Category: Articles

Categories
Articles

Mayan Architecture: its Facts and Philosophy

Mayan Architecture: its Facts and Philosophy

The Mayan civilization is one of oldest civilizations the world has ever witnessed, the Mesoamerican civilization is one classic that holds histories that amaze and leave people without a clue about their intelligence and knowledge on many things like astrology, art, and architecture.

Mesoamerican Architecture is one thing to look at their unusual form of architecture, probably they are one of the earliest people who invented the pyramid structure, and still, we don’t have any clue why they preferred the pyramid style rather than any other style.

Even before 2500, they had a wide knowledge of geometry and how to use it in architecture to make the perfect architectural style, still some of their architecture stood as a witness in a collapsed state but were still there to tell their story.

Sculptures are one of the core elements seen in the architectural buildings and temples, even before America became America itself, they created their own society and culture which is what we are reading as histories of the great American continent, in the Mexico region we can witness most of the proof of the civilization.

mayan architecture

When it comes to the architecture of the Mayan people like any other civilization that ever lived on earth they had their own style which is also or may be connected with the Egyptians later, one thing which is common in all of the Mayan architecture regardless of their religion and construction they followed the pyramid pattern in all of their buildings which is what the Egyptians too followed.

Architecture Philosophy

Mayans were great believers in a God that they built temples even more than houses, they had a specific pattern of cities like the palace where the leader or the king lived always placed in the center of the city or town in every Mayan city, placing tombs are always placed in the north side.

As there was no technology back then they used materials available in the surroundings of their living, stones were some of the most common materials used in architecture, limestone and sandstone are other such core elements used while constructing, even before thousands of years ago they cut stones and used it to make the perfect shape possible.

Burnt lime is used as a cement to form the base concrete of the building, high curved sculptures are used for exterior purposes, and even today we can see some of the faded and destroyed sculptures in the remaining whatever is left.

mayan architecture

Stucco was used as the exterior material and they used bright colors as paints, larger buildings were used as the administrative or official buildings of the civilization even back then they planned an entire city and followed their pattern in each one of them, flat stones were used as a roof for the buildings by placing one after another.

Works to be looked at

If we separate the types of buildings constructed by people we can list out pyramid which is used as temples mostly, ball courts for legal things and all, palaces for the kings, pigeon houses that were built and used for ceremonial purposes limestones that were used to construct pigeon houses.

Mexico Tulum Maya city

We can witness most of the Mayan architecture buildings in the Mexican American regions like Uxmal and Itza, Sayil palace is one of the most important architecture to be looked at the three-story building is one fine proof of their art and architecture efficiency, most of the amazing architectures of Mayan civilization can be seen in Itza of Mexican region.

The purpose of every architecture is to display their beliefs and to showcase the culture to the entire world, the Mayan architecture shows us the rich culture and the tradition of the people.

Categories
Articles

French Architecture: its types and Characteristics

French Architecture: its types and Characteristics

France the country is famous for many things from romance and the romantic Eiffel Tower, from Gourmet food to cheese and high fashion to the French Revolution, the country is one remarkable place on the entire earth, and the architecture of the Eiffel Tower is magic for more than hundred years and the romance of Paris is widespread across the boundaries and continents, the country gave us many things from the manifesto of communism to the wonder of the world but most importantly the nation shows us how to live with the glory of all amazing architecture and just enjoy the life.

french architecture

Here we are going to discuss the art and the architectural culture of France during various time durations and the philosophy behind it along with the impact it created.

Medieval Architecture

In the time between pre-Romanesque and the Renaissance, medieval architecture was one of the most famous architectural styles of the time, all the amazing architecture built in between the medieval ages is called medieval architecture, from civil buildings to militaries most of the official buildings accepted medieval as one of standard architecture style and still we can witness some of the glimpses of medieval in European regions like any other famous architecture of the world.

The style highly influenced Romanesque and Gothic architecture as it came after the two ancient architectural styles, from the usage of Gothic arches with lights and tall buildings to wide opening windows and flying buttresses, medieval architecture is a mixture of two Roman architectural styles.

Strasbourg Cathedral in Strasbourg, France is one of the greatest living medieval architecture today and if you ever get a chance to look at it, surely it’ll blow your mind with the rich structure of the cathedral and will amuse you with all the elements of medieval architecture.

Rocco Architecture

The 17th-century architecture is a clear definition of the French taste and how they love to live with decorations and the fashion of the time, Rocco is more than just architecture, it is a design concept used in arts and paintings too, the highly decorated style is from the baroque architecture or even called as late baroque architecture for the royal look and the usage of ornaments to decorate the building.

The purpose of Rocco’s architecture is to make people feel comfortable with its luxury and to feel all the light and the ornaments like a high-priced jewelry shop, the usage of scrolling curves, Gliding, and white colors made an attraction to the viewers.

The walls, ceilings, and Moldings across the building are constructed and decorated with numerous curves and formatted in shapes like and c and other natural shapes, the colors used mostly in the Rocco style are ivory white, gold, and pastel, and the placement of French furniture gave it the look of luxury and more mirrors are placed to reflect the decorations.

Hotel de Soubise in Paris is an exceptional architecture built in the Rocco architectural style, with ivory white in color and grand structure it is one heaven to be explored in Paris along with the Eiffel Tower, the royal hotel is a great monument to showcase the glory of Rocco architecture style.

Neo-classic Architecture

The Greek rival architecture was a revolution against classical architecture, Greek architecture spread like wildfire for the grandeur structure of the architecture, though the architectural style looks rich and royal the simple geometry form used as the core architectural characteristic, the influence of Roman details was highly displayed in the neoclassical architecture.

Rather than using colored walls with decorations neo-classism referred to blank walls with white or other pale colors but mostly white, the architecture is highly accepted by the people of America and we can see more neo-classism in the capital city of the United States.

Most of the iconic government buildings of the world are made of neo-classical architecture for their simplicity and formal structure, In the 19th century the architecture was at a peak, and even today it acts as a reference for future architectures.

Limestones and marbles were some of the elements most commonly used in neo-classical architecture, marbles were imported from various parts of the world. Hotel des Monnaies in Paris is constructed using a neo-classical architectural style the 17th-century building with faded white color is one of the finest buildings in the entire of Paris, we can witness the grandeur scale of the neo-classical architecture and all the credit goes to Jacques Denis Antoine.

Beaux Arts Architecture

Beaux-art architecture is another French country with exceptional architecture, more than just architecture, Beaux-arts was even used as a syllabus in French art schools between the 18th and 19th centuries, it is considered one of the very important French styles and it introduced modern architecture with features of renaissance, gothic and neoclassical architecture mixed.

Like a cocktail party in the modern pub with more elements and characteristics of hundreds of years of architecture and to form a new one from it, the beaux arts become famous for the usage of iron and glass with ancient architectural philosophies, the world saw something new in the architecture and then adapted to it very soon.

The architecture spread quickly to America as they loved the trend more and the French made it a trademark architecture of the nation, even today we can witness most of the amazing buildings in Paris made of beaux architecture and it played a very important role in taking the French architecture to the entire world across boundaries and continents.

As of the 19th century, Paris has been recognized as one of the most stylish cities in the world with high fashions and rich architectural history, The grand Palais at Winston Churchill Avenue in Paris is a grand display of beaux architecture to the entire world, with high decorations and usage of the exact amount of glass to impress peoples from various countries it is one fine exhibition hall ever made in history with the most amazing architecture of its century, we can witness more scents of Greek architecture and the influence of Greek decorations all over the building

Modern Architecture

After the end of World War 2, the world witnessed many things from advanced technology to the improved version of many things, architecture too witnessed advancement at the end of World War 2, and the birth of modern architecture is still the greatest revolution ever made in architectural history.

The usage of glass and iron was never in the concept of architecture till the 19th century, modern architecture introduced an entirely new feature of architecture and changed the entire world to follow its characteristics, today you can see almost every piece of architecture from the 20th century and after is made and use glass and steel as one of the core components of the architecture, that’s what the modern architecture did to the world.

Most of the official buildings constructed after the Second World War were constructed using the modern architectural style, for its formal look and neat structure it impressed most people all over the world.

Centre Pompidou in Paris is an admirable modern architecture building, there are more than twenty modern architectural buildings in Paris and France but this is one remarkable for the raw structure like without makeup it shows the true color of modern architecture.

Contemporary Architecture

While the world witnessed magic through modern architecture, contemporary architecture showed them a step further of what architects and architecture can do by making contemporary architecture, the freedom of architecture is called contemporary where an architect can do anything he wishes to do and give it life.

To date, it is one of most amazing architecture ever made in human evolution, the form style and unimaginable creativity with the usage of curved lines are some of the definable characteristics of contemporary architecture, steel, and glass were highly used and most of the building had more than seventy percent of material as glass alone.

Contemporary architecture showed the possibility of art to the world, it made an impact all over the world, and in France, It made a step stronger, The Louis Vuitton Foundation in Acclimatation Garden in Paris is an unbelievable contemporary architecture and it is built by frank Gehry himself, the design concept is a highly admirable one.

Likewise, France had witnessed many architectural styles during various times of history and still had some of them like old precious pearls, renaissance, art nouveau, art Deco, and regional architectures dominated France for the time of their ages.

Conclusion

The rich fashion country had many architectural philosophies in the history of France and importantly Paris, the country is widely known for high fashion and romance but it also has an amazing architectural history during times, to conclude it is a country of art which spread widely and attached to the root of the nation and like the melody in front the Eiffel tower, the country has many songs in form of architectures surrounded.

Categories
Articles

Mexican Architecture: its facts and characteristics

Mexican Architecture: its facts and characteristics

Mexico is famous for many things from narcotic drugs to the ancient ethnic groups spread across the nation, the ancient American country is known for its tradition which is living after centuries and centuries of modern lifestyle, and the foods are widely famous in Mexico because of the unique taste and tradition of food in each town, unlike other nation which has one unique food Mexico have different foods for each and every town in the country, though the country is not fond of arts it still has its own part in the artistic world from cotton garments to Mexican folk art.

When it comes to architecture Mexico has some oldest forms of architecture in the world like the Mayan architecture, it is still the oldest architecture in the world and still, and we can witness some of it on old American soil.

Puuc style

Puuc is one of most recognized architecture from Mexico, both Puuc and Mayan architecture same but the name Puuc represents the hill where most of the Mayan architectural buildings are located, it is still a mystery how the ancient American people used the right and extraordinary use of geometry and build towers with accurate ratios.

Box-shaped bricks and limestones are widely used in the pouch style and stone mosaics also played their part in Mayan architecture, the architecture can be classified according to the usage and we can identify the architectural usage just with the shape.

The people of Mexica in ancient times followed the pattern of buildings like pyramid shapes and other such fancy shapes to represent the building’s purpose, unfortunately, most of the Mayan architectural buildings were destroyed over time by the invasion of Spanish people and other such calamities.

Places like Uxmal, and Chichen Itza have most of the Mexican Mayan architecture to show us some of the remaining Puuc style architecture.

Mexican Baroque Architecture

Baroque is one of the most popular European architectural styles for its fancy structure and usage of ornamental materials, with the invasion of the Spanish, the Baroque style was implemented in Mexican soil too and dominated for nearly three centuries, Mexico adapted slowly to the Baroque style overtimes and today we can witness most of the cathedrals in the European architectural format.

The usage of curved forms with oval shapes including concave and convex forms are some of the core characteristic features of the Mexican baroque style, twisting elements with bright and illusionary colors made it look fancier than any other architecture at the time, the Mexican people astonished with the style and it leads to the conversion of religion.

Metropolitan Cathedral is one of the most iconic Mexican baroque architectural buildings in the country with all aspects of the baroque style built from Mexican elements and materials, the interior of the cathedral is one thing to amuse about for its marvelous design concept and the right usage of gold ornaments.

The 18th-century building golden in color carries the glory of the baroque architecture on the Mexican soil and shows us the impact it created centuries ago

Neoclassic Architecture style

Neoclassicism is another mighty architectural style that emerged from Europe and added to the list of Mexican architecture, classic Roman architecture is famous for its neat and royal design with the usage of plain colors and yet looks majestic in formation, Neoclassicism is one architectural concept that spread to the entire world without any dominance or forced implementation.

People of various countries adapted to the classic architectural style for its simplicity and America played a bigger role in adapting to the neoclassical architecture, Washington is the effect of neoclassicism.

 Mexico too at the time adapted to the ancient Greek style, marbles were the major material while constructing a neoclassical building, and sculptures played a very important role in the architecture.

The government palace of Nuevo is one of the recognizable neoclassical architectural buildings in the Mexican country with all its simplistic form of design with the usage of plain colors and sculptured walls, it is one fine architecture to astonish at and plays an important role in the Mexican architecture.

Modern Architecture       

Modern architecture is widely known for its low cost when compared to most of the architectural style in the world, modern architecture style act as a solution for the world of architecture rather than just another style of building.

It introduced a vertical way of building rather than horizontal alone saved more money and also gave more space to people, cities are dealing with less space for living in both offices and houses and modern architecture gave a solution of building skyscrapers which is low in cost while comparing to the traditional architecture of occupying more ground space with less space of living in it.

Mexico is no less than any other country and it too adapted to modern architecture today we are witnessing some of the most amazing modern architecture in the world located in Mexico, Torre Latinoamericana is one of beautiful modern architecture with tall glassy structures and slim towers in it, the white mixed steel color is shining over the Mexico city with all the characteristics of modern architecture, Augusto H. Alvarez is the master behind the beautiful art and made the modern architecture to the Mexican architecture list.

Contemporary Architecture

The extraordinary usage of materials in the most freedom way is often called contemporary architecture, the architectural style is famous for the usage of materials in a very different and artistic way which results in something wonderful, the modern architectural style is widely speeded like wildfire.

The high usage of steel and glass made the style look more stylish than modern architecture itself and the freedom way of placing the materials questioned the capacity of other architectural styles in the world.

Contemporary architecture is never a standard one but instead, it is constantly changing in both design and the elements used in it, though steel and glass are commonly used the various categories involved in it are also some of the most advanced features of the architecture.

University Museum of Contemporary Art in Mexico is one of the most amazing contemporary architectural buildings in the entire nation for the giant usage of glass and steel coordinated within represent the contemporary in the Mexican architectural world.

Mexican Style Architecture

Apart from all the international architectural styles, Mexico has its own vernacular style to represent its identity in the world of architecture, Mexican style, adobe-style homes, hacienda style, and Spanish-style Mexican villas are some of them.

Mexican-style home

The colors are very important while constructing Mexican-style houses which represent the combination of both inside and outside the architecture, the roof is another important thing that acts as both covering material and helps people to sustain heat in the deserted region.

Stucco or stone walls are mostly used in the Mexican style along with red tile roofs and arch-shaped ceilings are very common in the architectural style.

Adobe style home

Adobe is one of the most famous desert architectural styles which is purposely used for building homes, Clay and soil play an important role in architecture and walls act as a supporting element of the house rather than a foundation.

Adobe roofs are made of a colloidal mixture of soil, clay, and water along with some organic materials that help to sustain the heat, woods are also used for decorations and door purposes in the adobe architectural style, we can witness the architectural building the hot Caribbean region of the country.

Hacienda style homes

Hacienda is another important Mexican architecture for the royal and rich design style with more occupation space inside the house, hacienda-style homes are referred to as house which is larger in size and more comfortable than ordinary houses, huge compounds and multi-story are the common characteristics of the style.

Large bricks with cobblestone floors and marble foundations are some of the core materials used in the construction of the hacienda style.

Spanish-Mexican style

The impact of the Spanish invasion left the Spanish-style villas in Mexica like a red flower in the garden of white flowers, most of the mansions in Mexico were built with Spanish Mexican style larger in size and fancy in design and extraordinary decorations.

Central courtyards with white stucco walls and red tile roofs are common in the architectural style, Arch shapes are also some of the core features in the Spanish-Mexican style, and most of the drug lords and Gangsters own mansions made of the Spanish-Mexican architectural style.

Conclusion

Mexico may be the land of high-dose drugs and the world of gangsters but the country has more beautiful things like the unique taste of food from town to town and art to not miss out, from ancient Mayan architecture to the colonial Spanish architecture and growing to the modern and contemporary architecture it is a land of colloidal art where we can see almost all forms of architecture scattered through the desert and the cities.

Categories
Articles

German Architecture: facts and characteristics

German Architecture: facts and characteristics

Germany is a land of history and violence as to facts and research over the internet, all of our minds go to the mighty Hitler and beer, but it is also recognized as the biggest auto manufacturing country in the world, Germany is famous for its art and culture along with fashion and humanity, of course, the German architecture has a very long journey to look at from influencing most amazing architectures of Europe to creating their own gothic architecture, it is a country to look at when it comes to architecture and the philosophy hidden behinds it.

Historicism is a collective architectural style that is to recreate the historic styles and reestablishs the work of historic artisans, combining different elements can create a completely different style from the former one, from baroque to vernacular everything will come under historicism architecture.

Romanesque Architecture

Romanesque is one of Europe’s most famous and widely recognized architecture by using most ancient Roman elements and characteristics being influenced heavily by the architectural philosophy and style, we can witness that the majority of cathedrals, and symmetries in central Europe are of Italian Romanesque architecture style.

In Germany, it made a great impact during the 6th to 11th century and it led to the creation of many famous architectures in Germany with the Romanesque style, the massive quality of the architecture made it enlarge with time and a rapid adaptation emerged, the thick walls and round arches along with standard sturdy pillars made the architecture more beautiful and astonishing one between peoples, the large towers and barrel vaults with decorative arcading even added spice to the architectural philosophy much greater and acted as its core characteristics.

Basilica of the holy apostles, cologne

It is one of the glorious twelve Romanesque churches (German architecture) around Cologne in Germany, cathedrals are highly influenced by Romanesque architectural style for their usage of elements and characteristics, the Romanesque churches look richer look which made people believe in God even more and the architectural structure stands tall to tell that God is above all.

Gothic Architecture

Gothic is another amazing European architecture that flourished from the cultural capital of world Europe, gothic architecture has its root in the Gothic tribes of Germany and then influenced by various countries across the world, it is a sub-architecture of Romanesque or even we call it as another leaf of Romanesque architecture.

Though the Gothic style is highly influenced by ancient Roman architecture, it chose different elements to show itself unique from all other European architectures, the exaggerated arches with highly increased vaults and enlarged windows made it exceptional and the usage of thin walls with flying buttresses differentiate it from the Romanesque architecture, the stone structures of gothic style made it to look like skyscrapers and reached to heavens

Most of the Gothic architecture is of cathedrals, churches, and some palaces, of course, it is a whole new level of architecture at the time, the French-born art dominated Germany for the time duration.

Heidelberg Castle

The red-painted palace or castle (German architecture) is one fine example and witness of the mighty work of Gothic architecture, though it is extraordinary Gothic architecture renaissance architecture too influenced by its construction through various centuries and kings.

City church, and castle church in Wittenberg are a few other gothic architectural stands in Germany.

Classical (Classicism) Architecture

No matter how advanced the world gets and new trends emerge every single day, the respect for classics still lives and will live till there’s someone to admire and adore it, classical architecture is just out of the boundary in the world of architecture, the influence of ancient Rome and Greek-style made it even more classical then it is and getting adapted by people even who love trends rather than classics.

Vitruvius(Roman architect) played a very important role in making and showing the world what classical architecture it and he never knew that all of the Roman temples were going to use the style at the time, the usage of geometry and columns are core features of the classical architecture and unfortunately, there’s no living architecture is there to witness its beauty but exist in theories alone to give an idea and then birth to the neoclassical architecture style.

Modern Architecture

Modern architecture is a change to every architecture ever found in history, the usage of modern elements like glass and steel influenced highly in modern architecture, and reinforced concrete acted as another major element being used in the construction, it is one of ever longing architecture styles in history and from the establishment of modernism, the entire world adapted to it and even major architecture style use the elements of modern architecture.

20th-century architecture is a revolution in the world of architecture with its material like cast iron, plate glass, and concrete, it seems to fit within budget and be long-lasting at the same time, the usage of bricks are common, and even wood is sometimes used according to regions.

The creation of modernism dominated many other architectures from beaux-arts architecture to classical and eclecticism, the rectangular forms with horizontal and vertical lines and flat roofs or broad roofs are some of the core characteristics of modern architecture.

Elbphilharmnie or Elphi

The Elphi in the modern city of Hamburg is one fine modern architecture(German architecture) Germany the raw iron and glass in the building shine and display the true characteristics of modernism,

Commerzbank Tower is another important modern architectural building located in Frankfurt Germany, for its stylish design and tall tower structure it sure reflects all the elements of modern architecture without a miss.

Baroque Architecture

The 17th-century architecture is one of the most amazing architecture which represents the grandness of Europe, architecture began as a catholic revolution in the European region, high decorations and theatrical styles are one thing to look at and admire, the reformation process went to peak by the influence of baroque architecture.

At times churches and castles, the usage of bright lights is highly innovative in the baroque architecture style.

Dresden Frauenkirche and St. Stephen Cathedral in Passau are some of the witnesses to the Baroque architecture in Germany.

Art nouveau Architecture

Art nouveau is one of the most curious architectural styles to be noted for its strangely unusual design philosophy and usage of simple yet effective material, the style is internationally recognized one, and highly decorative art is where the art nouveau lies. The floral-like architecture is accepted by people of the world, and the dynamism in architecture acts as a highly essential one, Art nouveau is more of art than architecture.

More than just architecture in the field of Jewellery, metal, and glass art and even in painting art nouveau plays a very important role, the 19th-century architecture is a rare species of architecture for its design concept.

Usage of ceramics, mosaics, and sometimes wood is used as the decorative elements of the architecture.

Schloss Lieser in the village of Lieser, Germany is a fine example of art nouveau architecture in the German region, the highly decorated usage of golden colors in the exterior and the selective usage of lights and woods make it more attractive.

Lutherkirche, Wiesbaden, or the Luther church in Wiesbaden is another fine art nouveau building in Germany, the usage of colors is highly encouraging and the design philosophy is one thing to remember and admire at.

Renaissance architecture

Renaissance is another European architectural style that then spread to various parts of the world, it influenced Germany in the 14th to 16th centuries, like Romanesque and Victorian Renaissance is another architectural style that stands as a witness of time, the geometry and symmetry from the ancient Greek and Roman architecture is highly used in the renaissance architecture.

Columns, pilasters, and domes with semicircular arches are some of the core characteristics of the Renaissance architectural style, the doors, domes, and ceilings along with windows given priority over anything else, and the decoration in both the interior and exterior is highly effective.

St. Michael’s church in Munich is one fine example of Renaissance architecture in Germany, the 14th-century architecture was built and designed by Duke William, and the stability of the building is highly encouraging, the old academy in Munich is another Renaissance architecture, unfortunately, this is also built by duke William

Conclusion

Germany is a country of many things from beautiful lands to high fashion art and architecture, the country witnessed high violence to highly emerging arts, created many histories, and acts as one remarkable in the world, from forest to mouth-watering beer the country is heaven within, much such architecture has dominated the country from ancient roman architecture to modernism and even art nouveau dominated for the time duration, the architecture of Germany is one fine theory to know and to study architecture deeply, from various colors to different styles of architecture being placed at the part of the country, it is one fine nation for art, culture and of course architecture.

Categories
Articles

Spanish Architecture: types and characteristics

Spanish Architecture: types and characteristics

From football to royal wines Spain stands out for many things, it is one amazing place of art where people with beautiful eyes and paintings with beautiful colors live, the country is widely popular for tourism and the art which spread over the country, with lots of colors, decorations being used along with beautiful flowers surrounded and greenery placed perfectly it is a country of wonders and magic.

Meanwhile, Spain is also a very important point of architecture from the mighty Roman Empire to making modernism alive Spain made a lot of contributions by making architecture mingle as a part of our day-to-day life, let’s explore the secrets and the essence of Spanish architecture in its own way.

Ancient Spanish Architecture

If you ever get stuck to decoding the proverb “ Rome can’t be built in a day”, then say thanks to the Spanish as being one major part of the Roman Empire, Rome is famous for their art and the architecture which they presented to the world, the wider architecture made it to form the proverb later.

We all have heard the history of Rome and it is one of the ancient civilizations along with the Indians and Africans, but where Rome stands out is for its artwork, unfortunately, most of the ancient architecture is not standing today but only in photographs and in theories to read and to get amused.

Celtic was one of the earliest architecture we can find in Spain, the Castros in Galicia stand as proof of their ancient architectural styles.

spanish architecture

Romanesque Architecture

Romanesque is one of the oldest architectural styles not only for Spain but for the entire world, it is believed that Romanesque architecture began in the 6th century, and the thing it still stands today, though it is a religious architecture even today some classic architecture influence its style to build churches somewhere in the countrysides.

Semicircular arches were commonly used for windows and doors, and groin vaults were placed to stand along with the roof and also to add a bit of classic style to the buildings, thick walls and lack of sculptures were the core characteristics of the Romanesque architecture, the 10th-century architecture is one of those fancy kind we can find in a game of thrones.

Basilica de San Isidoro in Leon is one fine example of Romanesque architecture in the Spain region, the thousand-year-old building is more of a museum to adore the Romanesque architecture today, the classical Roman architecture is being influenced by architecture and architects even today.

St Maria Capitol, Romanesque Church

spanish architecture

Spanish Gothic Architecture

Gothic architecture spread to various parts of the world like wildfire in summer, it created a great impact in the book of Spanish architecture too, from using rib vaults to pointed arches and flying buttresses gothic architecture stands out from all of its fellow architecture styles, the arrival of Gothic architecture replaced most of the Romanesque buildings by replacing the semi-circular arches to pointed arches.

Glass was also used as a major element in Gothic architecture which made the structures look stylish and create uniformity.

Burgos Cathedral is a fine Gothic building, the tall tower made it look a bit odd but beautiful, it represents point arches (one of the core elements of Gothic architecture) and lighter walls with cross-ribbed vaults it is a glory that never fades even by time.

Mudejar Architecture

It is one of the rarest architecture we can witness in the world of architecture itself, In the early 12th century the Mudejar architecture and art developed for political social, and cultural reasons, at the riverbank of Ebro River the fine art developed into something of big and better day by day, Christianity, Islam, and even Jews are influenced by the architecture.

Meanwhile, it is history that architecture was influenced by more than one religion at a time and all the glory goes to the architecture of the time who created it, even being one of the ancient architectural styles that used bricks as a core element in the architecture, the mixture of three various religions and culture made it fabulous one.

Decorations were highly encouraged in the Mudejar architecture and that’s how it became one of the famous architectural styles in the mid-European countries, the art culture created from the Aragonese soil ended in the Spanish country.

spanish architecture

Neo-Classical Architecture

Neoclassical is a bit new to the architecture world as it became one of the revolutionary architecture in European countries at the end of the 18th century. Classism is one of the few most popular architectural styles in the entire world, the architecture was adopted by many countries but it was rooted in Italy and France and then settled in Spain.

When the entire of Europe was satisfied with their Romanesque, gothic, and Greek architectural styles for their simplicity and usage of every perfect element being used till neo-classism showed what grandeur architecture is, the fine geometry form with very simple structure made a great impact on the European people.

Usage of columns in a dramatic way and blank walls are mostly preferred in neoclassical architecture, flat roofs, and large columns with gardens around the building are some of the core characteristics of neoclassical architecture.

In the busy and enchanting city of Madrid in Spain with entirely large columns and white in color, there stands the fine neoclassical architecture of the Royal Observatory of Madrid, it has been two hundred years since the construction was built, and still, it keeps its glory and all the details without fading.

Baroque Architecture

Baroque architecture is another religious architecture that acted the revolutionary purpose of making people attracted towards catholic and believe in Christianity more than any other religion at the time, the 17th-century architecture is a highly fancy one with a lot of decorations and usage of lights with bright colors made it look royal and fancy at the same time.

It is another European recognized to the world but created a great impact in the Spanish region too, calm, rational and geometric are the core characteristics of baroque architecture, and the purpose of making people believe in catholic acted as a revolutionary one and more people adapted the baroque architecture and then it spread to the world later.

Today we can witness many catholic churches around the world with baroque architectural style and fine elements used, the curving form and oval shapes are commonly recognized as one in baroque architecture.

Even palaces are built with the influence of the baroque architectural style for their fancy design and royal structure components, though it began as a religious architecture it lately considered one of the most beautiful architectures in the entire world.

Santiago de Compostela cathedral-  this world heritage site is a giant architectural building located at the Galicia in Spain, the cathedral is a great identity of baroque architecture style to witness today, with large towers and high decorations in the exterior and interior it is a magical castle but ruled by Christ inside.

The Royal Palace of Aranjuez is another fine baroque architecture building which is a royal Spanish residence in the town of Aranjuez, with giant towers and decorated domes at the top and gardens surrounded, it is really a magical castle to be witnessed by.

Renaissance Architecture

Renaissance architecture is another architecture origin from the red carpet of Europe, by combining features from classic Greek and Roman architecture it emerged as something of beauty to experience, 14th-century architecture is defined by perfect symmetry, proportion, and geometry.

Though it emerged from the wonderful city of Florence and then passed to various countries over time, the usage of columns, arches, vaults with domes, and high ceilings is characteristic of the Renaissance architecture style.

The decorations in doors, walls, and windows with details given first priority in the construction of Renaissance architecture, it is more of the architecture of time which represents from 14th to 16th centuries.

The Palace of Guzmanes is proof of Renaissance architecture in the Spanish country, Being Built in the 16th century the story building is a heaven to explore in the entire Spain, the tall palace has all the fine elements of Renaissance architecture placed in one place.

Conclusion

Spain is a country of art and people with stylish and classical tastes, though Spain is famous for many things from football to bull race, it is a country of architecture too and a few of the most amazing architectural styles of the world emerged from the Spanish country and its surrounding, Spain is famous for its tourism just because it contains all the amazing architecture buildings in the world.

From baroque to neo-classism Spain witnessed many fine architectures of the world and finally ended with not one but everything, it is a beautiful colloidal formation of architecture and a treasure to explore.

Categories
Articles

Renaissance Architecture: its facts and philosophy

Renaissance Architecture: its facts and philosophy

Renaissance is another architectural style that emerged from the red carpet of England, like Victorian, Georgian renaissance is also one of architecture that represents period and time rather than architectural style when we go back to the history of Europe as early as the 14th to 16th century the renaissance stood high and proudly.

Renaissance influenced Gothic architecture rather than Romanesque architectural style and it contains all the core European architectural elements for construction, renaissance architecture is also considered the rebirth of classical architecture in the European region, classical elements are used to build contemporary buildings which are called Renaissance architecture later.

Architecture Philosophy

Like other European architectural style, the Renaissance also concentrated more on symmetry, the dome, and the square-shaped structure, it is even considered the trademark construction style of Europe, if we look closer Victorian, Georgian and Renaissance may look similar to their origin and emerged from the same place.

Stucco and stones are very common in the Renaissance style like bricks for Georgian, symmetrical design with arched openings and classical columns are used as the exterior of the Renaissance architectural style, the Roman type columns are widely used for the exterior designing.

The square shape is the core structure of many architectural styles that emerged from the European region, the usage of arches and domes which influenced ancient Roman architecture helped Renaissance architecture to look more familiar and classical in shape, flat and wide ceilings are also common in this architectural style which made it to look grand while comparing to other architectural styles.

Later the Renaissance style spread to various parts of the world like Italy, France, America, and Russia, the core purpose of the Renaissance style was to create peace and harmony between people and buildings and it served well with peoples of the world and Europe.

Though it acted as a religious architectural style like cathedrals, basilicas, and churches it was even used for the urbanization of Europe and Italy, more architecture like hospitals, fountains, and bridges were also constructed using the renaissance architecture.

Works to look at

Florence Cathedral

renaissance architecture

Florence Cathedral is one of the earliest and most important architectures of Renaissance architecture, in the beautiful city of Florence the mighty wonderful cathedral looks tall and giant in structure tells you what Renaissance architecture and its essence, the widened and large dome makes it look a bit imaginary but still amazing in design and structure, the architecture is designed by Arnolfo di Cambio and the mighty dome was designed by the very Filippo Brunelleschi.

St. Peter’s Basilica

renaissance architecture

In the very Christian city of the Vatican, the reflection of Renaissance style is high with the St. Peter’s Basilica, for its ancient style and classical structure it still contains all the classic flavors in it to spread and to show us the ancient culture and the talent of ancient people with their engineering and design concepts.

Basilica di San Lorenzo, Riccardi Medici palace, and Palazzo Farnese are a few of the greatest architecture made out of Renaissance style, architects like Filippo Brunelleschi, Michelangelo, Donato Bramante, and Michelozzo are some of the legendry Renaissance architects who played a major role in making the renaissance architectural style to come and then shine in the lights.

Categories
Articles

Colonial Architecture: its facts and characteristics

Colonial Architecture: its facts and characteristics

Colonial architecture is the architectural concept of marking their own territory to the world,  from England, France, Italy, and India every country has its own architectural style, during the mid-16th century colonialism was introduced to the world and it created an impact on various things from trades to architecture.

India became a hotspot for colonialism by the end of the 17th century and witnessed many colonial architectures spread across the country, from British to Portuguese lot of countries owned lands in India, and marked their territory with the architecture style.

Goa, Pondicherry(South India), and Calicut(Kerala) became some parts of the country where even today we can witness the various colonial architectural styles, each of the countries had its own colonial architectural style and presented its trademark in the architectural style.

Colonialism is to create a uniform structure in a place more of cities, from Chennai to Mumbai lot of metro cities across India still have the colonial architecture more of official buildings(govt buildings), France, Portuguese, and Dutch played an important role in influencing the colonial architecture in India, we can witness various colonial style from fort St. George in madras to Victoria memorial in Kolkata.

Victoria Memorial, Kolkata

French Colonial Style

India and France have a long relationship which goes way back to the 17th century from travelers to physicians traveling between India and France, at the end of the mighty Mughal empire in India, India faced a lot of struggles from various countries and became a prey to few countries, France influenced the coastal towns of India like Pondicherry, Malabar coastal areas and Chandannagar in West Bengal.

France had its own space in the world of architecture and it played a very important role in changing the experience of Indian towns, Pondicherry is one of the major French colonial architecture cities, even today it has the scent of France and its peaceful architecture around the city.

colonial architecture

Portuguese Colonial style

Portuguese had its roots in India in the 15th century when Vasco de Gama landed in Calicut, the coastal city of Kerala, Portuguese colonial architecture influenced Goa and Calicut and other such major cities of India, Portuguese have more sense in the exterior, and the catholic architecture, the widespread of catholic churches still reflects the Portuguese colonial architecture in India.

Dutch Colonial Style

Like France and the Portuguese, the Dutch had its place in the land of India, Dutch-influenced more in the southern part of India from madras, Kanyakumari, and Kochi, Dutch is a bit different when compared to the other colonial architecture of India, to mark their own territory in India they had their own architectural style, Udhayagiri fort, and Bolgatty palace are few Dutch architectures to look at.

Victoria Memorial and Fort St. George are some of the British colonial architecture in India, as the British dominated India, its architecture did the same way by creating its architectural style and imprinting it in every major city in India from Mumbai to Chennai and Kolkata, most of the official buildings of India are of British style for its mighty and strong architectural concept and longevity.

Victoria Memorial, Kolkata
Categories
Articles

Art Nouveau Architecture: Characteristics and Philosophy

Art Nouveau Architecture: Characteristics and Philosophy

The world of architecture is full of magic and surprises with various forms, styles, and designs but art nouveau is something outstanding from all of the architectural and even art forms, how come, someone, thinks architecture in a flower shape, that the beauty of art and architecture to make the impossible and the imaginary to be alive.

Though art nouveau is considered more of art rather than complete architecture, it is used for decoration, and interior and exterior design purposes, nobody would have thought that the unusual architectural style could dominate the ancient European architectural style in the late 18’s and early 19’s, art nouveau played a very important role in architecture by making it more enjoyable rather than just astonished by it.

Architecture Philosophy

This architectural style is more of an experimental architecture style to make the architecture like a floral style (the design like flowers), the entire art nouveau is based on natural forms and brings it to the world of architecture, the increasing of new technology in the early 20th century made it possible to achieve the full potential of this architecture.

The elaborate style and curved lines were unusual for the world of architecture itself until art nouveau made it possible, rather than just being an exterior architecture art nouveau is a complete set of art from furniture to jewelry and interior designs, the new age and young people loved the art nouveau for its ornamental design form.

Art nouveau(new art) is more concentrated on style than philosophy, the core purpose is to make people special about the concept and just enjoy it rather than studying the philosophical theories behind it, it made this form of architecture stand out from all other architecture styles and dominated every other architecture in its period.

art nouveau architecture

The colloidal of art and design and then to make it in a form become what we all this architecture today, concentrated more on the ornaments, colors, and design, to apply art in everyday usage and in architecture too, the usage of glass and iron in a different geometry made it to look outstanding and likable.

Antoni Gaudi, Otta Wagner, Joseph Maria Olbrich, and Paul Hanker are a few of the greatest art nouveau architects in history.

art nouveau architecture
I

Works to look at

CastaBatllo, Barcelona

It is more of an art rather than architecture with its amazing design concept and usage of iron mixed with glass in a very creative way you could imagine CastaBatllo is a heavenly treat for the eyes and it represents the true art nouveau architecture, the work of Antoni Gaudi is still a mystery for many of the architects.

Albert Street, Riga

It is another great place of art nouveau architecture for its royal look and the decorated sones made it look more stylish and artistic than architecture, the ornamental architecture in Albert Street made it one of the most recognizable places for art and architecture all over the world.

The secession building, Vienna

It is one of the most creative and yet simple architecture I’ve ever seen, the usage of golden flower ornament colors with bright white made it look more like jewelry rather than architecture, the exhibition hall is more of a boxed paradise with bricks colored white.

Every piece of art is a form of philosophy, idea, and purpose but art nouveau is just art and design, to make people smile and to transfer joy into them.

Categories
Articles

Victorian Architecture: facts and Philosophy

Victorian Architecture: facts and Philosophy

If we go through the history of Great Britain there are some architectural styles that made a great impact on the history of Britain and the world itself, like the Georgian architecture which came after kings of Britain George I, II  and II, the Victorian style came after the very famous Queen Victoria.

England had great taste and always held their royalty in anything that resembled Britain, Victorian architecture is royal in itself, the architecture is a cocktail of many forms and styles around the Western countries and influenced various architectural philosophies from Romanesque to Georgian.

From the period of mid 18th century to the 19th and above the Victorians did great artwork and also reshaped the buildings of England into something wonderful, the Victorian style refers to the architecture that was constructed during the 18th to 19th century, it had most of the Georgian architectural features like symmetry and box-shaped structure.

Victorian architecture is more of a restoration of its previous architectural styles and had a response to remodeling it, the usage of advanced technology and steel made the Victorian style stand against all other architectures at the time, it created stunning visuals and even today anybody will get awestruck while seeing the Victorian-style buildings.

Architecture Philosophy

The usage of iron in architecture was something new in the Victorian era and it made a clear impact on people but most of the Victorian architecture is either public, educational, or official buildings, Victorian style seems more royal than any other architecture at the time even Georgian seemed very simple while comparing to the mighty Victorian architecture.

The iron made Victorian stronger and wider with more elements of Georgian it created something new with fewer bricks and stunning visuals, the geometry played a very important role, though Victorian influenced various architectural styles it had its own characteristics like columns, bay windows, turrets, dormers and cornices which made it unique in style and design.

victorian architecture

Like Georgian, a Victorian architectural style emerged from England but as people started to move around the world the architecture too moved along with architects of England to the world like the United States, Australia, and Italy, for the mighty and stunning visuals of Victorian-style the world soon adapted to Victorian while constructing important buildings like educational and official buildings.

Some core purpose of the Victorian era was to reestablish the former architecture, most of the churches were reconstructed and restored during the Victorian era which created a great impact on Victorian architecture in churches and palaces.

Works to look at

victorian architecture

Victorian played a very important role in the history of architecture and most of the amazing works are made on the red carpet of England London itself if you ever go to London you get amazed by a lot of things around London and the Palace of Westminster “ the house of the lord” will surely amaze you, it is one of the most beautiful works done in the Victorian style, Augustus Pugin takes all the credit for being the architect and also an admirer of both gothic and Victorian architectural style.

Royal Albert Hall, the Victorian School of Art and Science, the Gilbert Scott Building (University of Glasgow), and Balmoral Castle are other wonderful works of Victorian architecture.

Categories
Articles

Georgian Architecture: facts and philosophy

Georgian Architecture: facts and philosophy

Every piece of architecture ever created follow an ideology that resembles its purpose to be served, some form of architecture served a religious purpose, some for political, and some were made out of pure art and nothing more but every piece of architecture also stood as an identity of time and period, Georgian architecture is one such architecture which resembles the time and being the only true identity of art.

Georgian architectural style is a bit different when compared to all the other architectures of the world, it is not composed or formed as a single architecture, what we and the architects of the world call Georgian is the time and the architecture which were built during the period of 17 to the mid 18th century.

Rome and Greece are the two major pillars in the formation of the Georgian style, the architectural style was used more in Europe as usual, and in American countries too, the simplest style of Georgian architecture made it adapt too quickly, and in the end of the 18th century, almost the entire western countries were adapted to the Georgian architectural style.

Architecture Philosophy

Britain and America acted as the two major places where the Georgian architectural style was more popular than anywhere in the world, the tall and large windows which let the natural light inside, and the high ceiling and wider open space inside are the two major characteristics of the Georgian style.

The architecture became famous for its symmetry, balance, and proportion, the geometry played a wide role in constructing Georgian architecture which made it look more classical and stylish at the same time, the pattern rectangular in shape with larger use of bricks made it simple looking and budget architecture too.

The core decoration of the Georgian style is the usage of bricks and stones in the right place in the right order, even the raw bricks acted as a design concept of the Georgian architecture, American woods are also used in place of bricks which is merely for their environmental purpose, not just houses churches, public buildings, and colonial houses are major construction of the Georgian architectural style.

Like the name resembles the Georgian is kind of royal, classical, and yet simple in form, entrance, roofs, and doors were given more importance than any other part of the architecture and it worked well with people of classical styles.

georgian architecture

Bricks, stones, and stucco were the core materials used in the construction of the Georgian style but woods were also used in some parts of the world, Georgian architecture is complete more with bricks than woods or stones.

The name and style of Georgian architecture changed according to the time, in the early 19th century it was called colonial revival architecture in America, by the 20th century it was called as neo-Georgian architecture, and then Georgian revival architecture in Great Britain.

Works to look at

Strawberry Hill and Marble Hill in Twickenham, no 13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields in London, Royal Exchange in Dublin, and Circus Bath are some of the fine buildings constructed in the Georgian architectural style.

georgian architecture