Week Five- Romanesque and Islamic

 Romanesque and Islamic 

    For many including the American Architect Henry Hobson Richardson, almost only worked in Romanesque revival style. Islamic design consists of mosques that continue to be built in the traditional style. There are two early chairs from this period that survived, one being the throne of Dagobert which is completely made out of metal. The chair is a X-frame chair that existed in Egypt, Nubia, Greece, and the Byzantine empire. Folding chairs were also useful for military campaigns and household nooks. Charlemagne's throne is also famous because of the person who sat in it. This throne blurs the lines of ecclesiastical and secular furniture. Many Romanesque churches had semicircular arches and vaults. As well as aside chapel added in the wider transept. Roofs were masonry not wood, walls were normally painted rich green, blues, purples, and gold. 

    There were also many cities that went up before the gothic period, Aigues-Motes, for example, inside held wattle-and-daub and timber construction were relevant. The Cathedral of St. Foy is most well-known for the carved decorative facade; these show the lives of the public who led a hard life. The Romanesque churches were a development off of the Early Christian church plans. With a growth of architectural construction knowledge there was now the development of side aisles. And with this came many more additions to the church, room for the choir and side chapels. Romanesque churches are among the best examples of architectural form and interior space because of the simplicity of design. Churches in the Romanesque period fall into three categories: urban pilgrimage sites, sprawling rural monasteries, and modest parish churches. 

    Throughout the book it also talks about Romanesque homes, these indicated a separation between residential living and commercial. The large opening on the ground level indicates the commercial space that lies behind. These homes normally didn't have a great source of privacy, which would be seen as an issue in these days of common homes. A large part of furniture in this time was the use of chests, it could be used as a piece of furniture as well as luggage. The chest has many practical uses and are made of a sturdy wood such as oak, walnut, poplar, and pine. It could also be used as a place to dine, or a communal space of gathering. One thing I specifically found interesting about the chest is how most tended to have darker legs since the floors that the chest sat on would have been mopped with an oily soap. Over time the more soap that got onto the wood because of mopping the darker the feet of the chest would get. It's interesting to me because we see the effects that oil can have on wood, which can be seen in an oil finish nowadays. 

Another piece of furniture that was common in these homes were coffers, these were where homeowners would keep money or valuables. As well as hatches which were also for storage and wooden, these also had legs. 

    Islamic design is also centered on religion, their mosques are built with these shared features: courtyard, prayer hall, ablutions fountains, and qibla wall with mihrab. In a mosque the main central activity is individual prayer. A piece of furniture that is essential to this period is the minbar, this is a hybrid of stair, chair, and a pulpit. A huge number of Islamic prayer stools are indented for use when reading the Koran, this is a huge part of the religion to have these stools be portable and collapsible. 

    The Great Mosque of Kairouan is a large part of the Islamic Design built in 820-836 C.E. The prayer hall has classical capitols with the Islamic arch as well as the Horseshoe arch. I found the Mosque of Sultan Ahmed; prayer is to be specifically so powerful. It has such an openness and creative flow to its design. The small details on the main dome add to the design with the windows. I also found the Alhambra Gardens to stand out to me, the attention to small details as well as the interiors, and dome.

     One Step Further

Marco Vitruvius Pollionis became the authority of ancient classical architecture. As I learned of him in my history of architecture, I started to look at his work and realized how influential he was in this time. Ancient Rome a has very recognizable style, with domes and arches.