ROMAN EMPIRE FALLS AND DECLINES
- The roman empire was divided into two parts in 395 CE, the eastern and western roman empires.
- The western empire fell in 476 CE, but the eastern empire continued to grow.
The fall of the western Roman empire saw the eastern empire convert to Christianity. All previous religious buildings were destroyed between the 5th century and the 15th century. However, more churches and Christian buildings were built during the middle ages. BYZANTINE
Byzantine architecture was strongly associated with Christianity in the 6th century. The vast majority of buildings built during that era have some religious connotation. The Great Palace of Constantinople is the most famous building. It was a citadel that was fortified with many imperial palaces, military buildings, and about thirty churches. Due to the rise of charity and change in religion, there was a need for buildings such as hospitals, hospices, orphanages, etc. Roads were altered to link different religious buildings. Stone is used widely, particularly the one that was expelled from the oldest buildings. This is either because it is cheaper or because of its speed in construction.
The Hagia Sophia is one of the most outstanding examples of architecture from that era. It is a cube with a dome on its top. This is symbolic of earth being covered by heavens. It is the combination the central plan of Roman buildings with the dome, and the Roman basilicas. Cracks began to appear during the construction of the dome and were strengthened with a buttress.
It was designed to create an interior that would reflect a vision of heaven, which is as far as possible from the daily world. It was created by mosaics that covered the domes with dim, trembling light.
Due to the military structure, existing cities were reduced due to the fact that war tactics and lifestyles had evolved to be more defensive. Justinian, an emperor, began a program to reinforce the cities. He restored the old walls and added a lot of fortified centres. It is the passage between the city and the military fortification.
PREROMANESQUE
The old political system of loyalty to a distant government was replaced by a pyramidal system in which territories are divided and managed by different people. Castles were built for those who controlled the lands.
- THE LOMARDS (6th-8th centuries): While the lombards had better knowledge of goldsmithing, their architecture was very similar to that of the byzantines.
- THE VISCOOTHS (7th-8th centuries): Most of the architecture of the visigoths is made of stone.
- CAROLINGIAN EPIRE (in the 9th century): To bring back classical roman architecture and to integrate culture across Europe, they built large numbers of monasteries in this area. It was the first time that monumental buildings like palaces, cathedrals, and monasteries were rebuilt. The Palace of Aachen, with its Palatine chapel, is one of the most notable. It combines Roman models with Paleo Christian and Byzantine influences with opulent materials.
- THE SAXONS (11th-10th centuries): They were inspired by Roman basilicas to build religious buildings like abbeys or cathedrals. This architecture features tribunes and galleries, along with the alternation between supports (pillars or columns). They anticipate Romanesque solutions in this way.
ISLAMIC
The Iberian Peninsula was home to a lot of Islamic culture and architecture between the 8th century and the 15th century. Today, fortresses still have distinctive towers. Towers can be used as a defensive element or to provide views over the landscape. The garden designer will create water routes and introduce aromatic plants.
Islamic architecture produces new architectural types
For religious and hygienic reasons, such as mosques or baths.
Decorated items create an atmosphere
Through the use of light and color. The repetition of geometric motifs is the basis for decorative motifs. Techniques like plaster and ceramics are used.
ROMANESQUE (11th-12th Century)
Romanesque architecture is strongly tied to religion. Romanesque structures are usually large in size. The most common material used for construction is stone. On the entrance, there are often roman arches or pilars.
A wealth of sculptures and art pieces are loaded with symbolism.
Because of the fear of being invaded, villages and palaces were transformed into fortresses and castles with defense walls around them.
GOTHIC (12th-15th Century Centur)
They began to understand how vertical loads are transmitted and how suspended structures can be supported in gothic architecture. There are two types of structures.
- CATHEDRALS Cathedrals were used to test new architectural elements such as pointed arches or ribbed vaults. The stone structure of the ashlars was replaced by lighter materials in panels, above the vaults, and in the facades (stained-glass windows) on the roofs. External shoring systems (buttresses), are used to support the arches of central naves. There is also a system for stabilizing the structure with pinnacles or needles. This increases the verticality. Most decorations are either very fine frescoes on stone or altarpieces with religious motifs, starry skys and sometimes fake brick or stone. In order to be more convincing in its educational purposes, sculpture returns to naturalistic realism.
- CIVIL BUILDINGS: Civil buildings were a manifestation of the new burgeois social classes, including town halls, universities and bastions. These places provided a safe environment where people could perform important tasks. In cities that are growing in economic and political autonomy, city councils can also be built. As in Bruges. This is an expression of Brabantine Gothic. It was built in mid-15 century. Due to the many pinnacles and niches that are decorated with saints, representatives of the local nobility, and aristocracy, it looks almost like a reliquary made in stone.
RENAISSANCE (15th-16th century)
Following a major crisis in the church, people began to think independently of religion and start thinking about God as an outsider. They also started thinking about themselves and discovering the beauty and humanity of humans.
- Filippo Brunelleschi. He is the man who invented the laws of prespective using mathematics. He stated that Architecture was a mathematical science that works with spatial units. He won a contest to design a dome without shoring in 1418. It was completed in 16 years. It was the largest dome this size built since antiquity (45m [inner diameter]x114 [maximum exterior height]). This recalls the Pantheon’s challenge. The Hospital of Innocents was the first Renaissance building to use the system of proportions: the distance between columns is equal in height and depth of the gallery. This creates cubic spaces.
- Leon Battista Alberti – He created works in Florence and Rimini, as well as other cities. The buildings have a lot of expressive intentions and subtle formal resources that are oriented towards proportion. This is Architecture’s essence. The Malatestian Temple is a remodelling of a Gothic cathedral with all its proportions and classical languages. The Malatestian Temple is a remodelling of a Gothic Church with all its proportions and classic languages.
- Mannerism : This was the key to creating a new style of architecture. There were many variations of this style.
- Andrea Palladio – he designed all of his structures using numerical proportions. He is well-known for creating and designing villas that look like antient temples by using domes and other elements. To make them attractive and look like classical temples, he uses simmetry and other mathematical techniques.
- Michelangelo – He is the best example of the transition from renaissance to mannerism. He likes to combine curves and straight structures, and he created trapezoidal space which reinforces the axis on the great staircase. The trapeze and the oval are surrounded by an oval. The oval is being replaced by Mannerists.
BARQUE (17th-18th Centuries)
This era’s art is propaganda for the monarchy, the aristocracy, and the church. It glorifies the power these social classes, and it trice extract maximum space from every building. The baroque is an attempt to free space from the constraints of the elementary static treatises. These were the most significant artists:
- Gian Lorenzo Berini: He worked frequently with popes and created many works for them.
- Francesco Borromini : His works were based on simple geometric figures such as triangles, circles, and others. The buildings were also centered in ellypses.
- Rococo is an artistic fashion that was born in French courtly settings. It is distinguished by the superficiality and frivolity of decorations that are faithful to themselves with the goal of surprising and ostentation.
NEOCLASSICISM (18th-19th Centuries)
The baroque was saturated and there was a drastic change in the types of structures. It was the time when the truth and the nature of people were expressed. It tried to express the structural effect over the visual effect.
19TH CENTURY
Rejecting the new industrial spirit that created alienation and despair, a desire to escape reality and a need for past times rose, giving rise to historicalism (Neo-Gothic …)) and exoticism(Neo-Arabic , Neo-Indian , Neochinese _ or a combination of styles (Eclecticism).
20TH CENTURY
This movement attempts to simplify structures. It uses curves and 2-dimensional shapes, with simple geometric forms. There is little detail and very little colour variation. There are many types of movements, such as:
- Modernisme : Modernism was born in Catalonia between the 19th and 20th centuries.
- Expressionism: Expressionist architecture uses expression to distort the rational form in order to express the spirit.
- Cubism – Eliminate any divisions between exterior and interior
- Futurism – Technology ofmachines: The horizontal and oblique lines, which express speed and movement, play an important role
- Constructivism – The end result was an architecture that was simple, with geometric shapes and pure lines, and shared spaces. It made equal use of light and low materials, reflecting communist ideology.
- Neoplasticism : This is a translation of the concept into an orthogonal composition which can be extended to infinite, using straight lines, planes and pure colours, in search for a balance between matter and essence.
- Modernism Abstract aesthetics were translated in Germany into rationalism. They sought to achieve functionality, industrialisation and seriality through simple volumes. The MODERN MOVEMENT was created.
- Contemporary Architecture – One of the most prominent aspects of the 1950s/60s was the need to compare oneself with the changes brought about by the Modern Movement masters: confronted with their immense contribution, the dichotomy of continuity or revision is apparent.