reading comp. 4

[1]

Classical elements can be seen throughout. Buildings are symmetrical. When not in use, furniture lines perimeters of rooms. Places borrow and share elements from others. Rooms are oversized and often highly decorative. Characteristics include light scale, mathematical proportions, and geometrical forms. All buildings are symmetrical. Horizontal lines appear on facades representing different floors. All buildings have an emphasis on the entrance. The most common way of expressing this was with porticoes, with the exception of the Russell house. Although the Russell house lacked having a portico, it was still successful in having a defined entrance. This was achieved through having a gate with oversized columns on either side of a walkway, the walkway then leads one’s eye to the front door which stands out in a couple of different ways; the pediment and columns surrounding the door emphasizes it, and there’s contrast among the painted white surrounding the door and the red brick. With most of the artifacts being highly decorative and full of ornamentation, all serve a purpose and are functional.

[2]
Furniture arrangements support room function. Vernacular forms of local materials are used. Houses and furniture are simple. All houses show a strong emphasis on horizontalness. As can be seen in the parson capen house and other New England houses, the upper floor is projected beyond the lower, these are “jettied” floors. This is a technique to avoid sagging. It also creates a horizontal line on the façade representing different floors, much like the lines talked about earlier from across the Atlantic. Box and simple geometric forms are seen in houses and furniture. Horizontal and vertical lines are seen often. “From the time of the Egyptians up to about 1750, monumental Western architecture in any given time or particular region was relatively uniform.” Roth, p441

[3]

Inspired by Frescobaldi's Balletto Terzo and taking from Palladio's villa plans, this is the plan I chose to design. Architectural proportions are argued to be derived from music ones, from that; Palladio came up with ratios as to how rooms should appear in plan. I feel this plan fits best with what was discussed.


[4]
Baroque is said to be the age of theater. I do believe the architecture and design stands as a form of social performance. The Baroque period, in contrast with the renaissance, captures movement. This is seen through all examples of baroque architecture. Theatre of dramatic lighting and color can be seen in Michelangelo’s Laurentian library.