Architecture
Architectural Heritage – Integral to Cultural Development
The intellectual ideas of every period in world history have always been reflected in its architecture. It is important we consider well the consequences of the decisions we make in tearing down our living heritage, even in regard to modern buildings of great merit.
Kedleston Hall
Kedleston demonstrates London based eighteenth century designer Robert Adam’s talent for architecture, interiors and garden design – he was the whole package.
Le Corbusier – The International Style
Swiss born Charles-Edouard Jeanneret (1887-1965) was 29 when he went to Paris. Soon after his arrival he adopted his maternal grandfather’s name, Le Corbusier, as a pseudonym. He changed his persona from Jeanneret the small-town architect to Le Corbusier the world’s next visionary artist. He expressed a view that architecture had lost its way. He was convinced the bold new industrial age dawning required an audacious style of architecture. Who better to design it than himself. “We must start again from zero,” he proclaimed.
Arts & Crafts Movement – William Morris the Art that is Life
In England, during the second half of the nineteenth century, painter, writer, textile designer and social activist William Morris (1834-1896) became the spiritual leader of a revival in arts and crafts that encompassed all the visual arts, including architecture and interiors.
Palladio – In Pursuit of the Perfect House
A villa by architect Andrea Palladio was a place where the owners could feel happy, secure and content, which is after all, what most of us still require and aspire to, a place where one can cultivate the head, heart, body and the soul.
A Passion for Gothic Decoration
The decorative arts were never considered secondary by Augustus Welby Pugin. As an architect he might design the structure of a house, church or institution, but he conceived of the building, its fittings and furnishings as a ‘complete work of art.’
Le Style Moderne
In the age of Modernity the most profound influence on the arts and design and architecture was offered by the L’École des Beaux-arts at Paris.
Favourite Books – Andrea Palladio, The Architect in his Time
Professor Bruce Boucher’s scholarly and accessible work, Andrea Palladio, The Architect in his Time was first published in 1994 in a ‘user friendly version’…to fit comfortably into a suitcase or backpack for a quick trip to Vicenza, the scene of many of Palladio’s triumphant works in architecture. Don’t know about you but I have always [...]
Towers – Symbols of Hope and Freedom
Prior to the twentieth century towers were built as symbols to the heights of material wealth and prosperity the western world had yet achieved.
The City of Bath in the Age of Pleasure
It was not until the fifteenth century when King Henry V111 came to see Bath for himself that the therapeutic value of the waters became, once again, well known and people came to be cured. However it would only become a centre for fashionable people following the arrival of Richard ‘Beau’ Nash in 1702.
Colour Considerations – Tradition, Legend, Myth and Magic
All cultures on earth have particular perceptions of and about colour, which in its evolution has come to symbolize many things collectively and individually. It also has many variants so we could say it is neither black or white and has many shades of grey in between. In that respect one could say colour is a metaphor for life.
When Brisbane was Governed from Sydney
Brisbane, the city big enough to get lost in and small enough to feel at home …Carolyn McDowall Major-General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1st Baronet, GCH, GCB, FRS, FRSE (1773-1860) was not content to rest on his fame as an astronomer and soldier. With the assistance of his friend, the Duke of Wellington, he sought [...]
Women of Influence – Empress Josephine at Chateau Malmaison
An impressive woman in her own right, Marie Joséphine Rose Tascher de la Pagerie de Beauharnais (1763-1814) or Josephine (as Napoleon decided she should be known) would aid, through her influence and abilities, Napoleon Bonaparte’s route to power and have a profound influence on the future of horticulture.
Women of Influence, Marquise de Pompadour
French painter François Boucher (1703-1770) produced many of the images that we have of the enigmatic Jeanne Antoinette, Marquise de Pompadour, Maîtresse-en-titre, or the official Mistress of Louis XV of France.
Women of Influence, Diane de Poitiers
If beauty was accompanied by intelligence those who used both attributes skilfully seemed to have been the most successful. Fifteenth century beauty Diane de Poitiers (1499-1566) was considered an ‘ardent feminist sure of her own worth – and a child of her time’. She had all the attributes, plus a strong will and a great strength of purpose. These were both very necessary skills for survival in the world of political intrigue that surrounded the court of the last medieval and first Renaissance King of France Francois I whose court was the envy of Europe.
EVOLUTION OF ART, DESIGN & STYLE
Course Outline
The Culture Concept Circle’s comprehensive course of study the Evolution of Art, Design & Style contains sumptuous imagery and beautiful music. The course traces humankind’s journey from antiquity to the modern age by surveying the evolution of painting, sculpture, architecture, interiors, gardens, music and much much more. It includes the intimate world of the fashionable [...]
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