Saturday, 30 March 2013

Netherlands: Tilted houses and neck gables

For many centuries, architecture and its unlimited possibilities remained in the hands of the rich and the influential. Design was beyond the reach of common man.

The Palace of Versailles in France, a typical example of the opulence and grandeur of Baroque Architecture
 
Source: Photo © Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
As the Dutch navigators opened up new lands beyond the Indies, the 17th century saw countries like Belgium and Netherlands come into their own, thanks to their flourishing business and trade.  The new found economic strength of the farmers, weavers and craftsmen fueled the demand for handsome, yet unassuming and simple houses. Hence, a new simplified form of Baroque Architecture evolved.

This style of Baroque Architecture is best explained by the little cobbled streets and rows of narrow, tall houses lining the banks of the rivers and the canals in and around Belgium and the north east coast of France.

Image Credits: Parul Gupta
Amsterdam's Begijnhof court
Source: http://www.flickr.com/
Houses lining the canal in Amsterdam,
Source: http://www.busyasabeeinparis.com/
The famous "neck gables" at Amsterdam's Begijnhof court,
Source: http://www.tunliweb.no/
The houses were built with large windows to reduce the load on the structure. One of the main reasons for the narrow designs may have been a tax levied on the owners at the time as per street frontage.

Most of these narrow, tall houses are adorned with patterned brickwork and sharply pointed, stepped and even straight sided neck gables.
The straight decorated neck gable and the pulley to lift furniture and goods to upper floors
Source: http://www.traveljournals.net/
Stepped gables, Source: http://www.eurotravelogue.com/

Another unique feature of these houses are the pulleys above their topmost windows to lift furniture and goods to upper floors since these houses had very narrow staircases and in many cases the lower stories were used for warehousing.

Interestingly, many of these houses are also tilted towards the front, to save the building facade from damage while goods moved up and down. Though in some cases, the tilt is simply due to a damaged foundation.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has been gifting blue and white porcelain miniatures of these canal houses to their business class passengers since 1952. 

KLM Miniature Houses, Source: http://ednakylephotography.blogspot.in/
The bottles are filled with the famous Dutch genever, the original ingredient in most cocktails that use gin today. Every year, a new miniature is released on the 7th of October, KLM's founding anniversary date.  93 houses have been released so far!

House no. 87, Source: http://www.klmdutchhouses.com/
All these houses are replicas of actual buildings in Netherlands. In many cases, the porcelain figures even carry the address of the archetype.

The little porcelain houses that have gone on to become collectibles
Source: http://www.liveauctioneers.com/


Monday, 11 March 2013

Italy: Living in a Temple

Villa la Rotonda in Vicenza, Northern Italy, was designed by Andrea Palladio. Built in the Renaissance style, but with an understated simplicity, the exterior is devoid of any palatial embellishments. 

The majestic Villa Rotonda, Italy, the most celebrated work of Andrea Palladio. 
Source: Stefan Bauer
The Ionic Columns give the villa temple like grandeur,
Source: www.flickr.com
Service Corridoor leading to the Villa.
Source: http://olivialeaves.blogspot.in/
The interiors of the Villa come alive with art previously restricted to decoration of Cathedrals,
Source: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/
The building was created at a time when architecture was all about overt and elaborate decoration and ostentatious buildings. It was commissioned by bishop Paolo Almerico and went on to become a salon for wealthy gentleman to read, write and discuss art. Modeled after the Pantheon in Rome, the design brings together the grandeur of Roman temples and ancient art.
The Pantheon in Rome, the perfect symbol of Greek arhitecture,
Source: http://blog.bt-store.com/
The interiors of the salons are gorgeously adorned by intricately detailed statues, frescoes, trompe l'oeil and stuccoes.

Frescoes adorn the ceilings of the Villa
Source: http://theredlist.fr/
Trompe-l'oeil is an art technique involving realistic imagery meant to create an illusion of 3D objects,
Source: http://theredlist.fr/
Inside of the central circular hall surmounted by the dome
Source: http://theredlist.fr/
Ornamental Door Pediments, Source: http://ziyena.hubpages.com/
The Marble carved Fireplace, Source: Dogears at en.wikipedia
The completely symmetrical square plan has four identical temple like elevations surmounted by a circular dome. Overlooking the countryside, each facade has a projecting portico with six Ionic columns. The building has no structural variation to differentiate the entrance. Differentiation has been brought out in the decoration and landscaping. 

The identical facades, designed with the grandeur of a Greek Temple,
Source: http://theredlist.fr/
The symmetric square plan of Villa Rotonda
Aerial View of the symmetrical plan. Landscaping is a crucial part of the design.
Source: http://s2.hubimg.com/
Located atop a small hill, the four corners of the building are oriented to the four compass points.
Overlooking the countryside, Source: http://www.boglewood.com/
Palladio was born as Andrea di Pietro della Gondola in Padua, Italy in 1508. A stone-cutter by training, he went on to study ancient architecture in Rome. He was nicknamed Palladio, probably after the Greek goddess of wisdom, Pallas Athene or after a divine fictional character, Palladio, who saved Italy. 

He was the single most influential architect who reinvented Classical Architecture for the Modern Age. He translated pure geometry (the circle, square, rectangle and golden rectangle) into simple, yet graceful buildings. The timelessness and simplicity bring about a calming, elevating feeling.

Villa Godi at Lugo di Vicenza, Italy, another prominent work of Andrea Palladio, noted for its lack of ornamentation, Source: http://www.classicaladdiction.com/
Frescoes in the interior of Villa Godi, Source: Stefan Bauer
From modest working class houses to majestic farmhouses and state buildings, Palladio's influence can be seen across hundreds of buildings for centuries to come. Practical but unpretentious, his designs have been reproduced several times, the most prominent of them being the White House in Washington D.C.by James Hoban. 

The North Facade of White House, a prominent example of Palladian Arhitecture,
Source: http://carnegie.org/ 
A palatial white classical house in Palladian style, Source: http://www.tfigblog.com/

Wednesday, 6 March 2013

Czech: Dance in Architecture


The Dancing House, officially known as the Nationale-Nederlanden is an iconic building designed by Croatian-Czech architect Vlado Milunic in association with the Canadian-American architect Frank O. Gehry in the city of Prague. The building was designed in 1992 and completed in 1996.

The project was funded by the Dutch company ING with almost unlimited budget and artistic freedom.


Ginger and Fred, the inspiration
"Ginger and Fred" by Vlado Milunic and Frank Gehry,
Source: http://openbuildings.com/
The project was christened "Ginger and Fred" by Gehry in allusion to Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, one of the most iconic couples in American Popular movie history. The movie Ginger and Fred was released in 1986, potrayed by Italian actors Marcello Mastroianni and Giulette Masina. Situated along the banks of the Vltava, the building conjures up images of the dancing couple on the quay. 

Ginger and Fred. Source: Phillip Kay
Image courtesy Creative Commons
The Dancing Building on the quay,
Source: http://amandapeyton.com/
The design style, known as deconstructivism, was all about creation of "creative spaces" and unique structures that challenged basic principles & elements of built structure and defied the concept of right angles.  The building is composed of 99 concrete panels of different forms and shapes each requiring a unique wooden base, complete with a dome resembling a bob of hair.


"Fred", composed of curved wavy bands of concrete and non-aligned windows,
Source: http://www.baticom.cz/
Source: http://worldfullofart.blogspot.in/
"Ginger", The curved columns leading up to the tower of glass,
Source: http://www.baticom.cz/
Source: http://www.123rf.com/profile_benkrut
Inside view of the curvy columns
Source: http://lapislasuli.deviantart.com/
Ironically, the site previously had a Neo-Classical Building which was destroyed by an accidental American bombing incident in 1945. There was much contention regarding the non-traditional design of the house in an otherwise Art Nouveau, Baroque and Renaissance style neighbourhood. The building continues to stand out against the traditional landscape, drawing both admirers and critiques.


Standing out in the traditional architectural landscape in Prague
Source: http://luciebause.blogspot.in/
Frank Gehry is known to design starting with conceptual sketches, followed by models using crumpled paper and found objects until the desired look is achieved before modelling it on CAD to prepare final drawings. CAD is crucial right into the execution of his designs since most of his buildings involve unique structural and technical challenges.

Contrasting elements of traditional and modern architecture,
Source: http://in-site-wendi.blogspot.in/
Paper model of University of Technology, Sydney by Frank Gehry,
Source: http://www.phaidon.com/
Appreciation of a design involves understanding the underlying context and principles. The concept of beauty is meant to associate with visions, objects and places that arouse pleasure. The dancing building has been often criticised for its unstable, fractured and fragmented look, bringing back images of war hit zones and catastrophe. To some, deconstructivist architecture is reminiscent of violence, destruction and catastrophe.

Imperial War Museum North by Libeskind in Manchester
Photograph © Andrew Dunn
UFA-Palast in Dresden, Germany, by Coop Himmelb(l)au
Source: Multi-license with GFDL and Creative Commons
CC-BY-SA-2.5 and older versions (2.0 and 1.0)
Earthquake hit buildings in Chile
Source: Basulto , David. "Earthquake in Chile" 28 Feb 2010. ArchDaily. Accessed 06 Mar 2013




Sunday, 3 March 2013

India: Rediscovering Connaught Place

Connaught Place was designed in 1929 by Architect Robert Tor Russel and completed in 1933. It is a circular, white, two-storey structure with muted Classical detailing based on the Classical and Renaissance Style of Europe complete with Palladian pillars and wide verandahs. It was named after Prince Arthur, The 1st Duke of Connaught and third son of Queen Victoria.



The Design

Robert Tor Russell, Consulting Architect to the Government of India from 1919, designed the shops, post-offices, police stations, hospitals and official housing in the new city.

Connaught Place was planned as a commercial hub, a European antithesis to the native, colorful, vibrant and densely populated Chandni Chowk Bazaar. Midway between Old Delhi and the boulevards of power around Raj Path, it was meant to provide a tasteful shopping destination housing the most important restaurants  cafes and shops in the new city. The design draws references from the residential street of 30 houses called the Royal Crescent in Bath, England.


Aerial view of the Royal Crescent in Bath, England
Source: http://ceur-ws.org/
Source: http://www.stockhillhouse.co.uk/
Panoramic View of the Royal Crescent in Bath, England
Photo by DAVID ILIFF. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0

Why Lutyen's Bungalow Zone?

The design of Connaught Place is often mistakenly attributed to Sir Edwin Lutyens.

When the British Raj shifted their capital from Calcutta to Delhi, Edwin Lutyens was commissioned to plan a new city. He planned the great processional axis of King's Way (now known as Raj Path) and designed the spectacular Viceroy's House, now known as Rashtrapati Bhawan. The Viceroy's House was the supreme symbol of authority with all other buildings designed to respect the order. Though Lutyen's built only four other bungalows in the city, all the work done by architects Herbert Baker and Robert Tor Russell are hence bundled under the name Lutyen's Bungalow Zone. 

Aerial View of Connaught Place, Source: http://bhardwajme.blogspot.in/
Source: http://www.outlookindia.com/
Connaught Place (or Rajiv Chowk) in modern times

The original site was populated by kikar trees before it was developed as part of the new city. 

Kikar tree, Source: http://www.fotopedia.com/

In Modern Times

Envisioned in 2005, the restoration of Connaught Place finally began in May 2009. The NDMC (New delhi Municipal Corporation) was awarded the same with the budget fixed at 400 crores. Having missed the deadline before the Commonwealth Games in 2010, NDMC officials have now shifted the deadline to April-May 2013. 

Restoration work at Connaught Place, now slated for completion by May 2013, Source: http://www.thehindu.com/
Photo: V. V. Krishnan