3 Unit 3 History of Architecture: from Renaissance

to Modern Architecture

3.1Pretext exercises

3.1.1Warming – up

1)Did you decide to be an architect?

2)Are you sure in the choice of your future job?

3)What does the word “Renaissance” mean?

4)In what country did this style originate?

3.1.2Read the words. Pay attention to the letters in italics

3.1.4 Read the following verbs. Mind their meaning. Pay attention to the principal forms

3.1.5 Find proper Russian words with the same roots as the following English words:

style, classical, dominant, to characterize, order, arch, symmetrical, harmony, composition, proportion, human, perspective, expression, mass, interior, exterior, element, to formulate, column, portion, sphere, manner, facade, plan, altar, diameter, motif

3.1.6 Choose the proper English word:

3.1.7 Find English equivalents for the following Russian words:

A непосредственный, строгий, ребристый, развиваться, вызывать, происходить, предполагать, наследовать, разрушать, поддерживать

В to assume, to encourage, ribbed, to demolish, to derive, immediate, to succeed, to evolve, austere, to cause

3.1.8 Form all possible word combinations:

3.1.9 Read the following word combinations and translate them into Russian:

rebirth of classical art; to derive from two sources; ancient classical buildings; to use classical orders; proportions of the human body; pictorial device of perspective; definition of architectural space; immediate and full comprehension; well–organized urban spaces; great skill; interior of buildings; linear perspective; basic element; fluted pilasters; unribbed vaults; the austere façade; the highest degree of perfection; Christian world

3.2 You are taking part in a conference “The Renaissance Art”. Read the text and choose necessary information for your report

Text 3 A

The Renaissance

This architectural style developed in early 15th century Italy during the rebirth of classical art and learning. It succeeded the Gothic as the style dominant in all of Europe after the mid 16th century into classicism. Knowledge of the classical style in architecture was derived during the Renaissance from two sources: the ancient classical buildings, particularly in Italy but also in France and Spain and the treatise “De architectura” by the Roman architect Vitruvius. Initially it was characterized by the use of the classical orders, round arches, and symmetrical composition.

The Renaissance architects found a harmony between the proportions of the

human body and those of their architecture. There was even a relationship between

architectural proportions and the Renaissance pictorial device of perspective.

The concern of these architects for proportion caused that clear, measured

expression and definition of architectural space and mass that differentiates the

Renaissance style from the Gothic and encourages in the spectator an immediate and

full comprehension of the building.

Churches, palaces, gardens, and well-organized open, urban spaces are the

architectural works most often associated with this time. Great skill was expressed in

ordering the interior of buildings, frequently using the same motifs as had been

traditionally associated with the exterior.

Filippo Brune Heschi (1377-1446) is said to have created the Renaissance. In the early 15th century he formulated linear perspective, which was to become a basic element of Renaissance art. His basic vocabulary – fluted pilasters carrying entablatures, columns supporting arches, unribbed vaults which are portions of the surface of a sphere – appears in his brilliant work, Ospedade degli Innocenti (1419-51) in France. It was the first building in the Renaissance manner.

The austere Tuscan Doric façade of Donato Bramante’s (1444-1514) Tempietto San Pietro in Montorio (1502) symbolized the beginning of the early 16th century High Renaissance or Cinquecento in Rome. The Italian Renaissance is assumed to have achieved the highest degree of perfection at that time. In 1505 Pope Julius II decided to demolish Old St. Peter’s and to build St. Peter’s Cathedral, the work of many architects, beginning with Bramante, whose ground plan was later changed from a Greek cross to a Latin cross. St. Peter’s Cathedral is the largest church in the high Christian world. It has 29 altars in addition to the high altar, interior length 187 m., width at front, 26,5 m., length of transept, 137 m. The dome (diameter, 42 m., height, 123 m. to the top of the lantern) was built by Michelangelo.

3.3 Exercises to the text

3.3.1 Find the false sentences using the information from the text. Correct

them:

1)The Renaissance is assumed to have reinitiated classical details.

2)The Renaissance succeeded the Baroque.

3)The Renaissance style was initially characterized by the use of asymmetrical composition.

4)Great skill of the Renaissance architects was expressed in ordering the interior of

buildings.

5)It is stated that Bramante was the initiator of the Renaissance.

6)It was Filippo Brunelleschi who formulated linear perspective.

7)St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome is assumed to represent the High Renaissance.

3.3.2Choose the right words and complete the following sentences:

1)The Renaissance developed in…

a)France

b)Italy

c)Russia

2)The treatise “De architectura” was a handbook of the … architects.

a)Renaissance

b)Baroque

c)Gothic

3)The Renaissance is characterized by measured expression and definition of…

a)pointed arches

b)architectural space

c)curved surfaces

4)Linear perspective was formulated in the early … century.

a)14th

b)15th

c)16th

5)The plans for St. Peter’s Cathedral were prepared by…

a)Brunelleschi

b)Novi

c)Bramante

3.3.3Answer the following questions:

1)When and where did the Renaissance begin?

2)What were the main sources of knowledge of the classical style in architecture?

3)What was the basic element of Renaissance art?

4)Who was the first to formulate and show the Renaissance system of perspective?

5)What was the first building in the Renaissance manner?

6)What is the largest Church in the Christian world?

7)What phase of the Renaissance does the St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome represent?

3.3.4Work in pairs. Interview your partner as an expert in Renaissance

architecture

3.4. Read the text and tell about the main features of the Baroque and Rococo. Fill in the chart below

Text 3 B

Baroque and Rococo

Baroque and late Baroque, or Rococo, are terms applied to European art of the period from the early 17th century to the mid 18th century.

The word “baroque” was derived from the Italian word “baroque”. This word

also meant irregular or imperfect form, especially with reference to pearl.

The Baroque style is characterized by spatially complex compositions, interpenetration of oval spaces, curved surfaces and remarkable use of decoration broken pediments, paired or coupled columns or pilasters. The Baroque art was essentially concerned with vivid colours, hidden light sources, luxurious materials and elaborate, contrasting surface textures. There was a tremendous richness of motifsfestoons of flowers and fruits, masks, scrolls, wreaths and weapons. During the Baroque

period, architecture, painting and sculpture were integrated into decorative ensembles. Architects used sculpture to support the members of a building, painters decorated the walls and vaults of churches with false architectural perspectives, sculptors introduced colour in their works in the spirit of a painter.

The Baroque rapidly developed into two separate forms: the strongly Roman

Catholic counties (Italy, Spain, Portugal, Flanders, Bohemia, Southern Germany,

Australia and Poland) tended toward freer and more active architectural forms and

surfaces; in Protestant regions (England, the Netherlands and the remainder of Northern

Europe) architecture was more restrained and developed a quiet monumentality

impressive in its refinement.

The greatest works of this style are Hardouin - Mansart's Dome des Invalides, Paris; the church of Santa Susanna, Versailles; National Palace in Madrid; Royal Palace at Caserta.

The Rococo is assumed to have been the late phase of the Baroque, primarily French in origin. The style was first inspired by the shell - encrusted artificial fountains and grottoes at Versailles. This style refined the robust architecture of the 17th century to suit elegant 18th century tastes. Vivid colours were replaced by pastel shades; diffuse light flooded the building volume; violent surface relief was replaced by smooth flowing masses with emphasis only at isolated points. One can find intermingling of shells, C - and S - scrolls, rocks, seaweed, ribbons and carving and irregular acanthus foliation. Churches and palaces still demonstrated an integration of the three arts, but the building structure was lightened to render interiors graceful and ethereal. Rococo architects reduced column size to a minimum. In churches, the ceilings of side aisles were raised to the height of the nave ceiling unify the space from wall to wall.

The finest examples of the Rococo style are Church of Carmine, Turin, Italy

(1732); Pilgrimage Church, Steinhausen, near Biberach, Germany (1728); Saint -

Jacques, Luneville, France (1730).

Notes to the text

obstacle - препятствие pearl - жемчуг

interpenetration - взаимопроникновение vivid - яркий

hidden - скрытый

elaborate - тщательно разработанный restrained - сдержанный

refinement - утонченность wreaths - венки

scrolls - завитки intermingling - переплетение seaweed - морские водоросли ribbons – ленты

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2

3.4.1 Choose the sentences which correspond to the contents of the text:

1) Baroque is a term applied to European Art of the early 15th century.

2)The word “baroque” was used to describe an irregular or imperfectly shaped pearl only.

3)The Baroque style was concerned with bright colours, hidden light sources and contrasting surface textures.

4)Cheap materials were used during the Baroque period.

5)The Rococo is considered to be the late phase of the Baroque.

6)The Rococo style is assumed to have appeared in France.

7)During the Rococo period there was no more integration of architecture, painting and sculpture.

3.4.2Work in pairs. Interview your partner as an expert in Baroque and Rococo architecture. Use the following words and expressions:

European art; spatially complex compositions; curved surfaces; broken pediments; paired columns; festoons; tremendous richness of motifs; to be integrated into decorative ensembles; vivid colours; hidden light sources; luxurious materials; refinement; a quiet monumentally; the late phase; French origin; to suit elegant tastes; pastel shades; smooth flowing masses; building structure; to reduce to a minimum; to be raised to the height.

3.5 Read the text to find answers to the questions

1 Why is the 19th America?

The Industrial Revolution, which introduced new materials and techniques, made the 19th century the time of the vast expansion of cities or urbanization in Europe and America. Then more buildings were constructed than in all previous ages added together. The total effect of all this on European towns and cities was, however, to replace the wonderful unity of the street by a chaotic miscellany of buildings, each asserting its own individuality.

2 What was the main aim of the architects during that period?

The role of the architect was merely confined to decorating the building's facades. Throughout Europe nearly every past style was re-examined and reused, but as the century wore on styles of the past were no longer imitated exactly, but were looked on as a quarry from which architects could extract different elements. Richness of form and picturesqueness of effect were the principal aim.

3 For what types of buildings were different styles chosen and why?

Styles began to be chosen not just for fashion but for their associative qualities: Roman for justice, Gothic for learning and churches, Byzantine mainly for churches, the Italian Renaissance for palaces and ministries, Greek for government, Venetian for commerce, Oriental for leisure, the Baroque for theatres and opera houses, Romanesque for public architecture. Nevertheless, the 19th century revival architecture was dominated by the Classic Revival, or Neoclassicism, and the Gothic Revival, or Neo - Gothic.

4 What are the main features of Neoclassicism?

The center of international Neoclassicism was Rome. The cradle of Italian antiquities, it provided the stage, but the leading actors in the Neoclassical play were French, German, or English. The finest works of this style were characterized by their grandeur of scale; strict geometric organization; simplicity of forms; Greek or Roman detail; dramatic use of columns; particularly to articulate interior spaces and create urban landscapes; and a preference for blank walls and the contrast of formal volumes and textures.

5 When and how did Art Nouvean develop?

A reaction against stylizations came nearer to the end of the century. It, too, was concerned with decoration more than construction and aimed at creating a style – especially a style of ornament – that owed nothing to the past. This style was known at the time under a variety of rubrics: Art Nouvean in France and Belgium; “modern style” in England; Jugendstil in Germany; Secessionsstil in Austria; “style Liberty” or “style floreale” in Italy; “modernisme” in Spain. Art Nouvean is characterized by organic and dynamic forms, curving design and whiplash lines. The curved line may be floral in origin (Belgium, France) or geometric (Scotland, Austria). This florid type of

architecture exploits craft skills, using coloured materials, grilles, balconies. Asymmetrical door – and window – frames, bow and horseshoe windows were also favoured. In the later phases of Art Nouvean, façade decoration was accompanied by a powerful treatment of the whole building.

3.6 Read the text and write the summary of it in Russian

Text 3 D

Modern Architecture

Modern architecture is the term universally applied to the style of building, which evolved a number of countries after the First World War as the International Style and which has culminated in the current design of glass, concrete and steel based on module construction presently being erected all over the world.

In the early 20th century an instinctive desire of architects to break away from the confusions and contrivances of the 19th century, and their efforts to introduce a style which responded to new social needs and exploited new materials led to the changed appearance of buildings; simple rectangular outlines; avoidance of symmetry; absence of applied ornament; flat roofs and white walls, resulting from the use of reinforced concrete, now the favorite material; large windows, which new structural techniques permitted, but which were encouraged also by the spirit of the times, which believed in opening up the interiors of buildings to light and air.

The development of the International Style was reinforced by two events: a

series of exhibitions at which architects from different countries saw and were

influenced by each other’s experiments and the formation of international organization

– The Congres Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne – through which ideas could be

exchanged and mutual support enjoyed. The dominant figure in modern architecture of

the time was Le Corbusier whose works became monuments of modern architecture.

Until the 1930s, Germany was the main center of new architecture because of

the presence there of another unifying institution, the Bauhaus, a college of design,

which became synonymous with modern teaching methods in architecture.

In the years after 1945 the emphasis was on town–planning and housing. This

was the era of new towns, vast housing estates. In matters of architectural style, if

became less a question of conflict between period revival and modern design than

between buildings designed for effect and those that aimed at the creation of a modern vernacular and a humane and harmonious environment.

The Modern Movement cannot be said to have had a clear historical end. It always exited concurrently with other ways of designing.

3.6.1Answer the following questions:

1)When and how did the modern art of building appear?

2)What events reinforced the development of the International Style?

3)Why was Germany the main center of new architecture?

4)What factors are there to the credit of modern architecture?

5)What are the main features of modern architecture?

3.6.2With your partner make up a dialogue about modern architecture of your native town

3.7 Summarize your knowledge of the question under consideration. Speak on different styles of architecture