Did you know?

Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home in Virginia, and other manor houses of Southern plantations were influenced by Georgian architecture of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century England. In addition: The "five and ten cent store" building on Broadway in Lower Manhattan, completed in 1913, and until 1920 the tallest building in the world, was inspired by the Gothic Houses of Parliaments in London. The architect was Cass Gilbert (1859-1934). Can you guess what building this is? ANSWER: The Woolworth Building, still standing and still beautiful.

Unit 11

Rococo

A style that originated in France (c. 1720) and developed from the more grandiose baroque style. Rococo was characterized by refined use of various materials including stucco, metal, and wood, and it employed brilliant and delicate ornamentation.

words in context: In contrast to the grand drama of the baroque style, rococo was linear and exquisitely refined. The major French architect was Gabriel. Italian Rococo was associated with Tiepolo, who used bright, delicate decorations.

Classical revival

The architectural movement in England and the United States in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries that "revived" the traditions of Greek and Roman antiquity. This movement is sometimes called neoclassical. The buildings constructed in this style partly resulted from architects' enthusiasm for archeological knowledge stimulated by the excavation of Pompeii and by investigations of features of ancient Greece.

words in context: Ancient Roman influence predominated in the classical revival of this era in the United States, as seen in the design of the Virginia capital building created by Thomas Jefferson in 1785.

Bauhaus

The style of the Bauhaus School, founded in Germany by Walter Gropius in 1919. A radical departure from earlier design styles, the teaching in this school emphasized functional skills and craft as these applied to industrial problems of mass production.

words in context: Bauhaus concepts, which focused on severe economic, geometric design, were greatly controversial. Seen as too radical, they were banned by the Nazis in 1933. However, the style found international acclaim and had enormous influence on architecture, furnishings, and typography. It flourished in the United States, especially at the Chicago Institute of Design.

International Style

A movement in the 1920s in the United States and abroad led by Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, and Walter Gropius, and later practiced by Philip Johnson, the International Style became the dominant style of the mid-twentieth century. Architects used glass, steel, and other modern materials and focused on structure and function.

words in context: The International Style opposed decorative details and incorporated sleek, simple lines and respect for modern materials. An extreme example of International Style is Philip Johnson's Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut (1949), which consists of a glass box, a steel frame, and a brick floor.

After studying the definitions above, use these new words in the sentences below:

1. Emphasizing function, lightening the mass of buildings, and employing glass, architects grew out of the Bauhaus movement, which furiously disdained decoration and ornamentation.

2. Literally translated as "house for building," the movement in Germany after World War I stripped architecture of frills and brought the concept of mass production to the world of design and building.

3. departed from the baroque style by streamlining designs and adding delicate ornamentation.

4. looked back with favor on the traditions of Greek and Roman antiquity following the uncovering of the buried city of Pompeii.

Test Yourself: Write the letter next to the number to match word and meaning.

1. rococo a. revived the traditions of Greek and Roman antiquity

2. Bauhas b. school that influenced twentieth-century architecture

3. classical revival c. refined, delicate, and ornamental style

4. International Style d. steel and glass, focus on structure and function