This paper looks at monographs and villas and concentrates on the design of the White House as a villa. The idea of villas in based on ancient Roman culture and traditions and specifically on the upper class country house in ancient Roman Empire. Since the origin of this ideology, the idea of villa and its function have considerable evolved over the years. After the Roman Republic fell, villa developed to become small farming compounds. These small farming compounds increasingly fortified later in the Late Antiquity. They were sometimes moved to the Church in order to be reused as a monastery. Through the middle ages, villas re-evolved once again into country homes for the upper class. Today villas are attributed to different types as well as sizes of residences, which range from suburban to urban constructions and residential building. The architect and design of the White House are considered to have taken the idea of villas.
The White House in Washington D.C. is both the official residence as well as the workplace of the US President. The house is located at Pennsylvania Avenue NW within the city of Washington D.C.
Description of the Building
The White House was particularly designed by James Hoban who is an Irish-born architect. It was built between the year 1792 and 1800. The main material used to construct it were Aquia Creek sandstones that were painted in white. The design was mainly the neoclassical style. Neoclassical style is an architectural style that was produced by neoclassical movement mainly after the mid-eighteenth century. This style is principally derived from Classical Greece and Roman architecture. A clear term to describe the style here is the idea of villas, which has a strong historical root from Ro...
... middle of paper ...
...by most other ancient villas, especially those served as palaces. The building has remained to be the symbol of power for the US government since the country became independent.
Works Cited
Ackerman, James S. The Villa: Form and Ideology of Country Houses. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990.
Dal Lago, Adalbert. Villas and Palaces of Europe. Paul Hamlyn, ISBN 600012352. 1969.
Skurman, Andrew. Contemporary Classical: The Architecture of Andrew Skurman. Princeton : Princeton Architectural Press, 2012.
Thacker, Christopher. The History of Gardens. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979.
The Cultural Landscape Foundation. White House Grounds. 2014. http://tclf.org/landscapes/white-house-grounds (accessed May 9, 2014).
The White House Museum. The White House Residence. 2014. http://www.whitehousemuseum.org/residence.htm (accessed May 14, 2014).
The house was built in 1917 by William Bowers Bourn, a San Francisco millionaire whose wealth came from gold mining . Construction of the large property took 2 years, while it took 12 years to build the formal gardens, which were completed in 1929. Its name was created by Bourn, using the first 2 letters from the key words of his credo: “Fight for a just cause; Love your fellow man; Live a good life.” After the deaths of Bourn and his wife in 1936, it was purchased by William Roth, another prominent San Franciscan, who pr...
The Biltmore Estate is located in Asheville, North Carolina. It is the largest privately owned home in the United States. It was privately owned by George Washington Vanderbilt and his family. The house was designed by Richard Morris Hunt. Frederick Law Olmsted designed the landscape. The Biltmore Estate had a major role in the development of the creative architecture of the era and is well known for being America's largest home.
Queen Anne architecture can not be defined easily. It's architectural style has many different characteristics. In this paper, I will show how the Queen Anne style evolved from the architecture that was common during the reign of Queen Anne herself and also show how it evolved in America in the late 1800's during the Industrial Revolution. I will then show how the Queen Anne style is incorporated into today's architectural design.
For Upton, “architecture is an art of social story telling, a means for shaping American society and culture...” (11), and it is up to the historian to choose which of many possible stories to tell. In his approach, he refused a chronological order and relied instead on five thematic structures: community, nature, technology, money and art. In the very first chapter, Upton introduces the symbol of the house in the United States; it represents the American dream and the concept of social mobility. He analyzes one of the most famous houses: Monticello, designed by Thomas Jefferson. In describing how this house served as a home for not only family members and numerous visitors, but for slaves as well, Upton proposes that Jefferson “organized Monticello to convey his sense of himself as the patriarch at the centre of his universe” (28).
The Washington Square Arch is a semi-circular arch and contains all of the characteristic parts of an arch: keystone, voussoir, impost, and an abutment. It also contains an entablature with a frieze and is highly decorated. The keystone on both the north and south sides sits at the apex on the arch and holds a pedestal with an eagle perched at the top. The voussoirs on both sides are also flanked by angels. The abutment surrounding the arch contains shields at the center and two crossed swords below it. The frieze above it and behind the eagle contains alternating wreaths with stars in the center, totalling in 13 stars, and “W’s” flanked by what I believe to be olive branches. The entablature continues upwards with a cornice showing dentils and then a quote at the center top. It says, “Let us raise a stand to which the wise and the honest can repair. The event is in the hand of God,” quoted from George Washington himself. On the north face of the arch, there are two statues of George Washington. The statue on the left shows him as the commander-in-chief and and the statue on the right shows a statue of George Washington as the president. In both statues, there representations of Fame, Valor, Justice, and Wisdom surrounding
Slowly but surely Jefferson finished a small brick building, which was the south pavilion, in 1770. Later the north pavilion was finished and served as a study for his son-in-law.
The house, of which Mr. Jefferson was the architect and often one of the workmen, is rather elegant, and in the Italian taste, though not without fault; it consists of one large square pavilion, the entrance to which is by two porticoes, ornamented with pillars. The ground floor consists chiefly of a very large, lofty saloon which is to be decorated entirely in the antique style; above it is a library of the same form; two small wings with only a ground floor and attic story, are joined to this pavilion,
The Jefferson Memorial is a testimonial to the past, present, and future of the United States. Its architecture, like most neo-Classical buildings, gives a sense of permanence. This permanence has a history far older than many would suspect. Centuries ago and thousands of miles away a building was erected that would later become the model for which many other buildings, including the Jefferson Memorial, are based upon. This building is the Roman Pantheon. Though the Jefferson Memorial borrows the basic form and elements from the Pantheon, the Memorial has distinctive differences from its predecessor.
His design was a Neo-classical plan that followed the classical style of ancient Greece and Rome. He drew a building that consists of two wings that extended north and south of a centural section. A huge cast-iron dome rests on the central section of the building.(World, 196) President Washington was very pleased with Dr. Thorton's plans and he was awarded first prize. Now it was time for Washington to lay the cornerstone on September 18, 1793.(National Park)
But these contrived differences give rise to esthetic difficulties too. Because inherent differences—those that come from genuinely differing uses—are lacking among the buildings and their settings, the contrivances repre...
Japanese aristocrats from at least mid-eighth century customarily had gardens near their homes. During the Heian period, a somewhat standard type of garden evolved in accordance with the Shinden type of courtier mansion (Bring and Wayembergh, p. 28-29).... ... middle of paper ... ...
To obtain and understanding of the current state of American Architecture and its development, we must first briefly establish the origin of architecture in America. Much of the 17th-century English colonial architecture resembled late medieval forms that had survived throughout much of rural England. The first American architecture houses were built in a wide range of sizes, gables, and overhangs. They also had a lack of symmetry that was reflected in the late medieval style throughout Europe. However, unlike rural England’s architecture, in Virginia and Maryland; brick construction and a symmetrical facade were preferred for one story homes. Upon the idea of domestic homes, cities began to be founded in the 17th century. Cities such as Boston, were chaotic in plan and with the turn of the 18th century, colonies began to take on a more permanent role, often establishing individual character. Newly founded cities, such as: Williamsburg, Virginia; Annapolis, Maryland, and especially Philadelphia began to be laid out in a logical organization of regular grids. This eluded planners in London during the same period and thus the diverse seed of American architecture was planned. Continuing the development of unique American architecture, American in the early 1890s began to value their own heritage and architectural language featuring larger neighborhood tracts. In the 19th century, the Colonial Revival style took a more eclectic style, and columns were often seen.
The book as a description of modern architecture, its styles and influence succeeds but falls short as a prescriptive methodology. His work is still recalled for the need by modernists to categorize everything into neat little boxes, not necessarily for the sake of uniformity, but for sake of some ambiguity. The ambiguity may be the triumph of this book as post modern architecture era is supposed to create more questions than the answers.
The Palace Of Versailles In order to understand the Palace at Versailles, one should be aware of the Architectural Analysis, the History of the Chateau, the Main Palace Buildings and Rooms, and the purpose of the Palace of Versailles. The Palace of Versailles is located in Versailles, France, and was built in 1631 on the order of Louis XIII. It has served as the royal palace and numerous other purposes. It now serves as a museum of French history.
That style of architecture is reserved mainly for public buildings which server important civic functions. Likely this is because in ancient times stone buildings were not places people lived. They were generally used for public gatherings, and designed for public use. By studying ancient architecture it can be understood why many public buildings look the way that they do. It provides a context for why buildings like the Supreme Court look the way they do. To take that as an example, the Supreme court is the highest court in the United States; therefore, it would make sense to have it be a very distinguishable building as if to say visually that the building is important. Perhaps one reason why the classical style is chosen to represent this is because Rome and Greece are seen as the birthplace of western culture. The democracy which is practiced today is a version of what Rome used during the time of the republic. So, to demonstrate that the United States is as strong as Rome was by emulating the columnar faces of Greek and Roman temples, it provides a visual