RR9: Europea-(chi)nise??

Chinese Gardens in Europe?

The image found on your left :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dalbera/2731358138/

• In 1585, Pope Gegory XII instructed the Spanish priest priest Juan Gonalez de Mendoza to set down all that was known about China.
• Interest in Europe began to become very interested in Chinese myths and legends which grabbed the interest to write about Chinese architecture in Swedan.
• Soon in 1675, Eureopean courts began to adapt certain Chinese themes for thier gardens. The first teahouse was built by Louis XIV which was made with porcelain patterns tiles.
• The building did not last long at all, because of the leaks in the ceiling. This lesson gave Germans an upper advantage to create the most famous teahouse pictured above built by the Prussian emperor Frederick the Great.

Image found above: Sans Souci, Potsdam
http://www.planetware.com/picture/potsdam-sanssouci-palace-d-d047.htm

• This served as the emperor's summer retreat, which had several pavilons including the teahouse.

What is so intersting is that even though the prinicple of using chinese materials to build Eureopean landscapes and gardens, the chinese use this idea for all the buildings in  China not just for the emperor for the emperor of Prussia. But the Eurepoean and Chinese combination is Very Beautiful!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wolfgangstaudt/708722692/

"This jewel box of a palace is within an hour's drive of Berlin, through leafy glades and past the former KGB headquarters in Potsdam. It is French-inspired, a modest twelve-room one-storey folly replete with windmills and Oriental overtones. The handsome chambers are richly furnished, the walls covered with the Watteaus that Friedrich II so admired."

-Anonomous

BP9: From Ancient Greece to the Rich Southern American Soil

http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/parthenon-and-the-acropolis-landmark.htm

Colonial Expansion = is the action that creates  a new world that carries the same basic implications/rules that the home, mother country has as their basic structure of architecture and design.


When I picture the older colonies of America the image of an old southern plantation popped in my head. Plantations were very popular in southern states in America during the 1800's. I began to find it very interesting that I found the resemblance between the magnificent Parthenon and these southern plantations.

The picture on the right is an example of what kind of plantation I relate to the Parthenon.  I mean the differences can definitely outweigh the basic similarity of the basic columns located around every side of the plantation which is just like the Parthenon. The colonies in America around the 1800's had actually advanced to building layered homes like the Michelozzo di Bartolomeo Palazzo de' Medici in France in the 1440's (except the plantation rule is having more land to represent wealth instead of space taken up by the building.)

http://myrtlewood.blogspot.com/2009/06/inspiration-real-life-southern.html

The combination of stacking rooms and living spaces  with columns located on the exterior which then gives everyone the rememberable picture of a plantation.

But Let's Not Forget......
The Porch!http://www.flickr.com/photos/11346181@N06/2146556753/
The unique characteristics that these southern plantations have is the exterior porches stretching on both two-story layers of the building. Which can be explained as the American plantation specific unique characteristic.

But overall,

Language in the plantation compared to the language of the Parthenon cannot be compared because the meaning behind one is significantly greater than the other. The Parthenon was built for the worship of a goddess while a Plantation is built for the upholding a "business" in a sense.

Erin Matthews
Non-Major

RR8: Where the Zen Masters of the World Reside

Ryoanji
"The Temple of the Peaceful Dragon"

• This temple is located in Japan, and one can find the most famous dry gardens here
• It was created in 1480 in the foothills of Kyoto
• The temple's gardens have many intrepretations but this place was made for mediation not a meaning.

Dry?
Zen monks invented the concept of  a dry meditation garden, because they thought it to be pratically necessary.  but the concept of the mediation graden having no foligae, waterfalls, or mountains surronding the landscape for mind escape was only created in Japan during the 15th century.

 

• The shoguns began to reduce plot size and the natural scenery of the mediation garden
• So the shoguns would incorporat these aspects of natural beauty in an abstract way which was, detailing the plain garden.

• The detailing of these dry gardens were found in the color of the pebbles or the moss placed in areas to basically represent the natural aspect of water. 

Absolute delight can be experienced here for the users of this peaceful haven. Because this place is unlike any other mediation temple. And without a doubt creates interest to the simple eye. The beauty found at this whole is one that can only be found in the tiny details that encompass the entire achitectural whole.

“The garden is a world within a world.  The Japanese who so skillfully strip the veneer of beauty to find the pure element or the essence of form, delight in the image that is multi-layered.”
– Mark Holborn, The Ocean in the Sand – Japan: From Landscape to Garden.

Erin Matthews
Non-Major

BP8: The Shell for All Sportsmanship=The Gift of the Stadium

My Nautilus Shell

Rome, Italy 80 A.D.

https://ancientworld2009.wikispaces.com/Labuza,+Katherine

The theme for my nautilus shell is the idea of the architectural "sportsmanship" literally and figuratively aspect of constructing a stadium. I thought this concept grabs me as interesting because even though the first Colosseum originated in an earlier time period the development throughout the centuries barely altered.  Above is the image of the ancient Colosseum in Rome which was created around the time of 80 A.D. The circle interior base staged many gladiators where they fought gallantly while a disturbing execution might be staged the next. The ancient Roman Colosseum holds true to a circular layer seating arrangements for all the awed spectators to witness each unforgettable occasion together as one. The layering of this ancient building has exterior circular layers connected  by columns and space to walk for each layer. The interior of the Colosseum has an open view for spectating by having seating wrapped around the entire circular structure. The Colosseum is open which meant that these games and occasions probably went on rain or snow.

LSU Football Stadium 1924

http://www.lsusports.net/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=5200&ATCLID=177159

This open arena/ Colosseum/ stadium idea was still reflected from the streets of Ancient Rome to Batan Rouge, Louisiana in America. Even if the critical aspect of what took place at this specific structure was not as violent as it was in ancient day, the stature hailed almost completely similar.  It was similar in the aspect of having an open spectating gathering place which became a tradition that happens in present day as well. This early structure displayed above of LSU stadium is definitely not at all entirely circular, in fact it differs from the Colosseum because of that. But the structure is supported by long columns which supports a more rectangular seating area which is then reflected on the other side.

The third and most unique concept of modernizing the ancient coliseum is the "bird nest" located in Beijing, China. It is definitely not held up by columns or layered like the other two examples instead the exterior is designed in a certain kind of metal weaving that gives it a futuristic feel. The shape is still circular and the seating is arranged by the shape of the structure, but the feel from the ancient days is still there. 

Because just like the ancients the modern Colosseum was built for a audience to come together as one identity in the moment to witness something spectacular.  

Beijing, China Olympic Stadium  2008

http://www.arkitecto.info/beijing-national-stadium/beijing_national_stadium/