History of Interiors Final Exam Review

Axial

A plan where it is arranged symmetrically around an axis or center line. (Used in Chinese Architecture)

Lunette

A semi-circular area with paintings in it. Found in the catacombs of the early christians.

Hands of Fatima

An Islamic design motif woven into rugs to indicate the position of the worshiper's hands on the prayer rug. Represents the hands of Muhammad's youngest daughter.

Mihrab

An Islamic prayer niche oriented to show the direction to Mecca. (comparison: Apse of the Christian cathedral)

Minbar

An Islamic pulpit that stands next to the mihrab (prayer niche).

Buttress (regular)

An exterior support built against a wall. (Particularly seen in Gothic architecture, where it was introduced as extra masonry to resist the heavy thrust of the arched stone roof of the building.)

Louis XIV (The Fourteenth)

BAROQUE (1620-1715) "The Sun King" Generally grand, heavy, and symmetrical Pomp and rigidity, grand embellishment Chair: upholstered seat back, rectangular seat, arm supports meet front of seat. VERY straight back. Massive, had arabesque motives, were intended to inspire awe. Lots of interest in the Far East Ornament: Sun, Gilded imitation of fabric, lyres, cornucopias, heads of rams and lions

Campanile

Bell tower (like the leaning tower of Pisa)

Baldacchino

Bernini In St. Peter's Four columned canopy at the crossing of the church's nave and transept 100 ft high Building bronze Solomonic columns.

The Forbidden City

China Ming Dynasty Only emperor and his people can enter. Relative symmetry. 3 Main Gates: Gate of Heavenly Peace, Meridian Gate, Gate, Gate of Supreme Harmony (in that order HP, M, SH) Hall of Supreme Harmony is the largest building on the complex. The Dragon Throne is inside. Yellow roofs are for the emperor.

Latin cross

Horizontal member (the transept section in a church) is shorter than the vertical.

Concrete

Invented by the Romans. A revolutionary building material. Volcanic sand mixed with lime, water, and pozzolana.

Dome

Invented by the Romans. What happens when you rotate an arch around a central point. Made possible by Roman invention of concrete. Can be placed on a square room with squinches, pendentives, or a drum (cylinder).

The Blue Mosque

Islamic Istanbul, Turkey Sultan Ahmet 1609-16161 Architect: Mehmed Agha Interior paneling of 20,000 blue and white tiles. DOME RESTS ON PILLARS WITH ELEPHANT FEET Across from Hagia Sophia Classic Turkish Architectural style Stained glass and Caligraphy.

Hagia Sophia

Istanbul, Turkey (previously Constantinople) Example of Byzantine architecture Architects: Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus Has a well-lighted central space Feeling of immateriality like so much of Early Christian interiors Plain outside, very decorated inside rinceaux - scroll like patterns based on vegetation.

Pointed Arch

Most easily recognized characteristic of Gothic design. Replaced the round arch. Could have different proportions than the round arch.

Pilasters

Shallow piers that are sometimes half-round, sometimes rectangular versions of actual columns that appear

Pre-Colombia Character

Varied cultures and tribes Deep connection to metaphysical world open space relationship of buildings to surroundings Nothing wholly secular RESPECT FOR MATERIALS Expressed SPIRIT RESIDING IN MATERIAL WORLD (unlike Gothic and Islamic which seek to dematerialize physical structure.) stone work (south america) Forms/Buildings: stepped pyramid, Olmec Heads, longhouse, teepee, wigwam, Furniture/decorative arts: south-america = textiles and stonework; north america = basketweaving

Indian Character

Various religions most design created in service to religion highly REPETITIVE MOTIVES (like paisley and pointed arches) have powerful hypnotic effects. Unlike west where we think peace/serenity = simplicity/empty space: NOT SO IN INDIA ORDERLY and intentional. Multiplicity never random or disordered = peace/serenity in India. Mastery of Textiles Forms/Buildings: stupa, chattra, mandala, circles, equilateral triangles, octogons, and other geometric figures northern temple, southern temple, Taj Mahal, City Palace in Jaipur, minarets, Furniture/Decorative Arts: char-pai, jalis, mordants, muslin, tussah -> pongee, palampore, embroidery, paisley, pashmina

St. Marks (think st. marcos)

Venice, Italy Most sumptuously decorated of all Byzantine buildings. Greek cross plan Great central dome and smaller dome (on pendentives) Ogee arches (arches with s-shaped sides)

Clerestory

Windows placed near the top of the wall. (A story above an adjoining roof.)

Console Table

a table with only two legs attached to the wall. Often used beneath mirrors (introduced in French chapter)

Tester

(tee-ster) Basically a wooden roof or canopy top for a K'ang or other bed. Adapted by Europeans (English, French) during the Renaissance-Neoclassical. Originally from China.

Regence Style

A French style in between Louis XIV and Louis XV. Transition between Baroque to more light and fluid Rococo. Chair: Furniture legs become cabriole which is an S or C curve and no longer perpendicular, asymmetry introduced Apartments became a thing during this time. Lighter furniture became more necessary.

Klismos

A Greek type of chair having a concave curved back rail and curved legs. The most influential piece of Greek furniture.

Lectus

A Roman couch (looks like a Greek Kline)

Shoji

A chief element of the EXTERIOR wall made of a light wood lattice with panels of translucent paper, functioning either as a door or window. Often made of paper

Pendentive

A concave curved element placed on the corner of intersecting arches so that a dome may sit on a square walled room. (Method of supporting a dome, four arched legs shaped like the inside of a hemisphere or dome that transmit the weight of the dome to the ground.)

Greek cross (plan)

A cross with four arms of equal length.

Arch

A curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it. (perfected/mastered by the Romans)

Barrel Vault

A cylindrical roof constructed on the arch principle. (Made possible by the Romans and their invention of concrete)

Squinch

A diagonal element across the top of each corner that turns the top of the square room into an octagon which is closer to the shape of the domed roof it is attempting to fit. (a triangular portion that corbels from a dome into the corner of a square room to support the dome. It makes the line of the square into an octagon at the top.)

Foils / Foiled

A leaf-shaped Gothic ornament with convex indentations. (Trefoil, quatrefoil, ciquefoil)

Apse

A semicircular extension at the east end of a bacillica or christian church. (looks like a mihrab)

Baptistery

A seperate building or part of a church used primarily for the rite of baptism. Example: baptistry at the Cathedral Complex at Pisa (Romanesque)

Minaret

A slender tower attached to or near a mosque. (From which the faithful can be called to prayer)

Tilt Top Table

A small table on a three legged base with a hinged top that could be tilted into a vertical position to save space and to display the decorated table top. Popular in the English Baroque era.

Pedestal

A support for a statue or other object.

Amado

A surdier sliding WOOD SHUTTER that often covers the shoji (an exterior wall element).

Fresco

A type of painting done on wet/damp plaster. When the plaster hardens, the paint becomes calcified due to a chemical reaction which makes it really permanent. (Example: Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo)

Strapwork

A type of wood or plaster ornament that gives the falce impression of having been cut from a flat material such as leather or sheet metal and then intricately interlaced. Seems to imitate a more flexible material.

Africa Character

Africa = enormous, long history, many cultures, Art = religious or spiritual Vibrant, direct, in touch with society's ancestors and heroes. Lots of ornamentation. Artistic energy. Animated, vigorous, dynamic Abstraction and symbolism clear purpose Placate spirits Forms/Buildings: mud brick, Mosque at Djenne Furniture/Decorative Arts: chairs carved from single log,

Gothic Character

Airy and bright, focus on vertical, pointed arches, rib vaults, flying buttresses, large stained glass windows, ornaments and pinnacles. Forms/Buildings: See above, Cathedrals: Chartres, Amiens, Wells, Cathedral of Siena Furniture/Ornament: Foils (like quetrefoil), gargoyles, stained glass, hutch (chest), linenfold wood carving, millefleur tapestries.

Wainscot Chair

Aka Paneled chair backs often carved or inlade resembled the panels of a wainscot wall. English

Windsor Chair

Aka the stick chair. Has a solid wood seat scooped to be slightly concave for comfort. Supported by straight turned legs at a slight splay. Back legs are inserted into the seat like a peg. There are different variations including the comb-back and the bow-back.

The Flying Buttress

An arch springing from the wall of a building to an exterior stone pier, intended as a counter thrust weight to resist the thrust of the arched roof. (Gothic)

Knole Sofa

An upholstered settee which became an important prototype for the sofa. For the country house of Knole in Kent (which was added to over several centuries and has about 365 rooms and 7 courtyards)

VERSAILLES

BAROQUE Architects: Phase one = Louis Le Vau, Phase two = MANSART Was Louis III's hunting lodge but The Sun King (XIV) built around it (called enveloppe). Incredible water features like The Grand Canal Primeir etage (second floor) the same as Italian "Piano Nobel" Uses ENFILADE Grand Residential complex of unprsidented scale To keep tabs on people by having them all live there. King apartment in North Wing, Queen in South Wing Three Important elements: 1. The Grand Trianon, 2. The Hall of Mirrors, 3. The Chapel

Basilica

Building with a high, wide central nave flanked by two or more lower narrower side aisles. Used in early christian, Romanesque, and Gothic Architecture. Originated as a Roman meeting house.

Japanese Character

Careful Balance avoids extremes Plainness, naturalness, detail Ceremony in daily life (tea ceremony, stone arranging, writing) Orthogonal architecture Asymmetry and eccentricity Respect for imperfection. Minimalist, Adaptable, Renewable no walls, minimal furniture, Ikebana = minimalist light woods = renewable mats, screens = adaptable Chiefly Wooden. repetitions of bays Houses one or two stories Forms/Buildings: Tea House, tokonoma, Furniture/Decorative Arts: tatami mat, shoji, fusuma, amado, engawa, zabuton, futon, enza, tansu, Ikebana

Split Spindle

Consists of a short, turned piece of wood, often ebony, that was split into two parts and applied to the surface of the stiles of an oak cabinet or chest, a miniature version of a half column or pilaster applied to a wall.

Vault

Continuous arch forming a roof.

Pantheon

Designed by emperor Hadrian Greek influence includes: pediment, columns, portico coffers columns single pieces of stone. for all the gods Portico uses Corinthian order. Vast rotunda interior can hold a perfect sphere (it is a great masonry drum on which a dome sits). 142ft in diameter and 142ft from the floor to the top of the dome. Harmony in proportion Oculus (circular opening) in ceiling admits light. Focus on interior volume (contrasted with exterior focus of Greeks)

Tokonoma

Display niche for flower arrangements, scrolls, or other art works. Floor raised slightly above the floor of the room. Focus of Japanese rooms. Has spiritual significance.

Parthenon

Greek. Athens, Greece. For Athena, goddess of wisdom, the royal navy, and prudent warfare. lots of little tweaks to "fool the eye" like columns a little wider in middle (ENTASIS) and a little closer together towards the ends and the floor sloping for water runoff. perfect proportions. Uses Doric columns. Phidias = master sculptor Ictinus and Callicrates = architects Made of fine white Pentelic marble stands on a crepidoma - stepped platform Displays Greek focus on exteriors not interiors

Determinants of English Design

Gunpowder changed houses from having heavy fortification b/c it didn't matter anymore Advent of printing helped spread knowledge of classical design It was further from Italy so it got Renaissance later Also the Protestant king Henry VIII cut ties with Catholic church and therefore Italy.

Greek Character

Intellectual, Simplicity, Serious, strove for imagined ideal, disinterested in giant scale or enormous mass, does not reflect concern for novelty innovation, or originality, no focus on interiors. Forms/buildings: Doric, Ionic, Corinthian column Orders, Stoa, Parthenon, Erechtheion Furniture/decorative arts: Klismos, Thronos, Kline, mosaic and tesserae, fret

Roman Character

Interior as important as exterior, hedonistic, always gaining ideas from other cultures, lavish. Forms/buildings: Tuscan order, Composite order, THE ARCH, barrel vault, groin vault, CONCRETE, Pantheon, domus, insula, villa, pilaster, Nero's Domus Aurea, Hadrian's Villa Furniture/Decorative Arts: Lectus, terra sigillata

Islamic Character

Interior embellishment is paramount. Expressing a metaphysical form like Gothic design. Unconcerned with originality and personal vision similar to Far East. Prevailing sense of order. Obedience to tradition and organization. Interlocking angles and swirling arabesques Forms/Buildings: Horseshoe arch, mihrab, minarets, minbar, mosque, muqarna, Blue Mosque, Suleymaniye Mosque

What is the name of Boulle's commode that was concave beneath the top, then convex, then concave again?

It is called bombe.

Tansu

Japanese Cabinet work. The most popular piece of Japanese furniture. It is a storage chest.

Tatami Mat

Japanese floor mat that rooms are based around. Made from rice straw (in modern times, vinyl is used) Edges bound with black tape ~2 inches thick Slightly larger than 3 x 6 FEET Reversible Means piled or folded Typical room has 4.5-6 mats.

Louis XIII

Late RENAISSANCE The first Louis we cover his mother was a Medici. Chair: short in back, square in shape, covered with leather and tapestry Cane seat coverings Reception beds introduced Table covers and scarves introduced Bedroom furniture becomes more luxurious and walls decorated Ornamentation: Grotesque fantastic ornamentation of beasts and such

Elizabethean Style

Less Gothic, more Renaissance Chimneys with clusters of classical orders Large glass areas with straight lintels Symmetry replaces asymmetry in floor plans and facades E-shaped or H-shaped plans common Ceilings - plasterwork rather than exposed wood trusses.

THE TAJ MAHAL

Mosloleum. Slightly tilted Minarets (so they don't fall on the building during earthquake); devided w/balconies Faced w/WHITE marble cut into small pieces. Giant, double skinned onion Dome Four chattri Islamic Large water feature makes it feel like it's floating Built for Mumtaz Mahal (Shah Jahan's favorite wife) Put at END of Garden overlooks river ULTIMATE SYMMETRY reflects sun smaller on inside one building on each side for more symmetry Cenotaphs inside inner chamber = octogon

Prehistory Character

Much variety Prehistoric cave paintings used red, black and traces of yellow Old Stone age = realism New Stone Age = symbolism Symmetry in cave paintings and neolithic dwellings

K'ang

One of China's most distinctive pieces of furniture. A large, low platform for sleeping. In the north, it evolved into a wooden platform, and for privacy and comfort it often had uprights supporting an overhead tester or headpiece. Side panels of fabric could be hung vertically from the tester to enclose it. It was eventually adapted for a low table.

Italian Rococo Style

Pale colors Curved lines light and graceful Influenced by Borromimi after boroque upholstered furniture.

Flutes / Fluted

Parallel vertical concave semicircular channels in column shafts.

The Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris

Paris, France. Unprecedented amount of stained glass windows, ushered in High Gothic period, one of the first to use flying buttresses, huge rose window, huge floor labyrinth.

Jacobean Style

Part of English High Renaissance Style. Classicism of Early Renaissance Influences from Netherlands, Italy, and the East. New 3D fullness and richness in carvings and mouldings brighter colors CEILINGS DECORATED WITH PLASTER RELIEFS

Fusuma

Part of an INTERIOR wall. It is a movable screen or panel sliding in floor tracks. Often made of paper, but sometimes made of silk and decoratively painted.

New St. Peter's Basilica

Pinnacle architectural achievement of Italian Renaissance. 1506-1626 BAROQUE Same site as Old St. Peters Covers 227,000 sq ft. Dome is 450 ft high Nave is 84 ft Great barrel vault 150 ft high Expresses classical orders on scale never equaled before or since. Architects: BRAMANTE, DA VINCI, BERNINI, MICHEALANGELO, RAPHAEL (BDBMR) Bernini Colonnade Bernini Baldacchino Seats 60,000 people eliptical plaza uses GIANT ORDER Bernini's Glorea w/ St. Peter's throne below Michelangelo's La pieta (the pity) of Mary holding Jesus. Weird proportions

Cathedral Complex of Pisa / Pisa Baptistry

Pisa, Italy. Includes walled cemetery, and three free-standing buildings: the cross-shaped cathedral, the cylindrical baptistry, and the tall campanile (bell tower) aka The Leaning Tower of Pisa. Cathedral has oval/ellipsoidal dome. Rows of ROUND HEADED ARCHES show that it is Romanesque

Chinese Character

Quiet Beauty, Conventional,Tendency towards curving and circular forms, Continuity in repeated elements. Masters of Porcelain and Silk Detailed, Serious and sober. Modular, Axial, Symmetrical Perfection Large Elaborate Curving Roofs (to deter evil spirits) Good Feng Shui ("wind and water" "the art of placement") Colors have meaning. Never loosing its own established character. Form/Buildings: curving roofs, temple, pagoda, The Forbidden City Furniture/Decorative Arts: K'ang, earthenware, stonewear, porcelain, damascening, silk, brocade, satin, taffeta Chair pieces: crest rail, stretcher, apron

Louix XV (the fifteenth)

ROCOCO More feminized than baroque, Asymetrical, organic curves, more refined. Focus on intimacy and comfort. Chair: Gently angled back, cabriole (s or c curve) legs, legs turned at angle instead of perpendicular, short arms end before end of seat, upholstered "Golden Age" of French attractive style Colors and materials simplified (white and gold popular) Seating moved away from the walls and was placed informally in center of room. Ornamentation: Wymsical, ribbons, garlands, putty, easter motifs like chinoiserie (imaginary Chinese landscapes or dramatic scenes)

English Neoclassical/Georgian Style

Returned to proper, dignified, respectful, and sedate classicism. E and H shaped floor plans replaced by square and rectangular blocks perhaps with a central bay projecting very slightly from the general mass. Windows and Doors rectangular except Palladian windows of central arched openings between two rectangular ones. Columns and pilasters were plentiful. Ceilings given decorative reliefs in plaster but reliefs were low and the designs were decorous.

Coliseum / Colosseum

Rome, Italy Elliptical Stadium / Roman Amphitheater Colonnades and arcades Held between 45,000 and 55,000 spectators Made of concrete, tufa (a porus rock), and travertine (type of marble). Begun by Emperor Vespasian Levels of decorative colunnades go Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and then pilasters at the top.

Old St. Peter's Basilica

Rome, Italy Example of early Christian style of western Europe Straight tall masonry walls. Had a narthex (like a lobby in fronth) Atrium (forecort open to the sky) Exterior severely plain, but interior was lavishly decorated Nothing of it remains Built by/for emperor Constantine.

Early Christian Character

Simple, logical, impressive, elboarate inside. Draws from Roman west, used centralized and basilica plan. Forms/Buildings: Catacombs, basilica, narthex, nave, transept, Old St. Peter's basilica, Furniture/decorative arts: Latin and Greek cross, dove, fish,

Well's Cathedral

Somerset, England. Had strainer arches installed to solve the weight structure problem. Strainer arches form enormous x-shapes.

Egyptian Character

Space, scale, symmetry, weight, mass, geometric clarity Culture unchanged for almost 5,000 years Isolated by desert Did not pay much attention to spacious interiors Forms/buildings: pyramid, obelisk, sphinx, temples

Italian Renaissance-Neoclassical Style

Spirituality replaced by rationality Mystery by understanding Resumption of classical vocabulary (columns, bases, entablatures, pediments, and ornaments) Resumption of classical proportion Coherence among parts and exterior and interior.

Romanesque Quality and Character

Strength, formidable, clarity. Forbidding, massive, heavy. Thick walls. Simple basilica given 3-dimensional expressiveness with round vaults, hemispherical domes, and groin vaults. Projections, niches, piers, half columns, blind arcades, and openings. Rich, geometrically complex ornament in stone, brick, metal, and wood. Buildings: Ste. Madeleine in Vezelay France, Durham Cathedral in Durham England, Fontenay Abbey Burgundy France, Catehdral Complex Pisa Italy Furniture/Ornament: Tympanum (semicircular panel above portal), chevron, Cosmati floor stonework, chip carving, turning, trussing beds, couchet

Ancient Near East Character

Stylization, rhythm, REPETITION, energy, awe and respect, amaze and terrify. Architecture highlighted military power Ornamentation included composite beasts Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Persians, Sasanians. Forms/buildings: Ziggurats, Babylonian Processional way

What does Taj Mahal Mean?

Taj Mahal means "Crown of the Palace."

Doric

The earliest, most sever, and most popular of the Greek orders. Was the most frequent style in areas inhabited by the Dorian Greeks. Has 20 flutes around the column. Has no base

Groin Vault

The intersection of two barrel vaults at right angles. (Made possible by the Romans and their invention of concrete)

Horseshoe Arch

The main arch used in Islamic design. A semicircular shape above straight piers that narrows further below its spring line. Can have round or pointed tops. Can be foliate or cusped or scalloped.

Corinthian

The most decorative Greek order. believed to be from the Greek city of Corinth Appeared later Favorite order of the Romans Most slender columns Has acanthus leaves on the capital.

Chinese Roofs

The most distinguishing part of a Chinese building. Larger than the building beneath it. Curves gracefully upward as it extends outward.

Ionic

The second, less architecturally limiting Greek order. Allows more decorative features and more variety. Has volutes. Has a base.

Transept

The shorter/horizontal arm of a cross plan church.

Engawa

The surrounding veranda of a Japanese building. Transition between indoors and outdoors. It's a porch ok.

Byzantine Character

Took dome from east and Classical temple from the west, used centralized plan, obscurity, sense of mystery. Forms/Buildings: Dome, Basilica, squinch, pendentive, drum (cylinder), Hagia Sophia, Mausoleum of Galla Placida, St. Basil's in Moscow, Furniture/decorative arts: Latin and Greek cross, icons, ivory carvings (includes diptych and triptych), mosaics

Tudor Style

Trussed timber roofs Tudor Arch: pointed like Gothic arch but lower and more gently curved.. wattle and daub construction (mixture of twigs, clay, and mud)

Catacombs

Underground early Christian meeting places.

Hierarchical Scale

When items or people of importance are painted or otherwise made larger than others based on level importance. Used by the Egyptians and Medieval people (Early Christian/Byzantine, Romanesque, Gothic)

Ornamatiste

aka decorator. A new position created in the French Renaissance. They could engrave their interior design ideas and thus show and explain the idea to the client. This made clients and artisan better able to choose and design interior elements

refractory table

highly elongated table used originally for dining in monasteries in Medieval times. (Mentioned on pg 378 in English Chapter)