LARCH 060

Thursday February 18th, 1999
Announcements: none

Lecture notes:

FRENCH CHATEAUX (Baroque 17-18C.):

Land/Environment:

• Controlled and flat land
• Humans seen as conquerors over nature, went beyond the bounds of humanism

Socio-cultural milieu:

• Philosophy, Intellectual inquiry
• Went beyond humanism
• Aristocracy as a system with much power

Design Expression:

• Monumental scale, axial views
• Water was an important aspect, courtyards
• Goosefoot intersection: design which created an angle of action where individuals could experience it all
• Parterre, allee, bosque
• French chateaux were new versions of villas and they imported Italian designers and ideas
• The garden was the glory of the age, becoming an artform
• Pascal and DesCarte were discovering aspects of math and philosopht
• Examples included the Vaux le Vicomte and Versaille which were designed by Andre le Notre
• The Vaux le Vicomte consised of a strong axis, water as a cross-axis, allees, much geometry. Was intended for show, gave transitional courtyards for entrance/impression. Views were very important (some were infinite giving a meaning of power)
• Motes were also used for defense
• Had controlled vegetation
• Louie XIV (king) decided to move the centerplace to the country so he visited Fouquet (another great designer)
• The King also got introduced to Andre le Notre and the King did not like Fouquet so he got him arrested and hired Le Notre
• Le Notre designed Versaille for the King...it was better that Vauz le Vicomte, collassel, had a mile long canal, goosefoot intersection, suggestions of power, was a challenge to engineers because of fountains so they designed clever means of moving water. Also had many sculptures throughout, specialized gardens and hunting parks, allees, architectonic plant materials
• Louie XIV got tired of public life so the he had another castle designed for him (Chante)

COLONIAL SOUTH (16-18C.):

• Spanish settled in Carribean and Southern United States
• Had many Baroque ideas in design
• Discovered precious metals/gold and sugar plantations

St. Augustine (FL):

• Laws of the Indies: Created order, not to leave anything to chance, used uniformity for beauty
• Central plaza, grid
• Spanish fort, port town
• Continually occupied

Middletown Place (SC):

• Plantation: courtyard, has oldest restored garden in the country, had a series of terraces for aestetics, butterfly pools
• Baroque influence (France, England)
• Axis, water supply for rice

Annapolis (MD):

• Named after Princess Anne
• Significant Marketplace on water
• Frances Nicholson--designer and also governor
• Modest Baroque influence
• Circles connecting with radiating buildings and streets---ended up with akward building situation

Williamsburg (VA):

• Designed by Frances nicholson
• Modest Baroque influence
• Implied triange caused by college of William and Mary, governor's palace and the statehouse
• Axis with terminated view
• Stronger layout compared to other, considered one of most successful
• Building implied importance of school, government, and statehouse

COLONIAL NORTH (17-18C.):

• Based on ideas of human welfare and/or commerce economies

Boston (MA):

• Some organic layout
• Infill, hills (drumlins) formed by glaciers--too steep
• Boston common-notion of gathering space

Philadelphia (PA):

• William Penn planned that buildings should be spread out, wide streets, large open marketplace, other quadrants
• Penn's "green country town" referring to squares
• Grid, wide streets
• Green squares

New York (Manhattan):

• Central and subcentral squares
• No human welfare development, economically based
• Dutch fort/port originally
• Irregular to imposed grid-based on early fortress layout, no open space
• No public space, economics

Savannah (GA):

• James Oglethorpe
• Humane penal colony
• Unit of modular plan (12+1)