Middle English Renaissance

The Middle English Renaissance started in 1600 and ended around 1750. One of the major events of this time was the great fire of 1666 which took place on September 2, 1666. It started as a small fire on Pudding Lane in the bakeshop of Thomas Foyer who was the baker to King Charles II. Because most of the houses during this time were made of wood, they were highly flammable which led to the fire spreading at an alarming rate. The procedure at the time to stop a fire was to destroy the houses in the path of the fire in hopes of creating a fire barrier, however, the Lord Mayer Bludworth was worried of the rebuilding costs and hesitated to do so. By the time the royal command came to create the fire barriers, the fire was too out of control to stop.The loss of life was minimal, some sources say that only 16 lives were lost, about 430 acres of land was destroyed which was about 80% of London. Things destroyed in the fire include: around 13,000 homes, 89 churches, and 52 guild halls.

After the fire, Charles II assigned 6 commissioners to rebuild London. Among them was Sir Christopher Wren who set new standards for housing. For the first time there were regulations on wall thickness, floor heights, and materials used in the construction of buildings. He also started zoning and construction regulations. He is the most renowned English Architect of all time and his master piece was St. Paul's Cathedral. 

The age of William and Mary was the age of Walnut. During this time, there was a flight of french furniture craftsman to England. There was a new regulation to furniture during this time, for the first time they were concerned with comfort in addition to the beauty of the design. Also, for the first time there was a concern for beautiful furniture for the masses, which before was only accessible to the wealthy. Also, upholstery appears for the first time during this time. There was an oriental influence on the furniture and some of the fabrics used were velvet, brocade, chintz, leather and needle point.

Characteristics of furniture during this time are:

• straight turned legs or cup turned legs
• Low, horizontal X-stretcher 
• Curved crossed stretcher 
• Ball feet or ball and claw feet.
• Veneers perfected
• Marquetry and lacquer work

 William and Mary chairs

William and Mary Sette

 During the time of Queen Anne, the interiors were simpler, and paper or silk was used on the walls. William Kent's designs were prominent during this time. He was a painter, architect, and designer who spent 10 years in Italy and was the first to design furniture for specific interiors. 

Characteristics of furniture during the time are: 

• Curved lines as dominated motif
• Chinese form in the structure of the furniture
• Lacquer as a finish
• Feminine and graceful
• Cabriole leg
• Looks like animal leg on ancient furniture
• Elongated S shape
• Found on some Chinese furniture
• Modeled after goats leg
• Stretchers started to be finished
• Smaller, lighter, and more comfortable furniture  

Cabriole Leg

Queen Anne Furniture: 

Current Applications:

EC:
More information about Queen Anne Furniture:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6Hmlwlx9rM
More information on William Kent Furniture:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vogpr7l_gLc

Early English Renaissance

The English Renaissance was divided into three periods, the early renaissance, the middle renaissance, and the late renaissance. The English were the last to fall to the renaissance, as the early renaissance started in 1550. During this time, there was a shift away from the church because of conflict between Henry VIII and the pope. The Tudor style was prominent in the era, it is associated with timber framed construction and officially started the beginning of the renaissance.

The English renaissance was the age of oak and the furniture of this time was very masculine. The chairs were box like and carved from wood. An example of a chair during this time is the settle chair.

EC:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPBEeLRZ4lE 

The French Renaissance

The French Renaissance came after difficult time for the French. They first wen through the black death, and then the hundred years war. After this, a new era for artisans began. Royal taste determined the styles followed by the people of this time. Large chateaus were constructed and decorated by 'decorators' a new job title that came about during the French Renaissance. It was the decorators job to coordinate a design and all the artists that were contributing to the project. They were required to know about interior design and to be able to communicate the concept of a design to a client.
Francois I was a patron of the arts during this time. He preferred a gothic style with renaissance style ornamentation. Since there was no need for churches, he instead built chateaus the first being Chateau Chambord which consists of 444 rooms, 84 stair cases, 365 chimneys spread across a 14300 acre property in Loire Valley. It is considered to be the largest and most majestic of all the chateaus and was also the meeting place of Francois and Leonardo Da Vinci.



Current Applications:



EC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQz8smJxF3I

Spanish Renaissance

The Spanish Renaissance was influenced by the moorish, early christian, medieval and Italian Renaissance. There were two main phases during this period, the Plateresco phase, and the Desornamentado phase. The Plateresco phase was minute and delicate in its ornamentation and the work would resemble that of a silversmith. The Desornamentado phase was a powerful style characterized by austerity and was applied to court, ecclesiastical, and public buildings. One of the important buildings of this time was the Escorial which  was started in 1562 by Phillip II and completed by Juan Herrera. Included in this building was a palace and a religious house. The Escorial is considered to be one of the most important architectural buildings of the Spanish Renaissance. The interior of the building was decorated by many Spanish and Italian artists of the time and the decoration was carefully coordinated with the architecture to create a unified artistic effect.

India

Like China, the stupa, a mound of dirt that housed sacred relics, also played a role in Indian design. Stupa's acknowledged important people in the Buddhist religion. However, stupas did have their limitations--there was no space for people to go and visit. One of the more important stupa's in Indian culture is the Great Stupa of Sanchi.

 Located on the Hill of Sanchi, it was one of the most well preserved stupa from this time. The location however, is surprising to some because it because Sanchi was not hollowed by any incident of Buddha's life.

EC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orMAr_pJPr0

China

China has the worlds longest continuous civilization as well as the largest population. One of the design features practiced by the Chinese is the stupa which is a mound of dirt were a more permanent structure is built over the mound.

Another architectural achievement of the Chinese was the Great Wall of China. The wall was built as an attempt to keep enemies out of China and is one of the most extensive construction project ever completed. However, the wall never effectively kept out invaders though it did stand as a physiological barrier and remains as a powerful symbol of the countries strength.

EC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23oHqNEqRyo 

The Americas

The Americas consisted of four major groups, the Olmecs, the Myans, the Aztecs, and the Incas. The Olmecs were the first dominant culture in South America and lasted from 2000BC-300AD. Their cities were temple focused and they developed hieroglyphics. Their artwork consisted of jade objects and gigantic heads made of stone.

Social class had influence on the type of home those of this civilization lived in. Elites lived in highly decorative homes while commoners lived in homes made of sticks and mud. 

It is assumed that the Olmec civilization ended around 300 BC because there is no evidence of their existence after this time. It is a mystery what happened to the Olmecs as there have to no graves found to analyze and no concrete evidence of disease, war, famine, natural disaster or relocation, though all of these possibilities have been postulated.

The Mayan civilization began around 300 BC and flourished for about 1800 years. The Classic period of the Maya was the golden age of their civilization during which their civilization grew about 40 cities and the population reached about 2,000,000. They were deeply religious people who worshiped multiple gods. Like the Olmec, the end of the maya is also unknown. Some believe that the Maya exhausted the environment around them while others believe it was warfare with surrounding civilizations that brought an end to the Maya.

EC: 25 unknown facts about the Maya:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2sUCcaPkAE

Gothic Period

The Gothic period took place from 1140-1500. During this time, the quality of life was low, as the living conditions were brutal and disease was common, the black plague happened during this time and the population was lowered by about a third. Churches, however, were still the center of city life and Paris was the center of the Gothic world.
Gothic architecture is characterized by:

Saint Denis

•  Height and light
• Pointed arches resulting in higher ceilings and wider vaults (the idea being the height to the church, the closer to God)
• Less concern for accommodation of pilgrimages and more concern for the spiritual experience of visitors 
• Interest in light and windows resulting is less structurally sound walls which led to flying buttresses
• Stained glass windows
• Orientation to the East (Jerusalem)
• Architectural experimentation

One of the first churches during this time was Saint Denis which was a royal church. This church had already previously existed and was reconstructed by Abbot Suger who believed that all churches should be beautiful, expensive places. Abbot Suger was given to a monetary as a baby and eventually because the most trusted individual to the royal family becoming the private confessor of Louis VI and VII.

Another design feature that became prominent in this era was the idea of Lux Nova or 'new light.' This was achieved by creating stained glass windows in the churches. By filtering light into something new it created the idea of noeplatonic ascent which is looking for the divine in immaterial things. One of the more prominent  designs created with stained glass windows was rose windows which were round stained glass windows that were meant to keep track of the the rosary. The stone in the the stained glass windows is called tracery and it's meant to proved strength to support the structure.

There were two styles of churches during this time. The first being Rayonnant style meaning radiant or radiating pattern. This style focused on the Rose window which for this style is more circular and round and meant to aide in praying the rosary. The second style was the Flamboyant style which was meant to to look like flames radiating from the center. This type of style had tracery on the exterior and was not only used in churches.

Rayonnant Style Rose Window

Flamboyant Style Rose Window Interior 

Flamboyant Style Church

Flamboyant Style Rose Window Exterior 

An example of stained glass windows is Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, France (built 1243-1248). It was built int he courtyard of the palace by Louis VII. It was built to house a relic he bought from his cousin, the crown of thrones although it was never proven to be the actual crown of thrones worn by Jesus. The building cost about 40,000 francs to build and more than 6,000 square feet of stained glass can be found in the chapel. Blue and red are the most prominent in this design because blue and red were the most difficult to make and therefore the most expensive.

Current Applications: 

Current use of pointed arches

Current use of pointed arches

EC: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz5YdZdqE44