1916-17). It has the symmetry and orderly sense of second-floor level, and, above all, the skylights gave
ships. Although not
Neoclassicism, while the material (reinforced the house an exterior that was shockingly unlike
apparent in the
finished building, the concrete), the openness of planning, the large any conventional architecture. The geometric
resultant visual unity of windows, and flat roofs suggest the direction of system of regulating lines controlled the form and
the design can be
modernism. The aesthetic design of Villa Schwob placement of elements, while proportions
sensed.
derives from a system of geometric controls that Le approach the golden section ratio of 1:1.618. The
Corbusier called "regulating lines" intersecting top-level studio, with giant corner windows on two
sides meeting the skylight area of the ceiling in a
three-way corner defined by the thinnest possible
structural elements, is a dramatically impressive
diagonals with right-angle relationships that essays that set forth the basic ideas of modernism
govern the placement of elements according to a in design with great force and clarity. Historic
systematic method recalling the practice of architecture, particularly that of ancient Greece, is
Renaissance masters. Throughout his career, Le praised for its abstract, formal qualities, while
Corbusier used such geometry in systems that he eclectic imitation is condemned with such phrases
developed more and more The impact and
fully. as "The styles of Louis XIV, XV, XVI or Gothic, are
aesthetic power that can be felt in even his minor to architecture what a feather is on a woman's
works may derive in some part from this method- head; it is sometimes pretty, though not always,
ical way of bringing order to what might otherwise and never anything more." Pictures of factories,
be entirely arbitrary forms. grain elevators, ocean liners, automobiles, and
airplanes appear along with details of the
Paris: Developing the Machine Aesthetic Parthenon. The beauty of modern machinery is
For a time, Le Corbusier gravitated toward the fine cited as the true artistic expression of the modern
arts, concentrating on painting under the influence world. "A house is a machine for living" is the
of Picasso, Braque, Duchamp, and others. After memorable quotation that has drawn both anger
moving to Paris in 1917, he joined the artist and praise, but it is often misinterpreted as an
278
The Emergence of Modernism
'I
expression of hostility to aesthetic values. In fact, own design, and simple, anonymous upholstered 15.15 Le Corbusier,
Pavilion de I'Esprit
Le Corbusier had a deep understanding of the chairs. Purist paintings hang on the plain white
Nouveau, Exhibition of
aesthetics of historic design, and his own aesthetic walls, the rugs are vernacular craft Berber weav- Decorative Arts, Paris,
is comparable to that of any past age. ings, laboratory glassware is used for flower vases, 1925,
and stones and shells are the only decorative acces- Within the exhibition
Early Houses, Villas, and Apartments sories. The resulting interiors demonstrate the space, Le Corbusier
presented an interior of
With the help of his cousin and frequent collabo- ideals of 1920s modernism with dramatic clarity.
a model apartment,
rator Pierre Jeanneret (1896-1967), Le Corbusier The pavilion was reconstructed in 1977 in a park designed according to
designed a pavilion (1925) sponsored by L'Esprit plaza at Bologna, Italy. his theories Modular
storage units, simple
Nouveau magazine for an exhibition in Paris. It was In 1927 Michael Stein (brother of Gertrude)
arm chairs, and Thonet
conceived as a model apartment that could form a and Gabrielle de Monzie commissioned the design bentwood chairs
module in a large apartment building that would, of Les Terraces, a large house at Garches at the edge suggest furniture far
from the norms of the
in turn, be an element in a newly planned city. of Paris (figs. 15.16-15.18). The resulting building
decorative furniture of
There is a double-height living space with a is a cubistic International Style block with white the period. The art
279
Chapter Fifteen
^5.^6
^5.^7
{right) and
[far right) le
based on a rectangle of
1 1:16 proportions- Its
planning grid is
however divided in 4, 3,
I I
4 proportions from I I
I
I
Palladia's, in 4, 2, 4, 2,
4 from side to side. Fig. above the entrance door, but, from the rear and hi
15.17 shows the archi-
tect's own isometric
plan,symmetry is abandoned in favor of a complex
drawing of the house. scheme based on internal function. An analysis by
the British historian and critic Colin Rowe has
shown that the plan is based on the geometrs' of
Palladio's Renaissance Villa Foscari at Mira. While
no overt resemblance can be observed, a sense of
classical order is clearly present in the completed
building. Le Corbusier's diagrams show that his
forms are here again based on golden section geom-
etry. Interiors of Les Terraces have been drastically
altered, but old photographs show (in black and
white) the complex spatial organization as it
Le Corbusier house,
seen in Le Corbusier's
280
The Emergence of Modernism
15.19 Le Corbusier,
Villa Savoye, Poissy,
France, 1929-31.
appeared before furnishing. The opinion some- ground level is occupied by a curving driveway
times expressed that Le Corbusier interiors are leading to a garage, an entrance hall area, and
colorless and "cold" may well be based on several service rooms. Walls are set back beneath
photographs that suggest that these spaces are all the mass of the floor above and are either of glass
black, white, and chrome. In actuality, Le Corbusier or painted a dark green that minimizes their visual
made extensive and quite daring use of strong color impact. A ramp leads up to the main living floor,
in a way that derives from his work as a painter. doubling back on itself to reach into the center of
Even exteriors were not always, as often supposed, the space. A large living-dining area stretches
plain white boxes. Walls of many of the small across one side of the building. The floor-to-ceiling
workers' houses built for the industrialist Henri wall of glass faces into an internal patio, open to the
Fruges at Pessac outside of Bordeaux (1926) were sky; an unglazed portion of the exterior ribbon
painted yellow, blue, pale green, or a dark maroon. window band gives a view of the surrounding land-
Similar colors were used in interiors; often one wall scape.
of a space was strongly colored in contrast with the The ramp continues out of doors to give access
other walls, which were white. The group is thus to roof-deck living spaces protected by straight and
richly colorful in ways that suggest cubist paintings. curved screen walls painted in pastel colors.
One of the best known of Le Corbusier's works, Services with their own curving stair, bedrooms,
and one of the most influential, is the house at and baths are arranged within the box-like block of
Poissy, near Paris, known as Villa Savoye (fig. the house, generating complex, surprising, and
15.19; 1929-31). The main block of the house is a dramatic relationships. The house has now been
near square raised up to second-floor level on slim, carefully restored, although it is without furniture.
tubular steel columns. Its walls are white with Old photographs do not convey how colorful the
continuous bands of ribbon windows. The space at interior spaces are. Those photographs do.
281
Chapter Fifteen
however, show the level of comfort and charm that upholstery designs in which loose cushions are held
was generated in the main living area, when a in a cage structure of chrome-plated steel. This
modest table and chairs, a few nondescript uphol- furniture was used in a house at Avray, and shown
stered chairs and several small oriental rugs to the public in a demonstration apartment at the
furnished the space. A continuous indirect lighting Paris Salon d'Automne of 1929. Modular box
strip hanging from the ceiling was the primary storage units that could make up room dividers or
source of artificial light. Walls are bright blue and storage walls appeared here, along with glass-
orange; the floor is of square yellow tiles laid diago- topped tables and model kitchen and bath arrange-
nally. The master bathroom, opening without wall ments, all reflecting the concept of a house as "a
or door into the adjacent bedroom, is a remarkable machine for living." The furniture continues in
For Le Corbusier, the house was a "machine for living": apartment and studio with large glass areas,
curving ceiling surfaces, and contrasting surfaces of
If we eliminate from our hearts and minds all dead
concepts in regard to houses and look at the ques- smooth plaster and rough brick. This was Le
and objective point of view, we
tion from a critical Corbusier's home for the rest of his life except for
"House Machine", the main
shall arrive at the regular visits to a tiny cabin on the coast of
production house, healthy (and morally so too) and
southern France.
same way that the working tools
beautiful in the
Le Corbusier designed many major projects
and instruments which accompany our existence
are beautiful. ^ that were never built. His designs were often
rejected for trivial reasons, as when his competition
Le Corbusier, Vers une Architecture, 923, quoted in K. Frampton,
entry for the Palace of the League of Nations at
1 . 1
282
31
from casual sketches to meticulous constructed seventeen floors of apartments raised up off the
perspectives show Le Corbusier's ideas for houses, ground on Pilotis, creating open space at ground
offices, whole neighborhoods, and
apartments, level (figs. 15.20 and 15.21). The typical apartment
cities. The frequency with which resistant and is a long and narrow Duplex (an apartment on
resentful clients and authorities managed to block two floors), with one floor passing all the way
Le Corbusier's projects made him, as years went by, through the building to open decks on both sides.
combative and irascible to a degree that may have The other level is only half as deep, with an open
further limited his success in achieving built balcony and stair connecting the two levels. The
projects. interlocking of two apartments leaves a central
space for a corridor that occurs only on every third
Town Planning floor. From the corridor, apartments on one side
Le Corbusier's ideas about town planning were first are entered at the upper level, with a stair leading
developed in his Plan Voisin for Paris (1925), in down to the larger level, while those on the other
which most of central Paris was to be demolished side are entered on the lower level, with stairs
to make room for a futuristic city of giant leading up to the larger level an arrangement
1 5.20 (left) Le
skyscrapers set within a system of elevated road- clearer in a sectional diagram than in words.
Corbusier, Unite d'habi-
ways. It included the concept of large buildings that There is a shopping street half way up the tation, Marseilles,
would each become a small neighborhood, with height of the building, and communal functions on 1945
apartments of various sizes, a shopping street high the roof, where there is a small two-story nursery The vast apartment
up in the building, and various communal facilities school really a building on top of a building
house was designed
be a complete neighbor-
to
such as a restaurant, a school, recreational spaces, and great funnel-like ventilator stacks of strongly hood within Itself. Such
and even a small hotel. Such a building he called a sculptural form. The small but adequate apart- buildings, spaced apart
in a parl<-lil<e setting,
Unite d'habitation. ments are ingeniously planned, exceptionally light
were intended to take
In 1946 the government of the city of Marseille and airy with their open decks facing in two direc- the place of the
commissioned a group of such Unite buildings to tions, and surprisingly rich in spatial qualities. The crowded and chaotic
conditions found in
form a new housing district. Only one Unite was grid of sunshades (brise-soleil) that makes up the
most modern
built there (1945)
a huge slab-like block with exterior surfaces of the building is brightened by
cities.
283
Chapter Fifteen
15.22 Le Corbusier,
Church of Notre-Dame-
du-Haut, Ronchamp,
1951.
rior fittings.
Postwar Years
designed by the architect to create a mysterious and
After World War II, the character of Le Corbusier's moving space that is suggestive of Gothic church
work tended to shift away from the cubistic rectan- interiors.
gularity of earher projects toward freer, more The Dominican convent of La Tourette (1960)
sculptural forms. The church of Notre-Dame-du- near Lyon groups monastic buildings on three
Haut at Ronchamp (1951) in France, near the sides of a central open court. The church forms a
Swiss border, is a dramatic example of this later large block on the fourth The building is of
side.
design vocabulary. Curving concrete walls enclose concrete, with surfaces left rough as they are when
an irregularly shaped interior. The roof is a curved the formwork into which concrete is poured is
construction of reinforced concrete, hollow in removed. The uncompromising austerity of finish
section like the wing of an airplane. Three chapels, suited the ideals of the monastic order, but also
two low and one higher, rise above the roof level to derived from Le Corbusier's inclination toward
curving tops. The interior space is very dark: the strong forms executed in rough, even brutal mate-
lightcomes into the three chapels from hidden rials. The term "new brutalism" was coined by
windows at their tops (fig. 15.22). The roof is from Beton brut,
British critics (perhaps derived
raised above two walls on pins, leaving a glass-filled the French term for rough concrete) to describe
slot that makes the roof seem to float in the air. such work. A visit to the Romanesque monastery of
One wall is very thick, with rectangular funnel- Le Thoronet in southern France (see p. 49) was a
shaped openings, large on the inside but tapering stimulus to seeking a modern equivalent to such
to small windows on the outside where stained medieval simplicity. The interior of the church is a
glass in various colors fills the openings. Although simple box-like space with a central altar. The roof
the walls are white, the light from the glass makes is separated from the walls by a narrow ribbon
the openings light up in brilliant colors. Behind the window that admits a diffused daylight from
altar, the wall is pierced by tiny glazed openings above, and slot-like windows shielded by exterior
that light up or are cut off as a viewer moves about planes admit light reflected from above in brilliant
within the space. The colorful windows, an enam- colors generated by simply painted reflective
eled ceremonial entrance door (which swings on a surfaces. Adjoining the church, a projecting sculp-
pivot), the seating, and the chancel fittings were all turally contoured unit houses many small chapels
284
The Emergence of Modernism
arranged on two levels. Funnel-like skylights are or metric scales are replaced by a progression of
painted on the inside in bright colors, creating Modular dimensions intended to govern every
effects that suggest stained glass through totally element of design, from the smallest details of
simple means. furniture up to whole buildings or communities.
Human dimensions are fundamental, and the
Late Commissions
concept is related to the golden section proportion.
Toward the end of his career, Le Corbusier was The several Unite buildings and all of Le
involved in the planning of a new capital city for Corbusier's work thereafter made use of the
the Indian state of Punjab, Chandigarh in Pakistan. modular system.
The basic plan of the cityand many of the build- Although subject to frequent sometimes
ings are by Le Corbusier. The bold, sculptural bitter criticism and attack, the work of Le
forms of the larger buildings the High Court Corbusier has had enormous impact on modern
(1956) where open-air circulation leads to offices design practice. Its success in bringing about a rela-
and courtrooms with tapestries designed by Le tionship between aesthetic values and the realities
Corbusier, the Secretariat (1958), and the of the modern technological "machine age" world
Assembly (1961) with the main legislative became clear in the 1920s. Just as criticism became
chamber, a round fimnel form placed off-center in focused on its cubistic and supposedly "harsh" and
a broad "forum" circulation space with their "cold" materials and forms, movement into freer,
rough concrete surfaces and bold colors, make sculptural forms and more richly textural materials
them among Le Corbusier's most powerful late undermined such attacks. A rather artificial
285
' a
Chapter Fifteen
15.23 AlvarAalto,
Turun Sanomat
Building, Turku,
Finland, 1927-9.
industrial interior-the
press room of the news-
paper Turun Sanomat-
a space of great
beauty.
also requires time for all that develops and Internally, the spaces are open, simple, and logical,
^
crystallises in our world of thoughts. but details are extraordinarily sensitive. The recep-
The architect and writer Stanley Abercrombie, one of tion office, stairs, elevators, and such small
Aalto's contemporaries, observed this emphasis on the elements as lighting fixtures and clocks were all
"human" qualities of architecture: specially designed with great care and subtlety.
He once advised the architecture students at MIT to Aalto continued to be involved with furniture and
design their windows as if the girls they loved were other interior elements that became factory prod-
^
sitting in them. ucts, many of which are still in production.
286
The Emergence of Modernism
288
The Emergence of Modernism
193a
Although a small space
within a larger
building, Aalto's
Finnish Pavilion was a
major critical success at
the Fair The slanting
wall of undulating
wood stnps and the
balcony (barely visible
at right) formed an
exciting space, within
which products of
Finnish industry could
be seen in a stimu-
lating setting.
relate to interiors that are pleasant and practical. A thinking always meets resistance from critics
skylighted hall with small booths for interviewing devoted to past values. Modern art, modern music, 15.27 (above) kWa\
visitors, a library recalling the building at Viipuri, and modern architecture have all been subject to Aalto, Vuoksenniska
Church, Imatra,
and the detailing and lighting throughout the such resistance. The wide acceptance by historians
Finland, 1956-9.
building are a model for such public facilities. of this modernist work has stimulated a revisionist
The sectional drawing
The buildings of the Technical Institute at literature seeking out its real and imagined weak- shows the way in which
Otaniemi (near Helsinki, 1964) combine several nesses. One hears of leaking roofs, streaked white the space has been
divided into three
low classroom wings with a large lecture hall stucco walls, rusting window frames, excessive glass
sections separated by
element that generates a striking external form. areas leading to winter heat loss and summer heat moveable walls. The
Inside, the tiered seating of the hall is arranged in gain, unhappy clients, and similar complaints. mam church at the
right, with altar,
curves that parallel the forms of a stepped ceiling Negative criticism most often comes from
stained glass, and
that conceals windows that light the space by day commentators who have not visited let alone organ, serves for normal
and also contain the artificial lighting that becomes lived in the projects in question. It often turns services. On special
occasions, the walls can
the primary light source during the long Finnish out that poor maintenance, inappropriate usage,
be rolled back to add
winter. and problems of client-designer friction are behind one or two additional
The Vuoksenniska Church at Imatra (fig. 15.27; such reports. Reports of great satisfaction can also spaces to hold larger
congregations. Note the
1956-9) provides a large interior space that can be be found, from clients such as Frederick Robie or
skylight at the right,
subdivided by curving sliding waDs to accommo- Herbert lacobs (Wright), Fritz Tugendhat (Mies which floods the
date varied uses by different sized groups. Daylight van der Rohe), or the tenants of the houses at chancel area with
daylight from an
floods into the space, which is largely white with Pessac (Le Corbusier).
unseen source.
floors and furniture of natural wood. Aalto also
designed the chancel fittings (even to vestments), The merits of International Style modernism can
the small inserts of colorful stained glass in the large best be appreciated by visiting the buildings in
windows, and the striking display of pipes for the question. The Robie House, Unity Temple Church,
large organ in a side balcony. Most of Aalto's works the Lakeshore Apartments in Chicago, Crown Hall
remain in good repair and in active use, offering at Illinois Institute of Technology, Villa Savoye, the
impressive evidence of the practical and aesthetic Unite at Marseille, the Paimio Sanatorium, the
success of his work. Furniture and glassware of church at Imatra are all accessible and each gives
Aalto design is in continuing production. testimony to the lasting merit of modernist work.
The work of the pioneer modernists has been Although design has moved onward, the modernist
vastly influential, and so, perhaps inevitably, it has pioneers retain their stature as the inventors of a
become the subject of considerable criticism. New design vocabulary for the twentieth century.
289
Art Deco and Industrial Design
After World War I Europeans struggled to find a design (see Chapter 15), Art Deco design was not
design direction that would be a true expression of strongly concerned with issues of functionalism
the twentieth century, a truly modern design. In and technology. It was primarily a fashion-oriented
France the word Moderne came to be understood style which was expected to take its place in the
as a designation for a new style, a style which in sequence of styles from past history styles among
English took on the name Modernistic. The term which designer and client could choose as their
served to distinguish the word modern, which preferences might suggest. A room in the Salon des
simply meant recent or current, from the idea of a Artistes Decorateurs in Paris (1928) by Michel
new, that is. Modernistic style. Roux-Spitz (1888-1937) sums up the essence of
Art Deco design The carpet pattern
(fig. 16.1).
The 1925 World's Fair in Paris carried the title tecture of skyscrapers, while the large mirror and
L'Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et prominent lighting units call attention to modern
Industriels Modernes. It was a showcase for the and electric lighting. The total effect is in
materials
exhibition of interior design, objects, and rooms in no way suggestive of anything from the past but
the new, post-war style. A number of French neither is it related to the functional interior of the
designers had already produced designs for furni- International Style; it is, rather, fashion-oriented
ture, lamps, textiles, and various accessories that and strongly decorative. With France as its point of
showed stylistic similarities. Sharply angled and origin, the style gradually moved to other
cubistic forms, the use of aluminum, black lacquer, European countries and to the American continent
and glass, and zig-zag shapes that were thought to until the beginning of World War II.
290
Chapter Sixteen
292
Art Deco and Industrial Design
often using her own lacquer panels. Her furniture Ocean Liners 16.5 Roger Expert and
Richard Bouwens,
was highly original, ingenious, and cubist in char-
Grand Salon, SS
acter. The Bibendum arm chair of 1925, the Art Deco of the 1920s, with its strong ties to Normandie, 1935.
Transat chair of 1924 (patented in and a
1930), fashion and with emphasis on decorative forms In the double-height,
variety of cabinets, couches, tables, lamps, and rugs that were inevitably costly to produce, was limited first dais main lounge
of the great French
with colorful geometric patterns appear in interiors to wealthy clients and customers. Acquaintance oceanliner Normandie,
designed for her own use and for various clients. By with the style reached a wider public, however, as tall murals of etched
1929 her work turned increasingly toward architec- Art Deco interior design came into use in restau- and painted gloss,
designed by Jean
ture with a simple, cubistic character that related to rants, hotels, and in the interiors of the great ocean
Dupas (a portion now
the work of Le Corbusier. liners of the 1920s and 1930s. The French liner installed in the
particularly well known figure in textile design was decorators, including Raymond Subes, Jean Dupas ceiling This room, like
most others on the ship,
the artist Sonia Delaunay (1885-1979) who began (1882-1964), and Jacques Dunand (1887-1942). was a showcase of Art
to design textiles for a manufacturer in Lyon in Those working on the project were a virtual roll- Deco concepts.
1922. call of the French masters of the Deco idiom.
293
Chapter Sixteen
Frankl, skyscraper
furniture, 1930.
The excitement of
skyscraper building in
New Yorl< and the
stepped, set-bacl( forms
typical of these tall
buildings led frankl to
designs for furniture
using similar stepped
forms. Skyscraper
profiles became a
favorite part of the
Art Deco design
vocabulary.
16.7 (below)
Relnhard & Hofmeister,
Corbett, Harrison &
MacMurray, Raymond
Hood, Codley &
Fouilhoux,
International Building,
Rockefeller Center, New
York, 1935,
294
Art Deco and Industrial Design
The style spread internationally so that the wood, but the slick and curving forms of the enclo-
German, Italian, and British liners each showed off sures were no longer historically based. They
the Deco idiom in a particular national version and carried Art Deco into almost every home. The
carried Art Deco, both figuratively and quite liter- studios of radio stations such as those of NBC in
ally, from Europe to America. New York's Rockefeller Center (often called Radio
City in the 1930s), where the public was often 16.9 William van
invited to watch radio programs being broadcast, Alen, Chrysler Building,
United States New York, 1 930.
were also typically Art Deco spaces, both in form
The Art Deco style
and in their daring use of colors. Blue was thought
borrowed forms from
Designers from Europe to suggest electricity, and black and chrome hinted skyscraper architecture,
Some American designers working in the style were at new technology. and at the same time
architects incorporated
themselves immigrants from Europe. Paul Frankl Many of the lobbies and other public spaces at
decorative elements
(1878-1958), for example, was trained in Vienna, Rockefeller Center are of Art Deco character. The from Art Deco into their
but had an extensive career in the United States. It lobby of the International Building (630 Fifth buildings. The Chrysler
Building, with its
was he who observed the stepped forms of Avenue), with its rich and subtly
materials
stepped, set-back forms
American tall buildings (forms created by the concealed lighting, is a prime example (fig. 16.7). and Its decorative
requirements of zoning laws rather than for any The vast Radio City Music Hall, a spectacular details leading up to
design, working in an Art Deco vocabulary. His storage rooms. The furniture is of maple veneer
interiors for the New School for Social Research of bleached to near white, with black lacquer details.
1930 in New York are a fine example of his work. Walls, doors, and furniture are all free of moldings
His more spectacular Ziegfeld Theater (1928), with and paneling typical of traditional design. The
its elliptical auditorium and richly painted walls, as Mandel House at Mount Kisco, New York,
well as his exotic roof-top restaurant at the St. designed by Edward Durell Stone, contained typi-
Regis Hotel in New York (1929) have, unfortu- cally Deco interiors by Deskey set into an
nately, been demolished. International Style shell. Deskey designed textiles
Frederick Kiesler (1892-1965), originally a in Art Deco modes for several American manufac-
stage designer in his native Vienna, associated turers and, as he moved toward an industrial
briefly with the De Stijl movement in Holland design practice, his work included clocks and
before coming to America in 1926. His first lamps in Deco forms.
American project was a small theater in New York,
the Film Guild Cinema on 8th Street, which was
Deco Architecture
one of the first modern interiors known to the The architectural forms of New York's Chrysler
general public. His work was largely in sculpture, Building (fig. 16.9; 1930), designed by William van
but he became known as something of a theorist Alen (1883-1954), with its stepped setbacks and
and futurist, most closely associated with his never- stainless steel spike top, were ornamented with
built proposal for a curvilinear Endless House details intended to suggest the headlights and radi-
exhibited in drawings and models. ator caps of the automobiles that were Chrysler's
Radio, a new means of communication and products. The building created a perfect setting for aa aa \
at a; ' 4
entertainment, was widely understood as one of van Alen's Deco interiors of lobbies, stairs, and
mm Hw >
M 53 ^ ^
SR Ml II i Btt
| i
the key innovations of the post-World War I era. It elevators. Many other office and apartment build- HB SB aa I
n %
seemed Deco forms
natural, then, that fresh Art ings have similar characteristics, and many retain an 13 aa ' *i la \
should be applied to the cabinets of table- and interiors of the period that are still in very good
5B Hffl ffl5 '13 M l
console-model radio receivers. The material was condition. __ _- --/ I in BB J
295
Chapter Sixteen
The relationship between Art Deco design and ceramicist Clarice Cliff (1899-1972) included
modern architecture was an uneasy one, despite many hand-painted pottery objects with colorful
many overlaps. As the architectural profession semi-abstract patterns of Deco character.
became increasingly loyal to the ideals of the A plastic table radio designed in 1933 in typi-
International Style in the 1930s and 1940s, Deco cally Deco form by the English architect and
design came to be called "modernistic" superfi- designer Wells Coates (1895-1958) for Ekco is
reserved for work that was more clearly based on were developed by Serge Chermayeff (1900-92) in
theoretical underpinnings. Still, many parallels can 1933, Misha Black (1910-77) in 1937 (also for
be discovered. Ekco), and by Gordon Russell (1892-1980) and his
A series of World's Fairs, occurring in a time of brother Richard, with cabinets of plywood, for
deep depression in the 1930s, provided a forum for Murphy Ltd. from 1930 to 1938. Gordon Russell,
1920s and 1930s design. The Chicago fair of along with several partners, was also a designer of
1933-4 called A Century of Progress was a cluster Deco furniture. He became something of a
of Art Deco buildings, many with brightly colored spokesman for British design and was responsible
and objects of
exteriors, that displayed interiors for an exhibition room at the Paris Exposition of
Deco While public acceptance was often
character. 1937, with furniture by W. H. Russell and textiles
design of theaters, hotels, and restaurants. In Style modernism. Instead, a somewhat cautious
London's Strand Palace Hotel, for example, public advance took place that had strong roots in tradi-
interiors were filled with angles and zig-zag forms tions of craftsmanship and wise use of materials.
and metal. The London building
in glittering glass The resulting work avoided the mechanistic quali-
for the Daily Express newspaper (1931) by Owen ties of De Stijl and Bauhaus to appear "warm" and
Williams (1890-1969) with the firm of Ellis and comfortable in order to a broad consumer public.
Clark is a gleaming example of Art Deco design, The International Style still seemed "cold" and
with its rounded corners and bands of polished forbidding.
black glass edged with chrome. Public interiors In Sweden, the Stockholm Town Hall by
such as the main entrance hall show off compa- Ragnar Ostberg (see p. 262), with its beautifully
rableDeco detail (fig. 16.2). decorated Blue Hall, became famous as an example
The Art Deco interiors of British ocean liners of a charming kind of modernism which hinted at
Mauretania of the 1930s) and those of the Orient applied to such work that did not attempt imita-
Line by Brian O'Rorke (1901-74) have already tion of past achievements but seemed rather to seek
been mentioned (p. 293). Art Deco exposure for a a way to recall the past in more contemporary
wider public came from the design produced for terms. Whatever the aims, such work had an
the London Underground system under the direc- immediate appealto a large audience. The term
tion of Frank Pick (1878-1941). Many stations "Swedish modern" came to suggest furniture and
(with architecture by Charles Holden) had inte- interiors that were not reproductions of historic
riors with strong Deco character, as did the inte- design, but that had a warmth and appeal that was
riors of train carriages and buses. The work of the easy to accept.
296
Art Deco and Industrial Design
16.10 Cunnar
Asplund, room setting,
Slojdforemngen
Exhibition, Stockholm,
1917,
In Asplund's kitchen
and living room for the
exhibition of
Sldjdforeningen
(Society of Arts and
Crafts), the simple
Scandinavian wood
detailing of furniture
and the craft-woven rug
indicate an acceptance
of modernism while the
window drapery and
the shaded hanging
light pay homage to
earlier traditions.
The 1917 room settings designed by Giinnar hanging light unit PH, developed in 1925 by Poul
Asplund (1885-1941) for an e.xhibition in Henningsen (1895-1967). Mogens Koch
Stockholm helped to define and publicize the (1898-1969) became known for a variety of folding
Swedish approach to interior design (fig. 16.10). furniture designs based on a traditional vernacular,
His Senna chair of 1925, with its smoothly curved as well as some simple and comfortable uphol-
seat, high back, and stubby arms, suggests a simpli- stered chairs. Finn Juhl ( 1912-89) designed furni-
fied version of some classic protot)'pe. Asplund was ture that was produced in Denmark and then, in
the architect of the Stockholm City Library of 1928, the 1950s, designs for production by the American
an example of a restrained and classically based firm of Baker Furniture. His most important inte-
modernism, while his role in the design of the 1930 rior project was the Trusteeship Council Chamber
Stockholm Exposition asserted Sweden's modern of the United Nations headquarters building in
Scandinavian direction. An extension table of 1938 New York (1952-3). It has a wall of undulating
by Bruno Mathsson (born 1907) is typical of the woodstrips and a ceiling open to the ducts and
simplicity and logic of 1930s Swedish design. equipment overhead.
Danish design of the 1920s and 1930s main- (For the work of Eliel Saarinen, particularly his
tained a conservative respect for traditions of interior and furniture design at Cranbrook,
craftsmanship and became known for furniture Michigan, which has strong links to Art Deco
that was simple, practical, and well made. Neither concepts, see Chapter 14.)
Deco influences ever
International Style nor Art
overcame Danish traditions, which were more
rooted in a logical vernacular than in any particular Industrial Design
style. The resulting "Danish modern" style has a
history that extends from the early years of the In the late1920s and early 1930s, a number of
twentieth century until recent times. Kaare Klint some of whom had been proponents of
designers,
(1888-1954) was a leading influence in the devel- Art Deco and others more oriented toward the
opment of furniture based on human proportions International Style, developed an interest in design
and human needs. His updated version of the for production. The term "industrial
industrial
traditional safari chair and deck lounge chair have design" came into use to describe a new profession
become classics. Another Danish classic was the that would focus on products for industry. In
297
Chapter Sixteen
298
Art Deco and Industrial Design
disginguished career in stage design to focus on curious vernacular type, the diner, a short-order
futuristic proposals for vast airplanes and stream- restaurant in theform of a railroad dining car (fig.
lined ocean liners. These never came to realization, 16.14). The
diners were actually railroad or
first
but his modest Elbow Room Restaurant in New York street cars blocked up on fixed foundations. As
(1938), with its curved walls and mirrored areas, streamlined trains became well known, the
showed that he was a talented interior designer. building of diners to imitate the cars of luxury
Gilbert Rohde (1894-1944) is best known for his trains became popular. Often at roadside locations
work in furniture design. In the 1930s he introduced where they could serve the increasing flow of auto-
the American firm of Herman MUler to the ideas of mobile traffic, the diner was a popular symbol of
modernism, although the character of his design was depression era life. Diner interiors with curving
more closely allied with Art Deco than with the metal trim, mirrors, and bright color accents were
functionalist directions that later became the norm produced by anonymous designers working for the
299
Chapter Sixteen
300
Art Deco and Industrial Design
built great dams and power houses. Roland Wank Residential Design
(1898-1970), who was in charge of its architectural
and interior design, produced remarkably fine
examples of industrial interiors within the power- Architects of residential buildings were generally
generating facilities at the dams. Here Deco and restrained by their clientsfrom introducing Art
industrial design idioms made an unusually fortu- Deco and modernist concepts, although flat roofs,
nate meeting. rounded corners, and such newly developed mate-
Just as some architects began to incorporate Art rials as glass block were occasionally used. Many
Deco ideas, many interior decorators took up the proposals for prefabricated house construction that
style as an addition to the portfolio of historic styles would bring the economic benefits of factor)' mass
on which they had previously depended. The terms production into housing were and
developed
"moderne" or "modernistic" were used to describe publicized, but none achieved popular acceptance.
English and American work, such as the rooms by
the English decorator Syrie Maugham (1879-1925),
Kitchens and Bathrooms
which had an all-white color scheme along with
mirrors and glass. In America, Dorothy Draper Industrial design, with its connection to Art Deco
(1889-1969) designed public spaces such as the and its love of streamlining, came into the homes
lobbies of the Carlyle Hotel and the 770 Park Avenue ot the twentieth-century middle classes through
apartment house. In each, a black marble floor with kitchens and bathrooms rather than more formal
white banding, white walls, and glossy black doors in living spaces (figs. 16.15 and 16.16). Kitchens, even
sjTnmetrical arrangements are used, with a few after the introduction of electric appliances, had
strong color accents of red and blue in limited areas. remained rooms housing a collection of unrelated
16.15 Kraetschand
Ktaetsch, Butler House,
Des Momes, iowa,
1936,
Kitchen appliances-
such as the range
visible in this illustra-
tion-were designed to
301
Chapter Sixteen
decorative pleasure
rather than a minimal
utilitarian room devel-
oped in the 1920s and
1930s. In this example,
mirrors, metals, and
lighting elements malce
theroom a showplace
ofDeco concepts. Note
the mirror element in
the ceiling lighting
fixture.
items the cooking stove, the ice box (now electri- treatment, with a built-in tub and shower, and
fied),and the sink and drainboard unit, each in often with wash basins made into cabinet units.
forms that dated back to the early nineteenth The makers of plumbing fixtures became enthusi-
century. Industrial designers persuaded manufac- astic clients of industrial and interior designers,
turers to transform the old wooden ice box into a who produced model bathrooms in bright colors
slick, white, mildly streamlined form. Loewy and advertised them in magazines. Houses that
designed the 1935 Coldspot, soon to be followed by were otherwise still designed in sentimentally
similar designs for General Electric, Norge, and duplicated historic modes would nevertheless sport
other manufacturers. White and smooth surfaces modern kitchens and baths. In the basements of
then became the norm for ranges, beginning with houses, industrial designers provided smoothly
Bel Geddes's simple, white-painted, smooth metal- styled exteriors for furnaces, now generally fueled
formed unit for the Standard Gas Equipment by oil or gas rather than the earlier coal.
Corporation (1933). An almost identical design by
Teague appeared in 1934. These simple cubical
forms with their standard height flat counter tops
Lighting
suggested to many designers and manufacturers
the idea of continuous counters that could be The conversion of oil and gas lighting to electricity
topped with metal or linoleum to produce a labo- gave lighting design a new lease of life. Art Deco
ratory-like band of equipment. Only the smooth lamps and light fixtures appearing in the 1930s
refrigerator needed to poke up above the line. With claimed to have "sight-saving" virtues. Indirect
gleaming white cabinets and smooth tops, banks of lighting that is, lighting in which the light sources
overhead cabinets and floors of colorful linoleum, are concealed in coves or other housings so that the
such kitchens became favorite elements in houses light produced was reflected from ceilings while the
Bathrooms also became eligible for modern the 1930s, tubular light sources became available.
302
Art Deco and Industrial Design
first in incandescent versions and then, with the Just as the era of Art Deco was introduced by the
development of fluorescent light, tubular light Paris Exposition of 1925, the World's Fair that
sources became the norm in public, commercial, opened in New York in 1939 can be thought of as
and institutional interiors. Neon lighting, first only summarizing and bringing to a close the era of Art
used in signs, became an occasional source of deco- Deco and streamlining. It included work by many of
rative light effects. Practical, functional lamps began the important designers of the 1920s and 1930s and
to appear in the work of designers such as Kurt offered examples of each of the directions that the
Versen (born 1901), whose own firm manufactured preceding decades had developed. German and
a range of such lamps and lighting Theyfixtures. Italian exhibits displayed the stripped classicism that
were used in interiors designed by architects and had come to symbolize the aggressive trends of
interior designers, but remained Uttle known to the fascism. In contrast, the French pavilion was a
general public for residential use. modernist work of Roger Expert, who had been one
of the designers responsible for the interiors of the
liner Nonnandie. The designs of Dreyfuss (a city of
the fijture in model form in the fair's theme center),
Textiles, Carpets, and Furniture
Bel Geddes's Futurama, a whole world of the future
Textiles and carpets in geometric and abstract viewed moving overhead booths in the
from
patterns suggestive of cubist art became available General Motors exhibit (fig. 16.17), Loewy (for
from sources catering to the professional design Chrysler), and Teague (for Ford and Eastman
fields, but rarely found their way into average Kodak), among others, showed off the commercial
homes. Dorothy Liebes (1899-1972), for example, merits of the industrial designers' devotion to both
had a successful career as a designer of modern Deco and streamlining themes. Modernism of a
fabricspopular with the designers of public and more serious kind could be found in the works of
commercial interiors. Manufacturers catering to Lescaze (the Aviation building), Aalto (the Finnish
mass markets still found it expedient to produce exhibit, an interior that introduced Aalto to
flowery prints, designs with illustrative motifs, and America), and the handsome Swedish pavilion by
rugs based on oriental and other traditional Sven Markelius (1889-1972). The modernism of the
designs. 1920s and 1930s is the subject of the next chapter.
303
The Spread of Early Modernism in
Europe
Although design in the first half of the twentieth the stimuli encouraging the simplicity and mecha-
century continued to be dominated by eclectic nistic reference of the new work were the impres-
historicism, awareness of the ideas of modernism sive engineering structures that made use of steel
began gradually to spread. In 1932, at the Museum and reinforced concrete to create forms that would
of Modern Art in New York, the architectural have previously been impossible. The great airship
historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip hangars of 1916 at the Orly airfield outside of Paris
Johnson, the museum's director of the department (now destroyed) by Eugene Freyssinet (1879-1962)
of architecture and design, organized an architec- and the many concrete bridges in Switzerland by
tural exhibition entitled The International Style. Robert Maillart (1872-1940) suggested the ways in
Of the seventy-five projects presented, only which new structural techniques could promote
seven were in the United States. Sixteen were works new forms of great power. Concrete, since it is in
of the modern pioneers discussed in Chapter 15. semi-liquid form before being poured, has the
There were buildings from across western Europe, ability to take shapes, such as smooth curves, that
the U.S.S.R., and Japan. They shared several styl- are difficult to achieve in other building materials
istic qualities, including flat roofs, smooth (and such as wood and steel (fig. 17.1). Steel reinforcing
usually white) walls, large areas of glass, and asym- rods, placed in formwork before concrete is
17.1 (below) Robert poured, accept tensile stresses and generate the
metrical planning, along with a total absence of any
Maillart, Salginatobel
Switzerland, 1929-3a examples of "functionalism," that is, they placed habits of using materials in straight columns and
A reinforced concrete the requirements of function ahead of any precon- beams carried forward into the use of concrete in
bridge in an obscure ceived aesthetic goals. It is interesting to notice that most buildings. The difficult engineering calcula-
alpine valley in
the images exhibited were, in eleven cases, illustra- tions and the complex formwork required for freer
Switzerland drew atten-
tion to the aesthetic tions of interiors. It was one of the key principles of forms have tended to restrict the use of concrete.
possibilities that modernism that architectural design should begin Maillart's bridges and his designs for warehouses
modern technological
with interior arrangements that would lead to and water storage facilities, where columns flow
techniques offer. An
engineer, Maillart was logical external expression. The illustrated interiors into overhead slabs in smooth curves, suggest inte-
not concerned with share the same functional simplicity, the same rior forms that had rarely been seen outside of such
visual effect when he
absence of historic and ornamental detail that utilitarian structures.
designed this 300-foot
long structure in terms characterize the external form of the buildings in The early spread ofmodernism was blocked in
of functional perfor- question. parts of Europe by political factors. In the U.S.S.R.
mance and economy.
In omitting thework both of Frank Lloyd a repressive government was fearful of the implica-
17.2 (opposite) Wright and of Scandinavian designers whose tions of a freely developing vocabulary in the arts.
Mendelsohn and design might be seen as having a romantic leaning, In Germany and Austria, the rise of tascism
Chermayeff, de la Warr
the organizers of the exhibition defined brought all progressive thinking to a stop. Early
Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea,
Sussex, England, International Style modernism as having the Futurist and Rationalist work in Italy was pushed
1935-6. abstract, cubistic, and mechanistic qualities that aside by burgeoning fascism that favored the
One of the first major represented the twentieth century, the "machine "stripped classicism" of Hitler's Germany. In the
buildings in England to
age." The style became increasingly visible in countries of Europe that remained free,
demonstrate the ideas
of modernism, this magazine articles and book publications. Among modernism also encountered much opposition.
public pavilion in a Governments and the established professions were
seaside resort is a fine
firmly wedded to eclecticism and to the conviction
example of modern
architecture at its best.
that excellence could only be found in imitation of
The building houses an historic examples. Nevertheless, the ideas of
auditorium, exhibition
modernism gradually established a hold.
space, restaurants, and
indoor and outdoor Among the ideals of the modernist pioneers
lounge spaces The and their followers was the belief that design
architects drew inspira-
people. All users of
should serve the needs of all
tion from the Schocken
Store in Stuttgart for designed buildings and objects were to be treated as
the curving, equals. Although the clients who commissioned
cantilevered stair,
much modern work were generally wealthy and
which IS seen against
an ocean view through powerful, many projects, housing schemes, public
curving areas of glass. buildings, and products such as furniture were
304
1
Chapter Seventeen
thrived during the difficult years between World influence. Lilly Reich (1885-1947) worked closely
modernism found most acceptance during the late famous Barcelona Pavilion, and in the design of
1920s and 1930s until World War II interrupted furniture credited to Mies. Marcel Breuer \
progress. (1902-81) was active at the Bauhaus working on
interiors, but is particularly known for his furni-
ture designs. His early work in wood suggests De
Several architects carried forward the traditions of tubing as a structural material. The side chairs
H. P. Berlage and other late nineteenth- and early given the name Cesca (1928) and the arm chair
17.3 Willem Dudok, twentieth-century architects and designers whose called Wassily (1925) have become well known
Town Hall, Hilversum,
work avoided the narrow historicism of the eclec- classics of the modern movement.
The Netherlands,
1924-30. tics. Willem M. Dudok (1884-1974), for example, The exhibition housing group called the
In the councilchamber who worked in the small city of Hilversum, near Weissenhof Siedlung, built in Stuttgart, Germany,
of this government Amsterdam, designed the town hall there in 1927, included examples of the design work of
building, Dudok has
(1924-30), a distinguished and monumental struc- most of the leading figures of modernism,
achieved a sense of
formality and official ture in brick, its interiors pointing in both Deco including Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, J. J. P.
dignity while working and modernist directions (fig. 17.3). J. J. P. Oud, Oud, Ludwig Hilberseimer, losef Frank, Mart
in the vocabulary of
modernism. Warm one of the architects included in the Museum of Stam, and Hans Scharoun. All of the houses were
colors and rich mate- Modern Art exhibition, is best known for public furnished according to the designs of the architects,
rials make the space housing projects that demonstrate the connections and all were open to the public for the duration of
seem comfortable while
between modernism and enlightened social and the exhibition. Public awareness of the ideas of
maintaining its authori-
tarian role. political policies (see Chapter 15). modernism was encouraged, with considerable
impact on German design directions.
A comparable
housing design exhibition called
the Werkbundsiedlung was introduced in Vienna
in 1930. There the designers included Josef Frank,
Adolph Loos, Josef Hoffmann, Andre Lur^at,
Richard Neutra, and Gerrit Rietveld, among
others. The impact on the Austrian public was
comparable to that of the Stuttgart exhibition in
Germany. These exhibitions marked a peak
achievement of the Werkbund (see p. 225). The
influence of the Werkbund increased with
modernist but it was dissolved in 1934.
ideas,
Mendelsohn (1887-1953) is known for a
Erich
major early work, the Einstein Tower astronomical
observatory (1921) at Potsdam. It is a unique
example of Expressionism in architecture, a direc-
tion that Mendelsohn abandoned as his work
moved more toward the International Style. His
work in Germany included several major depart-
306
The Spread of Early Modernism in Europe
Originally known as
Casa del Fascia, this
public building was
Italy intended to accommo-
date political meetings,
The movement called Futurism developed in Italy but in spite of Fascist
preferences for monu-
before World War I. In various manifestos,
mentality in design,
Futurists advocated modernity, technology, speed, Terragni managed to
and the power of the machine. Although Futurists produce a fine work of
modernism. The open,
such as Antonio Sant'Elia 1888-1916) made archi-
(
grid-like sides lead to a
tectural proposals, none was built. It remained for glass-topped atrium It
A work of the
Rationalist movement,
this building has a
strict geometric
program controlling the
proportions which are
the basis for its
aesthetic qualities.
307
Chapter Seventeen
exactly half-square dimensions and the propor- smooth walls of white and light color tones, and a
tions of the grid are geometrically derived. A main variety of examples of modern furniture, most by
meeting room with abstract wall treatments Breuer or Aalto, characterize the interiors. Breuer
suggestive of De Stijl art has tubular metal chairs designed Zurich and Basel in 1933
retail stores in
around a glass-topped table. This opens onto a for the firm ofWohnbedarf, which had connec-
large central court which is accessed from the street tions with the Werkbund. The best of modern
through a bank of glass doors that could be simul- furniture and other household items were on
taneously opened by electrical controls. Under display there and available to the Swiss public. The
fascism, it was renamed the Casa del Fascio; more firm played a significant role in bringing
recently it has become the Casa del Popolo. modernism into prominence in Swiss design.
In 1938, the Milan firm known as BBPR (for its Max Bill (1908^4) had been a student at the
members, Banfi, Belgioioso, Perressutti, and Bauhaus and, after his return to Switzerland,
Rogers) was responsible for the Institut became something of a spokesman for modernism
Heliotherapeutique at Lugano. It was a kind of through his association with the Swiss Werkbund.
health camp for children where sun exposure was He was also involved in publishing, including the
expected to offer therapeutic benefits. The building multivolume series presenting the work of Le
is largely devoted to a large double-height dining Corbusier. He was the designer of the Swiss exhibi-
hall seating 800. South-facing glass areas and a red- tion area at the Milan Triennale in 1936 in which
tiled north wall are of typically International Style exhibit panels and cases were placed freely in an
character. open space which formed a white surround for
Although Italian fascism was, in its early years, units in strong, bright colors.
not overtly hostile to modernism, as the influence Le Corbusier, although thought of as a French
of Hitler in Germany became dominant, modern architect, was, in fact, Swiss. The small, lakeside
work faded. It did not resurface untO after the war. house at Vevey that he designed for his parents in
1924 is a clearly realized International Style project.
Although conceived as a "dwelling machine," the
Switzerland interior space is full of subtleties such as the dark-
ness of the end spaces that form a contrast for the
The orderly and homogeneous nature of Swiss main interior space, a long band lighted by contin-
society, and the strong development of engineering uous glass, facing south and offering a view of Lake
and technical skills in Switzerland, made that Geneva. Furniture comprised simple, traditional
country hospitable to the rational and logical country tables, chairs, and beds. The relationship
concepts of modernism. The engineering of Robert between the older furniture and the austere
Maillart, the art of Paul Klee, and the egalitarian modernism of the space is strikingly happy. (The
nature of Swiss society were all important for its work of Le Corbusier is dealt with in more detail in
development. St. Anthony's Church (1925) at Basel Chapter 15.)
Also in Switzerland, two small apartment famous modernist, he always remained somewhat
houses of 1935-6 at Doldertal near Zurich were outside of the mainstream of French design he
designed by A. and E. Roth, together with Marcel was too radical to achieve wide acceptance.
Breuer who was in Switzerland for a time between Another pioneer, Auguste Perret (18741954), was
his departure from the Bauhaus and his move to one of the first designers to understand the possi-
England. The buildings were commissioned by bilities of reinforced concrete as a structural mate-
Sigfried Giedion, the well-known architectural rial that offered new aesthetic directions. His early
historian and advocate of modernism. One of the work, such as the apartment building at 25 bis Rue
flats belonged to Alfred Roth and included his Franklin in Paris, has close ties to the spirit of Art
architectural office. Large areas of glass, simple Nouveau, but his church of Notre Dame at Le
308
The Spread of Early Modernism in Europe
Raincy (1922-4) presents a dramatic interior of that stand at the border between Deco and
clearly modernist character (fig. 17.6). The International Style concepts. The kitchen and bath-
concrete structure made it possible to use rooms are particularly forward-looking. His role in
supporting columns of extreme thinness rather the design of settings for films of the 1920s made
than solid walls or massive columns. As a result, his work visible to a larger public, as did his Bally 17.6 Auguste Ferret,
the outside walls are entirely of stained glass of shop in Paris of 1928 and his designs for the Church of Notre Dame,
Le Raincy, France,
modernist design but of strong and rich color. The Hygiene and Electricity Pavilions at the 1937 fair in
1922-4.
resulting space suggests a modern version of the Paris. Mallet- Stevens designed furniture for a
medieval Sainte Chapelle. number of projects his simple 1928 side chair of
In this building the slim
A somewhat less famous figure of French metal is still in production and frequent use. vaulted ceiling of
concrete clearly express
modernism is Robert Mallet-Stevens (1886- 1945), Pierre Chareau (1883-1950) is best known for
the qualities of the
whose early work seems close to the moderne direc- his 1928-32 Maison de Verre (House of Glass) in an
material, while
tion of Art Deco (fig. 17.7). His 1924-33 house at Paris that made use of steel framing and large areas ambience suggestive of
Gothic churches is
Hyeres for the Vicomte de NoaiUes had a number of glass block and plate glass (fig. 17.8). His furni-
generated by the walls
of interiors of forward-looking design. The Pink ture designs included both chairs of rich woods that appear almost
Salon used simple, geometric forms as a setting for and heavy upholstery and simple folding seating entirely of stained
glass. The glass is
rubber upholstered furniture and steel tube designs with metal framing and wicker seats and backs,
mounted in screens of
by both Mallet-Stevens and Breuer. The large Villa suggesting a move from Art Deco to the concrete, which enclose
Cavrois (1931-2) at Croix has handsome interiors International Style. the interior on all sides.
309
Chapter Seventeen
310
The Spread of Early Modernism in Europe
Swedish modern design, at first in the cautious Crafts movement and in the English versions of Art
vocabulary discussed in Chapter 16, became more Nouveau.
clearly identified with the Internationa] Style in the Walter Gropius came to England in 1934 for a
Stockholm Exhibition buildings of 1930 by Sven brief stay before moving on to the United Sates in
Markelius and his Halsingborg Concert Hall of 1937. While in England he formed a partnership
1925, where a handsome interior was developed in with Maxwell Fry (1899-1987) with whom he
large part on the basis of acoustical considerations. designed a fine educational group for Impingten
Modernism became the accepted stylistic direction College in Cambridgeshire in 1936. It is a proto-
for Swedish public and commercial buildings of type for many later one- and two-story school
the 1930s and early 1940s, such as the Kingholmen buildings in the modern design vocabulary. The
Girls' School of 1941, Stockholm, by Paul two men also designed a modern house in Old
Hedquist. Modest modern furniture, textiles, and Church Street, London (1936), for Benn Levy, ft is
accessories were widely available and had general a fine example of International Style modernism in
public acceptance. plan, exterior character, and interior design. Close
by, on the same street,a house by Erich
is
resistance, both from a degree of conservatism in the street brought light flooding into simple inte-
public taste and from more specific obiections on riors with typically modernist furniture and details.
the part of architectural professionals and govern- Chermayeff had been born in Russia but was
mental restrictions. Building laws were often inter- educated in England; Mendelsohn had come to
preted to cover aesthetic choices that demanded England in 1933 after being forced to leave
These resonated with the thinking of British Bexhill-on-Sea (1935-6). This is a seaside pavilion
designers, whose ideas were moving along the with restaurants, an auditorium, and extensive
directions that had their origins in the Arts and terraces and other public spaces for recreation and
311
Chapter Seventeen
designing a group of a house at the Royal Show in Bristol ( 1936). It made 17.11). The firm of Adams, Rolden, and Pearson
furniture intended for
production by the firm
Isokon. The material is
1930s
312
The Spread of Early Modernism in Europe
17.12 Tecton
(Berthold Lubetkin et
al.). Highpomt,
Highgate, London,
1936-8.
were the architects for the London transit system, 1936-8, one of the first striking successes of the
which brought modernism into the everyday Hfe of modern movement in England. Its plan provides
Londoners. for eight large and luxurious flats on each of its
Wells Coates, mentioned earlier (p. 296) for his seven floors, each disposed so as to provide cross-
role in industrial design, was also an architect who ventilation and open views without overlooking
helped to bring the International Style to England. the windows of neighboring flats. The entrance
His Lawn Road Flats in Hampstead, London foyers, fine examples of simple modern interior
(1934),and the Embassy Court Flats at Brighton design, are still in good condition and in regular
(1935) were among the first large buildings in use (fig. 17.12). Tecton also produced a number of
England of International Style character. Similarly, buildings at the London Zoo in Regent's Park,
his tiny Sunspan Bungalow at Welwyn (1935) including the famous Penguin Pool (1933), a
offered the same qualities in a small, family house. classic demonstration of the possibilities for rein-
Coates was also a designer of interiors and furni- forced concrete to create abstract forms in space.
ture. For the Lawn Road flats he detailed a typical,
tiny apartment with built-in fittings that made The development of modernism in England and in
conventional furniture largely unnecessary. Coates continental Europe was brought to a temporary
designed some ingenious furniture for his own hah by World War II in 1939. In the United States,
home, including a desk on rollers that could be in spite of the early pioneer work of Louis Sullivan
inserted into a bank of cabinets so as to merge into and Frank Lloyd Wright, development of
the total grouping. modernism was relatively slow. However, many
Berthold Lubetkin (1901-90) was born and European designers moved to America to escape
trained in Russia, studied in Paris, and came to the upheavals in Europe and to explore the possi-
England in 1930 where he founded the firm bilities of the New World. The following chapter
Tecton. Tecton designed the multistory apartment traces the progress of modernism in the United
house at Highgate, London, called Highpoint, in States.
313
Modernism in America
In the United States, the most successful architects Wright: 1920s and 1930s
and designers maintained the dominant role of
eclectic historicism based on the concepts of the In 1932, when Henry-Russell Hitchcock and
Paris Ecole des Beaux-Arts. The work of Sullivan Philip Johnson organized the exhibition The
and Wright at the turn of the century was generally International Style for the Museum of Modern Art
ignored or regarded as a curious footnote to in New York, they included only seven American
American design history, while the work of projects. Of those seven, one is a single room inte-
European modernists was rarely published and rior by Mies van der Rohe, three are small projects,
therefore little known. in retrospect hardly memorable, leaving only three
examples of genuine significance. These consti-
tuted a fairly complete survey of modern work in
Architects and Designers America at the time, with the exception of the work
of Frank Lloyd Wright excluded from the exhibi-
tion, one must assume, because his early work had
already passed into history or because it did not fit
Gill
the concept of modernism that the term
The work of the Californian architect Irving Gill International Style implies. Between his return to
(1870-1936), although it attracted httle contempo- America from Japan in 1922 and the mid- 1930s,
rary attention, includes anumber of buildings that Wright produced comparatively few buildings.
seem modern developments, while
to presage later Hollyhock House, Los Angeles, was designed and
his design shows some influence from the Spanish constructed for Aline Barnsdall during Wright's
California missions. His interiors had simple, Japanese years, and was completed in 1921. It is a
unornamented white walls and, sometimes, arched large, almost monumental structure in poured
openings. Smooth wooden walls without moldings concrete with bands of cast geometric ornament.
and grilles of wood generated spaces with modern Externally, it suggests Mayan architecture, while
18.1 (fce/oiv) Irving sensibilities. Gill's best-knowTi works are the Dodge internally, its large rooms have surprisingly limited
Gill, Dodge House, Los
house in Los Angeles (fig. 18.1; 1915-16) and the openings onto the elaborate surrounding terraces
Angeles, 1915-16,
Scripps house at La JoUa (1917J. and gardens (fig. 18.3). Several of Wright's subse-
Before wide acceptance
in tlie United States, quent house designs used concrete block in a simi-
modern ideas of larly creative way in place of poured concrete. Each
simplicity were tfie
block was cast with a decorative patterned face,
basis for the interiors of
houses designed by this
giving the wall surfaces an overall repeat pattern
American architect that Wright called Textile block because of its
314
Chapter Eighteen
Decorative patterns on
the ceiling reflect the
structural support
members. A skylight
with ornamental detail
lights the area in front
of the massive fireplace
and chimney, which
form a spatial anchor
for this large room.
316
Modernism in America
Tahesin Fellowship. It was, in effect, Wright's office Kaufmann family on a wooded site at Bear Run, One of Wrighfs best
and continued to grow and prosper during his hfe- Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, its balconies of known commissions,
Fallingwater was under-
time. It still exists under the direction of former concrete projecting out over a stream and waterfall, taken at the request of
apprentices. is one of the most romantic examples of modern Edgar Kaufmann Jr for
The full impact of Wright's approach to architectural form anywhere (figs. 18.5 and 18.6). his father. was built
It
natural setting is
spaces, where rough stone walls contrast with remarkably effective.
18.6 Interior of
Fallingwater,
317
Chapter Eighteen
dominated by concrete
structural columns,
which spread out to
318
Modernism in America
out into large disks at their tops (fig. 18.7). The wide recognition. It was a single, simple space with
spaces between the disk tops are filled with glass windows on three sides, a floor of rush squares,
tubing made into skylights that flood the space The glass areas
plus a few bits of simple furniture.
with daylight. Perimeter walls of red-brown brick that made up removed to trans-
the walls can be
are windowless, but glass forms a band between form the house into an open pavilion. Kitchen and
wall tops and the edges of the column tops. There is bath occupy an enclosed area at one end of the
a balconymezzanine surrounding the main space, main living space. As in much of Wright's work,
and some private offices and related spaces in a there are strong connections with traditional
penthouse on the roof Wright designed unique Japanese house design.
furniture for this building, making use of circular
motifs, for chair seats and backs, for the ends of
Schindlerand Neutra
desk tops and shelves, and even for desk drawers
which do not pull out but swing on pivots (fig. Several other American pioneer modernists had at
18.8). These are among the most successful of least a tenuous relationship with Wright early in
Wright's furniture designs. their careers. Rudolph Schindler (1887-1953) had
The Winkler-Goetsch house of 1939 at a stormy relationship with Wright that began with
Okemos, Michigan, is an example of Wright's work collaboration but ended in bitter conflict.
in modest residential projects. Its clerestory-lit, Schindler conducted his own practice in California
simple interior spaces with surfaces of natural (fig. 18.9) designing a beach house (1926) for the
wood and brick, and the concrete floor that holds Lovell family in Newport Beach, California, in a
the pipes that circulate warm water for radiant geometric modern vocabulary suggestive of De
heating, are t>'pical of what Wright called Usonian Stijl. Richard Neutra (1892-1970) was born in
house design. The term was coined by Wright to Vienna and studied there with such early
incorporate the letters U.S., to suggest his convic- modernists as Loos and Otto Wagner. He came to
tion that his style was unique to the United States the United States in 1921 where he met Louis
of America. Sullivan and worked for a short time with Frank
A modest desert camp near Phoeni.x, Arizona, Lloyd Wright. In 1926 he moved to Los Angeles to
gradually grew into the complex called Taliesin establish his own practice. The Lovells (who had
West where Wright and the apprentices worked been Schindler's clients earlier) commissioned a
together during the winter months. Its interiors large house in 1927 in Los Angeles (included in the
with rough stone and wood used in a romantic Hitchcock-Johnson exhibition). It is the first clear
interplay are among the most interesting of example of the International Style in the United
Wright's works. For the rest of his life he was able States (fig. 18.10). The client was a doctor much
to produce an increasing flow of work of striking associated with advocacy of health practices
originality. In spite of his success and fame, involving sun and exercise. The house became
however, Wright remained something of an known as the Health House, with pool, gym,
outsider to the architectural and design profes- outdoor sleeping porches, and huge glass areas
sions. As long as eclecticism remained dominant, admitting sunlight throughout the interior. With
the architectural establishment ignored his work or white, unornamented walls outside and in, with
viewed it with horror. As modernism became more grey carpeting in all living areas, and simple, largely
accepted, it was the European International Style built-in furniture, the house represented a
that was more widely admired than Wright's more dramatic introduction of the new, modernist style
produce distinguished work of their own. Harwell Joseph von Sternberg (1935, demolished 1971).
Hamilton Harris (1903-1990) established his own Walls surrounding a pool and driveway extended
office in Los Angeles in 1934. His own tiny house at the basic box form of the house outward in long
Fellowship Park, Los Angeles (1935), brought him horizontals. The walls were of steel and painted
319
Chapter Eighteen
surround,and clerestory
windows admit light
above a continuous
shelf. The fireplace and
chimney are of unorna-
mented simplicity. The
chairs are of Schindler's
design.
Lescaze
320
Modernism in America
highly successful. With no suitable modern furni- In 1940 Edward Durrell Stone designed a house 18.11 [above left)
worked on residential projects, radio studios (for flooded with light from
Cropius and Breuer
CBS) and a variety of other projects, always clearly large glass areas.
Concealed mdirect light
International Style in design. The direct influence of International Style comes from lowered
modernism increased hugely when several of the ceiling area panels. The
European leaders of the movement arrived in the columns are faced with
Goodwin and Stone polished black marble,
United States. Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer and the floor is dark
New York's Museum of Modern Art opened in were invited to Harvard University in Cambridge, grey.
1931 and immediately became a strong influence in Massachusetts, in 1937. Gropius became the head
promoting interest in the modernism that was by of the Graduate School of Design. Architectural 18.12 {above right)
then well established in Europe. The museum's training abandoned its tradition-oriented content Goodwin and
Philip
own building on 53rd Street in New York, a fine in favor of amodern program. In 1938, Mies
fully Edward Stone, Museum
of Modern Art, New
example of modernism, was designed by Philip L. van der Rohe became Director of Architecture at York, 1939.
Godwin (1885-1958) and Edward Durrell Stone Armour Institute (now lUinois Institute of The members lounge
(1902-78) in 1939. Its interior spaces, lobbies, stair, Technology). As faculty and graduating students occupied a penthouse
auditorium, and members' rooftop lounge (fig. from the programs at these institutions began to of the newly
constructed building of
18.12), all designed by the architects, made teach and practice in America, a vast change in
the Museum of Modern
modernism visible to a New York public in an professional attitudes took place. Modernism, and Art. Floor-to-ceiling
institution with an avowed educational purpose. particularly the modernism of the International glass opened an
to
outdoor terrace.Modern
For a number of years it was the best, indeed Style, began to replace the tradition-oriented and
chairs, including exam-
almost the only, example of International Style modernistic directions of the 1920s and 1930s. ples by Breuer,
architecture and interior design of a high level of Walter Gropius was the architect of his own Mathsson, and Russel
Wright were used.
excellence in New York City. house at Lincoln, Massachusetts (fig. 18.13; 1937).
321
Chapter Eighteen
A fine example of International Style design, it has ings on the campus at Cambridge,
Han'ard
a typical flat roof, large glass areas, and such details Massachusetts. The simple forms, exterior and
as an entrance shelter supported by tubular interior, gradually became the vocabulary of most
columns, an external spiral stair, and generous use institutional building in the United States. Interiors
of glass block. The white walls are, surprisingly, not included distinguished art work by loan Miro,
of concrete or stucco but of the tongue-and-groove Josef Albers, and Herbert Bayer.
wood boards typical of vernacular New England
building. The interiors are of elegant simplicity and Mies van der Rohe
display many pieces of furniture by various
members of the modern movement (fig. 18.14). Mies van der Rohe planned a new campus for the
The house is now landmarked and open to visitors. Illinois Institute of Technology where his first
By 1949 Gropius had organized a firm which he American project was the Metallurgical Research
named the Architects' Collaborative. It was respon- Building (1943). Its austere patterns of exposed
sible for the extensive group of residential build- steel structure with fiUed-in areas of brick and glass
ings grouped around court)'ards known as the established the vocabulary of his hugely influential
Harvard Graduate Center, the first modern build- late work. As the campus developed, it included a
number of Mies's buildings that demonstrated the
18.13 Walter Cropius,
possibilities of minimalist simplicity.
Cropius House, Lincoln,
Massachusetts, 1937. The concept of the glass skyscrapers that Mies
18.14 Intenorof
Cropius House.
322
Modernism in America
entrance areas show Miesian interior design at its "glass house" has become a famous example of the
simple best. (Mies's work in America is discussed possibilities of an open plan carried to its logical,
more tiiliy in Chapter 15.) extreme conclusion.
Johnson and Mies van der Rohe were collabora-
18.15 Skidmore,
Owings & Merrill,
323
Chapter Eighteen
architecture and the interior design of the Terrace Buffalo, New York (1938). The first twentieth-
Plaza Hotel in Cincinatti,Ohio (fig. 18.15; 1945). century American concert hall to achieve acoustic
Interiors included art works by Joan Miro, Saul excellence, it has simple, dignified interiors in
Steinberg, and Alexander Calder. Benjamin which unornamented wood surfaces generate a
18.16 Eliel and Eero Baldwin, Davis Allen, Marianne Strengell, and sense of warmth. Their First Christian Church
Saannen, First Christian Ward Bennett (born 1917) participated in various (also known as the Tabernacle Church) at
(Tabernacle) Church,
aspects of its interior design. The firm came to Columbus, Indiana (1942), presents a comparably
Columbus, Indiana,
1942. favor the minimalist direction of Mies van der simple and impressive interior with white walls and
Rohe, particularly in projects developed by Gordon brickwork generating a serene sense of space (fig.
This may be regarded
as the first U.S. church Bunschaft (1909-1990), the partner in charge of 18.16). The Saarinens, in partnership with the firm
of modern architectural New York skyscraper Lever of Perkins and Will, were the lead designers for the
design, such as the
design. The extreme
House (1952), the first truly modern tall building Crow Island School (1939), an impressive demon-
simplicity of the finely
proportioned space, to be built in New York City. stration of the possibilities of modernism for the
with its tall windows, typical American public school. In partnership
Its dignified cross on
with Robert F. Swanson, the Saarinens won a
the end and its
wall, Eero Saarinen J.
and
use of white competition in 1939 for a Smithsonian Gallery of
natural wood tones as Art to be built in Washinton, D.C., a superbly
Eliel Saarinen's son Eero (1910-61) entered into
the only color, generate
partnership with his father at Cranbrook, organized, asymmetrical composition that would
a space promoting
calm meditation. Michigan, to design the Kleinhans Music Hall in have been the first important work of modernism
in that city. Unfortunately, it was never built. The
324
Modernism in America
18.17 Dorothy
store in New York became well known, and Billy
Draper, Pompeilan
Baldwin (1903-84), whose fashionable interiors Court Restaurant,
were favorites of many wealthy clients. Metropolitan Museum
of Art, New York, 1948.
Modern interior design in America in the 1930s color scheme chosen for
the floor and walls was
and 1940s was hampered by the lack of available
augmented by the very
modern furniture. Office furniture of steel
large and ornamental
construction from such tlrms as Globe-Wernecke hanging lights. The
Doric columns are part
and General Fireproofmg (now G.F.) was, even if
of the pre-existing
somewhat pedestrian in design, available for office architecture.
and institutional use, but furniture for residential
and commercial interiors hardly existed. The
designs of Gilbert Rohde manufactured by Herman
Miller were one exception, but they displayed a
strongly Art Deco character not quite in line with
the simplicity sought by International Style
Knoll
Several other decorators, however, moved away
from They attempted to develop
historic imitation. A step forward occurred when, in 1937, Hans Knoll
styles that were more related to the modern world, (1914-55) came to New York from his native
while avoiding the functionalist aspects of Germany to begin production of modern furni-
International Style modernism. T. H. Robsjohn- ture. Knoll was not himself a designer, but he had
Gibbings (1909-73), who had been born and learned in Germany an appreciation of the kind of
trained in England but who worked in America, furniture that modern interiors called for. He made
designed furniture in a stripped classical vocabu- an alliance with Jens Risom (born 1915), a Danish
lary that suited his rather simple but elegant inte- designer who had arrived in New York in 1938.
riors. He became particularly interested in the Risom designed for Knoll a number of simple chairs
furniture of ancient Greece and developed a and tables that could be made in readily available
modern Klismos chair that was for a time offered as wood with chair seats and backs of stretched
a factory-made product from the Widdicomb webbing. As wartime restrictions tightened in the
Furniture Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan. late 1940s, most furniture manufacturers were
Edward Wormley (1907-95) became known for diverted into military production. Knoll's furniture
his tastefully simple furniture produced by the could, however, be manufactured in small shops
Dunbar Furniture Company in Berne, Indiana. His using available basic materials; the webbing was
showrooms for Dunbar placed the furniture in from the
said to be available as reject material
suitably reserved settings. Other versatile decora- making of parachutes. The simple designs also
tors working in a variety of styles included William turned out to be highly suitable to wartime needs
Pahlmann (1906-87), whose floridly elaborate for the interiors of military facilities, officers'
model rooms for the Lord and Taylor department lounges, servicemen's clubs, and similar installa-
325
Chapter Eighteen
IS.ISand 18.19
Florence Knoll, furni-
ture, 1940s and 1950s
Florence Schust As
design director,
Florence Knoll was a
key force in main-
taining the company's
determination to
produce furniture of the
highest design quality.
The company made
available the classic
designs by the early
modern pioneers,
including Breuer and
Mies van der Rohe, but tions. As a result, Knoll secured a foothold in the
when a need surfaced,
production of modern furniture (figs. 18.18 and
Florence Knoll under
took new designs in the 18.19). The 650 chair of 1941-2 remains in
modern idiom.
production and is as suitable to modern interiors as
it was when first introduced. As the only supplier
often called the "womb" chair) and the pedestal- director. The Knoll Planning Unit produced some
based chairs and tables of 1955-6. Harry Bertoia of the best interiors of the period, including distin-
(1915-78), a sculptor who was another Cranbrook guished interior design for the office building of
contact, was the designer of the wire chairs that the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company
joined the Knoll line of classic designs in 1952. at Bloomfield, Connecticut (1954-7), an architec-
Florence Schust (now Hans Knoll's wife) herself tural project of Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill.
undertook the development of a number of Florence Knoll's awareness of the aesthetic of Mies
straightforward modern designs for upholstered van der Rohe is evident, along with a sense for
seating and office furniture. strong color.
The Planning Unit at Knoll, originally a modest
service that offered help in the selection and place- Herman Miller Furniture Company
ment of furniture, gradually grew into a complete
interior design service. Under Florence Knoll's The Herman Miller Furniture Company had
direction, it became a favored source of interior curtailed production during World War II to
design for architects of modern works who were devote its facilities to war-related products. After
unable or unwilling to undertake the interior the war, without their designer Gilbert Rohde, who
326
Modernism in America
had died in 1944, the firm turned to George Nelson 18.20 Charles Eames
and Eero Saarinen,
(1908-86), an architect who had written and edited
competition drawings,
several magazines dealing with design. Nelson was 1940, The Museum of
asked to develop a complete line of modern furni- Modern Art, New York.
and, most significantly, seating and storage units by from being manufac-
tured, the concept led
Charles Eames.
to later chair designs
Eames (1907-78), who was also an architect, developed by each of
had been at Cranbrook from 1937 and had estab- the designers
separately-
lished a friendship with Eero Saarinen. Together,
Eames and Saarinen took two first prizes in a 1940
Museum of Modern Art competition entitled
Organic Design in Home Furnishing (fig. 18.20).
designer. His own house at Grosse Pointe, established norm of all major American designers.
Michigan, was a showcase of lively and colorful The wider public, however, looked in a different
interiors filled with objects from his vast collection direction, translating modernist ideas into the
of folk art. His Herman Miller textiles used abstract language of commercial production. Suburban
form in a range of cheerful colors. He was also houses of questionable merit, interiors filled with
responsible for the interior design of a large house gross versions of "modernistic" furniture, kitchens
designed by Eero Saarinen for Irwin Miller in with appliances in pastel colors, and, above all,
Columbus, Indiana ( 1952). Girard moved to Santa gigantic automobiles sporting meaningless tailfins
Fe, New Mexico, in 1953. Here he acquired and became the design icons of the post-World War II
reconstructed a traditional adobe house, making it world. Interior design, in the work of thoughtful
a virtual museum of folk art collected in Arizona, professionals, moved forward in contrast to this
Mexico, South America, and India. Girard's color unfortunate dominant direction.
-in
The Ascendency of Modernism
If World War II had limited design activity in became the most used material for floor tiles
America, had brought design to a virtual stop in
it (replacing Melamine plastic
asphalt-asbestos).
Europe. After the war, design began to come alive came into wide use as an impervious material for
again in Europe. As countries recovered from the furniture and counter-top surfaces. Glass fiber
war and its economic impact, there was a gradual reinforced plastic became a highly useful material
return to prosperity. In the United States, for chairs made in body-fitting curvilinear forms.
economic health rapidly encouraged new building Plastics were the binders for various forms of
to make up for the suspensions of the war years. paneling made of wood chips, which could be used
Expanding businesses required new offices and for wall surfacing and furniture construction.
other facilities. The expansion of programs in Plaster as a material for walls and ceilings gave way
colleges, hospitals, and other institutions created to factory-produced boards known as "sheet-rock"
an extensive need for interior design work. Design or "dry-wall." Ceilings, particularly in offices and
firms grew and prospered in Europe and in institutional buildings, were hung from above by a
America. system of metal strips that held panels of acoustic
Modernism with a basis in the International sound-absorbing material. Lighting and air circula-
Style became the norm of professional design work. tion grilles could be integrated into ceiling design.
There was a new willingness to move beyond the The traditional dependence on windows as a
vocabulary of flat roofs, white walls, and maximal source of light and fresh air began to be displaced
glass. The glass-walled skyscraper became a symbol by mechanical air conditioning systems that deliv-
of success for businesses and municipalities, so that ered air, at the desired temperature and humidity,
central city districts were clogged with such tall into buildings that could have fixed windows or no
buildings. This tendency was most marked in the windows at all. Inexpensive fluorescent lighting
United States, but even such traditionally conserv- became the norm for commercial and institutional
ative cities as London and Paris became studded spaces in spite of its often undesirable aesthetic
with new tall buildings. qualities. Residential design was influenced by
Buildings and interiors produced without these developments in ways that were often unob-
benefit of professional design tended to remain trusive. Plastics could be made to simulate tradi-
attached to "traditional" stylistic directions, tional materials in carpets, textiles, and furniture.
however poorly understood and reproduced. Air conditioning could be concealed with only
Housing developments, usually the work of specu- small inlet and return grilles visible. Fluorescent
lative builders, occupied increasing areas of land in lighting came into acceptance in business interiors,
suburban districts fed by extensive highway kitchens, and bathrooms but remained less used in
networks. "Suburban sprawl" the clutter of living spaces.
unplanned commercial development surrounding Design became more truly international than
cities and their related suburbs became endemic, ever before. There was an increasing flow of infor-
with buildings of indifferent design. It is not mation through magazines and books, while the
surprising that the interiors were also rarely of coming of regular intercontinental air transporta-
outstanding design quality. Residential interiors tion made movement easier both for designers and
were normally assembled by the householders that an interested public. European modern design
were to occupy them. Design resulted from the became increasingly familiar to and popular with
nature of the home furnishing products offered at the more affluent population in the United States,
retail, which were rarely of great technical or while developments in materials and technology
aesthetic quality. It is in the work of professional spread from their points of origin (often in the
19.1 Joe Colombo,
furniture, Milan, Italy, designers as they served business, institutions, and United States) worldwide.
1970. government agencies that the better design of these
In a futuristic apart- years is to be found.
ment using circular
Many technical developments led to changes in Italy
forms OS a theme,
Colombo arranged the nature of interior spaces. Synthetic materials,
rotatmg elements such as plastics, became available as replacements Italybecame a leading center for exciting post-war
mcluding a dining
for older, natural materials. Textiles and carpets design and exported furniture and other products
table-shelf and, on the
right, a Cabriolet Bed using synthetic fibers (often in combination with to other countries hungry for new and imaginative
with a folding canopy. some natural fibers) came into general use. Vinyl design. Anyone arriving in Rome by train would be
328
Ml!
'
Chapter Nineteen
under Ponte after the war, comments on the Labor (or Italia 61 Pavilion) at Turin (fig. 19.2;
individuality of the Pirelli Tower and the way its
1960-1) is formed as a cluster of sixteen square
design attempts to transcend purely materialistic
units, each with a tapering center column of
19.2 Pier Luigi Nervi, requirements;
concrete supporting a roof panel created by
Palace of Labor, Turin,
Rente's belief, plea and commitment was essentially
Italy, 1960-1
330
The Ascendency of Modernism
Marco Zanuso (born 1916), Tobia Scarpa (born Sydney, Australia ( 1956). Its repeated sail-like shell
1935), Carlo Molino (1905-73), Vico Magistrettti forms create a landmark externally and remarkable
(born 1920), and the Castiglionis (Achille, born interiors within. His design for Bagsvaerd Church
1918, and two brothers) all became known for their in Copenhagen (1979) also deserves attention. It
furniture, lamps, and other products. Joe Colombo includes a number of spaces designed with a recti-
(1930-71) was one of the most adventurous of the linear plan on a square module, which rise into a
Italian designers, producing a variety of chairs and remarkable complex in the ceiling of the church
many interesting furniture units that combined itself. As a furniture designer, Utzon developed the
various functions into single packages. Many other Utsep Mobler seating system which used a number
Italian design products, such as the colorful glass- of modules that can be combined into a variety of
ware produced by Venini, made Italian modernism curved and straight groupings.
well known and influential. The modern furniture of Denmark became
popular worldwide. Its somewhat conser\'ative
design combined with traditional craftsmanship in
Scandinavia finely finished teak and other hardwoods and
favorable economic conditions to make it particu-
Denmark, known before the war for its warm, larly popular in the United States. Designers
attractive modernism, became a leader in post-war included such pre-war established individuals as
interior design. Finn Juhl (1912-89) made use of Hans Wegner, Borge Mogensen, and Paoul
traditional Danish woodworking craftsmanship to Kjaerholm. Younger designers were Peter Hvidt,
produce elegantly sculptural furniture, luhl Crete (alk, and Verner Panton, along with Finn
designed many interiors where his furniture and Juhl and Arne lacobsen, who are mentioned above.
built-in shelving and other units generated a quiet Modern Danish cabinetry and shelving systems
and subtle sense of space. His designs were made also became popular, while the availability of
available in the United States for a time, produced related ceramics, silver, and other household prod-
by the Baker Furniture Company in Grand Rapids, ucts made "Danish modern" an internationally
Michigan. His most important interior project in popular style.
America was the Trusteeship Council Chamber in The design of post-war Sweden was strongly
the United Nations building in New York (1953). concentrated on advanced ideas of town and city
Simple wood paneling on the side walls frames a planning, but many individual works also came
great window looking out over the East River that into notice. Gunnar Asplund's last work, the Forest
can be closed off by drapery. Overhead, the ceiling Crematorium at Sockenvagen near Stockholm
is a series of metal grids that hold box-like lighting (1934-40), is a serene grouping with a woodland
units, each in a bright color, giving the space a cemetery and a main chapel with a bronze and
lively and active character. glass gate forming its front wall. The gate can be
Arne lacobsen ( 1902-71 ) was a leading Danish lowered into the ground, making the outdoor
architect who produced some fine private houses, court and the chapel interior into a single space.
schools, and town halls. Many of these buildings, Sven Markelius continued his distinguished career
such as the town halls at Sollerod, Glostrup, and with such works as the Stockholm Folkets Hus (fig.
Rodovre, had simple and handsome interiors, 19.4; 1934), a grouping of meeting rooms and
often with Jacobsen-designed furniture. He was other facilities to serve Swedish trade unions. The
also responsible for such major projects as the largest meeting hall has been called Markelius's
high-rise SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen (fig. finest work. He was one of several architects
19.3; 1958). His Egg chair designed for that hotel responsible for the UN headquarters in New York,
became widely known, as did several simple chairs where he produced the interior design for one
using molded plywood for seat and back with council chamber, a space similar in form to that
metal legs produced by Fritz Hansen. He was also designed by Finn Juhl but with a ceiling formed as
the designer of textiles, lamps, silver flatware, smooth panel studded with recessed
a large, lights.
ceramics, and glassware that represented Danish The impact is more formal and sedate than Juhl's
331
Chapter Nineteen
A room interior
designed in the quiet
form of modernism
typical ofJacobsen's
Danish worlc. All the
furniture is by
Jacobsen, including the
curving arm chair often
called the Egg chair.
332
The Ascendency of Modernism
333
Chapter Nineteen
known. The Finnish shipyards of Wartsila at Turku Switzerland. A group of mostly cubical, modular
produced an outpouring of passenger ferry ships, elements enclosed in glass with a few solid panels,
large floating hotels with many handsome interior this virtually complete building stands below a steel
spaces. The ferry Finiijet (1973), for example, "umbrella" of triangulated panels supported by
provides handsome staterooms and distinguished just four steel structural columns. Part of the
public spaces on its five passenger decks. building is a demonstration ideal house, part an
The Kaleva Church at Tampere (fig. 19.6; exhibition center with a projecting enclosed ramp
1964-6) by Raili Paatelainen and Reima Pietila, connecting two levels.
box-like form facing a front wall of glass looking One of the other great pioneers, Mies van der Rohe,
out on a beautiful landscape. demonstrated his idea of "universal space" in
Le Corbusier's later works dominate post-war roof forms, includes handsome foyer spaces leading
design in France. The chapel at Ronchamp and the to the vast concert hall within. In the hall, angled
Unite d'Habitation at Marseille have already been planes define platform-like elements for the seating;
discussed (see p. 283). His idea for city planning a large organ with exposed pipes occupies an asym-
that focused on large, tall, residential buildings that metrical position on the right. The orchestra is
would each constitute a complete neighborhood placed in a central area, surrounded by the audience.
finally came to reality with the building of the At Ulm an effort was made to reconstitute the
Unite. Le Corbusier was commissioned to build Bauhaus in a new institution, the Hochschule fur
several other Unite buildings at Nantes and Firminy Gestaltung, founded in 1952. The building (1955)
in France and in Germany and Belgium. was designed by its first director. Max Bill, and is
One of Le Corbusier's last works is the inter- appropriately International Style in character. It
esting Centre Le Corbusier of 1967 at Zurich, became a center for the development of the
19.7 KurdAlsleben
and QuickbornerTeam,
open office plan,
Germany, 1968.
334
The Ascendency of Modernism
9.8
The Netherlands 1
German
{left) Frei
Pavilion,
Otto,
Expo
67, Montreal 1967.
cized the aim of modernist designers who seek an masts and supportmg a
net of cables, which, in
"ideal" solution to problems, usually on the basis
turn, supports a plastic
of their own Euro-centric and middle-class values. skin, encourages the
He has urged a freer view in which constructed development of freely
curving shapes. The
space leaves openings for user and occupant partic-
translucency of the roof
ipation in the organization of interiors. Herman material made it
Hertzberger (born 1932) employed similar ideas possible for the interior
to be filled with light by
for the office building of Centraal Beheer (fig. 19.9;
day while at night inte-
1973), an insurance company at Apeldoorn. The rior lighting made the
dark
rectilinear but irregular patterns. The interior space
is, as a result, acomplex of small spaces where the
austerely minimalist style favored by Dieter Rams individual workers
are encouraged to arrange
{born 1932) and Hans Gugeiot (1920-65). The furniture, equipment, and personal accessories in
elegant products of the Braun electrical industry any desired way. The resulting clutter is surpris-
and furniture such as the Ml 25 modular furniture ingly humane, quite unlike the uniform order that
group of 1953 were t^^pical examples of the influ- is the effect of so many office projects.
ence of the school of Ulm. The school was closed in
1968 but its influence continues.
Several major office buildings for German
corporations sprang up during the post-war years.
Most are of typically restrained International Style 19.9 Herman
modernist character. Many of their interiors made Hertzberger, Centraal
Beheer, Apeldoorn, The
use of a concept developed by management consul- Netherlands, 1973,
tants, the brothers Eberhard and Wolfgang
The office building that
Schnelle working in the organization known as the Hertzberger designed
Quickborner Team. Their approach to office plan- for the insurance
company Centraal
ning called for the elimination of all partitioning
Beheer, moves away
into separate office rooms and the substitution of from the concept of the
open space called Biirolamischaft ("office land- open plan office in
favor of a more cellular
scape") in which furniture and movable screens
organization. Modular
could be freely placed to permit easy communica- platforms or balconies
tion (fig. 19.7). Early examples of such open plan- at various levels are
placed in a complex,
ning were at first considered radical but
constantly vaned
acceptance, in somewhat modified form, has pattern More than
become the norm of modern office planning. The 1 000 office workers are
335
Chapter Nineteen
acoustical considera-
Matthew and J. L. Martin of the London County with large windows overlooking the bow of the
tions. The ceiling incor- Council. The 3000-seat main hall is one of the first ship. There is a piano in bright vermilion, the only
porates concealed
distinguished concert hall interiors to be built in touch of strong color. Pentagram has been respon-
lightmg, and the
natural wood of the
the post-war era (fig. 19.10). sible for a number of other interior and exhibition
three panels at the The Smithsons (Alison and Peter) are thought design projects of outstanding quality, including
front focus attention on Petroleum, and
of as leading proponents of the new brutahst direc- office interiors for Reuters, British
the platform area. The
exposed pipes of the tion (see p. 284). Their best known work is the Pentagram's own London offices.
large organ provide a Economist building (1964) actually three David Hicks (1929-98) established his practice
decorative element
above the stage.
towers in St. James's Street, London. The interior in 1955 and became a leading British designer. His
spaces of the original entrance lobbies and other distinctive designs for textiles and carpets are based
public areas display the austerity of brutalism. on rectangular blocks. Patterned floors, with strong
336
The Ascendency of Modernism
^
at (1962), a plants.
reinforced concrete as a
structural material to
create the freely curving
forms that characterize
the building both inside
and out Cun/ing stairs
337
Chapter Nineteen
338
The Ascendency of Modernism
(1895-1973) was one of several architects who the walls. The altar
reredos is a screen of
developed what is often called a Bay Region vernac-
golden bronze elements,
ular, centered around San Francisco and its bay. a sculptural work of the
Italian-born sculptor
The style draws on the tradition of farms and ranch
Harry Bertoia
floors form an L-shape on two sides of a high structures to produce a form of modernism that is (1915-78).
garden atrium. Windows look into this skylit inte- unpretentious and direct. The Pope ranch house of
rior space, where trees and smaller plantings make 1958, for example, has a gable roof and is 19.13 [top left) Kevin
Roche and John
the garden equal in importance to the surrounding surrounded by wide verandas. The Coleman city
Dmkeloo, offices for
offices. Warren Plattner developed its interiors of house in San Francisco (1962) has crisp white- John Deere & Co.,
great dignity and simplicity, often with furniture of painted steel framing with broad glass areas giving Moline, Illinois, 1955.
his own design. views of the bay. Interiors use simple, white- Work spaces are
arranged on two floors
Richard Neutra continued to produce many painted walls, and natural wood for floors, doors,
of two rectangular
distinguished projects after the war, including and trim. blocks, which have a
spacious garden atrium
between them. Every
work station is within
sight of either the
atrium or the park
setting in which the
building stands.
Structural members are
of COR-IO steel.
339
Chapter Nineteen
19.15 Pietro
BelluschI, Central
Lutheran Church,
Portland, Oregon,
1951.
Farther north, in Portland, Oregon, Pietro architectural form overwhelms any art work
Belluschi (1899-1994) became known for his displayed there.
Equitable Building of 1948, one of the first tall Another museum of comparable importance to
buildings in America of strict modernist character. the Guggenheim is the Whitney Museum of
Built three years later, his Central Lutheran American Art in New York (1963-6) by Marcel
Church, also in Portland, is a construction of Breuer. The massive, heavy structure houses spaces
redwood, inside and out, suggesting an affinity of austerity and dignity. The entrance across a
with the vernacular barn structures of the Pacific bridge over an open garden leads to a lobby area. It
the architectural school at MIT in 1951 and gallery spaces open areas with a ceiling structure
managed to continue his practice on the west coast of concrete in a triangulated grid (fig. 19.17). One
while accepting commissions in the east as well. He large projecting window, asymmetrically placed,
was the designer of many churches, such as that of allows the visitor a glimpse of the out-of-doors and
the Portsmouth Priory at Portsmouth, Rhode the outside world a glimpse into the galleries.
Island (1961), an octagonal building with walls of Breuer had a number of major commissions in the
redwood and fieldstone, the warmth and texture of United States, including a dormitory building.
wood dominating the interior. (For Belluschi's role Ferry House, at Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New
in the design of the Pan Am Building and the York (1950), and St. John'sAbbey Church and
Juilliard School in New York, see pp. 342, 343.) library at Collegeville, Minnesota (1953-68). The
Frank Lloyd Wright had a continuing, active church interior is a large, auditorium-like space
career in the post-war era which led to one of his with walls and ceiling of folded concrete slab. A
most famous (and final) works, the Guggenheim balcony is an indepedent concrete structure
Museum in New York (1942-60). Its interior, a standing within the church auditorium.
round funnel-like space holding a winding spiral Breuer's office in New York designed many
ramp, is one of the most remarkable designs in any churches, college buildings, office complexes, and
modern building (fig. 19.16). Controversy has The giant headquarters building for
private houses.
centered on its suitability as a museum space, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
with critics suggesting that the strength of its Development in Washington, D.C. (1963-8),
340
The Ascendency of Modernism
341
Chapter Nineteen
floors of open office space surrounded by windows National Airlines Terminal of 1972 (now TWA
opening onto the countryside. Where the program terminal B) at Kennedy airport in New York is a
called for the enclosure of private spaces, clear glass vast open space topped by a space-frame truss roof
has been used for floor-to-ceiling partitions that supported by columns that stand outside the glass
allow visual openness. walls of the building (fig. 19.19). It suggests a
Philip Johnson was the designer of the A.T.&T. strong attachment to Mies van der Robe's concept
headquarters office building of 1984 in New York of universal space. ( For later work by Pei and his
many ways backward-looking, with their rich areas mental cluster with disappointing interior spaces.
of marble, elaborate wood paneling, and similar The best of the three major buildings from an inte-
19.18 Edward
Larabee Barnes, IBM references to the corporate styles of the past. The rior design point of view is the New York State
World Trade Offices, lobby of 885 Third Avenue (also a Philip Johnson Theater (1964) by Philip Johnson. The entrance-
Mount Pleasant, New
project) of 1986, jokingly called the Lipstick level lobby and the grand foyer above it are distin-
York, 1974,
guished spaces where travertine floors and walls
The three-story building
has walls of continuous
and, in the foyer, balconies on several levels
342
The Ascendency of Modernism
Office Planning Connecticut, are good examples of ISD practice. 19.20 Belluschiand
Catalano, Juilllard
The interiors of the Boston building for the
Theater, Lincoln Center,
The design of office facilities has become so impor- American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1961) by New York, 1 968,
tant an aspect of interior design practice that a the architectural firm of Kallmann, McKinnell, and
This theater-concert hall
specialized profession has grown up, usually called Wood finds ISD working with more varied spaces IS housed within the
extensive building that
Space planning. Space planners also deal with where a sense of calm and dignity is developed
contains the Juilliard
institutional, and retail projects. Their
hotel, through the use of wood surfaces with other care- School of Music. Its
approach begins with the development of the plan, fully chosen materials and objects. moderate size and
extensive use of natural
and moves into furniture placement and the more Other space planners include the firms SLS
wood give it a comfort-
decorative aspects of interior design. The goal of Environetics, the Space Design Group, and Designs able quality, which
such planning is to provide for efficient office func- for Business (the latter responsible for fourteen makes it a highly
tioning along with comfort for workers and flexi- floors of offices for Time-Life Inc. in the New York successful setting for
recitals and chamber
bility for grovrth and organizational change. Time-Life building of Rockefeller Center). Sidney music concerts.
ISD (Interior Space Design) has been one of the Rogers Associates were the planners for the twenty-
best known and most successful of space planning six floors of the Montgomery Ward headquarters
organizations. Their office interiors in the Boston building in Chicago. Carpeting in differing bright
City Hall, the A.T.&T. Building in New York, and colors serves to differentiate the floors of the
the Xerox headquarters building in Stamford, project, which are otherwise almost totally similar.
343
Chapter Nineteen
All use landscape planning (discussed below). began to develop systems in which work surfaces
Rogers Associates were also office designers for the and storage were integrated with screens or panels
headquarters building in Tacoma, Washington, for that provided a degree of privacy and also dealt
the Weyerhaeuser Company. Knoll office furniture with the plethora of electric and telephone wiring
was used in open-plan configurations with broad that modern office equipment requires (fig. 19.21).
areas of glass opening onto the surrounding land- Robert Propst developed a system which he called
scape. The building architects were Skidmore, Action Office for the Herman Miller Furniture
Owings, and Merrill. Company in 1964. Before long an increasing
The office of George Nelson 1908-86) produced
( number of similar systems began to appear, each
an exceptional interior for the Aid Association to systemnamed for its designer. The Stephens, Zapf,
Lutherans building (1976) by John Carl Warnecke Hannah, and Morrison systems were introduced by
(born 1919) in Appleton, Wisconsin. The special Knoll. There were also the Haller system from
open-office fiirniture system was produced under Switzerland, the Marcatre and Olivetti systems
the firm name Storwal International. An unusual from Italy, the Lucas system from England, the
feature was the use of small conference areas made Race system from Canada, the Voko systems from
up of movable panels arranged in a circle, with a Germany, and the products of Hayworth and
central umbrella forming a kind of internal roof On Steelcase in the United States.
a smaller scale, the New York restaurant La Potagerie The discovery that full-time office work seated
(1971, now demolished) shows the Nelson office in a chair at a work station could generate physio-
(with Judith Stockman in charge of design) logical problems led to the development of so-
producing spaces that were colorful and cheerful as called ergonomic chairs that offered designs
well as highly functional. intended to be beneficial to the physical comfort
and health of the user. Designs by Bill Stumpf (the
Office Furniture Ergon chairs), Niels Diffrient, and then a host of
With the vast expansion of office building, and other designers all aimed at providing superior
increased use of Biirolandschaft (office landscape) office seating. They have become essential elements
19.21 BillStumpf,
Ethospace Interior,
1985.
closure as desired.
344
The Ascendency of Modernism
345
Chapter Nineteen
architect and worked for a time with Ward Bennett products of interior projects that he and his wife,
before establishing his own practice. His work, Ray, worked on together. Such designs were gener-
sometimes called "minimalist," used simple ally only familiar to architects and designers; most
surfaces along with elements of industrial products households of middle-class families made do with
(shelving, table bases, light fixtures) to generate shoddy products in designs that pretended to be
what may also be called an industrial st)'le. "colonial" or "French provincial." Exceptions to
Sarah TomerUn Lee (born 1910s) developed a this pattern are the designs of Paul McCobb
practice that specialized in hotel interiors, many (1917-69) simple wooden cabinets and chairs
called "romantic" in their use of period furniture that seem to have a basis in American colonial or
and textiles, in hotels such as the Parker Meridien Shaker precedents without being in any way imita-
of 1981 (made over from an older hotel) in New tive. McCobb's inexpensive furniture, available in
York, or in interiors of traditional design dating department stores, and the designs of Jens Risom
from an earlier era. The Helmsley Palace in New (born 1916), as well as the more costly designs of
York is made up, in part, from the great Villard Edward Wormley, found their way into at least
houses of 1884 by McKim, Mead, and White. The some American homes.
1980 conversion to hotel use gave Sarah Tomerlin
Lee a setting of eclectic opulence in which her Textiles
richly ornamental interior style seems entirely at
the Cranbrook Academy, who became known for toward production of a vast range of simple, solid
some of the most distinguished interior projects of color patterns, plus stripes, checks, and other
the 1960s and 1970s. His style, close to minimalism geometric designs suitable for use in upholstery
but with a strong sense of color and form, made it and drapery. There was also continuing production
possible for him work with a number of modern
to of the floral and other decorative prints and weaves
architects, including Edward Barnes, Louis Kahn, used in traditional interior decor. Among
and I. M. Pei. For Kahn, he was responsible for inte- American designers, Dorothy Liebes (1899-1972)
riors of the library and dining hall at Phillips Exeter became known for rich, over-scaled textures in
Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire (1967-72), and thick yarns. Boris KroU (born 1913) established a
for flirniture and related details at the Yale Center firm offering varied textiles of high quality in both
for British Art at New Haven, Connecticut design and structure.
346
The Ascendency of Modernism
Most production textiles and carpets were designs by Verner Panton (born 1926), and
anonymous patterns produced by staff designers Swedish and German textiles by lesser known
employed by manufacturers, but some furniture designers came into wide availability and use.
manufacturers turned to offering proprietary lines Modernism has been a significant style for
of textiles. The designs were then coordinated with many decades. Its emergence in the 1920s, its rise
a special stylistic approach using distinguished in the 1930s and 1940s, and its dominance in the
designers identified with individual The work
styles. 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s mean that it has lasted
of Alexander Girard for Herman Miller, based on through two to three generations of designers and
the color and pattern ^f Mexican and South new forms and new expres-
public, always finding
American folk art, has already been mentioned. sions. was inevitable that the ascendency of
It
Knoll employed a sequence of able designers modernism would continue to evoke criticism.
including Eszter Harastzy for such patterns as the Some work that often adopted the superficial qual-
hnear Tracy, and Anni Albers (1899-1994) of ities of modernist design without understanding its
Bauhaus origins for abstract geometric patterns. underlying intentions helped to encourage a back-
Angelo Testa (born 1921) contributed some of the lash against it. Modern design was accused of
first abstract prints offered by Knoll. ignoring the needs and desires of occupants and
At Cranbrook, Loja Saarinen (1879-1968) users in pursuit of abstract ideals that had more
organized a weaving studio and was the designer of significance among professional colleagues than
many craft-based weavings. Later Cranbrook among a wider public.
textile designers included Ed Rossbach (born 1914) Modernism is a stylistic designation that takes
and Marianne Strengell (born 1909). The work of in a broad spectrum of design; early and recent,
Jack Lenor Larsen (born 1927) in developing a thoughtful and dull, original and imitative. By
great variety of creative weaves, often using newly selecting the least successful of modernist works for
developed fibers (metallics and synthetics) and attack while ignoring inspired successes, hostile
abstract prints, has established textile design as a critics have built up a body of negative criticism to
distinctive art form (fig. 19.23). He has been the the effect that modernism is a "failure," citing the
most influential of Cranbrook influences in the many vast housing projects of indifferent design
world of textiles. and the monotonously dull glass tower office
The color and bold patterning of Finnish textile buildings as evidence. This criticism has at least
art became widely known under the trade name had sufficient resonance to encourage exploration
Marimekko with design by Armi Ratia (1912-79) of the directions that design is to take after
and Marja Isola (born 1927). Imports such as the modernism. Possible answers to such questions are
Thai silks of Jim Thompson (1906-77), Danish the subject of the following chapter.
347
Late Twentieth-Century Design
The urge to identify a new style or direction that Prophets of Future Design
may develop to replace the International Style as a
Neutra, Lescaze, Eliel Saarinen, Gropius, Breuer, still in active practice with work on both sides of
and Mies van der Rohe brought the International the globe. Both are architects whose work has a
Style and variations of that style to England and to special concern for interior space; both are hard to
America. One of Frank Lloyd Wright's most classify as proponents of any particular stylistic
348
Chapter Twenty
architectural practice. After beginning teaching at surrounding a central church sanctuar)' where light
Yale in 1947 he became better known within the enters from windows high up on roof projections
design professions as an outstanding theorist- (fig. 20.1 ). The windows cannot be seen from most
philosopher than for his executed work. His first positions within the church the light seems to
important building was an art gallery for Yale enter from mysteriously invisible sources. With its
University (1951-3). The gallery floors are open simple, grey masonry walls the space is austere, but
spaces made special by ceilings formed by trian- it is enlivened by brightly colored fabric tapestry
gular cofters of concrete structural slabs. There are hangings by Jack Lenor Larsen. The effects of light
four levels connected by an elevator and stairs in relation to the limited color create an atmos-
housed in a cylindrical enclosure. phere that is powerfully moving.
The Yale Art Gallery was followed by the even As Kahn's practice became
his reputation grew,
Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Here Kahn developed Capitol of Bangladesh at Dhaka (1962-83) are
a concept of separation between what he called some of Kahn's most impressive works. In each,
"serving spaces" and "served spaces." The serving masonr)' forms are penetrated by openings
spaces are tower-like enclosures that stand outside planned to create interiors where a constant play of
of the larger laboratory spaces that they serve, with light modulates the interior space. The National
stairs, and similar utilities. The
ducts, plumbing, Assembly building at Dhaka is a cluster of cylin-
serving towers are windowless and of brick, while drical and rectangular masonry units with round
the laboratories are arranged on five floors of and triangular openings into interior spaces. They
pavilion-like units with glass walls and concrete- surround a central assembly chamber with a vault-
framed structure. The external forms of the like roof and high clerestory windows.
building were unlike any modern work previously In the United States, a library for the Phillips
built and, although the resultant interiors are of Exeter Academy at Exeter, New Hampshire
generally utilitarian character, this building made (1965-72), has stacks arranged on balcony floors
Kahn a major figure in American architecture. thatsurround a central atrium looked into through
Kahn was deeply concerned with expression of huge circular openings. Light comes from skylights
materials and with the ways in which light reveals above the atrium. The Yale Center for British Art at
form and creates the nature of interior spaces. The New Haven, Connecticut (fig. 20.3; 1969-74),
Unitarian church at Rochester, New York provides gallery space on levels surrounding two
(1959-69), is a cluster of multipurpose rooms skylit courts. The Kimball Art Museum at Fort
350
Late Twentieth-Century Design
Worth, Texas ( 1966-72), is a single-story building, ration and experiment. These experiments can be
a kind of pavilion made up of parallel concrete viewed as falling into a number of competing
vaulted elements where light is led in from hidden categories, each of which has developed a popular
sources at the top of each vault. Artificial light title. They are: hi-tech, post-modernism (incorpo-
comes from the same locations as daylight. As a rating a revival of tradition), late modernism, and
teacher, Kahn tended to speak in mystical phrases deconstructivism.
about form, light, and materials that had a fascina-
tion for his students and, ultimately, for the design
professions that came to regard him as a prophet Hi-tech
and leader.
an adjacent apartment tower and extending the generated by the systems that provide electrical,
original museum building with a glass-enclosed telephone, plumbing, and air quality services.
atrium-like space that houses escalators connecting When basic structure and mechanical transport
the exhibit floors. At the World Financial Center at (elevators, escalators, and moving sidewalks) are
Battery Park City in New York, Pelli designed a added, technology can be seen as the dominating
group of similar tower buildings. The interior of portion of any building or interior. The decision to
the Winter Garden (fig. 20.2; 1980-8) suggests the make these systems visually apparent and to maxi-
famous Crystal Palace of 1851 (see p. 190). mize their impact leads to the special quality of hi-
The 1995 NTT building in Tokyo by Cesar Pelli tech design.
is made up of a thirty-story tower, basically trian-
gular but with a curved hypotenuse, giving typical
Fuller
and view out over the adjacent
office floors light
plaza and small service building. Workplaces are Even before this way of thinking took on a name, it
fully computerized as are the building management was the basis of the work of Richard Buckminster
(power and security) systems. The public entrance Fuller (1895-1983), the American engineer-
lobby at plaza level is marble floored and has a designer-inventor-philosopher whose activities
ceiling of perforated aluminum plate. A curving became known as far back as the 1920s. Fuller was
open stair to the mezzanine level above provides a the inventor-designer of many projects that were
visual accent. usually called "futuristic"and therefore not imple-
The twin towers of Pelli's Petronas Center in mented beyond the few prototypes that he could
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (1998), are the tallest manage to build. He coined the word Dymaxion
buildings in the world. They house, at base level, a (made up of "dynamic" and "maximum") to iden-
variety of lobby and shopping atrium spaces; upper tify such projects as his Dymaxion house of 1927,
levels form balconies surrounding open areas, one its elevated living floor cable suspended from a
topped with a flat dome. The works of Kahn, with central mast. The Dymaxion three-wheeled auto-
their introspective sense of restraint, and of Pelli mobile of 1933 followed, as did a factory-made,
with their exuberant excesses form an interesting prefabricated bathroom in which the fixtures and
contrast, but both defy classification as representa- plumbing were an integral part of a unit that could
tive of any recognizable emerging style or school. be shipped to a site completely assembled.
Although each of Fuller's projects attracted
The long domination of the established norms of interest, none came to the mass-production real-
modernism has invited a mannerist era of explo- ization that he had visualized. However, his devel-
351
Chapter Twenty
352
"
their own things .... This framework must allow side, the pipes and tubes of an oil refinery or chem- Georges Pompidou,
Pans, 1971-7,
people to perform freely inside and out, to change ical plant. The spaces within are equally honest in
and adapt in answer to technical or client needs, their display of overhead ductwork, lighting, and Part of the interior
overhead patterns
the building was hugely popular with the exhibition- Pompidou project. Piano designed the Menil developed by the way
going public, some contemporary commentators, such Collection Museum in Houston, Texas (1981-6), in which the structural
as Alan Colquhoun, an architectural critic, criticized and mechanical system
its exterior structure supporting overhead louvers
the design for not being discriminating enough: elements are left
which continue inside to form gallery ceilings. His entirely exposed. The
[the design] assumes that the purpose of Galerie Beyeler Museum (1998) in Basel, emphasis on the tech-
architecture is merely to accommodate any form of nological elements
Switzerland, work of great dignity.
is a
activity which may be required, and has no positive supports the Center's
attitude to those activities. Rogers's most spectacular independent project popular designation of
is the Lloyd's Bank office building in the financial "hi-tech.
In 1 999, the building underwent much needed
restoration, the results of which were strongly
condemned by Richard Rogers. The following letter
printed in the Architects' Journal articulated the
disappointment that Rogers and others felt at the way
in which the flexibility of the original design (as well
as the original paint colors) had been compromised:
20.5).
353
Chapter Twenty
changed as circum-
building is an unobstructed interior space created central space connect the three floors (fig. 20.9)
stances demand. A by a tubular truss structure, a series of frames that and a roof penthouse which houses a restaurant.
major part of the rise on each side and cross overhead (fig. 20.8). At Open planning links all of the interior to the glass
building is an open
exhibition hall, seen
each end of its rectangular interior, a wall of glass perimeter and the central atrium, where the over-
here The ceiling is an opens to the out of doors. The side walls and roof head structure of open trusses underlines the hi-
open grid, providing
made up of
are square corrugated aluminum tech character of the space. In the United States,
lighting and other tech-
nical requirements.
panels held in place by Neoprene rubber gaskets. Foster developed a fine addition to the Art Deco
Some glass panels and some door panels occur as loslyn Art Museum building in Omaha, Nebraska
354
Late Twentieth-Century Design
A three-story office
building for the insur-
ance company has an
open central atnum. in
355
Chapter Twenty
20.1 1 [opposite]
(1994). In it, serene white space with a ceiHng
James Stirling,
Staatsgalene, Stuttgart,
curved to trap dayhght from hidden skyhght
Germany, 1977-84. sources estabUshes ideal gallery space for the
James Stirling
A central courtyard- display of modern art. Other hi-tech projects by
leally a room open to Foster include the Law Faculty building at James Stirling studied at The Liverpool School of
the sky-forms the core
Cambridge, England (1995), which uses a hi-tech Architecture in England in the post-war period and
of the art gallery, which
was a modern addition truss structure of half-cylindrical form as a glazed remembers the controversies surrounding new,
to an older museum
modern architecture:
shell above multiple level platforms holding stacks
building Statuary, an
and reading areas; a spectacularly tall skyscraper There was furious debate as to the validity of the
arcade of stone faced
tower office building in Hong Kong for the modern art movement: tempers were heated and
in marbles, and stubby
discussion was intense. Some staff resigned and a
Tuscan columns at the Shanghai National Bank (1986); and the Sackler
entrance point on the few students went off to other schools, at any rate I
A winding ramp leads (1991), which makes use of subde detail to relate
Stirling later modified his views, explaining that it was
to an upper level.
the classicism of the older buildings and of the art more important to reflect the needs of the building's
20.10 (below) iames displayed there to the technically advanced new occupants than be limited by the rigid restrictions of
Stirling, History Faculty, spaces. the building's materials:
Cambridge University,
Cambridge, England,
I ceased to believe in Frank Lloyd Wright's
1964-7. philosophy of truth to materials when saw for the I
Stirling
first time a building by Palladio where the peeling
This building, largely
columns were in fact made of bricks and not of
devoted to librae/ func- lames Stirling (1924-92), a British architect, can be
tions, has several floor
marble or stone as had naively assumed from the
I
thought of as belonging to the hi-tech direction. The books. believe that the shapes of a building
levels ovedooking an I
356
Late Twentieth-Century Design
boredom. The book cites many examples from 20.12 (below) Robert
Venturi, Vanna Venturi
architectural history (Blenheim Palace, Hotel de House, Philadelphia,
Maignon, lefferson's Monticello, and Butterfield's 1964.
All Saints, Margaret Street, for example) in which In this interior, the
with human qualities, which are full of complexity element that constricts
It Conventional furni-
and contradiction. It is interesting to note that
ture contrasts with
Venturi uses many examples drawn from the work these unusual forms..
varying size and character. Glazed galleries with ramp The house Venturi designed in 1964 for his demonstrates some of
the complexities and
circulation paths connect elements of the building. mother, Vanna Venturi, at Chestnut Hill, a suburb
contradictions that are
Stirling's last major work, the addition to the of Philadelphia, is the first important demonstra- central to his design
Staatsmuseum at Stuttgart, Germany (1979-84), tion of the ideas that characterize post-modernism thinking. Rooms have
corners cut off at diago-
moves away from technology and toward a more (figs. 20.12 and 20.13). Its basic symmetry is modi-
nals, a central entrance
adventurous direction. Gallery spaces are set tied by unexpected asymmetries. Interior spaces requires a sharp turn to
around a circular courtyard (fig. 20.11) where have unexpectedly angle. Its basic symmetry is reach the doorway, and
a stairway that begins
marble walls, statuary (from the museum's collec- modified by unexpected asymmetries. Interior
at an angle widens and
and a portal using stubby versions of Tuscan
tion), spaces have unexpectedly angled forms that upset IS suddenly narrowed.
columns make references to past architectural
styles. The building is totally original, but still
suggests complex relationships to art and architec-
ture of the past. It is tempting to suggest that
Stirling had moved toward the approach now
called post-modern, although the building
certainly retained some of the rigors of hi-tech
design. The exhibition gallery spaces are restrained
in form and color, while the entrance lobby, shop,
Post-modernism
357
Chapter Twenty
onward. Above,
furniture designs of 1984 for Knoll introduced
windowed clerestories both decorative pattern and references to historic
admit daylight, while
precedents. A number of chairs were developed, all
arched forms
coves
in ceiling
358
|J
Late Twentieth-Century Design
the stair a bridge link element connects with the two sides do not match. A stair, too narrow to
20.16 Michael
Craves, furniture show-
room, Houston, Texas,
1980.
post-modernist The
showroom for the Sunar
Furniture Company
offers visitors visual
entertainment together
with a display of furni-
ture designed by,
among Massimo
others,
Vignelli and Graves
himself
359
Chapter Twenty
20.17 Michael
Craves, Public Services
Building, Portland,
Oregon, 1 980-3.
are, in comparison,
quite conservative. Only
the colors, the
capital-like lighting
climb and with steps too high for any but giants, using clerestories and exterior pavilions to modu-
moves up one side of the facade, while a pergola late light entering quietly detailed reading areas. A
ornaments the other side. winery, Clos Pegase at Calistoga, in the Napa
Graves interiors appear in several showrooms Valley, California (1984), explores post-
designed for the Sunar Furniture Company in 1979 modernism by hinting at the design of the eigh-
(fig. 20.16). A complex of chambers with unusual teenth-century French Neoclassicist Ledoux.
forms and pastel and strong colors provided Two hotels for the Walt Disney World at Buena
settings for furniture, including some examples of Vista, Florida the Swan and the Dolphin
Graves's own design. His growing reputation as the (1990)
huge masses each sporting sculptural
are
foremost proponent of post-modernism was ornaments on roof tops. They have offered Graves
dramatically advanced when he won a competition the opportunity to design interiors wdth flamboy-
in 1980 for a city office building for Pordand, antly eccentric forms and colors. The Disney
Oregon. The building is a massive cubical block, connection with entertainment has provoked a
but its varied surface treatment with projecting design that is playful, even foolish, in a way that
wedge-shaped elements, changes in surface mate- flaunts a disregard for what is usually thought of as
rial and wdndow shapes, and its bands of ribbon- "taste." Graves has also designed offices for Disney
like decoration shocked the established and a Paris Disney project in much the same vein.
architectural profession. One critic asserted that it These buildings and their interiors are a source of
had "set American architecture back by fifty years." amazement and delight to the public. Such design
The interiors of the building are largely unremark- is always at the border of "kitsch," that is, design
able, although the main entrance lobby is an essay that is deliberately foolish and tasteless in an effort
in the eccentric vocabulary of post-modernism to reflect the human appetite for mischief.
(fig. 20.17). Graves's San Juan Capistrano Library The determination of post-modernism to
(1980) is a low building with a central courtyard escape from logic and order may be a reflection of a
360
Late Twentieth-Century Design
tools of design, and the garish and the banal are Italy, 1994,
celebrities. Graves has also designed a large number used to generate inte-
that suggest a medieval monastery (fig. 20.19). In In Europe the claims of modernism encountered a
and shapes that have little reference to function are such surprises as
arched and vaulted
characteristics of Memphis design. Michael Graves
spaces, with columns
provided a dressing table design for Memphis in reminiscent of a
1981. Its stepped forms, strong color, and pinnacle Romanesgue cloister in
front of paneled
top relate clearly to such designs as Sottsass's
elevator doors, a
Casablanca sideboard and Cariton bookcase (1981) geometncally patterned
with their bright colors and angular shapes. marble floor, and, on a
central pedestal (to the
Sottsass's firm, Sottsass Associati, created a new nght of the photo-
gallery for the Museum of Contemporary graph), a gilded statue
361
Chapter Twenty
20.20 HansHollein,
Austrian Travel Bureau
Office, Vienna, 1978.
362
Late Twentieth-Century Design
20.21 Allan
Creenberg, farm house,
Connecticut, 1979.
sicism and forward toward post-modern variants. suggestive of resort hotels of the nineteenth not condensed but, if
anything, expanded,
Much of his work has been residential, including century. Interiors are richly ornamental without
with the veranda
city apartments and country houses. In both, slipping into excess. Disney projects tend toward columns made into six
logical planning creates rooms that have a strongly flamboyance. The Feature Animation Building at paired twins in place of
Washington's eight
traditional flavor, although details are often given Burbank, California (1991-4), and the Casting single columns.
enlarged and exaggerated form. Country "villas" Center at Lake Buena Vista, Florida (1987-9), are
suggest the eclectic work of Stanford White or both filled with colorful decorative detail. In
Edwin Lutyens recast in contemporary terms. France, at Villiers-sur-Marne, a visitors' center for
Pediments, domes, classically inspired columns, Euro Disney (1990) exhibits the playfulness of an
urns, and other details place his interiors for office amusement park. In contrast, the interiors of the
buildings, hotels, and other large projects between Columbus Indiana Regional Hospital (fig. 20.22;
revivalism and post-modernism. 1988-96) resemble early Frank Lloyd Wright in
Stern's Disney Yacht and Beach Club Resorts at their extensive use of brick and natural wood in
Buena Vista, Florida (1987-91), close to Graves's warm colors. Stern's international practice includes
hotels, form a virtual village of large buildings projects in the Netherlands and in lapan.
Columbus Indiana
Regional Hospital,
1988-96.
363
Chapter Twenty
complex, interesting
spatial relationships.
Balconies overlook the
atrium, where a
skylight roof floods the
space with light The
color scheme is neutral
but IS enlivened by the
bright red of the mobile
by Alexander Colder
(1898-1976).
364
Late Twentieth-Century Design
In the Municipal Center (City Hall) Dallas, Glass and steel also form the structure of the
Texas (1977), the vast public space flooded with huge exhibition areas of the Javits Convention
natural light is overlooked by balconies that give Center in New York (1979-86). The building
access to the various city offices. The concrete recalls the Crystal Palace of 1851 with its glassy
surfaces of a warm beige color are surprisingly overhead grid braced with triangulation along its
pleasant despite their vast areas; one of the it is edges. Triangulation is a central theme for the
most successful of American governmental public pyramid structure in the court of the Louvre in
buildings. Another Pei project, well known and Paris ( 1983-9). The steel and glass pyramid forms a
well liked by its public, is the East Building added new entrance to the Louvre, giving access to stairs
to John Russell Pope's older eclectic classical main and an elevator leading to a vast lower concourse
building of the National Gallery in Washington, that acts as an entrance foyer and location for
D.C. (fig. The building is based
20.23; 1968-78). shops, exhibits, and a cafe (fig. 20.24). Although
on triangular forms that dominate the main atrium the introduction of the modern structure into the
space; the skylight root is formed by a triangular court of the historic Louvre raised much contro-
structural grid. Balconies on several levels overlook versy, the completed project has come to be recog-
the main open space and give access to galleries and nized as a major success. Pel's firm became I. M.
other secondary spaces on seven levels. A giant Pei and Partners, and then Pei, Cobb, Freed, and
mobile by Alexander Calder introduces brilliant Partners as the important roles of Henry Cobb and
red color into the otherwise neutral tonality of the James Freed became recognized. The Myerson
space established by its marble wall surfaces. Symphony Hall by Pei, Cobb, Freed, and Partners
20.25 Charles
Cwathmey, De Menil
House, East Hampton,
New York, 1983.
365
Chapter Twenty
in Dallas, Texas (1982-9), is an extraordinary produced work that ranges from the residential
success both in the visual qualities of its main hall (the Cogan house of 1972 at East Hampton, for
with its rich, warm wood and brass tones and in its example, or the De Menil house of 1983, also at
acoustical exceOence. The firm has been respon- East Hampton; fig. 20.25, p. 365) to increasingly
sible for a huge number of major projects, with major works. The addition to Whig Hall at
international representation in Singapore, Hong Princeton University at Princeton, New Jersey
Kong, Japan, and China. (1970-2), is, in effect, a late modern building
inserted within the shell of the preexisting 1893
classical structure which had suffered damage.
Cwathmey and Meier fire
366
Late Twentieth-Century Design
existence).
elements.
367
Chapter Twenty
Starck, Paramount
Hotel, New York, 1995.
A tapering stairway
with adjacent sculp-
tural forms and
lighting aimed upward
from floor level
generate a mood of
futuristic fantasy in this
post-modern furniture is arranged in groups on and Mallet-Stevens. She has now also designed a
a carpet of large squares placed diagonally on a number of offices, showrooms, and shops around
marble floor. Bedrooms are dominated by a the world. The showrooms and offices of Ecart are
massive framed reproduction of a detail from outstanding examples of her approach, which
a Vermeer painting forming a headboard for the relates the simplicity of early modernism to
bed, while typically curious Starck furniture rests restrained decorative detail and quiet colors. In
on a carpet of two-toned checkerboard squares 1988 she designed new office interiors for the Villa
(fig. 20.28). The bathroom washbasins are round Turque Chaux-de-Fonds, an early
(fig. 20.30) in
building with the Asahi building in Tokyo (fig. existing spaces, such as the magnificent stone
20.29). An exterior of reflective glass covers a vaulting of the Bordeaux building (fig. 20.31).
tapering block form; on top, a gigantic gilded Club, hotel, and restaurant interiors in
sculptural form is described by Starck as a "flame." Kawaguchiko-Cho and in Kobe, Japan, in Monaco
In the ground-level cafe, an angled mezzanine, a and Seville and many shops and private apartments
slanting wall, and twisting sculptural columns form in England, France, and the United States follow
a setting for Starck furniture in bright red. The the same patterns of quiet serenity, often
adjacent bathrooms use glass and marble in unex- combining elements of an existing space with
pected ways; the men's urinals are golden vertical furniture of the early modern era and, occasionally,
half-cylinders, the women's room is an essay in fine antiques. The Wasserturm Hotel in Cologne
marbles and glass. (1990) is fitted into a gigantic water tower built in
the nineteenth century and preserved as a historic
monument. The round form of the tower and its
Putman
massive brick construction generate spaces that
Like Starck, Andree Putman (born 1925) maintains Putman has put to good use with thoughtfully
an international practice. From 1978 to 1997 she related interior detail. In New York, interiors for
headed Ecart International and she now runs her the Morgans Hotel (1984) and the elegantly simple
own firm. Ecart began producing early modern jewelry shop for Ebel (1989) are fine examples of
furniture classics including those of Eileen Gray her work.
368
Late Twentieth-Century Design
20.30 Andree
Deconstructivism Putman,
(/eft)
interiors at
20.31 Andree
Putman, Musee d'Art
Contemporam,
Bordeaux, France,
1984.
dominated by the
circular weaving used
as a wall hanging.
Metal frames hold
woven seat and back
surfaces of the Topacio
chairs by Ecart.
369
Chapter Twenty
20.32 Bernard
Tschumi, Exhibition
Building, Parcde la
Villette, Pans, 1982-5,
A ramp leads to an
upper level accessible
20.33 Peter
ions, all formed from basic cubes deconstructed
Eisenman, Miller House
(House III), Lakeville,
into complex geometric realities, painted bright red
Connecticut 1970, and placed according to a geometric grid in an
Intersecting cubes open park. These pavilions have various func-
generate a complex tions a cafe, a children's play space, a viewing
geometry, which
emphasized by the
is
all-
platform so that most can be entered, making it
white paint Only the possible to see their cut-away forms from within.
natural wood of the Several larger building units contain complex
flooring and the distant
elements in intricate relationships that can seem
glimpse of outdoor
greenery contrast with accidental. Tschumi has become the dean of the
the white architectural architectural school at Columbia University in
elements.
New York. For Columbia, he has designed a
student center, Lerner Hall, where long glass ramps
cross through a glass-walled atrium facing into the
college main campus.
Eisenman
Peter Eisenman (born 1932), first known as one of
the New York Five, has developed work in terms of
complex deconstructivist geometry. A series of
houses of his design (given Roman numeral identifi-
cation) use grid plans, with several grids overlap-
ping. White remains the color inside and out. The
Miller House (House III) at Lakeville, Connecticut
370
Late Twentieth-Century Design
tion the most important element of the display. Excavation, " Eisenman
retreated from his
customary practice of
(1970), is developed from the forms of two cubes Weil-am-Rhein, Germany (1990), is such an
that intersect and overlap in collision, one at a 45 assembly of white boxes of varied shape coming
degree angle to the other. The resulting interior together at unexpected angles. Internally, the
space is an abstract study in rectilinear sculptural complex provides spaces suitable to the display of
forms, all in white (fig. 20.33). Some simple furni- modern and other objects from the Vitra
chairs
ture accommodates the realities of the occupants' collection.The American Center in Paris (1991-4)
lives. In the Museum of Modern Art exhibit, juxtaposes similarly complex forms with masses of
Eisenman was represented by drawings and models more conventional character to express the varied
showing a building called The Biocenter for the functions for which the building was planned.
University of Frankfurt, Germany. A long spine The Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum in
circulation path penetrates and connects a series of Minneapolis, Minnesota (1994), combines a
laboratory blocks, each a small building in itself. The simple, almost conventional gallery plan with
sense of elements torn apart and then loosely recom- complex curving skylight forms and an entrance
bined is typical of the deconstructivist direction. area of amazing complexity, emphasized externally
In the Wexner Center for the Visual Arts for by its The
cladding in gleaming stainless steel.
(1985-9), Eisenman again used a long spinal eye level, but become startling overhead where
passage to tie together in a loose relationship a great truss forms (all in white) and curving
series of units including, at the main entrance skylights challenge the simplicity of the plan.
point, some curved tower-like units. An all-interior Gehry's Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain
Eisenman project was an exhibition of his work (1998), applies the concepts of the Weisman
called Cities of Artificial Excavation, organized by Museum to the total mass of the building, a
the Canadian Centre for Architecture and installed complex of forms all wrapped in gleaming titanium
in their existing museum building in Montreal, metal. The internal spaces reflect the external
Canada (fig. 20.34; 1994). The exhibit inserts into forms in their intricate and varied forms (fig.
371
Chapter Twenty
372
Late Twentieth-Century Design
Other Trends exhibits. Interior spaces are dark and somber, their
exposed concrete walls permitting play of light and
shade, constantly changing with the movement of
the sun (fig. 20.37). The same architect's Suntory
East-West Crossovers
Museum (1994) also at Osaka, Japan, is a seafront
publications, and travel and study in Europe and the views of the surrounding mountain terrain (fig.
United States made many younger Japanese profes- 20.39). The main hall is leaf-shaped in plan, with
sionals more aware of modern design in the west. balcony seating stepped down in terrace platforms
The simplicity and logic of traditional Japanese on either side of the central space. Walls are of
architecture generated an affinity between Japanese natural wood, while the ceiling is made up of trian-
traditions and western modernism. gular white panels in an irregular arrangement that
The Chikatsu-Asuka Historical Museum in is visually interesting and acoustically effective.
Osaka, lapan (1994), by Tadao Ando (born 1941) Just as western influences have moved into the
is at once a minimalist work of modernism and a lapanese design world, a reverse flow of Japanese
seemingly timeless cluster of spaces relating to the design into Europe and America has become
ancient tombs that are the focus of the museum's commonplace. Arata Isozaki (born 1931) has a
tors access to
Japanese respect
accorded to the ancient
materials exhibited.
373
Chapter Twenty
374
k
Late Twentieth-Century Design
striking presence in the United States. In his four- sures. Railroad stations, now often made obsolete by
story administrative center building for Team changing modes of transportation, are obvious
Disney at Lake Buena Vista (1990) a variety of candidates. The loss of New York's old Penn Station,
masses are grouped in seeming collision. The selec- an impressive work of eclectic Roman classicism by
tion of Yoshio Taniguchi (born 1937) as the McKim, Mead, and White (1911, destroyed 1963),
designer of a major reconstruction of New York's has inspired the restoration and reuse of the old
Museum of Modern Art is another indication of Union Station in Washington, D.C. (c. 1975), for
the extent of internationalism in the design fields. example, and the careful on-going restoration of
New Grand Central Station. In Paris, the
York's
20.40 ErickVan
Egeraat Associated
Architects, ING Bank,
Budapest, Hungary,
1995,
character. A glass-
enclosed elevator shaft
IS at the left. Chairs
designed by Charles
Eames surround the
gleaming top of the
boardroom table.
375
Chapter Twenty
Associated Architects 1995 in for the ING Bank. buildings offer many suggestions: more depen-
The new construction is inserted into the center dence on dayUght and natural ventilation, on solar
courtyard of the old building and rises above the heat and solar energy supply. The concept of green
roof to become a virtual new building on top of the buildings refers to structures that make minimal
old. Offices occupy the floors surrounding the demands on their environment and take maximum
center space, while the roof-top structure becomes advantage of natural ways to provide desired func-
an amorphously shaped "whale" of wooden ribs tions. While buildings are designed by architects
and glass that serves as the boardroom for the bank and engineers, their nature is largely determined by
(fig. 20.40). The unique interior shape is reflected the interiors that they house. As interior design
in an irregularly shaped rug in blue with abstract turns to intelligent use of materials, to minimal
forms in tan. dependence on energy-hungry mechanical systems,
buildings can be made less destructive of environ-
ment and natural resources and, incidentally, often
Green Buildings
more economically sound.
Along with the desire to preserve and reuse older In New York the National Audubon Society
structures has come a realization that the elected to demonstrate its commitment to environ-
increasing dependence on technology to solve mental concerns in the design of its national head-
problems has brought with it increased consump- quarters building (figs. 20.41 and 20.42). Croxton
tion of raw materials and increased demand for Collaborative, the designers, bought a neglected
energy use. The typical mid- to late twentieth- 1891 eight-story loft building for a fraction of the
century building depends on artificial lighting, cost of new space. A full renovation preserved
heating, and air conditioning, along with mecha- windows that can beopened and used window and
nized vertical transportation. As resources have skylight illumination to reduce power require-
20.41 Croxton
Collaborative
Architecture Designers,
National Audubon
Society Headquarters,
New York, 1992.
An older building,
dating from 1891,
which might well have
been designated for
destruction, was
rescued through a reno-
vation that focused on
environmental concerns
to minimize energy
consumption, to
provide efficient waste
recycling and disposal,
and to use materials
natural ambience.
376
Late Twentieth-Century Design
K
Glossary
Guide to Pronunciation aisle A passage at the side of the stone cut in regular Originally, an ancient Roman
Pronunciation guides for nave of a church. rectangular blocks; walling courthouse of a type that
selected terms appear in alignment Prehistoric made up of such blocks. became a Christian church,
parentheses. Strongly stressed arrangements of large stones astragal (AS-truh-guhl) A having a high central nave
syllables are shown in large-size in straight lines. small concave molding, often with lower aisles on either
capital letters; lightly stressed ambulatory (AM-byuh-luh- ornamented with carved side.
syllables are shown in small-size TAWR-ee) A passage around beads. bas-relief (BAH-ri-LEEF)
capital letters. Most of the the sides and rear of the ^symmetry Avoidance of Sculptural carving of a flat
symbols, which use ordinary chancel of a church. symmetrical balance. surface in low relief
letters or combinations of letters, andiron (AN-digh-uhrn) One atrium (AY-tree-uhm) In batter Inward slope of a
should be self-explanatory. The of a pair of metal stands used ancient Roman architecture, vertical wall surface.
following may need clarification: to support logs in an open the central open courtyard of Bauhaus(BOU-hous) A
a cat fireplace. a house. By extension, any German school of art and
ah father, clock apse (aps) The semicircular central open space. design of 1919 to 1932.
ay date, play end of a basilica or church attic The upper story of a Under the direction of Walter
dh that, mother chancel. building; interior space Gropius the school was
e net, berry aqueduct A bridge structure beneath a roof strongly influential in the
i it, big supporting a water channel. aubusson (oH-bue-SAW", OH- development of modernism
igh ice, light arabesque (AR-uh-BESK) A buh-SAHN) A handmade in all aspects of design.
kh Bach light and flowing surface French rug or carpet with a bay A unit of a structural
'^
French bon (shows that decoration. flat weave. system using repeated
the vowel is nasalized) arcade A series of adjacent axminster (AKS-min-stuhr) A identical elements.
ng think, sing arches. traditional carpet bay window A projecting
oe French d eux German , arch A structure of wedge- construction using a cut pile window element.
schon shaped blocks bridging over of wool in a wide variety of bead and reel A carved
oh open, cold an opening. pattern and color. ornamental treatment using
ou sound, c ow architrave (AHR-ki-TRAYv) alternating elements of semi-
u put, book The lowest horizontal band of baldacchino (BAHL-duh-KEE- spherical and semi-cylindrical
ue French rue, German Uber an entablature. noh, BAL-) A canopy form.
uh cup, about, bird, paper archivolt (AHR-ki-voHLT) A supported by columns, beam A horizontal element
zh measure, beige molding on the face of an usually above an altar or providing structural support.
arch following its curve. tomb. Beaux-Arts (boh-ZAHR) An
abacus The topmost block of a armoire (ahrm-WAHR) A ball and claw foot A decorative architectural style developed
Greek Doric column capital. movable wardrobe cabinet element at the bottom of a at the French school of art
acanthus An ornamental leaf with door front. furniture leg in which a and design in Paris, the Ecole
element surrounding the The sharp edge
arris (AR-is) carved claw grasps a spherical des Beaux-Arts.
capital of a Corinthian formed where two surfaces ball element. bentwood A technique of
column. meet. ball foot A decorative element forming strips of wood into
Adirondack style (Aii-uh- Art Deco (AHR(T)-day-KOH, - of spherical form at the curves by applying steam heat
RAHN-dak) Interior and DEK-oh) A decorative style bottom of a furniture leg. and placing the softened
furniture style developed in of the 1920s and 1930s using baluster (BAL-uh-stuhr) A wood on molds. Furniture
the American Adirondack elements intended to suggest post or column supporting a made by this technique is
378
)
Glossary
on either side and recessed in uhn) The Romanesque style clerestory (KLEER-stawr-ee) below the floor of a church or
the center; a popular type of France and Germany from Windows or openings in the cathedral, often used as a
with 18th-century American 750 to 1000 c.E. upper part of a wall. chapel or burial place,
(especially New England) carpenter Gothic American cloister Enclosed open curule (KYOOR-ool) Ancient
cabinet makers. Victorian carpenter-built courtyard of a monastery. Roman seat intended for
bombe (bahni-BAY, baw"-) structure using Gothic Also, by extension, a person of high rank.
French term for furniture decorative elements cut from monastery or convent.
using outward-swelling wood. coffer A hollowed out panel in dado (DAY-doh) Lower
curves. caryatid (K^R-ee-AT-id, KAR- a ceiling, vault, or dome. portion of an interior wall
boulle(bool) Metal and ee-uh-TiD) A column used as colonial Design from a period with a special finish; also, in
tortoise-shell inlay work as a structural support carved in of colonial history, especially woodworking, a groove.
developed in France by human form. American work before 1776. Danish Modern 20th-century
Charles Boulle. casement window Window colonnade A series of columns. decorative and furniture style
box (finger) joint Wood joint with side-hinged sash. commode A piece of furniture developed in Denmark.
with interlocking projecting cassapanca (K,\s-uh-PANG- containing drawers or Dante chair (DAHN-tay, -tee)
teeth. kuh) Italian Renaissance shelves. Italian Renaissance folding
breakfront desk A furniture ornate chest with paneled Composite order Architectural chair using stretched leather
unit made up ot an upper back and arms so that it can order using a combination of for seat and back.
bookcase with a projecting also be used as a bench. Ionic and Corinthian deconstructivism In late 20th-
desk below. cassone (kuh-SOH-nay, -nee) elements. century architecture, design
broken pediment A pediment Italian Renaissance compression A force tending making use of broken and
with a central opening. elaborately carved chest. to squeeze or compress separated elements.
brownstone Soft brown (SEL-uh) The enclosed
cella materials to which it applies decorated The second period
sandstone. Also, buildings of chamber of an ancient Greek stress. of English Gothic architecture
this material. temple. Consulate style French ( 14th century).
brutalism (or new brutalism) centering Temporary wood decorative style of the dentils (DEN-tIz) Tooth-like
Modern architectural style structure used in building an Napoleonic era. projecting decorative details
using massive elements, arch or vault. corbel A projecting element used in Ionic and Corinthian
usually of e.xposed concrete. chaise (shayz) Side chair. supporting a structural classical architecture.
bureau a cylindre (bue-ROH-ah- chaise longue (shavz-LAWNG) element such as a beam or the desornamentado des-AWR- (
see-LA"-druh) Writing desk A chair with an extended seat base of an arch. nah-MEN-tah-doh) Late
with cylindrical roll-top area usable as a lounge. Corinthian (kuh-RIN-thee- Spanish Renaissance
closure. chancel (CHAN-suhl) The uhn) The most elaborate of decorative style using
burl Decorative veneer made sanctuary area of a church or the Greek and Roman orders minimal decorative detail.
from wood with irregular cathedral, also called choir. of architecture using a DeStijl(duh-STlGHL) A
growth patterns. chevet (shuh-VAY) A grouping grouping of carved Dutch movement 1917-31) (
buttress A
element of masonry of chapels around the choir (acanthus) leaves around the of early modernism in art and
structure providing bracing and ambulatory of a Gothic capital of each column. design.
or support. (See also flying cathedral. cornice The topmost element Directoire (dee-rek-TWAHR)
buttress. Chinoiserie (sheen-WAH-zuh- of an entablature or any French design of the post-
ree) Use of decorative projecting element at the top revolutionary period
cabriole (KAB-ree-OHL) A elements derived from of a wall. (1795-1804) emphasizing
cur\'ing, tapered furniture leg. Chinese traditional design in coro The choir of an Italian ancient Roman decorative
caldarium (kal-DER-ee-uhm) 18th-century France and and Spanish Gothic or elements.
Chamber of ancient Roman England. Renaissance church. di sotto insii (dee-SAWT-taw-
bath for hot steam bath. choir The chancel area of a cove A concave projecting in-SOO) Ceiling painting in
canape (KAN-uh-PAY) French cathedral or church, molding or element, a trough perspective with upward-
term for a couch or sofa. originally occupied by the or recess. looking illusion.
cantilever (KAN-tuh-LEE-vuhr) choir of monks. Craftsman Movement dolmen A prehistoric grouping
A horizontal projecting beam churrigueresco (CHOOR-ee- American design and of stones made up of two or
or other structure supported guh-RES-koh) Spanish furniture style based on Arts three upright stones topped
only at its inward end. Baroque design of 1650 to and Crafts movement in with a horizontal. Probably
Cape Cod cottage A much- 1780. England. part of an ancient tomb.
imitated colonial American cimborio (sim-BAWR-ee-oh) credenza (kri-DEN-zuh) A dome A circular vault derived
house type of one story with a Spanish term for a lantern or horizontal cabinet with from rotation of an arch; may
gable roof. elevated structure above a shelves or drawers. be hemispherical, flattened
capital The top element of a main roof to permit window crocket Ornament using (saucer dome), or elliptical in
classical column. openings. projecting form based on plan.
Carolean (K.'KR-uh-LEE-uhn) clapboard (KLAB-uhrd) foliage. Doric The simplest of the
The English style of the time Exterior building siding using cruciform Having the shape of Greek and Roman classical
of Charles 11. overlapping horizontal, flat a Latin cross. orders of architecture.
Carolingian (tj\R-uh-LIN-j(ee) boards. crypt An underground space dormer A projection on a
379
Glossary
sloping root providing architectural orders. It is into a corner by giving it bent century using brown colored
location for a window; also, a made up of the three or folded form, oak.
window placed in such a elements, architrave, frieze, frieze (freez)The second or Gothic The architectural style
projection. and cornice, middle band of a classical of the later Middle Ages
dosseret (DAHS-uh-RET) A entasis (EN-tuh-sis) The entablature and, by characterized by the use of
block placed above a column swelling or outward extension, any horizontal pointed arches.
capital, often supporting curvature of the shaft of a decorative band. Gothic Revival A 19th-century
arches above. classical column. frigidarium (FRll-i-DER-ee- style in which the forms of
dovetail A woodworking joint Etruscan style Decorative style uhm) Chamber of ancient medieval Gothic architecture
using interlocking elements based on early ancient Roman bath containing a are used.
of tapered form. Roman precedents. cold water pool. Greek cross A cross having
dowel A round pin fitted into exedra (pi. exedrae) (EK-suh- frosting Decorative surface four arms of equal length.
matching holes to join two druh) Room or other area of elaboration suggesting cake Greek key A decorative pattern
elements; also a type of joint semicircular shape intended icing. used in ancient Greek design
used in carpentry and cabinet for conversation. Futurism Italian art and design in which a key-like motif is
abacus. (1780-1830) following the Georgian The style of the hammer beam A type of truss
eclecticism The borrowing of colonial era. English and American in which a horizontal tie at
design from various earlier feudal system The periods corresponding to the the base is omitted.
periods, common in governmental system of reigns of the English kings high altar The most important
architectural and interior medieval Europe based on George I to George IV central altar in a church or
design of the first half of the the holding of land and the (1714-1830). chapel where there are several
20th century. authority of a hierarchy of gar see yurt. altars.
egg and dart A decorative rule. gingerbread Informal term for highboy A tall chest with many
detail used to ornament finial (FIN-ee-uhl) A top or elaborate Victorian surface drawers.
molding in classical crown ornament. ornament. high Gothic Medieval Gothic
architecture with alternating Flamboyant The last period of girandole (JIR-uhn-DOHL) A architecture of the most fully
egg-shaped and dart-like French Gothic architecture decorative candle holder, developed periods.
elements. (14th to 16th centuries) often a mirror with a candle high tech 20th-century modern
Elizabethan English design characterized by elaborate holder on either side. architecture and design
period corresponding to the flame-like decorative tracery. Glastonbury chair An English featuring elements typical of
reign of Queen Elizabeth I fluting Carved parallel grooves Tudor folding chair with X- advanced technological
(1558-1603). as used on the shafts of leg base. design, such as that of aircraft
Empire A period of French classical columns. golden mean A ratio or and spacecraft.
Neoclassical design flying buttress A buttress of proportion in which the hipped roof Roof with slanted
corresponding to the reign of half-arch form, spanning over smaller number is to the surfaces at ends as well as at
Napoleon (1804-14). an open space to a point larger as the larger is to the fi-ont and back.
entablature (in-TAB-luh- where pressure is applied to sum of the two, or historicism The practice of
chuhr, -choor) The resist the thrust of an internal A:B=B:A-t-B. using historic forms in
horizontal band supported by vault. Golden Oak style American design.
the columns of classical folded pilaster A pilaster fitted furniture style of the late 19th humanism Thought or
380
Glossary
philosophy based on human SHTEEL) The term for late or other structure above. megaron (MEG-uh-RAHN) The
actions and values. 19th-century German, lit en bateau (LEE-ah"-bah- large central hall space of
hypocaust (HIGH-puh-KAWST) Austrian, and Scandinavian TOH) A French form of early Greek palaces.
A hollow space beneath the design of Art Nouveau elaborate bed in a form metope (MET-uh-pee) In
floors of some ancient character. suggesting a boat, developed ancient Greek architecture,
Roman buildings providing kas (kahs) Large Dutch in the Empire period. the square panel which
heat from flue gases passing wardrobe cabinet with hinged loggia (LOH-jee-uh) covered A alternates with triglyphs in the
through the space from a door front. porch or verandah with frieze of a classical Doric
remote furnace. keep The most securely columns supporting the roof. entablature.
hypostylehall (HIGH-puh- defended, usually central, Louis XIV style (Loo-ee-kuh- mews A narrow alley used for
STIGHL) a space containing part of a medieval castle. TAWRZ) The French style of service behind rows of larger
many columns supporting a kitsch Low quality, often architecture and design houses.
roof structure above. playful, design of
poor taste. typical of the period of the mezzanine (MEZ-uh-NEEN,
klismos (KLIZ-mahs) An reign of Louis XIV MEZ-uh-NEEN) An
ancient Greek form of chair (1643-1715). The term
impluvium (im-PLOO-vee- intermediate partial floor
with fonvard curving front Baroque is used to describe
uhm) In ancient Roman above a principal level of a
legs and curved rear leg and the character of the style.
architecture, a pool or cistern building,
back supports supporting a Louis XV style (LOO-ee-KA"Z) mihrab (MEE-ruhb) Niche
in the center of a courtyard in a
concave curved back. The French style of mosque oriented toward
open to the sky.
impost block (IM-pohst) A architecture and design of the Mecca.
laconicum (luh-KAHN-i- period 1730-65, named for Minimalism Design using
masonpi' block at the base of little
an arch.
kuhm) Chamber of an the king who reigned from or no decorative detail.
inlay Decorative surface
ancient Roman bath using 1723 to 1774. The character Mission style 19th-century
ornament made by hot, dry heat to promote of the period is usually American design suggesting
inserting
sweating. designated as Rococo.
forms ot contrasting color or the design of the California
material in spaces cut out
lacquer An Asian varnish used Louis XVI style (i.oo-ee-SEZ) missions. Often used as
from a background material
as a wood finish, with many The design style of 1 765 to synonymous with Craftsman
coats forming a high gloss 1790 in France, named for or Golden Oak design.
with a flush surface finish.
intarsia (in-TAHR-see-uh)
surface. The term is used for Louis XVI who reigned from miter A joint between two
Elaborate decorative inlay
modern finishes of similar 1774 to 1792. The period is pieces, with each cut at an
work often forming character made from characterized by Neoclassical angle to fit at a corner of the
abstract
synthetics. restraint. (usually right-angle)
or pictorial design, as used in
ladderback chair Chair with a intersection.
the Italian Renaissance.
back using several horizontal maksura (mahk-SOOR-uh) Moderne(moh-DERN)
International style A 20th- French
slats. Sanctuary area of an early
century architectural style language term for modern or
based on function, usually
lantern A windowed structure mosque with wood or stone modernistic design.
rising above the top of a perforated enclosure. Modernism 20th-century
without ornament, and
characterized by flat roofs
dome or roof Mannerism A term applied to architectural and design styles
late modern A term used to architecture and design in based on function and
and large glass areas.
describe late 20th-century Italy toward the end of the structure.
Ionic (igh-AHN-ik) The
second of the three orders of
architecture and design that Renaissance, in which there Modernistic 20th-century
'
continues the qualities of was an effort to escape the decorative design using
ancient Greek and Roman
early modern (often strict classicism of the High elements suggestive of the
architecture. Column capitals
International Style) design. Renaissance. The term is also modern world.
are characterized by the use
of a pairofvo/utes of spiral
lath Thin wood strips that form used to identify work in module A single geometric unit
a base for plaster surfaces. northern Europe in the 16th
form. in a series of repeated units
Italianate (i-TAL-yuh-NA^T)
Modern lath may also be of and 17th centuries. The term making up a modular design.
metal mesh or plaster board has been applied to modern modulor A system of
Design imitative of Italian
with holes to help bonding of work which attempts to dimensioning and proportion
precedents.
plaster. replace the domination of developed by Le Corbusier.
Latin cross A cross having Modernism. monopodia (MAHN-uh-POH-
Jacobean (lAK-uh-BEE-uhn) three equal arms and one mansard roof A roof with dee-uh) Decorative carving
English design dating from longer one. steeply sloping surfaces as of furniture leg using
the reigns of James I and Liberty style A British term for developed in the French grotesque head and body
Charles 1 (1603^9). Art Nouveau style. Renaissance. tapered to a single foot.
jacquard (JAK-ahrd, juh- linenfold Carved wooden Mansardic style American Moorish arch Semicircular or
KAHRD) A type of loom surface ornament suggesting Victorian architectural style pointed arch raised by
developed in France, capable folded linen. using a mansard roof vertical stilts which may
of weaving elaborate patterns. lintel A horizontal member marquetry (MAHR-kuh-tree) curve outward.
Also, a fabric made by the bridging an opening such as Elaborate surface decoration Morris chair 19th-century
jacquard process. door or window. A lintel also using inlay in wood armchair with adjustable
Jugendstil (YOO-guhnt- provides support for the wall veneering. back.
381
)
Glossary
mortise and tenon (MAWR-tis; parquet (pahr-KAY) Flooring post-modernism 20th-century across several axes in a
TEN-uhn) A wood joint in of strips of wood often architectural and interior circular pattern.
which a projecting tongue forming patterns. design succeeding modernist rayonnant (RAY-oh-NAH") A
(tenon) is inserted into a pediment Triangular form work, characterized by 13th-century phase of French
fitted opening (mortise). created by the end of a gable. historicism and use of Gothic architecture
mosaic Small squares of The pediments of classical decorative elements. characterized by rich and
colored stone or tile fitted Greek and Roman prairiehouse Term used by complex tracery.
together to form patterns or architecture are often used as Frank Lloyd Wight to reeding Parallel thin
images. ornamental detail in interiors describe his mid-western semicircular moldings used
mud brick Masonry block and furniture. houses designed with decoratively.
made by impacting and pegged lap joint Wood joint in horizontal emphasis. refinements In ancient Greek
drying mud in a mold. which two pieces are provincial Design of historic architecture, small
mudejar (moo-DHAY-hahr) overlapped and held together periods of vernacular or modifications in seemingly
Spanish decorative style with a peg or pin passing informal character. French straight lines and geometric
developed under Islamic through both pieces. and Italian provincial style of relationships intended to
influence in the 13th to 17th pendentive A triangular area of the 17th and 18th century are correct for optical distortions
centuries. masonry used to connect the often admired and imitated. and improve aesthetic
mullion (MUHL-yuhn) A base of a dome to a square pueblo (PWEB-loh) Flat- qualities.
vertical member dividing the space below. roofed adobe house or group Regence(ray-ZHAH"S) A
panels or panes of a window peristyle A sequence of of houses as built by native French design style of the
or door. columns surrounding a American communities in the early 18th century
building or interior court. southwest states of Arizona (1715-1723), a period falling
narthex(NAHR-theks) A perpendicular A line at right and New Mexico. between the reigns of Louis
porch or vestibule at the front angles to another (usually pylon (PIGH-lahn) A massive XIV and Louis XV.
of the nave of a church. horizontal) line. Also, the masonry element as used on Regency An English period in
nave The main central space of 15th- and 16th-century style either side of the entrance architecture and design of the
a cathedral or church. of English Gothic front of ancient Egyptian early 19th century,
Neoclassical A style of architecture. temples. corresponding in date to the
architectureand design piano nobile (PYAH-noh pyramid A building, usually a regency of Prince George
derived from ancient Greek NAW-bee-lay) Italian term tomb of pyramidal form as before he became George IV
and Roman architecture. for the principal (usually built in ancient Egypt. (1811-20).
Norman The English second) floor of a building. reinforced concrete A system
Romanesque style of the 1 1th pUaster (pi-LAS-tuhr) A quadratura (KVVAH-drah- of construction in which steel
and 12th centuries. flattened form of a column TOOR-ah) Illusionistic reinforcing rods are
set against a wall surface. painting in perspective on embedded in concrete to
oculus (AHK-yuh-luhs) A pillarand scroll style walls or ceilings. absorb tensile stresses.
circular opening or window American 19th-centur)' style quadripartite vaulting (kwah- reja (RAY-hah) An elaborate
at the top of a dome. developed by Duncan Phyfe druh-PAHR-tight) Vauhing iron grille in Renaissance
oecus (EE-kuhs) The main using carved classical column in which each vault is divided Spanish church interiors.
room of an ancient Greek and scroll elements. by ribs or intersection lines reliquary (REL-i-KWER-ee)
house. piloti (pi-LAHT-ee) Massive into four parts. Chest or other container for
order (of architecture) One of pylon-like support column quadro riportato (KWAH- the relic of a revered saint or
the systems of design used in used to elevate building mass droh-REE-pawr-TAFI-toh other personage.
ancient Greek and Roman above ground-floor level. Paintings on panels set into a Renaissance The period
architecture based on column Plateresco (PLAT-uh-RES-koh) vault or paintings simulating beginning around 1400 in
and entablature. The three Spanish design style of the this pattern. Italy and continuing in
important orders are Doric, first half of the I6th century, quatrefoU (KA-truh-foil, KAT- European design until about
Ionic, and Corinthian. characterized by fine detail uhr-) An ornamental 1800 in which a revival of
ormolu (AWR-muh-LOO) suggesting the work of a element of four lobes. classical design concepts was
Gilded bronze used as silversmith. Queen Anne English design dominant.
decorative detail on furniture polychromy (PAHL-ee-KROH- style of the early 18th century, reredos (RER-uh-DAHS, REER-
of the Neoclassical period. mee) Ornamental surface named for the English queen dahs) A screen behind the
design using several colors. (reigned 1702-14). The style altar of a church usually
palazzo (puh-LAHT-soh) portico A colonnade was revived in the second half sculptured or decorated.
Italianword for palace. supporting a roof to form a of the 19th century, marking Restoration period The era of
Palladian (puh-LAY-dee-uhn) porch, usually at the entrance a return to Neoclassicism. Charles II of England.
Design based on style of to a building. quoin (koin, kwoin) A Rococo (ruh-KOH-koh, roh-
Andrea Palladio. post and lintel A basic system projecting stone at the corner kuh-KOH) A style of
panel A surface enclosed by of construction using vertical of a building forming a architecture and decoration
framing. Paneling is a form of elements (posts) to support decorative corner band. of the 18th century following
wall treatment using wood horizontal members (beams the Baroque period, which
surface panels. or lintels). radial symmetry Symmetry made use of simpler forms
382
Glossary
and more delicate decoration. pantp,'. stereotomy (sTER-ee-AHT-uh- restraint from solid masonry
rolltop desk Desk with a top scroll saw Mechanical powered mee, STEER-) Art of stone or from buttressing.
cover that could be rolled .saw capable of cutting cutting to form elements of tongue and groove Wood joint
away. complex curves. complex vaulted structure. using projecting tongue
Roman arch An arch of Secession A movement in '
stoa (STOH-uh) Covered fitting into matching groove.
semicircular form as used in Vienna at the end of the 19th loggia at one side of the open torchere (tawr-SHER) A
ancient Roman architecture. century in which architects marketplace (agora) in candle or lamp stand.
Romanesque (koti-muh- and designers (and other ancient Greek cities. torchier(tawr-CHEER) Stand
NESK) The architectural artists) withdrew from strapwork Carved or plaster or fixture holding torches or
style of the early Middle Ages academic exhibitions in order decorative detail suggesting candles to provide lighting.
in Europe characterized by to create a non-traditional bands cut from leather. tower house Medieval castle
use of Roman arch forms. style. stripped classicism Design of type in which a vertical stack
The term Norman is applied Second Empire French Louis the 1920s and 1930s based on of rooms creates a defensible
to Romanesque work in XVI revival style of 1850s and classicism but with classical tower.
England. 1860s. detail simplified or omitted. trabeated (TRAY-bee-AY-tid) A
Romanticism Interest in secretary desk Desk with stylobate (STIGH-luh-BAYT) form of construction also
romantic concepts such as bookcase above and writing The step forming the base of known as post and lintel.
medieval and Gothic periods desk below as developed in a classic colonnade. tracery Gothic ornamental
as developed in the late 18th 1 and 18th-century
7th- swag Decoration in the form of carved detail in thin, complex
and early 19th century. England and America. a hanging garland. patterns.
rondel(RAHN-dl, rahn-DEL) sedia (SED-yah) Italian symmetrical balance Balance traditionalism Design limited
A round element of surface Renaissance chair. achieved with matching to elements borrowed from
decoration, often containing set-back In tall buildings, a elements on either side of a historic precedents.
a sculptural element. reduction of size from one center line. transept Outward projecting
rose window The large round upper level to another as arm on either side of a
window, usually in the facade required by zoning laws. tabhnum (ta-BLIGH-nuhm) A cathedral or church forming a
of a Gothic cathedral or sexpartite (seks-PAHR-tight) small room or alcove in an cross-shaped (cruciform)
church. A type of medieval vaulting in ancient Roman house at the plan.
rotunda (roh-TUHN-duh) which the vault surface was end of the atrium where transparente (TRAHNS-pah-
Round, domed interior space. made up of six parts. family records and portraits REN-tay) An elaborately
row house A house built into a sgabeUo (skah-BEL-oh, zgah-) were kept. sculptured backing for an
continuous row of adjacent A small, easily portable chair tambour door (TAM-boor) altar in a Spanish cathedral,
houses. developed in the Italian Flexible sliding door formed permitting observation of the
rustication Stonework treated Renaissance. of parallel thin strips glued to sacrament from the chancel
with projecting stones and Shaker style Reserved and a canvas back. and from the ambulatory
recessed ioints to form a simple style as developed by tamped earth Earth pounded behind.
strong surface pattern. the American Shaker to form a firm service to serve trefoU(TREE-foil, TREF-oil) A
religious society. as a floor. carved decorative element
sacristy (SAK-ruh-stee) Room shingle A thin slice of wood temple house House built in having three leaf forms.
of a church intended for the used to form external the form of a Greek temple. triclinium (trigh-KLIN-ee-
robing of clergy. covering of buildings. tepee American native portable uhm) The dining room of an
sail vault Vault of flattened Shingle style Architectural style house formed of poles ancient Roman house using
curvature forming ceihng of of the late Victorian era in supporting skin or blanket three reclining platforms
an interior space. America with building external surfaces. arranged to form an open
salt-box A house form in which exteriors covered by shingles. tepidarium (TEP-i-DER-ee- square.
a gable roof extends much soffit (SAHF-it) The under'side uhm) Room of ancient triforium (trigh-FAWR-ee-
lower at the rear of the of any element. Roman bath providing uhm) The gallery above the
building than at the front, a space planning 20th-century moderate heat. main nave arcade and below
form suggesting a office and other interior terrazzo (tuh-RAHT-soh, - the clerestory of a Gothic
commonplace kitchen salt planning. RAZ-oh) Small chips of cathedral or church.
container. split lath Thin sheets of wood marble imbedded in cement triglyph(TRIGH-glif) A panel
Savonarola chair {sa\ -uh-nuh- partially split to form a base and polished to form a carved in three vertical strips
ROH-luh) Italian for plaster which forms keys smooth surface suitable for used in alternation with the
Renaissance folding chair said as it is pressed into the splits. flooring. metopes thatornamented the
to be used by Savonarola. spool and knob Decorative block Concrete block
textile frieze of a Greek Doric
Savonnerie carpet (SAV-uhn- detail using alternate developed in the 1920s by entablature.
REE) French carpet of the cylindrical and spherical Frank Lloyd Wright with triptych (TRIP-tik) A three-
18th century produced by elements. patterned surface to provide a panel painting in which the
factory at Savonnerie. stave church Early medieval textile-like surface pattern. side panels are hinged to
screens Room adjacent to the church in Finland using thrust The outward force form doors to cover the
hall of a medieval manor massive vertical structural exercised by arches, vaults, center panel.
house acting as a vestibule or members. and domes, requiring trompe-l'oeil (trawmp-LOI)
383
)
Glossary/Bibliography
Realistic painting technique developed in the 20th century major element in the capital wigwam A hut of grass and
creating an illusion of reality by Le Corbusier. of a column of the Ionic thatch as built by native
(literally, "fools the eye"). Usonian (yoo-SOH-nee-uhn) order of architecture, American tribes in the eastern
truUi (TROO-lee) Simple Term coined by Frank Lloyd voussoir (voo-SWAHR) A American continent.
dome-topped buildings Wright to describe his stone of an arch, wedge- William and Mary The English
typical of Apulia in southern American (U.S.) design. shaped to retain its place in styleof the 17th century
Italy. the completed arch structure. during the reigns of WiUiam
truss Structural element of vargueno (vahr-GAYN-yoh) A III and Mary (1689-1702).
spaces through use of developed in the Spanish skuht) A lining for the lower Baroque in character.
triangulation. Renaissance. part of an interior wall. Windsor (chair) A chair with a
Tudor The style of early vault A masonry construction Werkbund (VERK-bunt) A simple saddle seat using many
Renaissance architecture of in which one or more arch German, and later an thin wood turnings to
England in the reigns of the forms are used to cover an Austrian, organization support a bent back rim.
Tudor monarchs from 1485 open space. dedicated to the promotion wing-back chair Chair with a
to 1558. vernacular Design produced of better design. high back with forward
turkey-work Embroidery through common practice Werkstatte (VERK-shte-tuh) projecting upholstered
imitative of oriental textiles without assistance from Austrian organization elements.
used for upholstery in trained or professional aid. promoting the work of WPA style Architectural design
Renaissance England. Victorian The design period in Vienna Secession design of the 1930s projects of the
Tuscan Ancient Roman England and America through workshops, shops, American governmental
simplified Doric order. corresponding to the reign of and displays. agency using stripped
tympanum (TlM-puh-nuhm) Queen Victoria 1837-1901 ).
( westwork Frontal structure of classical forms.
The triangular panel formed villa An Italian country house, German medieval churches.
within a pediment. usually of considerable what-not Victorian shelf unit yurt (yoort) A movable round
luxury. The term has come intended to hold decorative hut used by migratory
unite d'habitation (ue-nee- into more general use for any ornaments. Mongolian tribes.
TAY-dah-bee-tah-SYAW" large country house. wheelback chair Victorian
Term given to large volute (vuh-LOOT) A spiral chair using a circular wheel
apartment dwellings as decorative form used as the form as a back.
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Picture Credits
Calmann & King Ltd wish to thank the 3.18AKG. London/Eric Lessing 6.4 Conway Library, Courtauld Institute 7.27 A.F.Kersting, London
institutions and individuals who have 3.19Courtesy of the Honourable ofArt. neg#B76/2249 7.31 Oronoz. Madrid
provided material or artwork for use in Thomas Lindsay. Hedingham Castle 6.5 Araldo De Luca. Rome 7.35 Scala, Florence
this book. 01787 460261 6.8. 6.12 Scala, Florence 8.3 Paul M.R. Maeyaert
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frontispiece CAMERAPHOTO Arte, Maiesty Queen Elizabeth II 6.1 1 CAMERAPHOTO Arte, Venice Hague
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de la Communication - Direction du 3.29 Oronoz, Madrid St. Florian Virginah c. 1670. oil on canvas. 20 x 17V4
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I'Archeologie 4.2.4.14,4.18,4.32 Paul M.R. Paul M.R. Maeyaert London
1.2 Scala, Florence Maeyaert 6.23 AKG, London 8.9,8.13.8.15,8.17,8.19.8.23 A.F.
1.3. 1.13, l.MiuIohn Pile, New York 4.3, 4.5. 4.13. 4.15. 4.19, 4.22. 4.23, 4.25 Bridgeman Art Library. London.
7.1, 7.9 Kersting. London
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Anthropological Archives, Neg. 1713 4.10. 4.20, 4.26. 4.27 lohn Pile, New the Eighteenth Century Laurence King,
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127 X 99 cm). National Gallery of Art. Quattrone, Florence 7.11,7.33 Conway Library. Courtauld D.C.
Washington D.C., Samuel H. Kress 5.6, 5.7. 5.8. 5.9. 5.13, 5.19, 5.20. 5.24, Institute of Art, London 9.7 (Room from the Powel House,
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de I'Encius (Orroir), Belgium lohn Pile, New York
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3.13 Studio Fotografico Quattrone, De Luca. Rome 7.24 as above, pp68-69. photo I.M.Tardy Mrs. Lammont du Ponl, photo by
Florence 6.2
lames Morris, London 7.22 Photo RMN, Paris/Arnaud Fevrier Graydon Wood 1 989
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388
1 1
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9.14 MDHticelliV IhiMiias Ictfersoii Rochroane. Irvington-un-the-Fludson, 16.2 lohn Freeman. London London
Memorial Foundalinn inc New York. 1905, home of Melchior S. 16.5 ("ourtesy Philippe (iarner, London 19.12 Esto Photographies Inc.
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10.4RCHME 14.5 The Breakers and Marble House, Hedrick Blessing Collection Mamaroneck NY/photo Ezra Stoller
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12.4 A.F.Kersting. London 15.1 1 The Mies van der Rohe Archive, The Museum of Modern Art, New York Bryant
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389
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;32 Modeima 340, 34]; laae Barcdona: Casa BalSo. 23Z 233; Casa Blondel, lean-Frani^jis (l>la>--DEL 1 106
I128.34S:JHFlnes Modensa 364. 364. 365; pos-iraT MialUPedio-a] 232; GneJl Paii Boi&and, Gabrid-Gennaine (baw-
aadardi^ 29S,299,304:poni 340, 34 J; late 2di cennnT ^.2. 232; Sagrada Familia dmrdi 232; FRAH"i 123-4
117.342.3h]idiliiqgt 303 349. 350-1, 35a m-i, 354. 357. Geiroan Exhaiit PatSoo (1929) 275. Boileau. Louis-Charles 189
Aiiir Ht WHIM* 13^00 26t 357, 35S, 359: 275, 276 Bon Marche. Paris I BAW-mahr-SHAY 1
AlKn.PliKK 186, ISS presgvjgioB gad m nwHjimcaoga BaToqoe sn,-k 91, 92, 132-3. 143-4. 154- Boscobel. Garrison, New York (BAHS-
liMiem.ham9aasui.iiA-WB.-V) 7% 246.246.375 6: and Rococo 92-136 kuh-KEl) 166
DcKejIafi^KiBBru 79 barroH's JancieDi tomb*] 12 Boston, Massaditisetis: King's Chapel
AmtNomieaD 21&, 219. 221. 223, 226-32: BaiTT, Charles ISl 164, J64:Pubhc Ubrari- 250, 25ft 251;
hdEd-HAM-litdit 53. 53 UmsadStaies 23S-43 BaiTT, }osq!>fa 170 StateHouse [State Capitol] 166;
I, TattcoOt Spssn 1132 AitWodkas'Gaki 217. 21S Kactlira Mceiiza. Itah' 87 TnniTv Church 221. 22), 39; s also
s^StaoAiKSBaaaes^) 12 An^FUasndifAHR-iEdtS 310,325 basilicas 31, 31, 36. 48, 67 Massachusetts
liaiifwL and balhrooms: anoenl Rome 28. Boston Public Library', Massadiusetxs
Hague], LrwAgiedei 314, JM As^aDdCiral&sMawiiQesist lAesiiietk 29, 30: medie^'a] 50: industrial era 250, 25a 31
AlSaiBts,MBi9RtSlRi(a,LaiDdaB IS3, awoemoaij I^
210-19, 239, 31 185: 'V'jctorian 199. 207; Vienna Bosi'orth. Welles 33
103 Asdu Bid&i^ Ta4a <(<li-SAH-liee'l Secessjoo 237; iodnstrial design 301-3, BouBe. Andre (bool) 122,174
10 36S,168 302 bourgeois class 130. 131; see also ciatses,
Adbee.C]uria8. 217 Baiihans. Tbc 272-5,
306 27.1, social
ZAY-rnl 173-6. 176 AsfllBmi,GnBaar<AHS-|ihbBd) 297. Bar R^ioD vernacular 339 Bouwens. Richard (BOU-nhnzl 293
AndKrims. Mmindh ijli-MAH-ke- 331 BBPK IBanfi. Bf^iokKio. Peiressiini. Bradbur>- Building. Los .Angeles 253, 253
iiiiiiii m 1 116,106,12) Assriia 17 Roeers] 308 Bradlei. Will 220-1
jtaagJMlfMWinmBnrlimar] 324 AsdEerOvn*^ Mxnai^^ jElvgiraS&sifio] 61, 25ft 262 Brarit S. Francisco de Assis, Ouro Preto,
AmicBGoia^ai !, 139-61. 26D (;sH-ld-YAY-d-VEEK,A) 233,233 bedrooms 89-90. 89. 125, 13a 15S, 201. MinasGerais 1 54; S. Francisco, Sao
AMBKCaboikLIiaMetJfeB-V^I Aaboas: Eieabesmi Itesi^ik] 24. 176: 249 loao dd Rei. Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais
OLCa 62.64 PauJjenoo 23, 23. 278; aoa of -Aiialoi Btirens. Peter iBAT-ruhns. KK-dmz) 154
: 28 25. 26; Tcnqdc erf At'hpna Kite 24 38. 271. 274, 278
234, Breakers, Hie. Neviport, Rhode Idand
StQidk bdoqe^ fllie ttTii KBiM fi i mm . RtSlfit>p ^IhrirMft 241.241.
, BdGeddes. Norman l"bd-GEI>,eez) 298. 247, 247
2H2S 242.243 302, 303 Breuer, Marcel BROI-uhri 308, 309.
i
iloceaDlneri! 291.299 aWfamimiiimi 9, 241, 243, 242, 243, 332. Belanger, Frani^ois )osq>b (SAV-lah- 312, 330. 348; and the Bauhaus 272,
Amcy-le-tiiif . dMBam. Bmgidy i(
jfe"- 333.336,337,343.374 ZHAY) 126 306; and United Sutes 321. 326, 340
SBt^kdi-FRAH!! 111. 1J3 AjQS&ra^ SfidBe^' (^wra Hoose 331 Bdgjtun 223; see flisiJ Low Countries brick.s,mud 16
A]i]ufta.Tada9 373 AjQsaiia BeDuschiPietrollw-ljOO-dtee) 340, bridges 185-6,304,304
ifMaaa-afHiBule Banoipieafle lOS-I 341,342 Britain: prehistoric structure 12;
n] a %HfirtfyTini>ciin 306 Bdler. )ohn Hemr 206 Victorian period 193-5; eclectic snies
posi-war
{{SnunjBiibneaJ MeBBaSeoeaaaa 226.234-S Bdlon House, Ei^land 145,154 263-5: -An Deco srilc 296;
16a. 175 IBidi9^EM<&AU>ey JOfl 101. 10} BenneuWard 346 336-7; Festi%-al of Britain 1951 1 ) 336;
oBiwTaabofRa-sdnl&llieba 10, jef dkp Vienna Beriage, Hendrik Petn (BER-Uitb-di) ae also England: London: Scotland:
II Ansaitsan Tiztd DtflitMi Ofiocc Vicnaa 225.306 Wales
361-iJ62 Berlin. Altes Musemn 175-6.176 British Museum. Londcm 176
Ajpifia. hilly iidli-KX)L-f]di|l 14 BeminiGiankwenzo l"beT-NEE-Dee) 94- Brittani-. prehistoric structures 12; s
243 5,117.120,143 abo France: Paris
adheE aadera jRome 27-&, 27i asEooDolbdlcs 295.298 BiifiolSseque Nalionale, Paris ( BE-blee- Brno. Tugendhai House 274, 276
390
1 1 )
Index
Bronze Age, Late 20 The Legend of St Ursula 89 Chareau, Pierre ishah-ROH) 308 cities see towns and cities
Brooklyn Museum. Ne%*- York 162-3 Carpenter Center. Harvard University Charlem^ne SR\HR-luh-MAYN)
I 41-2. City Hall. Philadelphia 204, 205
BroH-n, Scolt 337. 359 285 62 classes, social 138-9, 184, 190, 195. 226
brownstone houses 198-9 Carpenter Gothic 196,199 Charles King of England 142
I, classical ci\'ilizations 20-35
Bruant. Liberal 121 carpets see textiles Charles King of England 138. 143
11, clav tablets 16
Bninel, Isambard Kingdom 186 Carraci. Annibale ( kahr-RAHT-chee) Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, King Cbff. Clarice 296
Brunelleschi, Filippo l BROO-nuh-LES- 83-4 of Spain 132^ 135,136 docks 122. 122.151.170
kee) 72, 75-7. 85 Carrere, lohnM. (kuh-RER) 252.255 Charles Mil. King of France 108 Qoister, The [religious sect] 163
Bryggman. Erik(BRIG-mahn) 310 Carter's Grove, Williamsburg, Virginia Chartres Cathedral, France (SR\HR-tr, Cluny. Abbe>-. France klue-NTE, ( KLOO-
Buana. Mario Iboo-AH-tuhl 346 161, 162 shahrtl 56.58.59.60.61 nee I 48
Budapest. ING Bank 575, 376 Canuja, La, sacristry of, Granada ( lah- Chateau de Compiegne. Paris shah- i
Quny, France 49, 50, 70
Bulfinch. Charles 166,167 kahr-TOO-hah) 132, 133 TOH-duh-kaw"-P\TNl 127 Coates, Wells 296,313
bungalows 220, 223. 313; st^uisa houses Casa BatUo, Barcelona (KAH-suh-buht- Chateau de Maisons [Maisons Lafitte}, Codman, Ogden 249
Bunschaft, Gordon (BUHN-shaft) 324 YOH 232. 233
) Paris(me-2AW"l 113,113.114.115 Coeur. lacques, house of, France (ZHahk-
Burgundy see France Casa del Popolo [Casa del Fascio], Italy Chateau de Malmaison, Paris MAHL-me- ( KOERl 69-70.69
Burlington, Lord 88 {IC-KH-sah-daW-PAW-poh-loh) 308-9. Z.\W"l 128, 128 Coleman city house, San Francisco 339
Bume-Iones, Edward 210.213 308 Chateau de Petit-Bourg, France (puh- College of VVilliam and Mary [Wren
Bumham, Daniel H. 252 Casa Mila [La Pedrera], Barcelona TEE-BOOR) 123 Building]. Williamsburg, Virginia 164
BurolandschaA [office landscape] {KAH-suh-mee-L\H) 232 Chauvet cave paintings, France shoh- I colleges Afe educational buildings
(BUEROH-LAHNT-shahft) 344 Cass^GUberl 255 \'AY) 10 Colombo, Joe 328. 330
Butler House, Des Moines, Iowa 501 cast iron see iron Cherraayeff, Serge (chuhr-MAH-yef) 311 Colonial styles 154-64
Butterfield. William 183 Castel Beranger, Paris (kah-STEL-bay- Chicago Colorma. Edouard (kuh-LOH-nuh) 232
buttresses. fl>ing 58 rah"-ZHAY) 231,231 Buildings: Lake Shore apartments Colony Club. New York 255. 255
B>-zantine design 36, 38-4 Castle Drogo, England (DROH-goh) 322-3; Marshall Field Wholesale Color primitj^e panems and designs 15;
261. 264 Store 223, 241; Monadock ancient Egypt 19; ancient Greece 24;
castles, medieval 46-7, 66-9 Building 252; Reliance Building medieval period 51.54.54-5:
Ca d'Oro. Venice. Italy ( KAH-DAWR- Catalano, Eduardo ( KAH-tuh-LAH-nob 252; Robie House 270, 270. 289 Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo
oh) 66 342 Exhibitions: Columbian Exhibition 106-7. 122; French Empire style 128;
Cabinet Maker and Uphobterer's Drawing cathedrals see churches (1893) 209. 242, 249; A Century Federal period 170; Viaorian 199,
Boot 77ie[ Sheraton i iSi, 153, i5i CathoUdsm 92, 136, 154, 156 of Progress' l933-t) 296
( 207; Craftsman movement 221, 223;
Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer's Guide, Catholics 92, 136, 134, 156 Chikatsu-Asuka Historical Museum, Modernist 270, 271, 272, 281-2, 284.
T7i?[Hepplewhitel J 52, 153 caves 10 Osaka 373. 373 327; Art Deco 295; industrial de^gn
Cafe Costes, Paris (kawst) 367, 367 CBS. New York 337 chimneys 157. 159 302; post-war 336-7
CafelAubette. France loh-BET) 271, I Centennial Exhibition, Philadelphia Chinese and Far Eastern influences: Colosseum. Rome 28
271 (1876) 196-7 Dutch Renaissance 138-9; Georgian Colt. Samuel 197
cafes see restaurants Center tor British Art, Yale Univeraty period 150. 152. 160; Federal style Colimibian Exhibition, Chicago 1893) (
Calder. Alexander 324. 365 350.350 170-1; Maorian period 196-7,206; 209, 242, 249
California; Gamble House. Pasadena Centraal Beheer. Apeldoom, Netherlands Arts and Crafts 214,215,215,216. Columbus, Christopher 72
222, 223; Kaufrnann House. Palm (sen-TR.\HL-buh-HER,-HEERi 335, 216; An Nouiieau 226; Modernism Columbus Indiana Regional Hospital
Springs 339, 339; S. Carlos Borromeo, 335 268, 319; late 20th century 373-6 363. 363
Carmei 1 56; see also Los Angeles; San Central Lutheran Church, Portland. Chippendale, Thomas 152-3,163,361; Columns: ancient 18, 19; andent
Egv-pt
Francisco Oregon 340, 340 The Gentleman and Cabinet Maker's Greece 23. andent Rome 27.
23, 24;
calligraphy, Arabic 53 Centre Le Corbusier [La Maison de Direaor 152, 152 30, 35; Eariy Christian 36; and
Calv-in, John 136 I'Homme], Zurich SAH"-truh-luh-
( Chiswick villa, London S8 Modernism 286; and post-modernism
Cambridge. Massachusetts: lohn Vassall K-WMl-bue-Z^'AY) 285,334 Christ Church, Philadelphia 163-4 357, 359; see also orders
House 160; Kresge Memorial Chapel Centre Pompidou, Paris SAH-tnih- I Christ Church, Spitalfields. London 146, commercial productioQ 296,312.325.
337, 33S; Massachusetts Institute of PAw"-pee-DOO) 353,353 147 327
Technology- 287. 337, 340; see also Century Guild 219 Christianity 31,36, 181; Catholicism 92. communicatioas 16.205.206,348.351
Massachusetts ceramics see pottery 136, 134, 156 Complexity and Contradiction in
Cambridge L"niversit>% England 356, 356 chairs Chrysler Building, New York 295. 295 Arcftirecrure [Venturi] 357
Cameroon, Africa 14 ancient Eg>pl 19, 19 Church Building [Cram] 256 computers 351,372,377
Camp Cedars, Adirondacks, New York ancient Greece 25, 25, 27 Church, Frederick L 197 concert halls 311. 324, 334. 336, 336,
200 medie\'al 5 Church of the Sanctuary of the \'trgin 373, 374; see also auditoriums; opera
Campbell, Colin, Mereworth Castle. Renaissance 90, 91 Guadalupe, Morelia. Mexico 154, 155 houses; theaters
England 88 Baroque and Rococo 122, 125, 125 churches concrete 269, 304, 308, 313. 314
Campen, )acob van (vahn-KAHM-puhn) Tudor and Jacobean 141,143,146, Early Christian 31, 36-8, 36, 37 Connecticut: ferm house [Greenbergj
136 146, 147 Byzantine 42-6. 42. 43, 44, 45, 46 362, 363; Glass House. New Canaan
Campin, Robert [?Master of Flemallel 68 Georgian 152, 163 Gothic 54-64. 55-64 314, 315, 323; Miller House. [House
Annunciation 68 American Federal 170 Renaissance 75-7, 76, 77, 79-82. 79, ffl], Lake^ille 370-1. 370: Stanley
Canada 15, 333, 371; City Hall, Toronto Shaker 202 30, 81 85-8. 88 UTiirman House, Farmington 158
333: Nooika Sound \5: see also Viaorian 206-7,205 Baroque and Rococo 120-1 Conran. Terence 337
Montreal Art Nouveau 229 Restoration London 143-5, 146, 147 Constantine, Emperor 31, 36, 38
Canadian Centre for Architecture, Art Deco 292, 293, 297 Colonial American 158. iSS. 163-4 Constantinople Tstanbulj 36, 38. 40
Montreal 371.377 Modernist Aamio 333; Breuer 306. Greek Revival 178 construction, medieval 56-S; see also
Cape Cod cottages 157,260 312, 312, 366; Eames and Saarinen Shaker 201 engineering
Capitol, Washington D.C. 166-9, 167 327, 327; Gehry 372; facobsen Art Nouveau 232, 234, 234, 242-3 coQStructi\Tsts, Russian 369
Caracaila. Baths of, Rome (KAR-uh-KAL- 331, 33 >Knoli 325-6, 326; eclectic styles 256. 257 Conte di Savota [ocean liner[ I KOHN-
uh) 29,30,250,251 Mallet- Stevens 309; Mies 274; Modernist 284-5, 289, 289, 308. 309, tay-dee-sah-VOI-ah) 265
Carlone, Cario Antonio (kahr-LOH-nay) Ponte 330;Rietvald 271-2; 309, 3 10; International style 324. Contrasts [9u^] 181
100-1 Stumpf 344, 344; V'enturi 358; 324 cooking appliances see kitchens
Carnegie Institute [Carnegie Mellon Wright. Russel 299 post-war 331, 337. 338, 340, 340 Coonle^- House, Riverside, Ellinois 269,
UniversitylKAHR-nuh-gee, kahr-
( post-war 330, 331, 332, 333, 344 late 20th century 348, 350 269
NEG-eei 300 post-modernist 358 Churriguera, Jose (CHOOR-ree-GAY-rafa) Copenhagen, SAS Royal Hotel 331, 332
Carolean [Caroline] period 143-6 deconstructi\T5t 372 132 Copernicus 72
Carolingian style 42 Chambord, Chateau de, France (shah"*- Churrigueresco style (cboor-REE-ge-RES- Cotta^ Residences [Dowmngl 180
Carpacdo, \"ittore < kahr-PAHT-choh) BAWRi no, 111,111 koh) 132.154 Cotte. Robert de. cfaapet Versailles
89, 90; 5f. Augustine in his Study 90; chapels iee churches Citicorp Building, New York 341-2 (kawtl 118
391
1 1
Index
Counter-Reformation (Catholic) 92 Diderot, Denis (deed-ROH, DEE-duh- Eisenman, Peter 370-1 exhibition buildings 246, 246, 361, 361,
Craftiinm. Tde |niagazine| 220,220 ROH) 183 electrical equipment 234, 335; lighting 369-70, 370, 371, 375; see also an
Cragside, Northumberland, England diners 299, 300 194,205,207,218,226,266 galleries and museums
263, 264 dining rooms 227, 230, 230. 233, 237; electricity, power houses 301 exhibitions
Cram, Ralph Adams 256-7; Church eclectic 247, 248, 255. 258; Modernist Elizabethan style 140-2 galleries: MOMA 1932) 273, 304,
(
Buililiiig 256; St. Thomas's Church, 270; post-modern 359 Elkins, Frances 324 306, 314, 319;MOM A (1988) 369-
New York 256, 256, 257 Dinkeloo, John (DING-kuh-U)O) 337. and Clarke 290, 296
Ellis 70,371
Cranbrook Academy of Art, Detroit 257, 339 Harvey 220
Ellis, housing design, Vienna ( 1930) 306
258-9 Dipoli, Otaniemi, Helsinki ( DEE-poh- Elms, The, Newport, Rhode Island 208 World's Fairs: London (1851) 186,
Crane Library, Quincy, Massachusetts lee) 333,333 Elveden Hall, England 193 190, 190, 196; London (1862) 2J5;
223 Directoire style 126-7 Empire style 127-30, 169 Philadelphia (1876) 196-7;
crematoria 331 Disney buildings 360, 363 Endell, August (EN-duhl) 233-4 Chicago (1893) 209, 242, 249; San
Cret, PhillipePaul(kray) 259 Dodge House, Los Angeles 314,3/4 engineering 27, 57-8, 88, 304, 308 Francisco (1912) 223; Paris ( 1925)
Crete 20 Doesburg, Theo van (vahn-DOOS- England 279, 290. 292, 303; Barcelona
Cristobal [ocean liner], interior design buhrg) 270-1 prehistoric structures 12 (1929) 274, 275, 275, lib; Paris
298, 299 Doge's Palace, Venice (DOH-jiz) 97, 97 Romanesque JNorman] churches (1929) 290; Stockholm (1930)
crossover styles 373-6, 375 Dohner, Donald (DOH-nuhr) 300 45-6 296. 297, 311; Bristol, England
Croxton Collaborative Architecture dolmens 12 Renaissance 135, 139-53 (1936) 312; Milan, (1936) 308;
Designers 376 domes: ancient Rome 27-8; Renaissance Regency style 169, 172-4 Paris (1937) 296, 309; New York,
crusades 52 76, 76, 94, 94; Baroque 96-7, 96, 98-9, Greek revival 176 ( 1939) 287, 303; Festival of Britain
Crystal Palace, London 186, W7. 188, 98. 120-1; Federal style 166; late 20th Gothic revival 180-3 (1951) 336; Turin (1960-1) 330,
!S8, 190, 203, 213; and 20th-century century 352, 352 Industrial Revolution 185-8 330; Montreal (1967) 335,335,
design 348, 365 Donghia. Angelo (DAHNG-gee-uhl 346 Arts and Crafts Movement 210-19 352, 352
Cubism 290, 293, 303 Downing, Andrew lackson 180, 197 Modernism 311-12 Expert, Roger (ek-SPER) 293.303
Cubitt, Lewis 186 Draper, Dorothy 301,324,325 buildings: de la Warr Pavilion, Exposition Internationale des Arts
Cumming, Rose 256, 324 drawings see illustrations Bexhill-on-Sea 304, 305, 3 U - 1 2; Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes. L',
Cunard liners st'c ships Dresser, Christopher 2 4, 1 2 1 5, 229 Faber and Dumas offices 354, 355; Paris (1929) 290
Cuvillies, Frani;oi5 (KUE-vee-YAY) 106, Dreyfuss, Henry (DRIGH-fuhs) 298, Leicester University, Engineering Exposition Universelle (Exhibition of
123 300, 303 Building 356; Olivetti Training decorative Arts], Paris (1925) 279,
Ducal Palace, Urbino, Italy 84, 84 facility 356-7; Royal Pavilion, 292, 303
Dudok, WillemM. (DUE-dawk) 306 Brighton 172, / 72; Stonehenge Expressionism 306
da Cortona, Domenico 1 1 Dufrene, Maurice (due-FREN) 292 12, 12; University of Cambridge,
Daily Express Building, London 290. 296 Dunand, Jean (due-NAH") 290, 292, 293 History Faculty 356
dams 301 Durham Cathedral, England 45, 45 churches: Durham Cathedral 45, 45; factories see industrial buildings
dance halls 271 D'Urso, loseph Paul (DUHR-soh) 346 Exeter Cathedral 62-3, 62; King's factory-made goods 296, 312, 325, 327
Dark Ages 4 Dutch design see Low Countries; College Chapel, Cambridge 63. 66; Fallingwater. Bear Run, Pennsylvania
Davis, Alexander lackson 177, 178, 179- dymaxion (digh-MAK-see-AHN) 351 houses: Belton House / 45, 154; Farnsworth House, Piano, Illinois 177,
12 Early Christian design 36-8 181, 1S2; Haddon Hall 67, 67, 140. Federal styles 165-71
De Menil House, East Hampton, New Early English style 63, see idso Gothic 140; Hampton Court Palace 70, Feininger, Lyonel (FlGH-ning-uhr) 272
York(duh-me-NEEL) 365,366 style 7J;Hardwick Hall 141, 141; feudal system 41, 54
De Re Aediftcaloria ^Mbern) 79 Early Modernism 304-13 Hatfield House i36, 137. 142; Fiji 15
DeStiiKduh-STIGHL) 270,271-2 Early Renaissance 75-9,108-12 Hedingham Castle, Essex 47 47; Film Guild Cinema. New York 295
De Wolfe, Elsie (duh-WULF) 255 Eastlake, Charles Locke 197,216 Kirtlington Park 147, 147; Finland 286-9. 310, 331, 347; Dipoli,
De Wolfe, Elsie, The House m Good Taste Ebel [iewelry shop] New Y'ork 368 Longleat 140; Luton Hoo 148, Otaniemi, Helsinki 333, 333; Helsinki
255 Eberson, lohn (EB-uhr-suhn) 261 148; Mereworth Castle 88; The City Theater 333; Kaleva Church,
deconstructivism 369-72 eclecticism 225, 244-65, 278 Orchard, Chorley Wood 2\S.2I8; Tampere 333, 334; St John's
Decorated style 63, see also Gothic style Edifices de Rome Moderne \ Letarouilly] OsterleyPark 149, (49; Peckforton Tampere 234, 234; Turun
Cathedral,
decoration see ornament and decoration 84 Castle 193; Standen. East Sanomat Buildings 286, 286; Viipuri
Decoration and Furniture of Town Houses Edis, Robert W. (ED-is) 216; Decoration Grinstead 214, 2i4; Syon House Library 286-7, 287, 289; Villa Mairea
|Edis| 216,2;/ and Furniture of Town Houses 216, 217 148, ) 49; Tyntesfield 193; 287, 287; Vuoksenniska Church,
Decoration of Houses, T/ie [Codman] 249 education and training, design 272-4, Wightwick Manor 213, 2J3; Imatra 288, 289; Worker's Club and
Delaunay, Sonia(duh-loh-NAY) 293 300-1,321 Wilton Hou.se 143, N3 Theater, Jyvaskyla 286
De/ineflftJr (magazine] 256 educational buildings see also London; Scotland; Wales Finnish Pavilion, New York World's Fair
Demoulin, lean (duh-moo-LE") 122 schools 258, 254 31 1,324 Englische Haus, Das jMuthesiiusI 225 (1939) 287, 2, 289
Denmark 297, 331; SAS Royal Hotel, universities and colleges: 66, 256-7, engravings 123, 136, 174 fiMMJet (passenger ferry) 334
Copenhagen 331,332 263, 295; Modernist 285, 289, 322, Erectheum [temple], Athens (i-REK- fire 16, 143,203
design training and education 272-4, 366; post-war 333, 334, 340, 342, thee-uhm, ER-uhk-THEE-uhm) 24, First Christian (Tabernacle) Church,
300-1,321 343, 346; late 20th century 350, 176 Columbus, Indiana 324, 324
designers 128, 214-19, 255-6, 331, 346; 354, 356-7, 357. 370; ergonomic design 344 First Unitarian Church and School,
industrial 241; interior 128,214-19, Edwardian era 207 Erick Van Egeraat Associated Architects Rochester, New York 348, 350
255-6, 346 EEA [Erick Van Egeraat Associates) 376 375, ING Bank, Budapest 375, 376 Fischer, Johann Michael 103
Deskey, Donald 295, 298, 300 Egypt, ancient 16, 17-19, 127; pyramids, Escorial, El, Madrid (el-ES-kawr-YAHL) Flagg, Ernest 253
Desornamentado style 132 Giza 17-18, /7, /8; Temple of Amon, 132, 132, 134 flats see houses
Detroit: Cranbrook Academy of Art 257, Karnak, Egypt J8, 19; tombs 10, H, Esprit Nouveau, L'imagazinej 278, 279 Flemish design see Low Countries
258-9; Kingswood School, Cranbrook 12, 17-18, 17, 18 Ethospace interior 344 Florence
258, 25S Eiffel, Gustave(lGH-Rihl,e-FEL) 189 Etruscan culture and style 27. 149, /49 buildings: Davanzati Palace 75, 75;
Deutsche Werkbund (DOI-chuh-VERK- Einsiedein, Abbey of, Zurich (IGHN-ZEE- Europe: eclectic style 261-5; Modernism Laurentian Library 73, 92; Palazzo
bunt) 225,238,272 duhln) i02, 103 299,304-13 Medici- Riccardi 78, 78
Deutsche Werkstatte (DOl-chuh-VERK- Einstein Tower, Pot-sdam (IGHN- Euston Station, London 176, 176, 184 churches: Florence Cathedral 64, 76-
shte-tuh) 217,236,238 shtighn, -stighn) 306 Exeter Cathedral, England 62-3, 62 7, 76; Medici Chapel (S. Lorenzo)
392
J 1
Index
85. 85\ Pazzi Chapel 77, 77; S. Freer Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. r/ie(Chippendale| 152, 152 Gothic style 54-71
Lorenzo 76, 77, 85-6; S. Miniato 215 geodesic domes 352, 352 government buildings 205
43. 43; S. Spirito 76 Frei,Otlo(frigh} 335 George I, King of England 147 Gozzoli, Benozzo (goht-TSAW-lee) 78;
Florence Cathedral. Italy 64, 76-7, 76 French, Daniel Chester 251 George II, King of England 147 Procession of the Magi 78, 78
Floris. Cornells (FLAWR-is) 136 French Directoire style (dee-rek- George III, King of England 172 Grace Church, New York 179
Folger Shakespeare Library.Washington TWAHR) 127 George IV, King of England Prince [ Grammar of Ornament, The \]ones] 207
l.).C.(FOHL-iuhr) 259 French Revolution (1789) 123, 126-7 Regent] 172 Granada CathedraL Spain 131,737
folk art 327.347 fresco paintings. Renaissance 83, 86, 87; Georgian period 147-53, 159; seealso Grand Central Station, New York 252
Folkets Hiis. Stockholm (FAWL-kuhts- sffn/5it painting American Georgian Graves, Michael 359-61,360
HUS) 33 Freyssinet.Eugene (fray-see-NE) 304 German Exhibit Pavilion [Barcelona Gray, Eileen 292-3,368
Folwell. lohn | The American Frick, Henry Clay 255 Pavilion] 275,275,276 Great Exhibition, London ( 1 85 1 ) 1 86,
Chippendale 163 I
Fry, Maxwell 31 German Pavilion, Expo 67, Montreal 190, 79ft 196
Fonda/ione Bagatti Valsecchi. Milan 91 fuel 5ft' heating; lighting 335, 335 great houses, Elizabethan 140-1
Fontaine, Pierre- Frant;ois-Leonard 127 Fuller, Richard Buckminster 352 Germany Great Mosque, Cordoba, Spain 52
Fonlainebleau. Palace ot, Paris (faw"- functionalism 240, 266, 304 Byzantine style 42-3 Greece, ancient 22-7
ten-BLOH, FAHN-Iin-KLOU) 112-13. Furness, Frank 190,205-6,241 Gothic style 63-4 and Renaissance 73-4
112, 128 furniture and furnishings Greek revival 175-6 and French Rococo style 126. 127
Fonthill Abbey, Fngland 181. iSJ primitive 15 Deutsche Werkstatten 217 and Greek Revival 175-8
Forest Crematorium, Stockholm 331 ancient World 19,34 Deutsche Werkbund 225 and Modernism 278, 325
form. Modernist 270-1 medieval 50-1,67,68,69 lugendstil 226, 232-4 buildings: Erectheum ]teniple|,
fortresses sec castles Renaissance 74, 90-1; England 141- 298
industrial design Athens 24, 176; Parthenon,
Foster. Norman 334-6 2, 143. 143, 145-6, 147; Modernism 304, 306-7 Athens 23, 23, 278; stele of
Fowler, Orson Squire 198 Netherlands 139; Spain 132, 135, post-war 334-5 Hegisto, ancient Greece 25; stoa of
France 135 late Modernism 367 Attalos. Athens 25, 26; Temple of
cave paintings 10 Baroque and Rococo 106-7, 121-3, buildings: Ahes Museum, Berlin Athena Nike, Athens 24; Temple
prehistoric age 12 126, 128 175-6, 176; Einstein 1 owcr, of Apollo, Bassae 24
Romanesque 42, 44-5, 4-J, 45 Provincial, France 130-1, iJO Potsdam 306; H^tchschule fiir Greek Revival 175-8
Gothic 59-62 Georgian, England 150-3, 52 / Gestaltung, Ulm 334; Schaezler green buildings 376-7
Baroque and Rococo 106,108-31 American Colonial 157-8,163 Palace. Augsburg 104-5, i 05; Greenberg, Allan 362
Art Nouveau 223. 230-2 American, Federal 169-71 Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart 357, 357; Greene, Charles Sumner and Greene,
Beaux-Arts style 244-6 Regency, England 174-5 Stadthaus, Ulm 366, 367; Henry Mather 223
Modernism 278-85. 308-9 Victorian 192, /97, 206-7 Wasserturm Hotel, Cologne 368 Gropius, Walter (GROH-pee-uhs) 238,
Art Deco 290-5 Shaker 201, 202 churches: Birnau, Monastery and 266, 269, 311, 348; and the Bauhaus
post-war 334-5 Arts and Crafts 21 1, 212, 213, 214, Pilgrimage Church i 02, 103; 272-4, 273, 306; in United States 257,
buildings: Cafe I'Aubetle 271. 271; 216,216.2X7,217,218 Monastery of S. Florian, Lin? 100- 321-2,337,341
Mont S. Michel. Normandy 45, Art Nouveau 227, 230, 230 1, 100; Palatine Chapel, Aachen Gropius House, Lincoln, Massachusetts
45;Musee d'Art Conlemporain. Art Deco 290, 292-3, 294, 295, 297 41, 41; S. Michael, Corvey-on-the- 322, 322
Bordeaux 368, 369; Pont du Card. ecelctic styles 260-1 Weser 42; S. Michael, Hildesheim Gruppo 7, Italy (GROOP-poh-SET-tay)
Nimes 2^ modern 269,287,287 43, 43; Speyer Cathedral 43; 307
churches: Amiens Cathedral 60, 60, Modernist 274.279.279,282,287, Vterzehnheiligen, Pilgrimage Guaranty Building, Buffalo, New York
62. 64; Bourges. Cathedral of S. 319, 319, America 325-7, 325, 326. Church of, Bamberg 103, 103; Die 242, 242, 243
Etienne 58. 5H; Chartres Cathedral 327; International style M3, 321, Wies (Pilgrimage Church of Guarini, Guarino (gwah-REE-nee) 97-9;
56, 58, 59, 60, 61!; Cluny, Abbey 323 Christ Scourged), Bavaria 102 Architetlura Civile [Guarini] 97
48; Hotel de Dieu, Beaune 65, 65; post-war 328, 329, 330-1. 335; office 5ce(i/50 Munich Guell Park, Barcelona 232
Le Thoronet, Abbey 48, 49. 284; furniture 344. 344 Gesii, II [Church of theGesii], Rome Hans(GOO-guh-LOHT) 335
Gugelot,
Notre Dame. Le Raincy 30, 309, industrial design 299 (eel-iay-SOO) 89,92, 93,94 Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao (GOO-
Notre-Dame-du-Haut 284-5,254; late 20th century 367-8. 367 Getty Center, Los Angeles 366 guhn-HlGHM,GU- 371-2,372
Reims (Cathedral 62; S. Foy, deconstructivist 372 Gibbons, Grinling 145, 145 Guggenheim Museum, New York 340,
Conques 44, 44, 50; S. Maclou, post-modernist 359,360,361 Gideon, Sigfried 107; Space, Time and 341
Rouen 60, 6ft S. Madeleine, see also interiors Architecture 107 Guide to Easier Living. A [Wright] 299
Vezelay 44. 45; S. Martin du Futurama Exhibit, New York 303 Gilbert, C.P.H. 259 Guimard, Hector (gee-MAHR) 230-2
Canigou, monastery of 48, 48; S. Futurism 304,307-8 Gill, Irving 314 Gwathmey, Charles (GWAHTH-mee)
Philibert, Tournus 42 Gimson, Ernest 217 366-7
houses and chateaux: Ancy-le-Franc, Gingerbread style 198
chateau. Burgundy 113,7/3; Gabriel, Ange-Iacques (gah-bree-EL) Giotto (JAWT-toh,JAHT-oh) 84 H
Balleroy. Chateau of, Normandy 124, 125-6 Girard, Alexander (juh-RAHRD) 327, Habitations of Mart in Atl Ages, The
113; Chateau dePetit-Bourg 123; Gaillard, Eugene (gah-YAHR) 232 342, 347 |Viollet-le-Duc|13, ii, 50
Chateaux de Chambord 110, 111. Galerie d'Apollon, The Louvre 119 Girault, Charles-Louis 246 ( zhee-ROH ) Haddon England 67. 67, 140, 140
Hall,
/ ] I; Maison Carre, Nimes 30. 30, Galileo 72 Giza, Great Pyramid, Egypt 17-18,77 Hadtleld, George 177
165; Masson House, Nancy 226, Galle, Emile(gah-LAY) 230,240 glass 186, 188, 189; stained 54-5,67,62, Hagenberg, Frans, 136
227; Unite d'habitation, Marseilles and museums
galleries see art galleries 239-40, 239, 284, 309, 309, Art Deco Hagia Sophia, Istanbul (HAH-gee-uh-
283, 283, 285. 289, 334; Vaux-le- Gamble House, Pasadena, California 290; Modernist 310,370,314,375; soh-FEE-uh, HAH-jee-) 40,40,52
Vicomte, Melun 115-16, /J5; Villa 222, 223 post-war Italian 331 half-timber construction 50,70-1, 156,
Cavrois, Croix 309; Villa Savoye gambrel roofs 162 Glass House, New Canaan, Connecticut 194
281-2, 281, 289; Villa Turque, Gaona, Ignacio (gah-OH-nah) 156 314,375.323 Hallet, Etienne (ah-LAY) 167
Chaux-de-Fonds 368,369 garden design see landscape design Globe Theatre, London 140 Hampton Court Palace, England 70, 71
French Revolution ( 1789) 123, 126-7 Gardner-Pingree House, Salem, Godwin, Philip L. 321 Hampton. Mark 346
France [ocean liner) 265 Massachusetts 171 Gogswell, John 170 Hancock Shaker Village, New York 201
Francesco di Giorgio frahn-CHAYS- ( Gare du Quai d'Orsay, Paris GAHR- ( Gold Weigher, The [Man, de] 138 Hapsburg Empire 136
koh-dee-IAWR-joh) 72 due-KE-dawr-SE) 246,246,375 golden section; and pyramids 17-18; and Haraszty, Eszter (HAHR-ah-stee) 326,
FrancisI, King of France 108, 112. 113 Garnier, Jean-Louis Charles (gahr- Greek architecture 23; and medieval 347
Franconia [ocean liner] 265 NYAY) 246,249 architecture 58, 58; and Renaissance Hardenbergh, Henry I. (HAHR-dn-
Frank, lean-Michel (frah"k) 292 Gaudi, Antoni (gou-DEE) 232 architecture 80; and Modernism 278, BUHRG) 205
Frank, Josef (frahngk) 306 Gehry, Frank (GER-ee) 371,371-2,372 280, 285 Hardouin-Mansart, Jules (ahr-dwe"-
Frankl.PaulT. (FRAHNG-kuhl) 294, Gehry House, Los Angeles 371, 372 Good Housekeeping [magazine] 256 mah"-SAHR) 117, 121, 126
295 General Grant style 196 Goodwin, Philip 321-2 Hardwick Hall, England 141, 141
Frazee, John (fray-ZEE) 177 Gentleman and Cabinet Maker's Director, Gothic Revival 178-83, 193 Hardwick, Philip 176
393
3 1
Index
Harris, Harwell Hamilton 319 Hotel de Carnevalet, Paris (oh-TEL-duh- Idaho, Medice Lodge Creek 1 Islam and Islamic cuhure 52-3, 131
Harrison Gray Otis House, Boston 166, KAHR-nuh-vah-LE) 115 igloos 13, 14 Isokon (EY-soh-KAHN) 312
166 Hotel de Dieu, Beaune, France (oh-TEL- Illinois:Coonley House, Riverside 269, Isozaki, Arata {ee-SOH-z.\H-kee) 373,
Harrison, Peter 164 duh-DYOE) 65, 65 269; Farnsworth House. Piano 177, 375
Harvard University. School of Design Hotel de Soubise, Paris (oh-TEL-duh-soo- 277. 314, 323; Illinois Institute of Istanbul (Constantinople) 36, 38. 40;
321 BEEZ) 124, 124 Technology [Armour Institute] 321, Hagia Sophia 40, 40, 52
Hastings, Thomas 252, 255 Hotel de Sully, Paris (oh-TEL-duh-suel- 322; John Deere & Co. offices, Moline Italianate style 196
Hatfield House, England JJ6, li7, 142 LEE) 115 337, 339; Winslow House, River Forest Italy
Hawksmoor, Nicholas 146,147 Hotel de Villette, Paris (oh-TEL-duh-vee- 268, 268 Byzantine churches 43-4, 43
Healing of the Daughter ofSer Benvegnmio YET) J 09 Illinois Institute of Technology [Armour Gothic style 64
of San Polo. The |Mansueti| 91 Hotel Lambert, Paris (oh-TEL-lah"-BER) Institute] 321.322 Renaissance 72-91
heating systems: ancient Rome 114, 115 illuminated manuscripts 50. 5i, 54, 54, Baroque style 94-100
(hypocausts) 28, 30, 34; medieval 70; hotels 205, 264, 323. 323, 324; post-war 67-8 Modernism 304, 307
Renaissance 74, 135; Victorian 184, 331, 332, 342, 345, 345, 346; post- illumination see lighting post-war design 328-31
185, 199, 207; eclectic style, fireplaces modern 360, 353; late 20th century illusionism, Baroque 92.97 buildings: Basilica, Vicenza 87; Casa
263; green buildings377 367, 368; see also restaurants illustrations 123, 136,229 del Popolo (Casa del Fascio] 308-
Hedingham Castle, Essex, England 47. 47 House Beautiful (magazine] 256 India, New Delhi 264, 265 9, 308; Ducal Palace, Urbino 84,
Hedquist, Paul(HED-kvist) 311 House and Garden (magazine] 256, 259 Indiana. Columbus Indiana Regional 84; Palazzo del Te, Mantua 86, 86;
Helmsley Palace Hotel, New York 345. House in Good Taste. The (Wolfe] 255 Hospital 363, 363 Siena Cathedral 64; Teatro
346 House of Pansa, Pompeii 32,34 industrial buildings 286, 286, 290, 290, Olimpico, Vicenza 88-9. 89; Villa
Helsinki City Theater 333 House of the Vettii, Pompeii (VET-tee) 318,333 Barbaro. Maser 87. 87; Villa
Henningsen. Poul 297 32, 32, 33, 34, 34 industrial design 297-9 Foscari (Malcontenta), Mira 88,
Henri 11. King of France 113 Household Furniture attd Ititerior industrial designers 214 88, 280
Henry England 71
Vlll. king of Decoration (Hope] 174, 175 Industrial Revolution 183-9, 190. 192 see also names of Italian cities and
Hepplewhite. George 152. 153. 169; The household products, post-war 333 ING Bank, Budapest 375, 376 towns
Cahmct Maker and Upholsterer's Guide houses Institut Heliotherapeutique, Lugano 308
152, 153 ancient world 18-19, 25,25, 31-4 interior designers 128; British 214-19;
Herculaneum (HUHR-kyu-LAY-nee-uhm) Fiji, traditional 15 American Eclectic 255-6; post-war lackson. William Henry 13
31-4. 126 Byzantine period 41 346 Jacob, Georges (zhah-KAWB) 127
Herland. Hugh 65. 65 Romanesque 49-50 interiors Jacobean st>'le 142-3, 158
Herman Miller Furniture Company 326- medieval 68-71,69, 71 prehistoric 10-15. 15 Jacobsen, Arne (YAH-kawp-suhn) 331
7 Renaissance, Dutch 138-9 primitive 15 Jacquard textiles 128. 170
Herrera. Juandeler-RER-ah) 132 Rococo and Neoclassiscal 123-4,129 ancient world 19. 24-5, 26. 33. 34 James King of England 142
I,
Hertzberger. Herman (HERTS-BER- Georgian 149-50, 159-63 medieval [secular] 46-7,47,49-51, Japan 265,348.351,361.373-6;
khuhr. HUHRTS-BUHR-guhr) 335 Colonial American 156-8 49, 51, 54, 65-71, 65, 67, 68, 69, 71 Chikatsu-Asuka Historical Museum,
Hicks. David 336-7 Federal American 168-9 Renaissance (secular] 89-91, 89, 90, Osaka 373, 373; Kirishima
hieroglyphic writing 17.19 Greek Revival 177-8, 178 91, 139 International Concert Hall 373. 374;
High Gothic style see Gothic style Victorian )5. 193-5, 198-202, 205 French Provincial Proveni;al
[ | 1 30- Suntory Museum. Osaka 373; see also
High Renaissance 79-84.112-16 Beaux-Arts and eclectic styles 249, Colonial 157-8, 157, 158, 159, 160, Tokyo
High Victorian style 188 259-60, 260, 345, 346 160, 166 Japanese design 197, 214, 215, 216; and
high-tech 351-7 Art Nouveau 227, 228, 229-30, 231, Greek Revival 178 Victorian period 196-7; and Arts and
Highpoint, Highgate. London 313. 313 231 Victorian 185, 193-5, 193, 194, 197, Crafts 214, 215. 2J5, 216, 2i6; and Art
Hilberseimer. Ludwig (HIL-buhr-siGH- Vienna Secession 238, 238 199,200,206-9.208,209 Nouveau 226; and Modernism 268,
muhr) 306 Art Deco 295 Shaker 200-3,20/ 319; late 20lh century- 373-6
Hildebrandt. Lukas von (HlL-duh- Modernist 271,271,308,309,310, Craftsman movement 220, 221 jazz music 290
BRAHNT) 104 311, 314, 3J4, 319; International Art Nouveau 240, 240 leanneret, Charles see Le Corbusier
Hill House. Dunbartonshire. Scotland style 313, 321,323;LeCorbusier Beaux-Arts 257, 258, 260, 260, 345 Jeannerel, Pierre (zhahn-uh-RE) 279
210, 2J0, 2;j,219 278, 278, 279-83, 285; Mies 274, Art Deco 291, 292, 293, 297, 297 Jeckyll, Thomas 215,216
Hints on Household Taste jEastlake] 197, 277, 277, 322, 323; Wright 268, Modernist 185, 270, 270, 273, 279, Jefferson, Thomas 88.165-6
197,216 269, 269, 270, 279, 314-17, 315, 279, 280, 281-2. 281, 308, 309, 31 1, Jekyll, Gertrude (JEE-kuhl) 264
Hitchcock, Henry-Russell 273. 304, 314 3!6, 317, 318, 3)8, 319 3/J,312;functionaIism 304; Jesuit order 94
Hitchcock, Lambert 170 industrial design 301-3 Wright 3i4,3i5.3i6, 317, 3i7, John Deere & Co. offices, Moline, Illinois
Hochschule fiir Gestaltung, Ulm, post-war 339 37^; International style 321,322 337, 339
Germany (HOHKH-SHOO-luh-fiier- late Modernist 365,366 industrial design 301-3. 30i, 302. 328 John Vassall House, Cambridge,
guh-SHTAHL-tung) 334 post-modernist 357-8, 359-60, 362, reaction to Modernism 324-5, 325 Massachusetts (VAS-uhl) 160
Hoffmann, losef(HAWF-mahn) 236-7, 363, 363 post-war 329,331 Johnson. Philip 304, 314, 323. 342. 361.
306 deconstructivist 371-2 late 20th century 352 369
Holden, Charles 296 crossover styles 374 deconstructivist 372 Johnson Wax Building, Racine,
Holland see Low Countries; Netherlands see also palaces, mansions and great crossover styles 374 Wisconsin 318-19, 3iS
HoUein, Hans(HAWL-ighn) 361-2, houses see also Baroque and Rococo; furni- Jones, Inigo 142-3, 149
Austrian Travel Bureau Office, Vienna Houses of Parliament (New Palace of ture and furnishings lones. Owen 207
361-2,362 Westminster], London 181, 182 International Building, Rockefeller Josephine, Empress 128
Hollyhock House (Aline Barnsdall Howe. George 320,348 Center 294 Jugend, Die {periodical] 232
House], Los Angeles 314, 3i6 Howells and Hood 257 International Exhibition, London (1862) lugendstil 226. 232-4
Holzinger, F.). (HAWL-tsing-uhr) 101 Hoxie House, East Sandwich, 215 luhl, Finn(yool) 297,331
Honest Hoitse, The (Wood] 256 Massachusetts (HAHK-see) 157,157 International Style 272-89, 296, 319, 320, luillard School of Music, New York 342,
Hope, Thomas 174; Household Furniture humanism 72-3 348; exhibition 11932) 304 343
attd Interior Decoration 174, /75 Hungary, Budapest, ING Bank 375, 376 internationalism 348 Juvarra, Filippo (yoo-VAHR-rah) 99
Horta, Victor (HA WR-tuh) 228, 229-30 Hunt, Richard Morris 203, 247-9 Invalides, Les, church of S. Louis, Paris
Horta House, Brussels 229, 230 Hygiene and Electricity Pavilions, Paris 121, 121
hospitals 65, 120-1, 121, 286, 308, 363, (1937)309 Iowa: Butler House. Des Moines 301; Kahn, Louis I. 206, 346, 348. 350-1
363 h>'postyle halls 19 Merchants' National Bank of Grinnell Kaleva Church, Tampere, Finland ( KAH-
Hotel Baudard de Saint-lames, Paris (oh- 243; People's Savings Bank. Cedar le-vah) 333,334
TEL-boh-DAHR-duh-se''-ZHEMS, -
I Rapids 243; St. Paul's Methodist Kandinsky, Wassily 272
ZHAHM) 126 IBM World Trade Offices. Mount Church, Cedar Rapids 242-3 Kaufftnann, Angelica (KOUF-mahn)
Hotel d'Amelot, Paris {oh-TEt-dahm- Pleasant, New York 342, 342 iron 185. 188-9,202-3,206 149
LOH) 123 iconoclasts, protestant 136 ISD [Interior Space Design] 343 Kaufmann House, Palm Springs,
394
!
Index
California (KOUF-muhn) 339, 339 Latin America 132,154-6 Covent Garden 142-3; St. Stephen McKim, Charles Follen 249-52
Kennedy Airport. New York 337, 337, Latrobe. Benjamin (luh-TROHB) 167-9, Walbrook 144, J44; Westminster McKim, Mead, 8( White 249-52,255.
342 171. 184 Abbey 63, 63 345, 375
Kent. William 143, 148 Laurentian Library, Florence 73, 92 exhibition buildings; Crystal Palace Mackintosh, Charles Rennie 210,219
Kenwood House, London 149 Le Corbusier [Charles leanneret] {luh- 186, 187, 188. 188, 190,203,213; Mackmurdo, Arthur Heygate 218-19,
Key, Lievende(duh-KAY) 136 KAWR-bue-ZYAY) 238,266.272.278, 348, 365 229; Wren's City Churches 219. 219
Khorsabad. Palace of Sargon (KHAWR- 278-85, 306. 308, 334; and classical galleries, museums and entertain- McMillen, Eleanor 256, 324
sah-UAHD) 17 design 24. 88; influence on others ment: British Museum 176; Globe Maderno, Carlo 94
Kidosaki House, Tokyo (kee-DOH-SAH- 293, 357; Towards a New Architecture Theatre 140; London Zoo 313; Maillart, Robert(mah-YAHR) 304,308
kee) 374 278 National Gallery, Sainsbury Wing Maison Carre, Nimes, France (me-ZAw"-
Kiesler. Frederick (KKES-luhr) 295 LeN6tre, Andre (luh-NOHlruh) 115, 358, 359; Royal Festival Hall 336, kah-RAY) 30,30, 165
Kindergarten C^hnts ISullivan] 243 116 336 Maison de Verre, Paris (me-ZAw"-duh-
King's Chapel. Boston, Massachusetts Le Thoronet, Abbey, France luh-TAW- ( houses: Highpoint, Highgate 313, VER) 309.3/0
164. 164 raw-NE) 48, 49, 284 313; Old Church Street, house Maitrise Pavilion, Paris (me-TRF.E/.-pah-
King's College Chapel, Cambridge. LeVau, Louis (luh-VOH) 115, 116, 119 311; Peacock Room now[ in vee-YAW") 292
England 63,66 leather crafts 135 Washington D.C.) 2 J 6; Red (mah-yaw-REL) 230
Majorelle, Louis
King's Cross Station, London 186, IS7 Lebrun, Charles duh-BROE") 115. 116, House 210. 212, 213; Soane House Maki, Fumihiko(MAH-kee) 373
Kingscote, Newport. Rhode Island I9t 117, 119 i73; Sun House, Hampstead 311. Malaysia 351
Kingswood School, Cranbrook, Detroit Ledoux, Claude-Nicolas (luh-DOO) 3J/; Swan House, Chelsea 194, Mallet-Stevens. Robert (mah-LE) 309,
258, 258 129. 168, 174,360 195 310,368
Kirishima International Concert Hall. Lee Mansion, Arlington. Virginia 177 office buildings: Daily Express Mallet-Stevens House, Paris 310
)apan (kee-REE-shee-mah, Ktt-ree- Lee. Sarah Tomerlin 345. 346 Building 290, 296; Lloyds Bank Man, Cornells de{duh-MAHN) 138;
SHEE-mah) 373.374 Legend of St Ursula, The [Carpaccio] 89 offices 353-4, 353 The Gold Weigher 138
Kirdington Park. England 147,147 Lemercier, Jacques (luh-mer-SYAY) 120 slate buildings: Banqueting House Mannerism 84-91
kitchens: medieval 70. 71; French Leonardo da Vinci 72, 108. 10, 1 1 1 142, 142; Houses of Parliament manor houses 66-7
Provincial !30\ Georgian 150; Lescaze, William (les-KAHZ) 303. 320-1. [New Palace of Westminster] 181, Mansardic st>'le 196
Colonial American 139, 162, 163; 348 182; St. lames's Palace 142; Mansart, Fran<;ois (mah"-SAHR) 113.
Victorian 185. 199, 207. 209; eclectic Lescot. Pierre (les-KOH) 113 Westminster Hall 65, 65 114, 115, 117, 120,205
styles 260; industrial design 301-3, Letarouilly, Paul (le-tah-roo-YEE) 84; transport buildings: Euston Station mansions see palaces, mansions and great
302\ deconstructivist 372 Edifices de Rome Moderne 84; 176, 176, 184; Gant's Hill under- houses
Klee, Paul (klay) 272.308 engraving of Tempietto, Rome 81 ground station 372; King's Cross Mansueti, Gentile (mahn-SWET-ee) 91;
Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo. New York Lever House, New York (LEE-vuhr) 324 Station 186. 787; Underground The Healing of the Daughter ofSer
324 Liberty style 226 [subway system] 296,312 Benvegnudo of San Polo 91
Klimt, Gustav 237 libraries: medieval 66; Renaissance 85; London, Great Fire (1666) 143 maps 16
Klint, Kaare 297 Adam designs 149; furniture 152, 153; London Underground 296,312 Mare, Andre (mahr) 290.292
Knoll. Florence [Florence Schust) 326. industrial revolution /S. 189; London Zoo 313 Marie-Antoinette, Queen of France 125,
337 Craftsman movement 223; Beaux Arts Longhena, Baldassare (lohng-GE-nah) 127
Knoll,Hans 325-6. 347, 358. 372 and eclectic styles 250, 251. 259. 259; 97 Markelius, Sven (mahr-KAY-lee-us) 303,
Knossos(NAHS-uhs) 20,20 Modernist 286-7, 287, 289; late 20th Longleat, England 140 311,331
Koch. Mogens (kohk) 297 century 350, 356. 356. 364; post- Loos. Adolf (lohs, loos) 238. 257, 306. markets 31, 31, 66, 66, 189; see rt /so shops
Kraetsch and Kraetsch 301 modernist 360; late modernist 366 319 Marshall Field Wholesale Store, Chicago
Kragsyde, Manchester-by-the-Sea 200 Liebes. Dorothy LEE-buhs) 303, 346
( Los Angeles: Aline Barnsdall House 223, 241
Kresge Memorial Chapel, Cambridge, Liedet, Loyset (lyay-DE) 68; Tne Birth of [Hollyhock House] 314, 3i6; Martin. J.L. 336
Massachusetts (KREZ-gee) 337. 338 the Two Sons of St. Mary 68 Bradbury Building 253, 253; Dodge Massachusetts: Crane Library, Quincey
Kroll, Boris 346 lighting House 314. 3i4;Gehry House 371, 223; Gardner-Pingree House, Salem
Moscow
Kurskaya Metro Station, Modernist 287 372; Getty Center 366; Lovell House 171; Gropius House. Lincoln 322. 322;
(KOOR-skuh-yuh-mee-TROH) 262 green building 376-7 [Health House] 319,320 Hoxie House, East Sandwich 157, 157;
natural 205, 319, 348, 350, 373; Louis XIII, King of France 113 Old Ship Meeting House, Hingham
churches and temples 31.40,132 Louis XIV, King of France [The Sun i56, 158; Whipple House, Ipswich
La Cartuja. sacristry of. Granada (lah- artificial: Renaissance 90-1; French King) 113. 115. 116, 122 1 57; see also Boston; Cambridge
kahr-TOO-hah) 132. 133 Baroque and Rococo 122; Louis XV, King of France 117,123 Masson House, Nancy, France (mah-
La Farge, lohn (luh-FAHRZH, -FAHRJ) Victorian 184, 185, 199; post-war Louis XVI. King of France 125 SOH") 226, 227
223 328; candles 51. 150; electric 194, Louvre Museum, Paris (loovr) 364, 364 Master of Flemalle (?Robert Campin) 68
La Madeleine, church of. Paris (lah- 205. 207, 218, 226, 240, 266. 290. Louvre, Paris 113, 117, 119, 120 Annunciation 68
mahd-LEN) 129-30, 129 297, 302-3; gas 172.203.205,207; Lovell House [Health House], Los materials: prehistoric 10, 12-13; ancient
La Scala. Milan (lah-SKAH-luh) 106 oil 198 Angeles 319,320 world 16-17. 18, 22; Early Christian
Labrouste. Pierre-Fran^ois-Henri llah- Limbourg, Pol de, Les Tres Riches Heures Low Countries 135, 136. \5&-9; see also 36; Romanesque 46; medieval 47, 49-
BROOST) 188-9.249.251 du Due de Berry 54, 54 Netherlands. The 50, 70-1; Baroque and Rococo 121-3,
Ladies' Home Journal. The magazine) \ Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Lubetkin. Berthold (loo-BET-kin) 313 131; French, Provincial 130-1;
220. 221, 256. 269 New York 342; Theater, luillard School Lur^at, Andre (iuer-SAH) 306 Renaissance, north Europe 139, 141-2,
Lafever. Minard (luh-FEE-vuhr, -FEV- of Music, New York 343 Luther, Martin 92, 136 145-6, i46; Colonial American 156-7;
uhr) 177 ocean liners
liners see Luton Hoo, England 148. 148 Federal period 169; Industrial
Lake Shore apartments, Chicago 322-3 Lion Panel, Chauvet cave, France 10. W Lutyens. Edwin (LUHCH-uhnz; LUHT- Revolution 185-6; Victorian 191-2,
Lalique. Rene (lah-LEEK) 232, 240, 290 Lippold. Richard 323.341 yuhnz) 264-5,363 198-9, 202-3, 206-7; Art Nouveau 226,
Laloux. Victor (lah-LOO) 246 Lisboa,Antonio Francisco |0 Lyming, Robert (LlGH-ming) 142 317, 325; Modernist 269,270-1,304,
Lamb, Thomas W. 261 Aleijadinhoj (leez-BOH-ah) 154 Lyndhurst, Tarrytown, New York 180, 310. 312, 314. 319-20; Art Deco 290;
landscape design: French Baroque 15; 1 Livesof the Artists [V^sd.r\\ 82 180 post-war 328, 347; late 20th century
Victorian 197; Modernist 317; post- Lloyds Bank offices, London 353-4, 353 351,372,376-7
war 337. 339, 344 Loewy, Raymond (LOH-ee) 298-9,300, M Matthew, R.H. 336
language, and primitive societies 16 302. 303 McArthur, John, Jr. 205 Maugham. Syrie (mawm) 301,324
Lansdowne House, London 149 London McBean. Thomas 164 Mauretania [ocean liner] 265. 296
Larkin Building. Buffalo. New York 266, banks. Bank of England 174,174 McClelland, Nancy 324 Mauritshuis. the Hague (MOU-rits-
269 churches: All Saints, Margaret Street McCobb, Paul 346 HOEis. -housj 136, 138, 138
Larsen Design Studio. Rainbow Room, 183, 183; Christ Church, Macdonald. Frances 219 Mayan architecture 314
Rockefeller Center, New York 347 Spitalfields 146, 147; Restoration Macdonald. Margaret 219 Maybeck. Bernard R. 223
Larsen, lack Lenor 347. 348 143-5. 146, 147; St. Paul's machinery, and modernism 278-9 Mayflower [sailing ship] 156
Lascaux cave pamtings, France 10 Cathedral 144, 145, 168; St. Paul's, Mclntire, Samuel 169 Mead, William 249, 249-52
395
J 1
Index
Medici Chapel (S. Lorenzo) Florence 368; detlnitions of 290. 301; summary National Gallery of Art. Washingttin Hudson 239; Tiffany Residence
(MED-i-chee). S5
itaty 85, of 347; and post-modernism 357 364. 564, 365 240. 240
Medici-Riccardi. Palazzo, Florence 78, modular design 285, see also golden National Gallery. Berlin 277. 334 office buildings: IBM World Trade
7S section National Gallery, London 558, 359 Offices, Mount Pleasant 342, 542;
medieval period 41-53.54-71 Modular land Modular II (Le Corbusier( native (Brazilian) styles 154 Larkin Building, Buffalo 266, 269;
meetinghouses. Shaker 20! 285 Natoire. Charles-Ioseph (nah-TWAHR) National Audubon Society
Meier, Richard (MIGH-uhr) 366-7 MOMA see Museum of Modern Art, 124 Headquarters 376-7, 576, 377;
Meissonier, luste-Aurele (Mts-awn-YAY) New York Nazi regime 263, 274, 306 Olivetti showroom 330
123 Monadnock Building, Chicago 252 neighborhood design 150 skyscrapers: Guaranty Building 242,
Melk. Abbey of. Austria 100, 101, 101 monasteries: Romanesque 42. 42, 48-9, Nelson, George 327, 344 242, 245; Seagram Building 323;
Memphis group 361 48, 53. 53. 63; Baroque 99, 100-1. 100, Neoclassical style 123.125-7,165 CBS tower 337; Chrysler Building
Mendelsohn. Erich 306,311 iOi; modern additions 103,284 neolithic period 12 295, 295; Citicorp Building 341-2;
merchant classes, Dutch 138-9 Mondrian, Piet 270 Neoplasticism 270 Pan Am Building 341; Schiller
Merchant's House Museum, New York Mongolia 14 Nepvau, Pierre 1 1 Building 242; Singer Building
178, !7S Mont S. Michel, Normandy (maw"-se"- Nervi. PierLuigi (NER-veel 330 253; Woolworth Tower 254,255
Merchants' National Bankof Grinnell. mee-SHEL) 45. 45 Netherlands public buildings: Federal Hall [U.S.
Iowa 243 Monticello. Charlottesville. Virginia DeStijl 270 Customs House] 177, i 77, 179;
Mesopotamia 16-17 (MAHN-ti-SEL-oh, -CHEL-oh) 88, Ki5. modernism 306 New York Public Library 251. 366;
Metallurgical Research Building, Illinois 165-6, 165 post-war 335 World Financial Center 345,351
322 Montreal: Canadian Centre for buildings: Amsterdam Stock shops. Ebel (jewelry shopl 368
metalwork 135.258
131, Architecture 371. 37/; Expo 67 335. Exchange [The Bourse] 224, 225; transportation buildings: Grand
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 335. 352.352 Centraal Beheer, Apeldoorn 335, Central Station 252; Kennedy
147, 149. 160,249 Montuori, Eugenio (mohn-TWAWR-ee) 555; Huis ter Heide, Utrecht 270; Airport 337, 557, 342;
Mexico: Cathedral, Mexico City 154; 330 Mauritshuis, the Hague 136, 138, Pennsylvania Road Station 250,
Church of the Sanctuary of the Virgin Moorish culture 52-3, 131 158; Schroder House, Utrecht 271. 251. 375; TWA Terminal, Kennedy
Guadalupe, Morelia 154, i55; S. Jose, Moosbrugger, Kaspar (MOHS-BRUG-uhr) 271; Town Hall, Hilversum 306, Airport 337, 337. 342
Teptzollan 154 102. 103 306; see also Low Countries New York Colony Club 255, 255
Mexico City, Cathedral 154 Morris, William 210.213,219.220 Neumann. lohann Balthasar (NOI- New York Five [The Whites] 359, 366,
Michelozzo di Bartolommeo (BAHR-toh- Mount Pleasant Mansion. Fairmount, New Delhi, India 264, 265 Nippur, Sumeria(ni-POOR) 16
lohm-MAY-oh) 78-9 Philadelphia 160, 160 New Mexico: Palace of the Governors, Nootka Sound. Canada 15
Middle Ages see medieval period Mount Vernon, Alexandria, Virginia Santa Fe 154; S. Estevan, Acoma 154; Norman style 63
middle classes see classes, social 161, 162 S. Jose, Laguna 156 Normandie (ocean liner! 293. 295, 303
Miel, Ian. paintings. II Gesu, Rome 93 movie theaters 261 New Palace of Westminster [Houses of Normandy see France
Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig (MEEZ-van- Mucha.Alphonse(MUKH-ah) 229 Parliament!. London 181, /S2 North America 156-64
duhr-ROH 1 238. 266. 272, 274-7. 306; mud-brick 16-17. 18 New York North Carolina, Biltmore, Asheville 249,
post-war 334, 337. 342. 348; United Mudejar style 131 and museums:
art galleries 249
States 314,321,322-3,324.326 Mullett. Arthur B. 205 Guggenheim Museum 340, 54!; Norton, lohn 193
migration 12-13, 14 Munich: Atelier Elvira [Elvira Studio! Merchant's House Museum 178. Norway, S. Andrew's Church, Borgund
Milan: 233. 235; Nymphenburg Palace and 178; Metropolitan Museum of Art 46,46
buildings: Fondazione Bagatti Amalienburg 105, 106. 123; Olympic 147. 149, 160, 249; Museum of Notre Dame, Le Raincy, France (naw-
Valsecchi 9/; La Scala 106; Pirelli Stadium 335; Residenz 106 Modern Art 249, 321, 32/, 351, truh-DAHM) 30,309
Building 330 Musee d'Art Contemporain, Bordeaux, 375; Schenck House. Brooklyn Notre Dame, Paris (NAW-truh-DAHM)
churches: Milan Cathedral 64; S. France 368. 369 Museum 162-3; Whitney Museum 58, 60, 64
Ambrogio 43; S. Satiro 79-80. 80 Musee d'Orsay, Paris 375 of American Art 340. 34 i Notre-Dame-du-Haut, France (naw-
exhibitions: Triennale ( 1936) 308; Museum of Contemporary Furniture, churches: First Unitarian Church and truh-DAHM-due-OH) 284-5, 284
World's Fairs (1936) 308 Ravenna, Italy 361. 36 School. Rochester 548, 350; Grace Nymphenburg Palace. Munich (NIM-
Milan Cathedral, Italy 64 Museum of Modern Art [MOMA], New Church 179; St. Patrick's hjhn-BOORK) !05, 106, 123
Milan Triennale (1936) 308 York 249, 321, 32i, 351,375; Cathedral 179; St. Paul's Chapel
military styles 128 International Style Exhibition (1932) 164; St. Thomas's Church 256,
Millbach. Pennsylvania 162 273,304,306.314,319; 256, 257; Trinity Church 179. i 79 ocean liners 265, 265, 293. 295, 295. 296.
Miller. Hermann 326-7 Deconstructivism exhibition (1988) entertainment buildings: Film Guild 299. 336
Miller House. |House IIIl, Lakeville, 369-70,371 Cinema 295; luillard School. Octagon House, Washington D.C. 167.
Connecticut 370-1.370 museums see art galleries and museums Lincoln Center 342, 545; 168
Mills, Robert 177 music 18.58,79. 117, 140,290 Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo offices and office buildings: Victorian
Minas Gerais, Brazil; S. Francisco de cabinets 217 324; Radio City Music Hall 294, 194, 203-5. 205; Modernist 267. 269.
Assis.Ouro Preto 154; S. Francisco. musical instruments; Renaissance 91, 295, 547; Ziegfeld Theater 295 274. 308. 318-19, 318, 325; Art Deco
Sao loao del Rei. Ouro Preto 154 139; Baroque and Rococo 106.122; exhibition buildings. World's Fair 290, 290, industrial design 298; post-
Miniatura. La |Millard House] (iah-MF.E- Georgian 151; Federal period 170, ( 1939) 287, 288, 289, 303, 303 war 328. 334, 335, 555, 337. 337-8.
nee-ah-TOO-rah) 314 ;77; Victorian 197. 207; post-war 334 hotels and restaurants: Helmsley 339, 34 1-4; late 20th century 354-6.
minimalism 277, 335, 346 Muthesius. Hermann (moo-TAY-zee-us) Palace Hotel 345, 346; Morgans 354, 355, 368; crossover styles 575,
Minoan culture 20, 22 225 Hotel [interior] 368; New York 376; see also bank buildings
Minos, King 20 Mycenae 20. 22, 22 Colony Club 255, 255; Paramount Ohio: People's Savings and Loan
Mique, Richard (meek) 125 Hotel 367, 568; Pompeiian Court Association Bank, Sidney 243; Plaza
Miro, loan(mee-ROH) 322,324 N Restaurant 325 Hotel. Cincinnati 323, 324
Mission style [Golden Oak| 220 Nadelman.Elie(NAHD-l-muhn) 342 houses: BlakelyHall 198, 198; Olana. Hudson. New York (oh-LAH-
missionaries. Catholic 154,156 Nancy. France, Art Nouveau 230 Boscobel, Garrison 166;t^amp nuh) 197, 197
MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Napoleon I [Bonaparte ( 121.127 Cedars, Adirondacks 200; De Olbrich, loseph (AWL-brikh) 234-5
Technology! 287, 337. 340 Nash. lohn 172-3, 184 Menil House. East Hampton 365. Old Senate Chamber. The Capitol.
Modern Builder's Guide [Lafever] 177 Nash, Paul 302 366; Dyckman House 162; Washington /67
Moderne Architektur (Wagner) 235, 236, National Airlines Terminal [TWA], New Hancock Shaker Village 20i; Lever Old Ship Meeting House, Hingham,
319 York 337, 557, 342 House 324; Lyndhurst. Tarry Massachusetts /56. 158
moderne (definition ofl 290,301,309 National Audubon Society Headquarters, Town 180, /SO. Olana, Hudson Olivetti showroom. New York 330
Modernism 153, 240-1. 266-89, 296, 304. New York 376-7, 576, 577 197, 197; Rochrane. Irvington-on- Olmstead, Frederick Law 197
396
1
Index
Olympic Sudium, Munich 335 houses 140-1: Victorian 193,194-5. 232. 240; Bon Marche 189, 189 pilgrims and pilgrimages 44, 50
Onondaga shops. New York (AHN-uhn- 197-8; American eclectic styles 249: see transport buildings: Gare du Quai Pillar and Scroll style 170
DAH-guh, -DAY") 220 also houses d'Orsay 246, 246. 375; Metro Piranesi (PEER-ah-NAY-zee) 174
open planning str space planning Palais Stoclet. Paris (pah-iE-stawk-LE) Isubway] 231-2. 23); Porte Pirelli Building. Milan (pee-REL-lee) 330
opera houses 1 06, 24 1 , 245. 246, 246. 237, 237 Dauphine Station 231 Place de la Concorde Place de Louis [
331; sec ijIso theaters, concert halls, Palatine Chapel, -Aachen. Germany 41. 41 Paris Metro subway! 231-2,23)
] XV], Paris 126
auditoriums Palazzo Carignano. Turin (pah-LAHT- Paris World's Fair (1925) 290 Place Vendome, Paris (ptAHS-vah"-
Orchard. The. Chorley Wood, England tsoh-KAH-ree-NYAH-noh) 97-8 Parish, Mrs Henn' 'sister'. 11 324 DOHM) 126
218,2)^ Palazzo del Te. Mantua. Italy (dayl-TAY) Parthenon. Athens 23. 23. 278 planning, commercial 328
orders (classical architecture) 23. 23. 24, 86, 86 pattern: primitive 15; Islamic 53; Arts plantation houses )6). 162. 178
27. 30. 35. 36; Renaissance 79, 83. 89, Palazzo Farnese IFarnese Palace), Rome and Crafts 2)5; cubist 290.293,303; Plas Mawr, Wales PLAHS-MAH-oor)
(
136; Empire st>'le 128; Federal styles (fahr-NAY-zay) 82-4, 82. 83. 85. 92 F.L.Wright 314; post-war 336-7.346. 140, 140
165, 167, 168; eclectic styles 265; Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne, Rome 347, 347: post-modernist 358-9; see plastic, post-war 328
Modernism 286; late 20th century ( MAHS-see-moh-AHt-lay-koh- alsoornament and decoration Plateresco style 131, 154, 1.56
357. 359, 362 LOHN-nayl 84, 84 Pavilion de I'Esprit Nouveau, Paris 279, Plaza Hotel. Cincinnati, Ohio 32J, 324
Oregon: Central Lutheran Church, Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, Florence 279 plumbing see water supply systems
Portland 340, MO. Public Seri-ices (MED-ee-chee-reek-KAHR-deel 78, Paxton, Joseph 186. 188; see a/so Crystal pU-ivood 206.287.310.312.327
Building. Portland 360, 360 78 Palace Poblet monastery, Tarragona. Spain
Oriental influences: Dutch Renaissance paleolithic period 12 Pazzi Chapel. Florence (PAHT-tsee) 77, (poh-BLET) 53. .53
138-9; Georgian period 150. 152, 160; Patladio, Andrea (puh-LAH-dee-OH) 87- 77 Pompeii 31-4. 126. 127. 149
Federal style 170-1; Victorian period 9, 92, 136, 162, 165, 166; Palladianism Peacock Room, London [now in Pompeiian Court Restaurant, New York
196-7. 206; Arts and Crafts 214.215. 140. 142. 166; in the 20th centur)- 280. Washington D.C.[ 2)6 325
2)5, 216. 216; ArtNouveau 226; 362; / Qtianw Lihn ciell'Architcnum 87 Peckforton Castle. England 193 Pont du Gard. Nimes. France paw"- (
Modernism 268, 319; late 20th Pan Am Building. New York 341 Pel. l.M. (pay) 342. 346. 364-7 due-GAHR) 28
centur)' 373-6 Panama [ocean liner] 298. 299 Pelli. Cesar (PEL-ee) .348.351 Ponte. GiolPOHN-Iay) 3.30
ornament and decoration: ancient Greece Panama Pacific Exposition (1912), San Pennsylvania: Fallingwater. Bear Run Pope. lohn Russell 324
24, 24: Early Christian 38: medieval Francisco 223 317^3)7. 339; Millbach 162; Porta. Giacomo della (PAWR-tah) 92
50-1. 56. 70; Renaissance 75. 75. 139; Pankok, Bernhard (PAHN-kawk) 234 Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Porte Dauphine Station. Paris (pawrt-
French Rococo 1 26; Federal st>-le 1 69; Pannini, G.P. (pahn-NEE-nee) 20 190. 191. 205: Richards Medical doh-FEEN) 231
Victorian 192, 195. 198; Arts and Pantheon. Paris 129. 129 Research Laboratories 350; University Post. George B. 203
Crafts 210; ArtNouveau 215,226, Pantheon, Rome 21, 30-1. 30. 166 of Pennsylvania 205-6. 256. 259. 350; post and lintel (trabeated) construction
226. 241 . 242. 242. 243: Vienna Paramount Hotel. New York 367, 368 Pennsylvania Academyof Fine Arts 190. 18
Secession 238: Art Deco 290. 293; Pare de la Villette, Paris 369-790, 370 )9).205 Post Office Savings Bank. Vienna 235,
Modernist 314; post-Modernist 361: Paris 115 Pennsylvania Road Station. New York 236
sec (j/s(i Baroque style: pattern and museums: Centre
art galleries 250.251.375 Post, Pieter 136
O'Rorke. Brian 296 Pompidou 353. 353: Louvre Pentagram 336 post-modernism 357-62
Ostberg. Ragnar (OEST-buhrg) 262, Museum 364, 364 Penttila. Timo 333 Nouveau 229
posters. Art
263. 296 churches: Les Invalides. church of S. People's Savings Bank. Cedar Rapids, pottery: primitive 15. 150-1; Art Deco
Oslcrley Park. England 149, /49 Louis 121. i21: Madeleine, church Iowa 243 296; industrial design 299. 299
Otto, Frei 335 of 129-30. /29; Notre Dame 58. People's Savings and Loan Association Powel House, Philadelphia )59, 160
Oud, I.I. (out! 306 60. 64; Pantheon. [S. Genevieve] Bank. Sidney. Ohio 243 prairie houses 268, 269
Ould, Edward ohid) 213 I 121. 129, )29; S. Chapelle 59, 59. Percier. Charles (per-SY AY) 127, 175 Prandtauer, lakob tPRAHN-rOL'-uhr)
S. Denis, Abbey of 55, 60 perpendicular style 63 100, 100-1. 101
exhibition buildings: Maitrise Perrault. Charles(pe-ROH) 120 pretabrication 231-2
Paatelainen. Railli (PAH-te-Lic;H-nen) Pavilion 292: Pare dc la Villette Perret. Augustelpe-RAY) 308-9 prehistoric period 10-19. ).5. 20. 22
333. 334 369-790. 370. Pavilion de I'Esprit Perriand. Charlotte (per-YAH") 282 Primaticcio, Francesco (PREE-mah-TEET-
Pahlmann William iPAHL-muhnI 323. Nouveau 279, 279. World's Fairs, perspective 80. 92 choh) 112
325 Paris 279, 290, 292. 296. 303. 309 Peruzzi. Baldassare (pay-ROOT-tsee) 84 primitive societies 10-19
painting houses and chateaux: Caste! Beranger Petit Trianon, Versailles. Paris (puh-TEE- Prince Regent [George IV of England] 172
cave 10. 10. 12 231. 231: Chateau de Compiegne Iree-ah-N.W") 124-5 Procession of the Magi [Gozzolil 78. 78
primitive 15 127: Chateau de Maisons [Maisons Peto. H.A. (PEE-toh) 265 proportion see golden section
tombs 10 Lafitte] 113, 113. 114. 115; Philadelphia Protestant Reformation sec Reformation
ancient world 25. 33. 34. 34 Chateau de Malmaison 128, i2S; Centennial Exhibition (1876) 196-7 Provincial style. France 130-1
medieval 67-8. 6 Flotel Baudard de Saint-lames buildings: Christ Church 163-4; City public buildings: American colonial 163-
Renaissance 75. 78. 78. 83-4. 83. 86. (26; Hotel d'Amelot 123: Hotel de Hall 204. 205; Mount Pleasant 4; Victorian 205: Vienna Secession
87. 9. 9/. 93; Low Countries 136. Soubise 124, 124: Hotel de Sully Mansion. Fairmount 160, 160. 235. 236: Beaux-Arts styles 251. 252,
138: England 142, )42. 143. 143 1 15; Hotel de Villette /09; Hotel Philadelphia Museum of Art 160. 259, 262. 296; Art Deco 295;
Mannerist 85 Lambert 114. 115: Palais Stoclet 163; Philadelphia Saving Fund Modernist 277, 308-9, 308: post-war
Baroque and Rococo 92. 97, 101, 237. 237: Les Terraces [Villa Stein Societ)- [PSFS] Building 320-1. 331; postmodernist 360. 360; late
104. 115. 124 de Monzie] 279-8 1 . 280, Villa 321: Philadelphia waterworks 168: modernist 365, 366. 367
Victorian 1 94 Ca\Tois. Paris 309 Powel House 159. 160; Second Public Library. Boston, Massachusetts
Pre-Raphaelite 210.213 libraries: Bibliotheque Nationale Bank of the United States 177; 250.250.251
American 251 188. 189; Bibliotheque St. Venturi House 358. 35S Public Services Building. Oregon 360. 360
Modernist 270-1.272.278.322 Genevieve 188. 188 Philadelphia Chippendale 163 Pugin. Augustus Welby N. (PYOO-jin)
Pakistan 285 office buildings. Unesco headquarters Philadelphia Museum of Art 160.163 181; True Principles of Pointed or
Palace of the Governor. San Antonio, 330 Philadelphia Saving Fund Society JPSFSj Christian Architecture 1 8
Texas 156 palaces: Fontainebleau 112-13, /12. Building320-1. 32) Puritan interiors 260
Palace of the Governors. Santa Fe. New 128; Louvre 113, 117. 119, 120; Philadelphia waterworks 168 Putman.Andree(PUHT-muhn) 368
Mexico 154 Versailles 116-17. 117. 118, 119. Philip II. King of Spain 132. 136 Pyramid. Louvre Museum. Paris 364. 364
Palace of Labor !ltalia61 Pavilion]. Turin 125-6. 146; Petit Trianon 124-5 Philippe. P. 138 pyramids. Egypt 17-18. //. 18
330, 330 public spaces: Place de la Concorde Ph)^^ Duncan (fighO 169. 169-70. 171
palaces, mansions and great houses: (Place de Louis XV] 126; Place Piano, Renzo(PYAH-noh) 353-4
ancient world 1 7, 20, 20. 22: Vendome 126 Picasso. Pablo 278.323 Quattro Liliri deU'Architettura. 1
Romanesque and medieval 42. 66-9; restaurants. Cafe Costes 367, 367 Pick,Frank 296 [Palladio] 87
Renaissance palazzi 74, 82-4, 86-7; Salon des Artistes Decorateurs 290, Piermarini, Giuseppe p^ FR-mah-REE-
( Queen Anne period 146-7. 159. 163. 199
Baroque and Rococo chateaux 108-19. 290 neel 106 Queen Anne revival. United States 194-
(09- J5. //". )J9; Elizabethan great shops: Bing's Art Nouveau Shop 220, Pietilii. Reima (PEE-e-rft-lah) 333, 334 5. 196
397
1 7
Index
Queen Elizabeth II [ocean liner) 336 Rogers, John 198 S. Costanza. Rome (SAN-tah-koh- Saarinen, Eliel 234, 257-9, 263, 285, 324.
Queen Mary {ocean Wncr] 296 Rogers, Richard 353-4 STAHN-tsah) 38,38 326, 327; post-war 37, 348
Radio City Music Hall, New York 92 S. Etienne, Cathedral of, Bourges (se"- Sacconi, Giuseppe (sahk-KOH-nee) 261
(Rockefeller Center] 294, 295 Romanticism 175-83,317,319 tay-TYEN) 58,58 Sagrada Familia church, Barcelona (sah-
radio studios 294,295,321 Rome S. Florian, Monastery of Linz 100- 1 )00 , GRAH-dhah-fah-MEEL-yah) 232
radios, designs for 261, 261, 295, 296 buildings: Farnese Palace 82-4, 82. S. Foy, Conques, France (se"t-FWAH) Sainsbury Centre, University of East
railroad cars 209, 209, 299 S3. 85, 92; Palazzo Massimo alle 44, 44, 50 Anglia, England 354. 354
railroads; industrial revolution 176, 176^ Colonne, Rome 84, 84: Stazione S. Francisco, Sao Joao del Rei, Ouro Sainsbury Wing, National Gallery,
184, 186, 187; Victorian 209, 20^. Art Termini, Rome 330; Tempietto Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil 154 London 358, 359
Nouveau 231-2, 23), 234; Beaux-Arts 80-1, S) S. Francisco de Assis, Ouro Minas
Preto, St Andrew's Church. Borgund, Norway
246, 246, 252, 375; eclectic styles 250, churches: II Ge.su 89, 92, 93, 94: S. Gerais, Brazil {sou"m-frah"-SEES- 46,46
251, 252, 262, 263, 375; Art Deco 296; Carlo alle Quattro Fontane 95-6, koo-dee-ah-SEES) 154 St. Anthony's Church, Switzerland 308
Early Modern 296,312,3)2; 95, 96: S. Costanza 38, 38: S. Ivo S. Gall [S. Gallen), monastery, St. Augustine in his Study [Carpacciol 90
Modernist 330 della Sapienza 96-7, 96; S. Maria Switzerland (se"-GAHL, saynt- St. Genevieve, Bibliotheque, Paris 188,
Rams, Dieter (ralims) 335 in Cosmedin 36, 36, 38; S. Maria GAWL) 42. 103 188
Randolph, Beniamin 70 Maggiore 36; S. Paul Outside the S. Genevieve Ithe Pantheon), Paris (se"t- St. James's Palace. London 142
Ratia, Armi(RAH-tee-ah) 347 Walls 36; St. Peter's Cathedral 81- zhuhn-VYEV) 121, 129, 129 St John's Cathedral, Tampere, Finland
Ravenna: Museum of Contemporary 2, 8), 82, 92, 94,95, 121, 144 S. Giorgio Maggiore, Venice (sahn- 234, 234
Furniture 361, 36); S. Apollinarein see also Rome, ancient; names of lAWR-joh-mah-IOH-ray) 88, 88 St. John's Church, Washington D.C. 169
Classe 36, 39; S. 39
Vitale 39, Italian towns and cities S. Isidoro, Leon, Spain (SAHN-ee-see- St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York 179
Red House, London 210, 212. 213 Rome, ancient 24, 27-35, 39 DHOH-roh) 53 St. Paul's Cathedral, London )44, 145,
Redentore, II, Venice (eel-RAY-dayn- buildings: Baths of Caracalla 29. 30, S. Ivo della Sapienza, Rome (sahnt-EE- 168
TOH-ray) 88 250, 251; Colosseum 28; Pantheon voh-DEL-lah-sah-PYEN-tsah) 96-7, 96 St. New York 164
Paul's Chapel,
Reformation |Protestant| 92, 135, 136, 2), 30-1,30, 166; Temple of S. Jose, Laguna, New Mexico (SAN-hoh- St. Paul's,Covent Garden, London 142-3
i36 Poseidon, Paestum 24, 24: Temple ZAY) 154, 756 St. Paul's Methodist Church, Cedar
refrigeration 199, 302 of Venus and Rome 30; temples S. Jose, Teptzotlan, Mexico 154 Rapids, Iowa 242-3
R^gence [Regency) style, France 123-5, 21, 30-1, 1-30; Trulli houses, Apulia S. Leopold Am Sleinhof. Vienna (saynt- St. Peter's Cathedral, Rome 81-2, 87, 82,
Rekh, Lilly (righkh) 274,306 and French Neoclassical style 130 tsoh) 76, 77, 85-6 256, 257
Reims Cathedral, France (re"s, reemz) see also Italy; Rome; names of Italian S. Lorenzo, Turin 98, 98 Saint-Gaudens, Augustus (sayut-GAWD-
62 towns and cities S. Louis des Invalides, Paris (se"-LWEE- nz) 251
reinforced concrete 269, 304, 308, 314 roofs: ancient world 16-17, 18: medieval de-ZE"-vah-LEED) 121, 121 Saladino, John (sal-uh-DEE-noh) 346
religion, ancient Egypt 17 American 156-7, 162 KLOO) 60, 60 GEE-nah-TOH-buhl) 304,304
reliquaries, medieval 50-1 Root, John Welborn 252 S. Madeleine, Vezelay, France (se"t- Salisbury Cathedral, England 62, 62
Renaissance 24,35,72-91 Rossetti, Dante Gabriel 215 mahd-LEN) 44,45 Salon des Artistes Decorateurs, Paris
Renwick, James, Jr. 179 Rosso, Giovanni Battista [Rosso S. Marco, Venice (sahn-MAHR-koh) 37, 290, 290
restaurants 261, 271, 27), 299, 300. 324, Roth, Alfred 308 S. Maria in Cosmedin, Rome {SAHN- Salvin, Anthony 193
325. 366, 367, 367 Roth, E. 308 tah-mah-RE-ah-in-KOHZ-may- San Francisco: Coleman city house 339;
Restoration period 143-6,158 Rou,x-Spitz, Michel (roo-SPITS) 290 DEEN) 36,36,38 Panama Pacific Exposition (1912) 223
Revell, Viljo 333; city hall, Toronto 333 Royal Festival Hall, London 336, 336 S. Maria della Salute, Venice (SAHN-tah- San Xavier del Bac, Tucson (SAHN-hah-
Revett, Nicholas (ri- VET) 165,175 Royal Pavilion, Brighton, England 172, mah-REE-ah-DEL-lah-sah-LOO-tay) vee-ER-del-BAHK) 154-6
Antiquities of Athens 165, 175 ;72 97 Sangallo, Antonio, the Younger (sahng-
Rhode The Breakers, Newport
Island; Roycrofters, The 219,220 S. Maria la Blanca, Toledo, Spain GAHL-loh) 82
247, 247:The Elms, Newport 208: Rubens, Peter Paul 142 (SAHN-tah-mah-REE-ah-lah- Sangallo, Giuliano da 1 1
Kingscote, Newport )96;Vv^atts Ruhlmann, Jacques-Emile (ROOL- BLAHNG-kah) 52-3 Santa Creus monastery, Spain (SAHN-
Sherman House, Newport ) 99, 200 mahn) 209 S. Maria Maggiore, Rome (SAHN-tah- tah-KRAY-oosI 53
Richards Medical Research Laboratories, Ruskin, John 181,186,210,213,220; mah-REE-ah-mah-IOH-ray) 36 Sant'Elia, Antonio (sahnt-AYL-yah) 307
Pennsylvania 350 The Seven Lamps of Architecture 181, S. Martin du Canigou, monastery of, Santiago de Compostela (sahn-TYAH-
Richardson, Henry Hobson 200,221, 210 France (SE"-mahr-TE"-due-KAH-nee- goh-dhay-KAWM-poh-STEL-ah) 44, 50
223,239,241,249 Russell, Gordon 296 GOO) 48, 48 Sargent, lohn Singer 251
Robbia, Luca della (DEL-uh-ROH-bee- S. Andrea al Quirinale, Rome ISAHN-ahn- S. Philibert, Tournus, France (SE"-fee- Jugendstil 226, 234, 234: Art Deco
uh) 77 DRAY-ah-ahl-KWEf-ree-NAH-lay) 95, lee-BER) 42 296-7; Modernism 304, 310-1 1; post-
Robie House, Chicago 270, 270, 289 95 S. Satiro, Milan (SAHN-sah-TEE-roh) 79- war 331-4; see rt/so Finland; Sweden
Robsjohn-Gibbings, T.H. 325 S. ApoUinare in Classe, Ravenna Isahn- 80,80 Schaezler Palace, Augsburg 105
Roche, Kevin (rohsh) 337,339 ah-POHL-lee-NAH-ray-een-KLAHS- S. Sindone, Capella della, Turin (kah- Scharoun, Hans (SHAHR-ohn) 306, 334
Roche Dinkeloo 337 say) 36,39 PEL-lah-DEL-lah-SAHN-tah-SEEN- Schenck House, Brooklyn Museum, New
Rochrane, Irvington-on-Hudson, New S. Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Rome doh-nay) 98.99 York 162-3
York 239 (sahn-KAHR-loh-AHL-lay-KWHT- S. Spirito, Florence (SAHN-SPEE-ree-toh) Schiller Building, New York 241, 247, 242
Rockefeller Center, New York 294. 295. troh-fohn-TAH-n.ny) 95-6, 95, 96 76 Schindler, Rudolph 319-20
347 S. Carlos Borromeo. Carmel, California S. Vitale, Ravenna (SAHN-vee-TAH-lee) SchinkeL Karl Friedrich 175
Rococo style: Italy 92-9; Austria, (san-KAHR-lohs-BAWR-uh-MAY-oh) 39,39 schools set' educational buildings
Switzerland, Germany 100-7; France 156 Saarinen, Eero (SAHR-i-nen, -nuhn) Schroder House. Netherlands (SHROE-
1 23-7; see also Baroque S. Chapelle, Paris (SE"T-shah-PEL) 59, 59 324, 326 duhr) 271.277
398
Index
Schuyler. Hartley & Graham shop, New Blanca, Toledo 52-3; Santa Creus Sweden 262, 263. 296-7, 331, 333 Renaissance 88-9, 89, 140; Baroque
York 202 monastery 53; Santiago de Switzerland 103, 308: apartment houses, and Rococo 106, 117, 126; French
Scotland: Hill House, Dunbartonshire Compostela 44, 50; Seville Zurich 308; Centre Le Corbusier [La Neoclassical 129; eclectic styles 259;
210, 219; tenement buildings, Glasgow Cathedral 64; Toledo Cathedral Maison de rHomme). Zurich 285, Art Deco 295; post-war 333. 342. 343;
185 132 334; Einsiedeln. Abbey of, Zurich 102, see also auditoriums; concert halls;
Scully, Vincent J. 199 palaces: Alhambra. Granada 53. 53; 103; Institut Heliotherapeutique, movie theaters; opera houses
sculptural decoration 92. 198.330.342 Alhambra. Toledo 132 Lugano 308; S. Gall [S. Gallen), Thornton. William 166-9,171
sculpture. Modernist 323. 327 Speer. Albert (shpayr, speer) 263 monastery 42. 103; St. Anthony's thrones 19, 79, 51
Seagram Building, New York 323 Speyer Cathedral, Germany SHPIGH- { Church, Basel 308; Salginotobel Thumb. Peter 102, 103
Sears Roebuck, catalogs 260, 260 uhr) 43 Bridge 304, 304; Villa Schwob. Chaux Tiepolo, Giovanni Battista (tee-EP-uh-
Secession Gallery, Vienna 234, 235 Germany
Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, de Fonds 278. 278 loh) 104
Second Bank ot the United States, (SHTAHT-hous) 357,357 Sydney Opera House, Australia 331 Tiffany. Louis Comfort 238-40
Philadelphia 177 stadiums 335 Syon House. England 148, 149 Tiffany Residence, New York 240, 240
Second Empire style 205, 244 Stadthaus, Ulm, Germany 366. 367 System of Architectural Ornament, A tiles 17, 139
Serlio.Sebastiano(SER-lyoh) 113, 165 stage design 92 [Sullivan] 243 Tiryns, Mycenae (TIR-inz. TIGH-rinz)
Seven Lamps of Architecture. The [Ruskin] stained glass: Gothic 54-5, 6J, 62; 20,22
181.210 modernist 284. 309. 309 Tokyo: Asahi Building 368. 368; Imperial
Seville Cathedral, Spain h4 Stani.Mart (stahm) 306 tableware 296, 299. 299 Hotel 270; Kidosaki House 374;
sewing machines 209 Standen, East Grinstead, England 214, TAG [The Architects' Collaborative] 341 National Museum of Western Art 373
Seymour, lohn 170 214 Taft. Robert 194 Toleda. Juan Bautista de 132
Seymour, Thomas 170 Stanley Whitman House, Farmington, Talbert, Bruce 216 Toledo Cathedral. Spain 132
Shaker design 200-3 Connecticut 158 Taliesen (Shining Brow], Wisconsin tombs: ancient Egypt 10.77.12,17-18,
Shakespeare. William 140 Starck. Philippe 367-8 (TAL-ee-ES-in) 3/6,317,319 77, 18; Napoleon I 121; Osaka, Japan
Shaw. Richard Norman 194-5. 199, 213, State House [State Capitol). Boston, Taniguchi. Yoshio 375 373, 373
263-4 Massachusetts 166 tapestries sec textiles Tom^, Narciso(toh-MAY) 132
shelters, sec also houses stave churches 46 Taskin. Pascal (tahs-KE") 122 Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri (too-LOOZ-loh-
Sheraton, Th()mas 153, 169; The Cabinet Stazione Termini.Rome (stah-TSYOH- Tassel House, Brussels (TAHS-uhl) 228, TREK) 229
Maker atui Upholsterer's Drawing Book nay-TER-mee-nee) 330 229 Towards a New Architecture [Le
151, 153. 153 steam power 184. 197; locomotives 209 Teague. Walter Dorwin (teeg) 298, 299, Corbusier] 278
Shingle style 199-200.249 steel 304,325 300. 302, 303 Town Hall, Hilversum, Netherlands 306,
Shingle Style, The \Scu\\y] 199 Steen, Ian (stayn) 136 Teatro Olimpico, Vicenza, Italy (tay-AH- 306
ships 298. 324. 334; ocean liners 265. Steinberg. Saul 324 troh-oh-LEEM-pee-koh) 88-9.59 Town, Ilhiel 177, 178, 179-80
265, 293. 293, 295. 296, 299, 336 stele of Hegisto, ancient Greece (he-GlS- technology: ancient Rome 34-5; nine- town planning 283. 283, 328, 334
shops 69. 308, 309; department stores loh) 25 teenth centur)' 153. 183-6. 203-5. 206- towns and cities 16; ancient Assyria 17;
202. 207, 223, 241, 312. 325; shopping Stern, Robert A.M. 362-3 7, 209; and Art Nouveau 226; ancient Greece 24-5; early medieval
centers 341-2 Stickley, Gustav 219-20 Modernist 266; late 20th century 351. 49; United States. Victorian 198, 202;
Siena Cathedral, Italy 64 Stirling, James 356-7 377 modernist 283. 283, 334; and indus-
silk 135 Stirling, Patrick 209 Tecton (BertholdLubetkinefn/) 313 trial design 303
Siloe,Diego de{sEE-ioh-AY) 131 stoa of Atlalos, Athens (AT-uh-LAHS,- telegraph 205 trade. Renaissance 138-9.140
Singer Building, New York 253 luhs) 25.26 telephones 205.266 traditionalism 244
Skidmore. Owings, and Merrill (SOM) Stockholm Telford. Thomas 185-6 Trajan, Emperor 31
323-4. 326. 342. 344 buildings: City Hall 262, 296; Folkets Tempielto. Rome (taym-PYET-toh) 80- Transparente, Toledo Cathedral, Spain
skyscrapers 202-5. 242, 252-5, 328; Hus 332 1,81 (TRAHNS-pah-REN-tay) 132
Modernist 274, 277. 322, 323. 324; Art World's Fair (1930} 296.297.311 Temple of Amon. Karnak, Egypt (AH- transport see travel and transport
Deco 290. 295; post-war 330, 337; late Stockholm City Hall 262, 296 muhnl IS. 19 Transportation Building. Chicago Fair
20th centur\' 368. 368 Stone Age 12 Temple of Apollo, Bassae 24 242. 249
Slbjdforeningen Exhibition 297 Stone, Edward Durell 295.321 Temple of Athena Nike, Athens 24 travel bureaux 361-2,362
Smirke. Robert (smuhrk) 176 Stonehenge, England 12, i2 Temple houses 177-8 travel and transport: medieval 69;
Smithson, Alison 336 Egypt 19
stools, ancient Temple of Poseidon. Paestum. Italv 24, Industrial Revolution 184,186;
Smithson, Peter 336 strapwork 113. 136, 140 24 Victorian 200; 20th century 266, 328,
Smithsonian Institution, Washington Stratford Hall, Westmorland, Virginia Templeof Venus and Rome, Rome 30 348; see also air transportation; rail-
D.C. 179 162 temples: Sumeria 17; ancient Egypt 18- roads, ships
Smythson. Robert 140,141 Street, George Edmund 210 19; ancient Rome 21. 30-1. 130; Tris Riches Hemes du Due de Berry, les
Soane, John 171 Strickland, William 177 ancient Greece 22-4, 23, 24 54,54
Soane House, London 173 Stripped Classicism 259.261-2 tenement buildings, Glasgow, Scotland rribnne (newspaper] 257
Sonck. Larsfsohngk) 234.285 James 165, 175; Antiquities of
Stuart, 185 Trinity Church. Boston, Massachusetts
Sony Building (A.T.&.T. Building! 342, Athens 165, 175 Tennessee State Capitol, Nashville 177 221,227.239
361. 36i Stubbins. Hugh 341 Tennessee Valley Authority [TVA] 300 Trinity Church, New York 179,779
Sorbonne. Paris (sawr-BAWN) 120 Stumpf. Bill(stuhmpf) 344 tepees 13, 73, 14 Triumph of Venice, T/ie (Veronese] 97
Sottsass, Ettore(SAWT-sahs) 361 Stupinigi hunting lodge, Turin (STOO- Terraces, Les [Villa Stein de Monzie], True Principles of Pointed or Christian
Soufflot, facques-Germain (soo-FLOH) pee-NEE-jee) 99, 99 Paris (lay-te-RAHS) 279-81,250 Architecture [Pugin] 181
129 subway systems 231-2, 237, 296. 312. 312 Terragni, Guiseppe (ter-RAH-nyee) 307 Trulli houses. Apulia, Italy (TROO-lee)
Sourdeau, Denis and lacques de (soor- Sue, Louis (sue) 290,292 Texas: furniture showroom, Houston 14, 17
DOH) 111 Suger, Abbot (sue-ZHER) 54,60 339; Palace of the Governor, San Trumbauer, Horace (TRUHM-BOU-uhr)
space planning 334, 335. 335, 343-4 Sullivan, Louis 206, 223, 240-3. 249, 252, Antonio 156; Sunar Furniture 209
Space, Time and Architecture (Gideon] 266. 319; A
System of Architectural Company, Houston 359, 360 Trusteeship Council Chamber, UN
107 Ornament 243 textile block, concrete 314 Headquarters. New York 297
Spain Sumeria 16-17 Africa 75; ancient Egypt 19;
textiles: Tschumi, Bernard (CHOO-mee) 369-70
Gothic style 64 Sun House, Hampstead, London 311, medieval 51; Renaissance 91.135, Tudor Place, Washington D.C. 167
Renaissance 131-5 311 146; Baroque and Rococo 107,122-3, Tudor style 140
Art Nouveau 232 Sunar Furniture Company, Houston, 126; French Empire style 127, 128; Tugendhat House, Brno {TOO-guhn-
churches and mosques: La Cartuja, Texas 359.360 Federal period 170; Industrial HAHT) 274.276
sacristr>'. Granada 132. /33; Suntory Museum, Osaka 373 Revolution 184; Victorian 192,206-7; Turin: Palace of Labor [Italia 61 Pavilion]
Granada Cathedral 131, J3J; Superga. church and monaster)'. Turin Art Deco 293; industrial design 303; 330, 330; Palazzo Carignano 97-8; S.
Great Mosque, Cordoba 52; (SOO-payr-gah) 99 Modernist 327; post-war 328, 336-7. Lorenzo 98, 98; S. Sindone. Capella
Poblet monastery. Tarragona 53. Swan House, Chelsea, London 194, 195 346-7, 347; late 20th century 350 98, 99; Stupinigi hunting lodge 99. 99,
53; S. Isidoro. Leon 53; S. Maria la Swanson, J. Robert F. 324 theaters: ancient Greece 24, 26; Superga. church and monastery 99
399
Index
Turin shroud 99
Turku, chapel at Turku, Finland 310
Venice;
97;
Ca d'Oro 66; Doge's Palace 97,
Redentore 88; S. Giorgio
w windows 19, 57, 126;
stained glass 54-5, 6i, 62, 239;
medieval 67,70-1;
II
Wagner, Otto (VAHG-nuhr) 235-6, 319
Turun Sanomat Buildings, Finland Maggiore 88, 88; S. Marco 37. 40; S. Wales, Plas Mawr 140, 140 Renaissance 75; post-war 328
{TOO-roon-SAH-noh-MAHT) 286, Maria della Salute 97 wallpaper 129. 150, 160. 170, 207 Winslow House, River Forest, Illinois
286 Venturi. Robert (ven-CHOOR-ee, Walpole, Horace 181 268. 268
Tutankhamen 19 -TOOR-ee) 206,357-9 Wank, Roland (wahngk) 301 Wisconsin: Johnson Wax Building,
TWA Terminal. Kennedy Airport, New Venturi House, Philadelphia 358, 358 Warnecke, lohn Carl (WAWR-ni-kee) Racine 318-19, 3i8; Taliesen |Shining
York 337, 337, 342 Venturi, Scott Brown Associates 359 344 Brow] 3/6,317,319
Vermeer, Ian 136; Young Woman Warren, Whitney 252 wood
u Standing at a Virginal 139 Washington: Capitol 166-9, 767; Freer
in buildings: Greek 22; Byzantine
UN Headquarters, New York 331 Veronese, Paulo (vAV-roh-NAY-zay) 87. Gallery of Art 215; National Gallery of and Romanesque 46; medieval 50,
underground houses 14-15 87, 97; The Triumph of Venice 97 Art 364, 364, 365; Octagon House 70-1; colonial 156. 157-8; Gothic
Unesco headquarters, Paris 330 Versailles, palace of, Paris 116-17, 117,
167, 168; Peacock Room [moved from Revival 180; Modernist 287
Unite d'habitation, Marseilles (UE-nee- US, 119, 125-6, 146 London] 2/6; St. John's Church 169; furniture: Renaissance 132, 135;
TAY-tUH-bee-tah-SYAW") 283, 283, Versen, Kurt (VUHR-suhn) 303 Smithsonian Institution 179 Victorian 201, 202, 206;
285.289,334 Vertue, William 63 Washington, George 161,162,166 Modernist 312; Scandinavia 331
United States: Georgian 148. 159-63. Victoria, Queen of England 181, 186,209 waste disposal see water supply systems interiors: carving 145, 145;
260; Greek Revival 176-8ArtDeco Victorian period 181,190-209 water, in architectural design 317 marquetry 122, 131, 170
194-5; Gothic Revival 178-80; Vienna: Austrian Travel Bureau Office water supply systems: ancient Rome 34;
plywood 206,287,310,312.327
Victorian style 195-209; Craftsman 361-2, 362; exhibitions, housing design medieval 50; Renaissance 74; Wood, Ruby Ross 255-6, 324
movement 219-23; Art Nouveau 238- {1930} 306; houses. Art Nouveau 238, Versailles 1 16; Georgian England 149, Woolworth Tower, New York 254, 255
43; eclecticism 244,247-61; 238; Post Office Savings Bank 235, 150; America 168; Victorian 184-5, Worker's Club and Theater, lyvaskyla,
Modernism 276, 314-36; post-war 236; S. Leopold Am Steinhof 236; 194, 199; and industrial design 302; Finland 286
330. 337-47; see also America; New Secession Gallery 234. 235 green buildings 377 Works in Architecture oj Robert and James
York; names of cities; names of states Vienna Secession 226. 234-8 Watt, lames 184 Adam. The Adam] 148 \
Villa Savoye, France (sah-VWAH) 281- Werkbundsiedlung [housing design exhi- Easier Living 299
Vallin, Eugene (vah-LE") 226 2, 281, 289 bitionl (VERK-bunt-ZEED-lung) 306 Wright. Russei 299
van Alen, William 295 Villa Schwob, Switzerland (shvohb) 278, Westminster Abbey, London 63, 63 Wriothesley manuscript (RIGH-uhth-
van Campen, lacob 136, 138 278 Westminster Hall, London 65. 65 slee) 51
Van de Velde, Henri (vahn-duh-VEL- Villa Stein de Monzie 5ee Terraces, Les westworks 42 writing: hieroglyphic 17, 19; Greek
duh) 230 Villas and Cottages [Vaux] 197-8 Wctmore, Charles D. 252 alphabet 22; Arabic calligraphy 53
Van Doren, Harold 261 Viollet-le-Duc, Eugene-Emmanuel Wharton, Edith 249 Wurster, William Wilson 339
Van Egeraat, Erick (vahn-AY-khuh- (vyaw-Li>luh-DUEK) 13, 50. 67; The Whipple House, Ipswich, Massachusetts Wyatt. James 181
itAHT) 376; see also Erick Van Egeraat Habitations of Man in All Ages 13, 13, 157 Wyman, George Herbert 253
Associated Architects 50 Whistler, lames McNeill 215.216,219
Van Eyck. Aldo (vahn-IGHK, van-) 335 Virginia: Carter's Grove, Williamsburg White. Stanford 249. 249-52. 255, 363 Y
van Liebenhofen, Liebert 105 161, 162; College of William and Mary White Temple at Uruk 17 Yorke, F.R.S. 312
Vanbrugh. John (VAN-bruk, VAN-bruh, [Wren Buildingl. Williamsburg 164; Whitney Museum of American Art, New Young Woman Standing at a Virginal
van-BROO) 146 Lee Mansion, Arlington 1 77; York 340, 341 [Vermeer] 139
Vanderbilt family 249 Monticello, Charlottesville 88, 165. Wies. Die, (Pilgrimage Church of Christ yurts (gers) 14, 14
Vanna Venturi House (VAN-uh-ven- 165-6, 165; Mount Vernon, Alexandria Scourged) Bavaria (dee-VEES) 102
CHOOR-ee. -TOOR-ee) 357-8,357 76/. 162; Stratford Hall, Westmorland Wightwick Manor, England 213,2/3
Vasari. Giorgio (vah-ZAHR-ee) 82 162; University of Virginia 165,166; wigwams 13, 14. 156 Zakharov, Grigorh (zuh-KHAHR-uhO
Vaterlarid [ocean liner, renamed Vitruvius (Marcus Vitruvius Pollio) (vi-
William and Mary period 143-6. 158 262
Leviathan] 265 TROO-vce-uhs) 27, 35, 79, 87, 142; Williams, Owen 290, 296 Zanuso, Marco (Isah-NOO-soh) 331,
vaults: ancient Rome 27-8. 30; De Architect lira 34-5 Williamsburg style 260 361
Romanesque 42, 48, 49, 56-7; Gothic Voysey, Charles Annesley (VOI-zee) Willis Faber and Dumas offices. England Ziegfeld Theater, New York (ZlG-feld,
56-8, 57, 62-3 218.226,229 354. 355 ZEEG-) 295
Vaux, Calvert 197-8 Vries, Vredeman de (duh-VREES) 136 Wills. Royal Barry 260 Zimmerman, Johann Baptist (TSIM-uhr
Vaux-le-Vicomte, Melun, France (voh- Vuoksenniska Church, Iniatra, Finland Wilton House, England 143, /43 MAHN) 106, 123
luh-vee-KAW'^T) 115-16, 115 (VOO-ohk-SEN-ee-skah) 288, 289 Winde, William 145 Zimmermann, Domenikus 102, 103
400
was Professor of Design at the renowned
itt Institute, Brool<lyn, for most of his teaching
interior design.
ISBN 0-M71-3Sbbh-2
90000
9 780471"356660