Architecture Short History of Architecture

Architecture

SHORT HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE AND ARCHITECTS

Although the history of architecture dates back to very ancient times, beginning roughly in Mesopotamia, circa 4,000 B.C.E., it is during the period known as the Renaissance in which architecture truly began to influence world societies and cultures. Of all the arts, architecture expresses the most spatial aspects via temples, churches, public buildings, governmental buildings and private dwellings. The creator of these structure, namely, the architect, "designs groupings of enclosed spaces and enclosing masses, always keeping in mind the function of the structure, its construction and materials and its design principles" (Nuttgens, 78). For the public viewer, architecture is experienced both visually and by motion through and around the structure, so that architectural space and mass are perceived together.

It would seem logical to start our exploration of the history of architecture with one of the greatest artists of all time -- Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 -- 1564), regarded by many as the "father of architecture in Europe and the greatest designer of the last 500 years" (Lowry, 167). Of all his architectural designs, the vestibule of the Laurentian Library, built to house the immense collections of the Medici family in Florence, Italy, stands out above all others. This vestibule gives the impression of a vertically compressed, shaft-like space which is dominated by a vast, flowing staircase that almost fills the interior, and unlike his contemporaries, Michelangelo ignored classical architectural ideals by placing his columns in pairs which are sunk into the walls; he breaks columns around corners and placed beneath them consoles not meant as support. In essence, Michelangelo "did away with classical architecture so prevalent in the High

Renaissance and greatly influenced all architectural designs and forms that followed him" (Copplestone, 178).

During the Baroque Period (1600 to 1750), the most important architectural project was the construction of St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome which was completed by Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598 -- 1680), an architect, painter and sculptor and one of the most brilliant and imaginative artists of the Baroque Period. As to St. Peter's, Bernini's best contribution was the monumental piazza in front of the building, composed of "a vast oval embraced by colonnades that are joined to the facade of St. Peter's by two diverging wings. Four huge Tuscan columns make up the two colonnades which terminate in classical temple fronts" (Gympel, 324). Thus, Bernini's architectural designs express the very essence of the Baroque spirit and influenced to a great degree numerous architects and builders linked to the periods that followed the golden days of the Baroque era.

Between 1675 and 1710, the dominant architectural structure in London, England, was St. Paul's Cathedral, the work of England's most renown architect Christopher Wren (1632 -- 1723). Wren, a mathematical genius and highly-skilled engineer, built and designed this massive building, highlighted by its magnificent dome, after the Great Fire of 1666 which destroyed the old structure. According to Nikolaus Pevsner, St. Paul's Cathedral "is a splendid skyline composition with the two foreground towers acting effectively as foils to the great dome. The upper levels are quite differently designed than the lower levels which are Palladian" (256). Thus, Wren's skillful artistry and eclecticism brought these foreign features into a monumental unity, while the building itself serves as a prototype for later structures in both Europe and Colonial America.

Between 1785 and 1789 in the American colonies, future President Thomas Jefferson (1743 -- 1826) expressed his adoration for the Classical past of ancient Rome and Greece by going beyond architects who had incorporated only elements of ancient architecture in their buildings. Jefferson took "the complete Roman temple form as his model for the Virginia statehouse at Richmond, based on the Roman temple at Nimes which he saw while serving in France as American ambassador" (Gympel, 256). Certainly, Jefferson's choice was based on his admiration he had for Roman architecture which embodied the pure beauty of antiquity while symbolizing idealized Roman Republican government.

In 1835 in London, another magnificent building was designed by Charles Barry (1795 -- 1860) and A.W.N. Pugin, being the new Houses of Parliament which replaced the old structure after being burned in 1835. Like Jefferson, Barry preferred the Classical style, yet Pugin convinced him to incorporate late English Gothic into the building. However, the Houses of Parliament is not genuinely Gothic, despite its picturesque tower groupings. Generally, this building "has a formal axial plan and a kind of Palladian regularity beneath its Tudor details" (Copplestone, 325), similar in nature to Wren's design of St. Paul's Cathedral more than a hundred years earlier.