HUMN303N-10236
Week 3 Discussion: Influences of Ancient Architecture
Hello Doc and Class,
Roman architecture refers to the forms of buildings and structures that drew their designs from the Greeks. The design was majo
...
HUMN303N-10236
Week 3 Discussion: Influences of Ancient Architecture
Hello Doc and Class,
Roman architecture refers to the forms of buildings and structures that drew their designs from the Greeks. The design was majorly differentiated from the external, whereby it consisted of a post and lintel system. The system made the buildings impressive from the outside. For my assignment, I chose the Palace of Versailles and the Field Museum.
Jacobus and Martin (2019) states that traditionally, the architects erected their structures in a way that the building would foretell their functions. The Palace of Versailles served as the home to royalty of France from 1682 to 1789. Louis XVI left the premises for Paris during the French revolution in 1789 (History, 2020). In 1837, King Louis-Phillipe turned the palace into a museum. Louis XIV initially turned the building into a royal residence from the hunting lodge that it was serving. However, during the French revolution, the building was vandalized, and properties were stolen. The palace would later be restored to its original appearance during the Ancient Regime in the 1950s.
The field museum was built to serve the purpose of displaying the collections of natural wonders and other cultural artifacts, which initially had been displayed in the 1893 World's Colombian Exposition, as indicated by Field Museum (2021). the museum grew faster, thereby developing the current building that was opened in 1921. Currently, the collection of artifacts and specimen stands at 40 million since it first opened doors in 1894, according to Field Museum (2021).
The field museum drew its structural inspiration from the Erechtheum temple, which was an ancient Greek temple in Athens. They applied the Greek Ionic style for the columns together with arches and dome-style on the internal and external of the structure, the neoclassical approach (Field Museum, 2021). The architects of the Palace of Versailles drew their inspiration from the French Baroque style, which applied the classical approach (History, 2020). The classical approach displayed the Greek and Roman influence. The use of arches and columns shows more details in the design and promotes the classical approach's prowess.
When examining and comparing the two structures, they both show a sense of history within and around the buildings. The buildings were erected at distinct periods; however, they are exceptional yet comparable types of architecture. The similarity is best exhibited in the use of columns and arches. The period and the functions may be the prevalent differences between the two structures. Whereas the two structures compare and contrast in different aspects, their structures were drawn from Greco-Roman architecture, which influenced their different styles.
Caitlin
References
Field Museum (2021). Architecture. Retrieved from https://www.fieldmuseum.org/about/history/architecture
History (2020). Château de Versailles. Retrieved from http://en.chateauversailles.fr/discover/history#louis-xiii-and-versailles1607---1638
Martin, F. D., & Jacobus, L. A. (2019). The humanities through the arts. New- York McGraw- hill education.
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