Reading Comp. 5

Originating from England, Windsor chairs were first seen in America during the 1720s, and were being made in America by the 1740s. The chair began exhibiting new forms once in America. This was a limitation when in England due to the fact that English chair-makers were required to belong to a guild. This ultimately denied any creativity and breaking-of-the-rules of the already established version.

Creating production and capitalism for others, American chair-makers began teaming up with other crafts people and distributing work in a way of subcontracting. Manufacturers focused on quantity and were able to make alterations to speed up production; For example, they eliminated the cabriole legs found in some English Windsors due to the slowing of production. This stylistic revolution allowed for the freedom of exploring and the creating of more innovative solutions.

Though with being from England, the Windsor became extremely popular in America, and is viewed ultimately as an American chair. The American Windsor, with its rich history, has become a revolution not only in American furniture, but also to the production scene. It is to this day one of the most widely copied styles in America. 

artifact: silk brocade

http://belovedlinens.net/fabrics/Lyon-silk1.html

One of the major ways eastern design and architecture influenced that of the west was through fashion. Fashion became a vehicle of displaying eastern characteristics to the rest of the world both through the transportation of materials, as well as seen depicted in paintings and other decorative art. I found silk brocades to be a nice example of how western designs were copied from the east. Silk in general originally came from china and other asian countries. When silk was first used as a type of fabric in ancient china, it expressed chinese motifs and decoration. This decoration continued when silk found its way all over the world. The western world was influenced by the east by borrowing silk itself as a material, and then even continuing to include the designs and patterns found thereon. 

building: iranistan 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Iranistan,_Residence_of_P.T._Barnum,_1848.jpg

The Iranistan residence was built in 1848 located in bridgeport, connecticut. The mansion was an example of the moorish revival, which was one of many revivals that took place during a short moment in history of only a few-hundred years. The moorish displayed orientalism in design as can be seen in the image included. The Iranistan clearly speaks a connection between the western and eastern worlds. With onion domes, minarets, arches, a finial; the building greatly resembles the Taj Mahal.

space: royal pavilion banquet hall 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Brighton_Banqueting_Room_Nash_edited.jpg

The Royal Pavilion as a building is known to have strong eastern connections, and when increasing the power zooming into the scale of rooms, the banquet hall within the building becomes a pretty notable space in terms of eastern influences. This space includes design motifs from all over the world. The victorian time frame had a notion of "anything goes", which can be seen in this room. The space includes dragons and snakes as zodiacal characteristics from the eastern world; flowers in the form of 2D on the walls as well as 3D in the chandeliers; and asian motifs in paintings, frescos, and mosaics. 

place: hyde park 

http://www.ski-epic.com/2007_london_trip/index.html

One place where east meets west is Hyde Park, London. Hyde Park shows examples of eastern influence by the gardens, water features, and the architecture within. It was home to the Great Exhibition of 1851 which is a prime example of east meets west. The Great Exhibition showcased artifacts from all over the world. It was a place where people from all over would travel and see things with foreign designs and motifs. People would bring the objects back or just a mental image and copy what was seen.