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Architectural history
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This SourceArchitectural history is a discipline which records, studies and interprets architecture, its forms, purposes and evolution. Architecture has been observed and recorded since ancient times. In terms of the study of Western architecture study must begin in Mesopotamia at the founding of civilization. Often, architectural history is derived only from the Graeco-Roman period onwards, and when using this period as a starting point confines itself to a history of styles and formal changes. A typical starting point in this approach would begin with classical authors such as Herodotus, writing in the mid 5th century BC, and move through the periods of history using works such as Vitruvius' books rewritten and recorded by Palladio.
An architectural historian may interpret architecture from a wide variety of viewpoints. Like any other form of historical study, architectural history is subject to the limitations and potentialities of history as a discipline. The study of architectural history reflects the philosophies prevalent at any given time, the changes that can be traced across the many editions of Sir Banister Fletcher's popular book, first published in 1889 and still in print, is a case in point.
One major difference in the purpose of the history of architecture to history in other disciplinary groups is that this history is often used in the practice of contemporary architecture and its study influences what is thought to be good in a given age; in addition, understanding architectural history as a history which deals with the formal remains of the past - buildings - as a way of understanding the society and culture they represent can prove a useful and enriching approach when working as a contemporary architect or looking at ancient, modern and contemporary buildings as a user or visitor. They allow an architect or a non-professional to begin to consider a building or city as more than a visual phenomenon, and therefore to have a more fundamental and culturally inclusive approach to architecture than an approach based purely on taste.
The study of architectural history has developed mainly in the West and this has resulted in a detailed knowledge of Western architecture in its historical context, while Non-Western architecture is often studied with less regard to historical development. Western colonialism has played a part in determining how Non-Western architecture is viewed.
The Ancient world
Herodotus and Greek theory
Herodotus (c. 485 to 425 BC), a Greek historian, was born at Halicarnassus, Asia Minor. He traveled widely in Asia Minor and the Middle East, and in 443 BC joined the colony of Thurii, from where he visited Sicily and Lower Italy. On his travels, he collected material for his great narrative history, which gave a record of the wars between the Greeks and the Persians. Cicero (106 to 43 BC), the great Roman philosopher and stateman, credited Herodotus as "the father of history," for his written record of major events in Greek's long period of rule over the ancient world.Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder's Naturalis historia ("Natural History"), written in the 1st century AD, contains in Book 36 a dissertation on building stone with descriptions of important architectural works such as the Pyramids and the Cretan Labyrinth.Vitruvius
The Medieval World
Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles
The Italian Renaissance
Brunelleschi
Alberti
Palladio
The Age of Enlightenment
The application and use of terms and style names
Baroque, Moorish, Gothic, Plateresque, Hindoo etc.
The Grand Tour
Archeology
The 19th century
In the 19th century, architecture was understood as formal perspective, emphasizing the morphological characteristics of form, technique and materials. This period also saw the emergence of the individual architect, the amalgamation of whose conscious intentions would become the subject of artistic movements. In these respects, architectural history is a sub-discipline of art history that focuses on the historical evolution of principles and styles in the design of buildings and cities.
Pugin and Ruskin
Banister Fletcher and the comparative method
Arts and Crafts
The 20th century
Democratic architecture
Democratic architecture is based on social responsibility and a holistic view of human nature, and is by nature anth-authoritarian.This is precisely why democratic architecture cannot and must not ever be dogmatic or uniform. Creating architecture in a democratic spirit means :
- architecture is created with deep identification with and understanding of the user´s needs
- architecture resonates with the inherent qualities of the location
- architecture consistently appeals to human sensuality
- architects design buildings that reach out beyond themselves and offer identity to their surroundings, understood as the community, the users and the physical surroundings
Sigfried Giedion
Post-modern theories
In the 1960's Robert Venturi and others argued that the academic elitism of the modern movement had distanced architecture from communicating with the people it claimed to serve. Under the pressures of post-modern pluralism, recent theorists have tried to open architecture to a wide variety of new interpretations. New linguistic theories were popular in the mid-1990s and attempted to "read" architectural elements as an autonomous language, contributing to the ongoing Critical Theory project. The work of Hermeneutics constitutes another perspective on architectural history, and centres on the situational nature of architecture as understood phenomenological. Although both approaches identify architecture as a sort of language, they differ on the terms of reference; Critical Theory is largely self-referential, whilst Hermeneutics is contextual.Postmodern historical narratives attempt to address the issues of Western colonialism but the scope of the subject matter denies consensus among historians.
The current climate of opportunism can be seen as a reaction to both the metaphysics of the previous theories, as well as the advance into super modernity manifest in globalization, late capitalism and neo-liberal democracy. An increasing awareness of colonialism's influence has also encouraged a re-examination of architecture in previously colonized countries and seeks to liberate its history and practice from inappropriate Western doctrines. These and other aspects have influenced architecture values and its accompanying aspects within modern architecture which has laid the foundation for different schools of thought and architectural theory as well as different practice among individual architects.
Architecture timeline (dated events)
To find important architectural event(s) for any year in history, use the "search" box to enter: "#### in architecture", where #### is a year or decade, for example:
- 1700 in architecture (18th century to present, by year)
- 1690s in architecture (17th century and earlier, by decade)
- 23 BC in architecture ("BC" in capital letters)
Architecture and design
Architecture and design are allied and interdependent arts. Articulation is one form of this inderdependency between architecture and design.See also
References
Bibliography
- Francis Ching, Mark Jarzombek, Vikram Prakash, A Global History of Architecture, Wiley, 2006.
- Copplestone, Trewin. (ed). (1963). World architecture - An illustrated history. Hamlyn, London.
- Watkin, David (Sep 2005), A History of Western Architecture, Hali Publications, ISBN
- Nuttgens, Patrick (1983), The Story of Architecture, Prentice Hall, ISBN
- Curl, James Stevens A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. Second, Oxford University Press. ISBN.
Modernism
- Banham, Reyner, (1 Dec 1980) Theory and Design in the First Machine Age Architectural Press. ISBN
- Curtis, William J. R. (1987), Modern Architecture Since 1900, Phaidon Press, ISBN-X
- Frampton, Kenneth (1992). Modern Architecture, a critical history. Thames & Hudson- Third Edition. ISBN
- Jencks, Charles, (1993) Modern Movements in Architecture. Penguin Books Ltd - second edition. ISBN-X
- Pevsner, Nikolaus, (28 Mar 1991) Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius, Penguin Books Ltd. ISBN
- Rattenbury, Kester "This is Not Architecture: Architecture and the Media", Routledge. ISBN
External links
- http://www.teach-me-architecture.com/history-and-theory-in-architecture.html
- The Roman walls of Lugo. Past, present and future Unusual promotion of a technological strength
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Last updated on Thursday March 13, 2008 at 07:18:07 PDT (GMT -0700)
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