Английский язык для архитектора и градостроителя. Учебное пособие по английскому языку

4.5 Read the text to find answers to the questions

Text 4 С

English Renaissance

1 What are the main features of the 16th century?

The 16Ih century was the time when under the influence of radical changes in the basis of the English society, i.e. In the production of material values and in human relations in the process of production, in other words, with the advent of capitalism, radical changes occurred in the spiritual life of the newly-arising nation and its newborn culture that was taking an unmistakably national shape. The process can be referred to as English Renaissance.

2 How did Renaissance change in England?

Renaissance, the epoch of Humanism and the Revival of Learning, born and nursed in Italy, after revolutionizing the culture and science of Italy and the whole Western world, finally penetrated the insular detachment of England and came softened by the distance with less shock to bring new learning, new religious issues and new art. The human being, the beauty and the joy of this life were now the center of attention.

3 What are the main phases of English Renaissance?

In England one easily distinguishes three main phases of the process: the early phase of the end of the 15th and the first half of the 16Ihс and the later phase coinciding with the reign of queen Elizabeth and the life-span of Shakespeare's death and to the beginning of the puritan revolution was the time marked by a decline of the Renaissance and crisis of Humanism.

4 What are the finest examples of English Renaissance?

The earlier Tudor period was a time of transition from late medieval to Renaissance culture. The new architecture imported from Italy had little in common with the Gothic pointed type. With the revival of classical interest in all of the art there came a tendency to

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return to the ancient models in building. It was only early in the 16lhс that the influence of the Italian Renaissance architecture was really felt in England in the pure classical lines of Inigo Jones (the Whitehall palace is anexample) and in the prodigious fertility, talent and inventiveness of Sir Christopher Wren who used the classic forms with great purity and correctness. After the Great fire of London he rebuilt a great number of churches and dwellings of the wealthy citizens. St. Paul's which according to art specialists is the finest protestant cathedral in the world, is a good example of it, as well as the west towers of Westminster Abbey. Both the outstanding architects managed to profit by the new movement in architecture leaving the national foundation of English architecture intact. Most of the

English early Renaissance structures are hybrid in style, often retaining Norman or Gothic features. The buildings of Oxford show this quite clearly: they are to a large extent Gothic but the gateways and parts of the building themselves abound in Renaissance decoration.

4.6 Read the text and write the summary ofit in Russian

Text 4 D

English Classicism

The 18th century is the age of classicism both in art and in architecture. The English court and nobility had cultivated a fancy for the "antique" which in their belief was a sign of wealth and power. The Adam brothers, the eminent architects of the time, proved particularly ingenious in applying the principles off classicism both in town-planning and country house design. Though they followed the traditions of their predecessor Wren, they, nevertheless, contrived to make the solid and bulky exteriors go beautifully with the elegance and graceful ease of the interiors, which, too, were strictly classical in shape. Sentimentalism was then in vogue and it was a custom with the aristocracy to spend their leisure hours at home with their own folks. This consequently heightened their interest in furniture and decorative art. The Chippendale chairs shortly found their way first to the mansions of the aristocracy and then to those of the bourgeoisie, affecting the tastes of the latter accordingly. Thomas Chippendale was a celebrated cabinet-maker who made his

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mark producing beautiful, elegant and remarkably comfortable furniture.

4.7 Audial practice

4.7.1 Listen to the text and render it either in English or in Russian

Text 4 E

English Architecture of the 19th Century

In architecture of the 19th century was that of Charles Barry, William Railton and Edward Baily. It was a period of romanticism, of industrial and social revolution, of the railway. The eminent Victorians were looking back from the Middle Ages. Gothic was considered the true national style, and Tudor that of the century of England's great glory. So when the Houses of Parliament were destroyed by fire, Charles Barry rebuilt them in 1837-1867 in the Tudor Gothic style. He also built the Gothic St. Peter's Church in Brighton. A Gothic architect William Railton built the Nelson Memorial in 1843. He had designed it as a Corinthian column with bas-reliefs of Nelson's victories as its base, and the statue of Nelson which crowns the column was done by Edward Baily. It was only in 1867 that Landseer put his bronze lions at the foot of the column. As Barry's later work was in the manner of the Italian Renaissance the decoration of the New Houses of Parliament was a compromise: classical in their symmetry and construction, but Gothic in appearance. Oddly enough, the Albert Hall which was being built at same time by a Royal Engineer, Captain Fowke, was classical in inspiration and simplicity, a huge cylindrical building with a terracotta frieze of the Triumph of the Arts, and a glass and iron dome.

4.8 Read the text and tell about modern English architects

Text 4 F

Modern English Architecture

Architecture in the beginning of the 20thс failed to adapt new designs to new technique and material, to steel, glass and reinforced concrete though the architects of the Edwardian decade of 1901-1910 Webb, Norman Shaw, Voysey and Mackintosh had been the most influential in Europe. In the 1930-ies the situation was reversed: the new

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functional architecture of the continent began to influence Britain, the new structures were stripped of ornament to emphasize the essential qualities of proportion and relation of parts to one another and the whole. It was particularly felt in Charles Holden's designs for London underground stations and the early works of Owen Williams.

A new architectural group known as the Tecton group, founded by Berthok Lubetkin built the Highpoint Flats at High gate a vertical garden city and Finsbury Health Center with its curved and tiled facade. Another architectural group which favored structural abstract art or formal relationship known as Unit One strove to give structural purpose to British art. Leslie Martin, С. Н. Aslin, Maxwell Fry, Jane Drew and Basil Spence are the distinguished architects of post-war Britain. They, sort of, relaxed the austerities of the pre-war architecture. Their disposition of buildings was aesthetically satisfying. The Royal Festival Hall designed by Mathew and Leslie and Martin comes closest in its spirit to the first modem building the Crystal Palace.

4.9With your partner make up a dialogue about one of the periods in the history of British architecture

4.10Summarize your knowledge of the question under consideration. Speak about history of British architecture

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5 Unit 5 Russian Architecture

5.1 Pretext exercises

5.1.1Warming-up

1)Are you fond of Russian architecture? Why?

2)Where can one see the finest examples of traditional Russian architecture?

3)What are the best examples of Russian architecture?

5.1.2Read the words. Pay attention to the letters in italics

[k] icon, can, carpenter, decorate, carve, cathedral, reflect, create, cubical, cabin [s] century, graceful, circular

5.1.3 Read the following words. Mind their meaning

5.1.4 Read the following verbs. Mind their meaning. Pay attention to the

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5.1.5 Find proper Russian words with the same roots as the following English

words:

icon, brilliant, traditional, natural, material, decoration, monastery, museum, harmony, silhouette, style, poetic, cubical, basic, fa3ade, section, vertical, column, horizontal, arch, figure, general, altar, cupola, circular, stimulate, massiveness, monumentality, expression

5.1.6 Choose the proper English word:

5.1.7Find English equivalents for the following Russian words:

Аизящный; преобладать; стремиться; величественный; создавать; заимствовать;

видимый; вырезать; радовать; тонкий; поддерживать; щедрый

Вto year; to borrow; lavish; graceful; to predominate; to carve; visible; to support; to gratify; slender; majestic; to create

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5.1.8 Form all possible word combinations:

5.1.9 Read the following word combinations and translate them into Russian:

early architecture; icon painting; defensive sites; the most natural building material; beautiful carved decoration; fortress towers; wooden and masonry architecture; the few remaining examples; wooden church architecture; gracefully silhouetted multi-domed cathedral; cubical basic structure; slender columns; vertical wall section; small sculptured figures; stone embroideries; yearning for massiveness; expression of slendour; lavish decoration

5.2 Read the text and tell about early Russian architecture

Text 5 A

Early Russian Architecture

Russian borrowed its early architecture, like its icon painting, from Byzantium. From the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries early towns were built on defensive sites on high river banks. From afar were visible low white walls with towers, churches with brilliant domes and bell towers. The finest examples of traditional architecture can be seen in the towns of Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Suzdal, Bogolyubovo and Sergiev Posad.

In Russia, timber has always been the most natural building material. Russian carpenters decorate the diverse structures they were building with beautiful carved

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decorations above windows and porches. One can see such decorations on log-cabins, fortress towers, huge cathedrals, churches and monasteries.

Wooden and masonry architecture developed side by side in medieval Russia, one stimulating and gratifying the love for verticality and slenderness, the other satisfying a yearning for massiveness, monumentality, and lavish decoration in the expression of power and splendour. The few remaining examples of the ancient wooden structures are now in Rostov and also in the museums of wooden buildings in Novgorod, Kostroma and Suzdal. These examples show the skill and gift of their builders to harmonize the building proper with the landscape.

The most majestic and famous examples of wooden church architecture may be found on the island of Kizhi in Lake Onega. Here you will be impressed by the grand and gracefully silhouetted multi-domed Cathedral of the Transfiguration and ten-domed Church of the Intercession with its bell tower.

Wooden architecture predominates in Northern Russia and in some of the older settlements and towns of the Siberia, such as Tyumen.

One of the best-known Russian churches in the northern style is the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl (Pokiova na Nerli). Today it stands alone in the midst of green meadows, the small lake below reflecting its white walls and single dome.

This church is one of the most poetic creations of early Russian architecture which ever come down to us out of the past. The church is not large, and very simple in plan, with the cubical basic structure usual for the north. It is light and graceful, the structure as a whole seems hardly to touch the ground. Each facade is made up of three sections divided vertically by slender columns, and horizontally connected by a decorative band of blind arcading of the same white stone as the wall itself. As for the roofing, it was vaulted, so that each of the vertical wall sections ends in a blind arch, with long, narrow windows and small sculptured figures high up in the arch.

The builders of the most of Vladimir and Suzdal churches used cut stones instead of brick, typical for Byzantine and Kievan churches. Also they used stone embroideries, uncommon in Byzantium. They adopted the general features of the square plan, with three altar apses and the four columns supporting a flat cupola with its circular drum.

5.3 Exercises to the text

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5.3.1 Find the false sentences using the information from the text. Correct the

false sentences:

1)Early Russian architecture was derived from the Byzantine architecture.

2)Early Russian towns were built on defensive sites.

3)In Russia, stone has always been the most natural building material.

4)Russian churches and cathedrals were rich decorated with carved decorations.

5)Masonry architecture was not developed in medieval Russia.

6)Wooden architecture predominates in Southern Russia.

7)T he builders of the most Vladimir Churches used cut stones instead of brick.

5.3.2Fill in the gaps with the words given below:

1)Low white walls with towers, churches with brilliant... and ... were visible... .

2)Russian ... were decorated with carved decorations.

3)There are some remaining examples of ancient... Architecture in Rostov.

4)Vladimir and Suzdal builders widely used stone ....

5)The Church of the Intercession on the Nerl is one of the best-known ... of early Russian architecture.

wooden; bell towers; creation; domes; embroideries; from afar; log-cabins.

5.3.3Answer the following questions:

1)Where did Russia borrow its early architecture from?

2)What has always been the most natural building material in Russia?

3)Did wooden and masonry architecture develop side by side in medieval Russia?

4)What do the best examples of wooden Russian architecture show?

5)How is one of the most famous Russian churches in the northern style called?

6)Can you describe the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl?

7)What material did builders of Vladimir and Suzdal churches use?

5.3.4Find in the text and put down key words that can be used to speak about early Russian architecture

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5.3.5 Summarize your knowledge of the question under consideration. Discuss it with your partner. Use exercise 5.3.3 as a plan

5.4 You are a guide of foreign tourists who arrived in Moscow. Tell them about the best illustration of the Russian architecture in Moscow using necessary information from the text

Text 5 В

Moscow Kremlin

One of the jewels of Russian architecture is the Moscow Kremlin with its cathedrals, its many towers and red-brick walls. The Kremlin is the heart of Moscow. It is the oldest historical and architectural center of the city.

First Kremlin was a wooden fortress. Under Dmitry Donskoi the Kremlin was built of white stone. In 1474 Ivan III sent a mission to Italy to find the best architectural and engineering talent. They brought back with them Rodolfo Aristotele Fioravanti of Bologna who was at once an architect, an engineer, and an expert in military fortifications, Most of the other architects were northern Italians, mainly form Milan (Marco Ruffo, Pietto Solario, etc.).

The Italians introduced a new concept of the fortress walls quite different in character from that of the old Russian white-stone Kremlins. Thus during the reign of Ivan III the walls of white stone were replaced by new red-brick walls and towers. Stone was given up in favour of brick. Henceforth stone was to be used for wall bases, decorative bands, cornices, and various ornamental features. The graceful rise of the walls and towers is the result not only of the fine proportions and slenderness of their architectural elements, but also of the special bricklaying technique employed.

The sixteenthcentury Kremlin had, on certain of its more vulnerable sides, double and triple walls battlemented and studded with towers, barbicans and drawbridges.

Each tower of the Kremlin is composed of two principal parts: a massive square of circular base erected in the reign of Ivan III and a superstructure added to it at the end of the seventeenth century.

The bases differ in size and proportions; but in all of them, especially in the square

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