Greene and Greene are renowned for their contribution to the arts and crafts evolution of architecture and have created a “native California” style that is widely recognized. Their work has influenced the high-arts aesthetics of the American Art and Crafts Movement to this day.
Charles and Henry Greene were two brothers whose love for tools, materials and craftsmanship flourished into one of the most well known architectural forces of the 20th century. In high school, the two delved into carpentry and metalworking Due to their early training at the prestigious MIT in Boston they were able to join several prominent architecture firms in Boston, some of which upheld the noted Henry Hobson Richardson principles of design. They eventually ended up in Pasadena where they would open their own architectural practice in 1894. The office of Greene and Greene hit its peak productivity during 1902-1910 with residential design being the main focus. They had a flare for the decorative arts and designed their furniture in a more ergonomic way rather than most furiniture being done during that time. (“Greene and Greene Homes”)
When Charles Greene married, he took a four month honeymoon to Europe where he traveled through England and Scotland, his inspiration for the English Arts and Crafts movement was ignited. In 1903, Greene and Greene began developing ways to offer integrated design services for their clients, which would mean they would have a more hands on approach in overseeing the design and construction of the furniture and various interior design appointments. They managed to accomplish 150 projects during their peak years. Although they proved to be a hot commodity in the architectural world, Greene and Greene experienced a period of...
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The innovative and development style of the Greene brothers is very much distinguishable in the design world and has given California a significant staple in signature architecture seen today. Many of their works and drawings can be seen in various museums and many tours of homes they have done are offered. Greene and Greene delivered the high-art flare to the American Arts and Crafts and created a style that turned everything they designed into a work of valued art itself.
Bibliography/Citations
Bosley, Edward R. Greene & Greene. London: Phaidon, 2003. Print.
Bosley, Edward R., and Anne E. Mallek. A New and Native Beauty: The Art and Craft of Greene & Greene. London: Merrell, 2008. Print.
"Greene and Greene Homes." Greene & Greene. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 2014.
http://www.arts-crafts.com/archive/acarchs/greene-greene-1.shtml
As Charles Peale’s life is examined it is seen that he was an ingenious scientist, inventor and artist. His painting The Peale Family is an extraordinarily profound piece of art, with its complex composition and style. In comparison to Peale himself, the American contemporaries of his own time, like Peale, were creative artists and architects who greatly influenced Neo-classicism and the current and future culture.
The design principles that Wright and Olmsted lived by helped to create a standard for following generations. Using Nature as an inspiration and a employing a consistent programmatic style have been characteristics that designers have picked up on from Wright, and plan to continue using. Juxtaposing nature and thick urban life, and finding innovative ways to mix the two, has become a signature characteristic that points to Olmsted. Both, Frank Lloyd Wright and Frederik Law Olmsted have had a heavy influence on designers today when it comes to including nature in design, but in very contrasting ways.
Thomas Hart Benton was born in the familiar, small town of Neosho, Missouri. He was named after his granduncle, the famed and prominent pre-American Civil War senator. First Thomas Hart Benton studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and then lived in beautiful Paris for three years. When he came back he moved to New York City after 1912 he turned away from his usual style, modernism, and gradually developed a rugged naturalism that affirmed traditional rural values. By the 1930’s Benton was riding a tide of popular acclaim along with his fellow regionalist Grant Wood, who was responsible for American Gothic, and John Steuart Curry, who was responsible for The Tragic Prelude. The mural, America Today (1930-1931, The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the U.S., New York City), Thomas Hart Benton’s masterpiece, presented an optimistic portrayal of a vital country filled with earthy, muscular figures.
Gehry draws his inspiration from famous paintings such as the Madonna and Child which he qualifies as a “strategy for architecture” (Friedman M. , 2003, p. 42) and which he used as an inspiration for a project in Mexico . Through his interpretation of the paintings and artwork, Gehry looked for a new kind of architecture. His search for a new type of architecture culminated in 1978 with his own house in Santa Monica. What was once a traditional Californian house would be redesigned to become one of the most important and revolutionary designs of the 20th century, giving Gehry international prestige and fame. Frank Gehry’s “Own House” uses a mixture of corrugated metal, plywood, chain link and asphalt to construct a new envelope for an existing typical Californian house. This house has been inspired by Joseph Cornell, Ed Moses and Bob Rauschenberg. Gehry comments on his house by saying that there was something “magical” (Friedman M. , 2003, p. 54) about it. He admits having “followed the end of his [my] nose” (Friedman M. , 2003, p. 54) when it came to constructing the “new” house, which led Arthur Drexler, former Director...
Thomas Cole was born on February 1, 1801 in Bolton, Lancashire, England. Due to financial problems his family endured, Cole, at the ripe old age of just fourteen, had to find work to assist with the family needs. He entered the work force as a textile printer and wood engraver in Philadelphia. In 1819, Cole returned to Ohio where his parents resided. Here, a portrait painter by the name of Stein, would become Cole’s primary teaching vehicle and inspiration for his oil techniques we’ve come to be familiar with. During this time, Cole was extremely impressed by what he saw in the landscapes of the New World and how different they were from the small town of England from whence he hailed. Self taught, art came naturally to Cole.
Dell Upton is a historian and renowned professor of architecture and Urbanism at the University of California. He has published several books on architecture; one of them is “Architecture in the United States”, published in 1998. In this book, Upton analyzes the architecture of the United States in different aspects, such as nature, money and art, thus depicting the great variety in architectural forms, and how throughout the decades, different interests have lead communities to different ways of building, different purposes and materials, thus reflecting their way of thinking and their relationship with the environment. By exploring so many different architectural styles, Upton reveals the great diversity and richness that has always, and continues to characterize American architecture.
Landscape architecture has been around since the beginning of time, but it was not until Frederick Law Olmsted came along that the idea of integrating design into the landscape with plants, water, and structures that it turned into a thriving profession. To many, Olmsted is considered “a pioneer in the profession of landscape architecture, an urban planner, and a social philosopher, one of the first theoreticians and activists behind the national park and conservation movements” (Kalfus 1). Growing up, he did not ever graduate from formal schooling and just sat in on a few classes while at Yale in New Haven, Connecticut. Instead, he acquired his education from being out in the world through traveling and reading. He had a hard childhood. His mother died when he was just four years old and on his journeys around the world to Europe and China, he became sickly with seasickness, paralysis of the arm, typhoid fever, apoplexy, sumac poisoning, and at times suffered from depression. For many years he went on a journey within himself to find out whom he really was and what he wanted to do with his life, career wise. Frederick had one brother, John Hull, who died in 1857. This left Olmsted feeling empty and at loss of what to do. That was when Calvert Vaux came and filled the space in Olmsted’s life that his brother left. Vaux convinced Olmsted to enter the Central Park Commissioner’s design competition with their design entitled the “Greensward Plan.” With the success in that project, Olmsted figured out what he wanted to do with the rest of his life, which was to become a landscape architect. Olmsted practiced from the years of 1857 up until he retired in 1895. Olmsted’s two boys, adopted son John Charles and biological son Frederick La...
South University Online. (2013). HUM 1002: History of Art from the Middle Ages to Modern Times: Week 1: Elements of Design. Retrieved from myeclassonline.com
...heir work acknowledged when Terence Conran’s Habitat opened in 1964, resulting in the world of design becoming an increasingly inclusive place, no longer ruled over by a select committee of self worshipping forces. The culling of past British styles signified the return of faith in British design, which had been lost amidst the previous decade’s infatuation with Modernism. This symbolised the sealing of the wounds of World War II and its oppressive aftermath, whilst the sometimes seemingly irrelevant twists applied to these past styles, which gave 60s design that unique futuristic feel, encompassed the optimistic flare that dominated the decade. But with the realities of the Vietnam War and the home hitting, drug fuelled deaths of 60s musical icons Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison penetrating the feel good bubble, could this exuberance continue to thrive into the 70s?
Sarwer, D. B., Grossbart, T. A., & Didie, E. R. (2003). Beauty and society. Seminars in
Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier are two very prominent names in the field of architecture. Both architects had different ideas concerning the relationship between humans and the environment. Their architectural styles were a reflection of how each could facilitate the person and the physical environment. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House, is considered one of the most important buildings in the history of American architecture and Le Corbusier s Villa Savoye helped define the progression that modern architecture was to take in the 20th Century. Both men are very fascinating and have strongly influenced my personal taste for modern architecture. Although Wright and Corbusier each had different views on how to design a house, they also had similar beliefs. This paper is a comparison of Frank Lloyd Wright‘s and Le Corbusier ‘s viewpoints exhibited through their two prominent houses, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House and Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye.
From poster design, typography, production processes, and advertising, Art Deco was a combination of various styles that helped advance the way design was seen by the public. The style’s inspiration primarily developed through the analyzation of Modern, Neo-Classic, and Abstract concepts. A.M. Cassandre was known as one of the major contributors to the style, and helped develop an exaggeration of scale and form beyond previous comparison. His works during this time were typically presented in a multitude of travel posters, including his poster for the train Express Nord in 1927 (figure 1), as well as his poster for the ocean liner L’Atlantique in 1931 (figure
Art Deco and Bauhaus are two of the most influential art styles that influenced modern America today. From the avant-garde decorations and design that is still present in Los Angeles, to the flat roof design and simplicity of houses and shops that can be seen almost anywhere, these two designs are still present in our communities. The two movements do have some comparative similarities, but are also very different in design and concept. One should now be able to distinguish the similarities and differences between Art Deco and
Frank Lloyd Wright has been called “one of the greatest American architect as well as an Art dealer that produced a numerous buildings, including houses, resorts, gardens, office buildings, churches, banks and museums. Wright was the first architect that pursues a philosophy of truly organic architecture that responds to the symphonies and harmonies in human habitats to their natural world. He was the apprentice of “father of Modernism” Louis Sullivan, and he was also one of the most influential architects on 20th century in America, Wright is idealist with the use of elemental theme and nature materials (stone, wood, and water), the use of sky and prairie, as well as the use of geometrical lines in his buildings planning. He also defined a building as ‘being appropriate to place’ if it is in harmony with its natural environment, with the landscape (Larkin and Brooks, 1993).
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