History of Interior Design II
05 Space-making elements Tutor : Amal Shah Spring 2021 Faculty of Design, CEPT University
Speyer Cathedral
Construction began 1030 on the site of a former basilica which stood on an elevated plateau right by the Rhine but safe from high water. In 1025, Conrad II ordered the construction of the Christian Western world's largest church in Speyer which was also supposed to be his last resting place.
Organisation of Spaces
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Linear Organisation in Nave and Aisle
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Sense of modular repetitiveness accentuated by lack of ornamentation and paintings
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Symmetrical plan typical of Romanesque style
Speyer Cathedral
Space within a Space
Interlocking space (Crossing as a tower) with different attributes
Visual Sequence through space Raised Choir built to accommodate Tomb of the maker Conrad II in underground crypt
Base Square Proportions
Proportionate Adjacency
Plan derived from Latin Cross Plan
Radial Axis and Organisation added around Apse for chapels to keep relics
System of Structure
Speyer Cathedral
The large bay between two transverse arches are divided by the piers resulting in a ‘ Double-bay’ system in the aisles
Dividing pier Compound Piers : Added part over existing for vaulting (reconstruction)
Transverse Arch
Minor Bay
AISLE
Major Bay
NAVE
Side aisles as structural buttresses for vaults instead of thicker walls that were characteristic of Romanesque
System of structure transforming the interior of the building into a tripartite space visually coordinated with the vaults over the aisles.
Roof and Ceiling
Speyer Cathedral
Diagonal Ribs Transverse Arch Stone masonry webbing
Determined geometry of diagonal ribs, and then the inďŹ ll masonry to produce a semi-elliptical groin
Groin vault allowed vaults to be lighter and higher, thus allowing for clerestory windows
Bay width Groin Vaults on a Square Plan
Half-bay width vaulting over aisles breaks space repetitively
Octagonal dome inset on a square plan
East towers
Bay width vaulting
East towers
Vertical supports and columns
Speyer Cathedral
Columnar Grid System
Transverse Arch as a connecting structural element
Composed of Piers and compound piers to transfer load of vaults
Piers Cushion capital/ Block capital : characteristic of Romanesque architecture in Germany
Alternating small and large vertical supports to incorporate Double bay system (single large bay of interior equivalent to two smaller bays)
Single attached column that rose 32 meters from the oor to the vault—higher than any other at the time.
Alternating Corinthian Capitals
Enclosures, Walls and their treatment
Speyer Cathedral
Series of densely placed Piers creating impression of a wall along the nave with pierced small windows
The employment of dressed stonework in comparatively small pieces, connected with mortar beds of considerable thickness.
Vertical Articulation : ‘A bay’ as a unit of structural subdivision defined by piers and transverse arch
Subtle articulation of columns adding clear distinction between wall and column - characteristic of Romanesque architecture
Opening - Doors and Windows
Speyer Cathedral
Plate tracery technique : Thicker areas of stone Openings: Higher round arches compared to other Romanesque buildings
Inuence from Roman Architecture : Aqueducts and
Rose window on facade with basic applied paint (Pre-Gothic inuence)
Semi-Circular Arcade System
Round portal in all door openings necessitating thicker walls
Inside-Outside Connectivity
Speyer Cathedral
Larger openings on the top level helps bring in more light while the ground level openings restrict inside-outside connection while still being attached to the outside. The cathedral has restricted inside outside connectivity.
Direct connection to the outside InDirect connection to the outside
The characteristic feature of light of romanesque architecture is enhanced through the top level openings which ush the light on the altar. While ensuring the building opens inwards. The smaller openings at the ground level helps in restricting the distractions to maintain sanity of a holy space.
Moulding motifs and decoration
Salisbury Cathedral
Column capitals throughout reect the motifs derived from natural forms.
Quatrefoils
Gothic churches are highly ornamented with decorated capitol to tracery windows, stained glasses and arches.
The cathedral is highly decorated with quatrefoil motifs, columns, trefoil motifs and bands of diapering. These are the prime motifs used since they represent the four gospels of Christiantiny. They were majorly used as capitals of the column, arches or as outer frame in the stained glass windows.
Quatrefoil shape used in various forms and pattern as apart of stained glass window
Ornamentation
Salisbury Cathedral
Triforium in the cathedral having ornamentation of the tracery
Geometrical derivation of tracery form The compound piers are decorated with slender columns of dark gray Purbeck marble, which reappear in clusters and as stand-alone supports in the arches of from the base form of a quatrefoil. the triforium, clerestory, and cloisters. The spandrels are ornamented with carvings that have been interpreted to mean: on the south side, the birth of the bishop, his conďŹ rmation, his education, and possibly his ďŹ rst preferment; on the north, the bishop doing homage for his see, a procession with a cross-bearer The Tracery in Gothic Architecture
Ornamentation
Factors that aect the built environment
A. B. C. D. E.
Time as a construct Context as a construct Culture as a construct Politics and beliefs as a construct Crafts and traditions
Catedral de Granada, Granada, Spain
Unlike most cathedrals in Spain, construction was not begun until the sixteenth century in 1518 in the centre of the old Muslim Medina. While its earliest plans had Gothic designs, most of the church's construction occurred when the Spanish Renaissance style was supplanting the Gothic in Spanish architecture.
Time as a construct The design and construction of this cathedral began in the year 1523 and yet remains unfinished. The design started with a ‘Late Gothic approach’ and was lead by the architects of the ‘Renaissance’ and ‘Baroque’ period. This is why the cathedral represents a blend of two or more different styles based on its evolution over a prolonged period of time that was lead by the change in the design styles as well as changing necessities.
Gothic style
Renaissance style
Catedral de Granada, Granada, Spain 1523 Late Gothic Style: Its first chief architect was Enrique Egas, who designed a cathedral in the Gothic style and oversaw construction of the foundations between 1523 and 1529.
Circular Capilla
1529 Renaissance Style: In 1529, Egas was replaced by Diego of Siloam, a Burgos-born sculptor and architect who had been influenced by the Italian Renaissance style on a trip to Naples in 1517. Siloam planned five naves instead of the more customary three and a circular Capilla Mayor, or main chapel.
5 Naves
Culture as a construct
Catedral de Granada, Granada, Spain
1650 Baroque Style: In 1529, Egas was replaced by Diego of Siloam, a Burgos-born sculptor and architect who had been influenced by the Italian Renaissance style on a trip to Naples in 1517. Siloam planned five naves instead of the more customary three and a circular Capilla Mayor, or main chapel.
Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute, Venice
Over the centuries, diseases have contributed mightily to great art and architecture. The Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute is a case in point. In October of 1630, after nearly a third of Venice's 150,000 citizens had been killed by plague, the Venetian Senate made an oer to God: "Stop the plague, and we'll build a church to honor the Virgin Mary."
Context as a construct In the summer of 1630, Venice was hit by the plague after a group of ambassadors arrived from Mantua, spreading the contagion.
Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute, Venice St. Peter’s, Rome
In October 1630 the Doge vowed that a new church would have been built if the plague stopped. The outbreak started slowing down soon afterwards and the construction of Santa Maria della Salute (Saint Mary of Health), commonly known simply as La Salute, started in 1631.
Baroque Style: Designed in a rich Baroque style by Baldassare Longhena, the church was located at Punta della Dogana. Longhena, proposed a massive octagonal basilica that combined elements of Venetian Byzantine architecture with domes inspired by St. Peter's in Rome. Longhena described his design as "strange, worthy, and beautiful...in the shape of a round 'machine' such as had never been seen, or invented either in its whole or in part from any other church in the city."
Byzantine style of church layout:
Basilica di San Lorenzo
.The Basilica di San Lorenzo is one of the largest churches of Florence, Italy, designed by Filippo Brunelleschi. The basilica is situated at the centre of the city’s main market district, and the burial place of all the principal members of the Medici family from Cosimo il Vecchio to Cosimo III
Politics as a construct
Basilica di San Lorenzo, Florence
In Italy generally there was a wave of national enthusiasm and patriotic feeling and an endeavour to assimilate the old Roman magniďŹ cence in art. The Medici dynasty, connected with the rise of Florentine art, was founded by John of Medici (died 1429), who took the popular side against the nobles, gradually taking authority over the State. His son Cosimo (died 1464) employed his wealth liberally in the advancement of art. He founded the Medici Library and Platonic Academy, and was the patron of Brunelleschi, Donatello, Michelozzo, Lippi, Masaccio, and others. Pietro and Lorenzo Medici succeeded Cosimo, and Florence "the Athens of the Renaissance" became the centre of the revival in art and literature.
Crafts and Traditions as a construct
Basilica di San Lorenzo, Florence
Influence from the Byzantine style of mosaics: The cupola of the scarsella (small rectangular apse) in the Old Sacristy is painted with a fascinating astronomical image that exemplifies the close relationship between science and art. While the custom of decorating vaults with starry skies originated in Byzantine mosaics, the idea to scientifically represent the northern hemisphere in a little cupola inside a religious building was absolutely innovative and closely tied to the humanist intellectual climate. The scientific importance of the fresco lies in the extreme precision with which the celestial bodies are positioned. The Moon, the Sun, Jupiter, Venus and the principal coordinates of the celestial sphere are evidenced in gold against the blue ground representing the sky, while the personifications of several constellations are outlined in black with white highlighting.
Byzantine mosaic