Rachael's Blog: April 2014

Thursday, April 24, 2014

American Colonial

For the American period, I was in intrigued by the colonial style. The American colonies were built and established on fresh land and had to be built from the ground up. That being said, materials were scarce and had to be imported. Once resources became more accessibl, the Colonial or Early American style was created and ranged from 1565-1776.

I found the earlier homes and new establishment of towns the most interesting. The homes that were built during this time were very plain with straight lines and little detail, it was a very simple design with a slight European twist. Below are images of colonial homes during this era. The first image displays the common first home of an American and the second image shows how homes evolved into actual structures.

17th century home above.

18th century home above.

As for today's current design, the colonial style is commonly used today. It is a well known style and is shown in many modern day homes, as seen in the images below. These images show the classic design of the colonial period and how it is still used in current applications of design.

For the American period I decided to view Jessica and Lindsey's blogs. Jessica talked about the different types of colonial period from Dutch to French to German, etc. I found it very interesting and learned a little more from each set design. Lindsey also focused on the differnt reigons of colonial style. Both blogs discussed the colonial style from all reigons of European countries which was different from what I talked about, overall I found both blogs very imformational.

References

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

English Renaissance

The English Renaissance consisted of three eras, the early, middle and late renaissance. For my post I will be discussing the middle renaissance and how this period brought newer thoughts on design and new design styles. There was the introduction of William and Mary, Queen Anne, and four main designers: Chippendale, Adam, Hepplewhite, and Sheraton.

The style that was the most interesting was the Queen Anne design. This was the time of social living, so all design and furniture emphasized the use of parlors and sitting rooms. With this style the use of Chinese design and mahogany wood was very common. Queen Anne brought back the curved lines and the style of the cabriole leg, which was used in all types of furniture.

This is an Queen Anne winged chair with the cabriole leg.

This is a modern day version of the Queen Anne style.

Chippendale was a very known designer during this period of time and was very influential in his furniture designs. Some of these styles are displayed below, as he was most known for his different style of chairs. Chippendale's original designs are continuely used in current applications today.

Above is a Chippendale chair with the gothic style being emphasized.

Above is a modern day design which used CHippendale's chinese style chairs.

For the English Renaissance I viewed Katie and Kristina P's blogs. Both were very interesting and gave great knowledge about the English Renaissance era. Katie discussed the late Renaissance and how it was influential in its design. I learned more about the Adam style from her blog and glad she decided to discuss it since I did not in my blog. Kristina talked about the Queen Anne period, like I did, it was refreshing to read hers because she covered many thing that I did not cover, she went in more depth over the furniture. Both blogs were overall very interesting and each taught me something I didn't know before about the English Renaissance.

References

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

French Neoclassical

The French period had many different design elements to its overall time period. The period that was the most interesting was the French Neoclassical style. The Neoclassical style evolved from the time of 1760-1789. This was the time that architecture began to evolve once again. Architecture began to stray away from those of secular form and now used more rectangular forms. The curves of the Baroque began to fall away during this period and the use of straight lines and box shapes were more commonly placed throughout the architecture.

One of my favorite buildings during this time is the Petit Trianon. As we went over this structure in class, I grew a great admiration of the overall use of architecture and design within this piece of architecture. The most interesting part of this structure was the use of lines and rectangular shapes rather than curves, which was then the most common form of design in architecture. The colors of this period were more subdued and masculine; there was much use of gold, deep reds, as well as whites and neutrals. Below are images of the grand structure.

For current and modern day applications of the French Neoclassical style, one can see this style almost everywhere. See images below. All images display the use of rectangluar shapes and straight lines versus the curves and round shapes of past French periods.

For the French period I chose to view Flor and Dana's blogs. Flor also discussed the Neoclassical period and how it was inspired by the greeks. She also showed how the neoclassical period had less ornamentation and more austere than past periods of French design. In Dana's blog she discussed the Regency period and how it was a short period with a huge impact on design. During this period she discussed the loss of symmetry and the use of the cabriole leg in furniture. Overall, I learned new things from each period of French design.

E.C.

Below is a video of neoclassical design. I like this video because it has a slide of images that display the use of lines, squares, and rectangles that were used in this period. It gives a great sense of the general French Neoclassic period.

References