Ca 1880 to 1910: The Arts and Crafts movement:
● movement of British craftspeople and designers
● a reaction to some of the consequences of the Industrial Revolution
- Because of industrialization, products such as household goods could be
made quickly by machine
- against this because it led to a decline in individually hand-crafted objects
● This way of thinking, their philosophy, was linked to Socialism
- a new political movement, tried to look after the interests of the working
people who were exploited by factory owners and the wealthy section of
society
● against mass production
- a return to individually made products
- a craftsperson could produce better quality than a machine
- craftsmanship in general was important to the soul of a society
- when a machine takes over and a craft skill is lost, you are losing a
connection to the past
Craftspeople and designers in this movement were influenced by medieval art
- a period of art and architecture in medieval times (ca 500 – 1400 AD) when
craftsmanship was respected, and the simplicity and beauty of nature was depicted
key characteristic of this design movement is harmony
- It was all about a balance between form (how something looks) and function (its
usefulness) and straight and curved lines
Ca 1890s to 1914: Art Nouveau:
Characteristics associated with this movement are the use of organic shapes.
Organic means growth and nature-like in this context.
- The shapes and lines are asymmetrical, soft and flowy, exaggerated and playful
Gaudí's Casa Batlló: was influenced by medieval and by islamic architecture
Japanese art and design was a major influence on how the look of art nouveau was
developed → reflects nature in a stylised way
1920s and 1930s: Art Deco:
strong geometric and abstract forms, bold and colorful, clear, sharp horizontal, vertical and
diagonal lines → angular
● the connection to nature and its influence on designs and patterns is less obvious
● influenced by the new machine age; of fast cars and travel, new rhythms of jazz
music
● avant-garde: styles in painting at the beginning of the 20th century → cubism
1919-1933: the Bauhaus movement:
● emerged out of the radical art and design school called the Bauhaus in Germany
- encouraged students to embrace new technology and its materials, but also
maintaining the individual artistic spirit with high- quality designs
characteristics: simplification of forms, rationality & functionality, rejection of frivolous
ornamentation, minimalistic
“FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION”: function comes first, the form (what it looks like / its
appearance) should reflect and enhance the function
, ca 1970s to 1990s: Postmodernism:
● a way of thinking - a philosophy - as well as an art → Less is a bore!
- function follows form
Characteristics: eclectic, playful and experimental with methods, materials, forms and
colors
● emerged as a reaction to the modernist era of the late 19th and first half of the 20th
century
● Modernism: clear structures, logic and grand ideas such as progress and utopia.
● Postmodern: ways of thinking rejected the reality of such grand ideas
- it promoted randomness and acknowledging the complexity of the world
- Postmodernism has a questioning point of view
- design and architecture (and fine art) often makes (playful) references back to
older styles
Columns: vertical pillar
Capitals: top of the column
- Doric: basic rectangular capitals, not decorative
- Ionic: scroll-like
- Corinthian: acanthus leaves
Pediment: the triangular section above the entablature
Entablature: the horizontal structure between the pediment and the columns
- Cornice: decorative edges
- Frieze: a decorative feature in relief: a sculpted shape or figurative scene carved out
of stone (or other material) so that it is slightly raised from the surface.
- Architrave
Tympanum: the decorated area within the pediment
Arch: a structure that spans a space while supporting weight
Vaults: arched roofs, which supported the weight of the roof
Dome: a hollow sphere above a building, it could support a lot of weight
ROMANESQUE: (ca 1000 – 1150 AD)
- borrowed features from Ancient Rome
Romanesque architecture made use of arched stone ceilings called barrel vaults
- the enormous weight of the ceilings, walls had to be thick → no space for windows
- this lead to short buildings with small semi-circular arched windows and sturdy,
massive walls
Basilica: basic rectangular churches copied from roman secular public buildings
- pilgrims were the first tourists as they would view religious relics in the churches
- ground plans of the new churches → cross-shaped structure, adding small
semi-circular chapels radiating out of the apse and an ambulatory which let the
pilgrims walk around the small radiating chapels
● the use of different materials and the influence of pilgrimages influenced how the
Romanesque style developed
GOTHIC: (ca 1150 – 1450 AD)
because of political instability architecture changed → feudalism
- soaring towers, high walls with lots of stained glass windows
● movement of British craftspeople and designers
● a reaction to some of the consequences of the Industrial Revolution
- Because of industrialization, products such as household goods could be
made quickly by machine
- against this because it led to a decline in individually hand-crafted objects
● This way of thinking, their philosophy, was linked to Socialism
- a new political movement, tried to look after the interests of the working
people who were exploited by factory owners and the wealthy section of
society
● against mass production
- a return to individually made products
- a craftsperson could produce better quality than a machine
- craftsmanship in general was important to the soul of a society
- when a machine takes over and a craft skill is lost, you are losing a
connection to the past
Craftspeople and designers in this movement were influenced by medieval art
- a period of art and architecture in medieval times (ca 500 – 1400 AD) when
craftsmanship was respected, and the simplicity and beauty of nature was depicted
key characteristic of this design movement is harmony
- It was all about a balance between form (how something looks) and function (its
usefulness) and straight and curved lines
Ca 1890s to 1914: Art Nouveau:
Characteristics associated with this movement are the use of organic shapes.
Organic means growth and nature-like in this context.
- The shapes and lines are asymmetrical, soft and flowy, exaggerated and playful
Gaudí's Casa Batlló: was influenced by medieval and by islamic architecture
Japanese art and design was a major influence on how the look of art nouveau was
developed → reflects nature in a stylised way
1920s and 1930s: Art Deco:
strong geometric and abstract forms, bold and colorful, clear, sharp horizontal, vertical and
diagonal lines → angular
● the connection to nature and its influence on designs and patterns is less obvious
● influenced by the new machine age; of fast cars and travel, new rhythms of jazz
music
● avant-garde: styles in painting at the beginning of the 20th century → cubism
1919-1933: the Bauhaus movement:
● emerged out of the radical art and design school called the Bauhaus in Germany
- encouraged students to embrace new technology and its materials, but also
maintaining the individual artistic spirit with high- quality designs
characteristics: simplification of forms, rationality & functionality, rejection of frivolous
ornamentation, minimalistic
“FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION”: function comes first, the form (what it looks like / its
appearance) should reflect and enhance the function
, ca 1970s to 1990s: Postmodernism:
● a way of thinking - a philosophy - as well as an art → Less is a bore!
- function follows form
Characteristics: eclectic, playful and experimental with methods, materials, forms and
colors
● emerged as a reaction to the modernist era of the late 19th and first half of the 20th
century
● Modernism: clear structures, logic and grand ideas such as progress and utopia.
● Postmodern: ways of thinking rejected the reality of such grand ideas
- it promoted randomness and acknowledging the complexity of the world
- Postmodernism has a questioning point of view
- design and architecture (and fine art) often makes (playful) references back to
older styles
Columns: vertical pillar
Capitals: top of the column
- Doric: basic rectangular capitals, not decorative
- Ionic: scroll-like
- Corinthian: acanthus leaves
Pediment: the triangular section above the entablature
Entablature: the horizontal structure between the pediment and the columns
- Cornice: decorative edges
- Frieze: a decorative feature in relief: a sculpted shape or figurative scene carved out
of stone (or other material) so that it is slightly raised from the surface.
- Architrave
Tympanum: the decorated area within the pediment
Arch: a structure that spans a space while supporting weight
Vaults: arched roofs, which supported the weight of the roof
Dome: a hollow sphere above a building, it could support a lot of weight
ROMANESQUE: (ca 1000 – 1150 AD)
- borrowed features from Ancient Rome
Romanesque architecture made use of arched stone ceilings called barrel vaults
- the enormous weight of the ceilings, walls had to be thick → no space for windows
- this lead to short buildings with small semi-circular arched windows and sturdy,
massive walls
Basilica: basic rectangular churches copied from roman secular public buildings
- pilgrims were the first tourists as they would view religious relics in the churches
- ground plans of the new churches → cross-shaped structure, adding small
semi-circular chapels radiating out of the apse and an ambulatory which let the
pilgrims walk around the small radiating chapels
● the use of different materials and the influence of pilgrimages influenced how the
Romanesque style developed
GOTHIC: (ca 1150 – 1450 AD)
because of political instability architecture changed → feudalism
- soaring towers, high walls with lots of stained glass windows
