William Burges

William Burges was an English architect and designer who was born in 1827 and died in 1881.  He was considered to be one of the greatest Victorian art-architects. 

His aim as a designer was to move away for industrial and Neo-classic design and bring back a type of medieval England style.  For this reason he was considered to be one of the main artists of the Gothic Revival.  Burges took most of his influence from the Pre-Raphaelites and the Arts and Crafts movement.  His works are few in numbers when compared to other artists and designers , however they are very varied.

Burges most notable works are: 

Cardiff Castle

- the Cardiff Castle
- Castell Coch
- Gayhurst House
- Knightshays Court


Most of his designs today are completely original, in the sense that they have never been redesigned or altered.  They have also never been demolished.  Burges was not always successful.  He entered many competitions for cathedrals like the one at Lille and Colombo and lost them. 



William Burges did not only deal with architecture.  He also worked with metal, sculpture, jewelry and stained glass.  His work was many times greatly ignored however, the love for Victorian art, architecture and design has slowly been revived and in the later part of the 20th century, Burges' works have been better appreciated.

 





On the top left side we can see a picture of 19th century, Gothic Revival castle called Castell Coch.  The picture on the right and the picture on the bottom left sow the work Burges did for the interior of the building.  We can see his skill in working with stained glass and with sculpture.

 Burges's first major commission was the Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral, Cork.  The cathedral is very modest in size however it is very richly ornamented.  Burges drew designs for every sculpture in the building.  There were 1,260 sculptures.  He also drew sketches for the majority of the stained glass windows.  He also designed the mosaic pavement, the altar, the pulpit and the bishops throne. (Information taken from Wikipedia).

 These pictures show the inside and outside of the cathedral that Burges was commissioned to design.

Antoni Gaudi

Antoni Gaudi

Antoni Gaudi (1852 - 1926) was an architect from Spain who played a very important role in Catalan Modernism.  His works were usually marked by his passions in life and most of them can be found in Barcelona. 

Some of his works include his Magnum Opus and Sagrada Familia.  Gaudi was very diverse in skill.  He worked with many different materials like ceramics and stained glass.  Gaudi was extremely influenced by Neo-Gothic art. 







Gaudi's first project was to design the lampposts for Placa Reial in Barcelona and the unfinished Grossi newsstands.  He gained a lot of recognition when he was commissioned for the Casa Vicens.  In 1883 Gaudi was commissioned to build Barcelona a cathedral called the Sagrada Familia.  He changed the initial designs for the cathedral to his own designs.


La Sagrada Familia

For the 1888 World Fair, Gaudi presented a building that he designed for the Transatlantic company which led him to receive commissions from people and companies which were not only based in Spain but in many other European countries. (Information taken from http://www.tiendashop.com/copasgaudiTextIng.html)

At the beginning of the century, Gaudi began to shift to a more personal style. in 1900, Gaudi received an award for the best building of the year for his Casa Calvet.  Although most of his works and projects have been extremely successful, there have been some which were not and were stopped half way through.  For example, Park Guell which was an unsuccessful urbanization project.




Lamppost for Placa Reial

Gaudi was very inspired by the oriental arts.  He studied designers like John Ruskin and William Morris and was greatly influenced by them.  This influence can be seen in many of his works like in his Casa Vicens.


 

Rococo Design

Rococo design started during the early 18th century till around 1760's.  By the early 18th century, Italy was in trouble as it lost most of its power and lost its position as the European Cultural Leader to France.  During this time the Baroque style went out of fashion and the Rococo style took its place.
The Rococo style was a much lighter and delicate style in comparison to the Masculine and harsh Baroque style.

Rococo concert room of Sansoucci palace
in Potsdam, Germany
By Eduard Gaertner (1801-1877)

Baroque-styled room.

The Baroque interior style was developed by craftsmen and designers instead of architects.  Baroque interiors were considered extentions to the over all architecture of the building.  Designers would commission artists to design and sculpt the interior of a room and would not think about what the furniture would look like once placed in the room.

The Rococo interior style considered the interior and the furniture of a room as one element which would harmonize and tie the whole concept together.  Furniture was often custom made and freat though was given to the placing of the furniture.
Designes of this style were considered to bring joy and movement.  Rococo styled rooms usually made use of soft pastel colours and asymmetry to create movement.

During the Rococo period, trade with the far east had improved greatly and this influenced many designers. Oriental patterns and lacquerwork became more popular.

The Rococo style has influenced many designers today.  For example:

                                  D&G, Givenchy and Wes Gordon

Alexander McQueen Fall 2013

Renaissance Design

Renaissance design refers to the decorative arts which mainly occurred in Italy during the mid- 14th century and lasting up until the late- 16th century.
Italy was the nation that founded the Renaissance movement that revolutionised Europe.  Along with this movement came a new set of architectural principles.  Medieval and gothic styles were neglected and a more classical style was adopted.  Cities in Italy like Florence, Venice, Rome and so on, were heavily influenced by this new style and began to renovate older buildings.  The Renaissance movement not only brought a change in architecture but also in learning.  Books became more popular because of the invention of the printing press.

Printing Press by Johannes Guttenberg (1568)

The product that was most in demand during this period was the the large Marriage chests (cassoni).  They were the most common features found in Italian homes.  Although they were expensive, they were bought by all types of social classes.  They were made with gesso ad wood and were often dark and elaborate in design.  Their design depended on the persons social class status as wealthier people bought more elaborate ones than those who had less money.

Renaissance 'Cassone' (marriage chest) from Florence
done in gilded wood.

Renaissance furniture was usually done in wood which was either walnut or willow and were usually rich in style.  From the beginning of the renaissance there was a big change in the design of furniture.  Due to the great growth in wealth and powerful bourgeoisie the building of houses became more elaborate and grand and so good and expensive furniture was in high demand.  Like the Romans, the purpose of furniture was subordinate to its form.  Furniture from the Italian Renaissance was often restraint to beautiful, simple, yet highly decorative designs carved in wood. 

A bench coming from the Italian renaissance period.

The furniture of this time was usually rather grotesque and often having old-looking, monster like figures to make the piece of furniture look more dramatic and interesting.  Caryatids also became very popular at the time especially with those families which were richer than the majority.  They were usually made out of marble and used in the dining room, attached to the legs of the dining room table.  Chairs at the time were used as a sign of wealth.  The wealthier families had them and were usually very elaborated and grand.  The lower class usually could only afford three legged stools or chairs with and X-shaped back.

Chair from the italian renaissance.

Wooden chair taken from the Italian renaissance.

                 

It is very clear that today we are still very influenced in our designs by the renaissance.  Some of these influences include:

1) High Ceilings
2) Ceiling Details
3) Ornate Floors
4) Patterned Walls
5) Mural Fresco Paintings
6) Four-Poster Beds
7) The Use Of Silk

Ancient Greek design

Greek art was popular from around 750 BC till about 180 BC.  It is divided into three main periods; The Archaic period (c 750 BC - 480 BC), the Classical period (c 480 BC - 300 BC) and The Hellenistic  period (c 300 BC - 180 BC).

The arts of ancient Greece have influenced many cultures in many different countries all over the world especially when it came to sculpture and architecture.  For example, because of the Greek influence on central Asia and India, Greco-Buddhist art became very popular . (Example taken from Wikipedia)

Exampl of Greco-Buddhist art
coming from
Gandhara in Pakistan.

Example of Greco-Buddhist art coming from
Gandhara in Pakistan.

Most of the time in Greco-Buddhist art, the main theme is the worship of the buddha.  This is clearly shown in the two examples above.  The buddha is the central figure and its worshipers surround him.

Architecture:

Very little architecture from the Archaic and Early Classical periods no longer remains because buildings during this time were built from wood or mud-brick.  Most of our knowledge of Greek architecture come fro the late Classical, Helenistic and Roman periods, since the Romans copied Greek architecture a lot. 

(Picture 3) The Parthenon 

The Parthenon, as shown in picture 3, is one of the few surviving buildings we have today that come from the Ancient Greek period.  The buildings of this period were usually cube shaped and were most of the time made from limestone which greek has an abundance of.  Marble was also used in the Parthenon however it was not usually used as it was a very expensive material.  

Styles of architecture:

There were three main styles of greek architecture. The Doric style was mainly used in mainland Greece and then spread to the greek colonies in Itlay.  The Ionic style was used on the regions of Ionia. The Doric style was more formal whilst the Ionic style was more relaxed and decorative.  The Corinthian style was a later development of the Ionic style and was by far the most decorative.  

Most of the well known surviving greek buildings use the Doric style.  The Ionic became dominant during the Helenistic period.  

The three different styles found in Greek architecture.

Today there is still a substantial amount of Greek influence in architecture.  

The White House, Washington D.C

The Acropolis inAthens.

Taking the White House as an example, we can see a great greek influence in the architecture of the building.  The White House in Washington DC, uses Doric styled columns taking its influence from The Acropolis temple in Athens. 

Ancient Egyptian Design

Ancient Egyptian design is made up of all the art works produced by the civilisation of Ancient Egypt that lived between 5000 BCE to 300 AD.  Ancient Egyptian design was both stylised and symbolic as most of the art from this period that has been discovered came from tombs.  The most common furniture piece the Egyptians had in their homes was the four-legged stool covered in leather or wool.

Throne of Tutankhamun.

There was little outside influence to Ancient Egyptian design.

The throne of Heterpheres.

Ancient Egyptian culture was one which was obsessed with the afterlife.  Wealthy egyptians would commission had crafted pieces to accompany them when they died.  These furniture pieces included basic stools, chairs, tables, storage chests and beds.

Storage chests were also very common.  The chests of the wealthy families were very decorative and were made of expensive materials like wood and  ivory.

Characteristics of Ancient Egyptian design:

- Straight backs.
- Raised feet on pedestals.
- Animal feet pointed in the same direction.
- Wood imported from the Mediterranean, North African countries and West Asian countries.
- Gold was also used.
- Highly decorated.
- Embellished with religious or mythological symbols.

Ancient Egyptian design influenced Greek and Roman design greatly.  Today we also can see the Ancient Egyptian influences.

Klismos Chair 

This is a chair from the Ancient Greek period found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.  The back of the chair is now slightly inclined unlike those chairs of the Ancient Egyptian period.  However, the chair is highly decorated, and made out of wood like those found in the Ancient Egyptian period.

Christian Dior Show

Badgley Mischka Show 

The Arts and Crafts Movement

The Arts and Crafts movement was international design that initially developed in England between 1860 and 1910 and held its influence till 1930.  In the United States this style was knows as Mission Style.  It was mainly inspired by John Ruskin and William Morris.  This movement represented a new appreciation for the decorative arts.  During this time the idea of craftsmanship had been taken over by the industrial revolution and mass production took over.

In 1816, the British poet and designer, William Morris, founded an interior decorator and manufacturing firm called Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and company which aimed at reviving the spirit and quality of medieval craftsmanship.  Morris together with his colleagues produced handcrafted goods.  Many designers today have been greatly influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement and the works of William Morris. (Taken from http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/graphic_designers/william_morris.html)

Wallpaper by William Morris

By 1880 the Arts and Crafts movement had spread to a new generation.  In 1882 a guild for craftsmen was created which together with several other groups,  revived the art of craftsmanship and hand printing. 

By 1890, the movement had spread to many other countries.  As the Arts and Crafts movement spread, it grew closer and closer to many other movements happening at the time especially with Art Nouveau.

Aswell as being closely related with Art Nouveau, the Arts and Crafts movement has a substantial amount of Byzantine influence.

Recently I was on holiday in Venice and as I began to look around I could clearly see influences of the Arts and Crafts movement together with Byzantine influences.  All the local boutiques sold goods which were hand made and  highly decorated.  I could see influences in the architecture of the buildings especially around the windows of the buildings, and also in the street furniture.  From the fonts used on signs in the streets to the lamp posts and benches, the Arts and Crafts movement can be clearly seen.

Arts and Crafts influence on the street furniture in venice.

Byzantine influence on architecture in Venice.

Arts and Crafts influence on hand made goods sold in  small boutique shops in Venice.