Architecture - Andrew Ballantyne [59]
pattern book: an illustrated book, designed to give architects and builders ideas to copy.
pediment: 1. the low sloping gable at the front of a classical temple; 2. a low sloping triangular form often placed to mark entrances or windows in classical buildings.
peristyle: a row of columns round the outside of a building, especially if the building is a classical temple.
portico: a porch with columns that takes the form of the end of a classical temple.
postmodernism: in architecture this term usually means a building from the 1980s that makes eccentric and unconventional use of historical ornamental features such as columns and keystones.
Regency: Properly this refers to the time between 1810 and 1820 when George III was King of England, but insane, so his son acted as the ruler (the regent). The son had an influence on fashionable taste over a longer period, from when he was Prince of Wales until he was George IV, and the ‘Regency Style’ would normally refer to this longer period. It is marked by simplicity and elegance of form (which is remarkable, given that the Prince Regent had built the Brighton Pavilion). In contemporary popular usage with reference to architecture it suggests a rather notional indication of classicism.
Rococo: This was a late variant of the Baroque, which is different in mood, having a lighter touch. Its characteristic swirling plasterwork often used abstract or shell-like forms (rocaille) and delicate colour schemes.
Romanesque: This was medieval architecture, especially churches, built in imitation of Roman models, particularly architecture from the 12th century and before. It made use of round-headed arches and in the more ambitious work favoured stone-vaulted ceilings.
stoa: This was an ancient Greek building type with a long narrow rectangular plan. One of the long sides would have a wall along it, while the other would have a row of columns, leaving that side open to the outside. The arrangements made a pleasantly sheltered verandahlike space which was put to use in a multiplicity of ways. The most famous example was the stoa poikile, or painted stoa, in Athens, from which Zeno operated a school of philosophy (the Stoics).
vernacular: traditional buildings erected by craftsmen without the guidance of an architect.
Further reading
There are many different ways to look at architecture. The best way is to visit buildings and experience them. Reading about buildings makes sense most straightforwardly when one has visited them. Travel to the places illustrated in this very short introduction would give viable holiday destinations for years. Alternatively, take an interest in things close at hand, encouraged by a book such as Thom Gorst, The Buildings Around Us (Spon, 1995).
The following three volumes are concerned with architectural history, and order the material chronologically:
Sir Banister Fletcher, A History of Architecture, is an encyclopaedic volume that includes plans, line drawings and photographs of buildings of all ages and in all places. It is a very useful reference book and has been revised and reprinted many times since its first appearance in 1896. Earlier editions confined their scope to the Western tradition. It has changed under the influence of its various editors, and different editions have claimed the loyalty of different readers. The most recent edition, the twentieth, has 1840 pages and is called Sir Banister Fletcher’s ‘A History of Architecture’, edited by Dan Cruickshank, Andrew Saint, Kenneth Frampton and Peter Blundell-Jones (Architectural Press, 1996).
Spiro Kostof, A History of Architecture: Settings and Rituals (Oxford University Press, second edition 1995). This illustrates fewer buildings, but across an equally wide range. The text offers more interpretation, and situates the buildings in their various cultures. It is widely admired and used in university courses.
David Watkin, A History of Western Architecture (Laurence King, third edition 2000) confines its scope to the Western