Architectural & Construction: October 2007

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

1890 - Present: Tudor Revival

Picture Dictionary of House Styles in North America and Beyond

Heavy chimneys and decorative half-timbering give Tudor style houses a Medieval flavor. The Tudor style is sometimes called Medieval Revival.

Decorative half-timbering give Tudor Revival houses the appearance of a medieval building.

Tudor style homes have many of these features:

Decorative half-timbering
Steeply pitched roof
Prominent cross gables
Tall, narrow windows
Small window panes
Massive chimneys, often topped with decorative chimney pots

About the Tudor Style

The name Tudor suggests that these houses imitate English architecture from the early 16th century. However, most Tudor style homes were inspired by building techniques from an earlier time. Some Tudor houses mimic humble Medieval cottages - They may even include a false thatched roof. Other Tudor homes borrow ideas from late Medieval palaces. They may have overlapping gables, parapets, and beautifully patterned brick or stonework. These historic details combine with Victorian or Craftsman flourishes.

As in many Queen Anne and Stick style homes, Tudor style houses often feature striking decorative timbers. These timbers hint at - but do not duplicate - Medieval building techniques. In Medieval houses, the timber framing was integral with the structure. Modern Tudor houses, however, merely suggest the structural framework with false half-timbering. This decorative woodwork comes in many different designs, with stucco or patterned brick between the timbers.

Handsome examples of Tudor style architecture may be found throughout Great Britain, northern Europe and the United States. The main square in Chester, England is surrounded by lavish Victorian Tudors that stand unapologetically alongside authentic medieval buildings.

In the United States, Tudor styling takes on a variety of forms ranging from elaborate mansions to modest suburban homes with mock masonry veneers. The style became enormously popular in the 1920s and 1930s, and modified versions became fashionable in the 1970s and 1980s.

One popular housing type inspired by inspired by Tudor ideas is the Cotswold Cottage. These quaint homes have an imitation thatched roof, massive chimneys, an uneven sloping roof, small window panes, and low doors.

Learn More About Tudor Architecture

Tudor Style
Lush color photographs illustrate Tudor style homes across the USA. This book is an especially good resource if you're seeking ideas for paint colors and interior decore. By Lee Goff, Author and Paul Rocheleau, Photographer. (compare prices)

1840 - 1915: Renaissance Revival Style

Picture Dictionary of House Styles in North America and Beyond

A fascination for the architecture of Renaissance Europe and the villas of Andrea Palladio inspired elegant Renaissance Revival homes.

Photo © Ben Newton

Renaissance Revival houses have many of these features:

Cube-shaped
Balanced, symmetrical façade
Smooth stone walls, made from finely-cut ashlar
Low-pitched hip or Mansard roof
Roof topped with balustrade
Horizontal stone banding between floors
Segmental pediments
Ornately-carved stone window trim varying in design at each story
Smaller square windows on top floor
Quoins (large stone blocks at the corners)

"Second" Renaissance Revival Houses are larger and usually have:

Arched, recessed openings
Full entablatures between floors
Columns
Ground floor made of rusticated stone with beveled edges and deeply-recessed joints

About the Renaissance Revival Style

Renaissance (French for "rebirth") refers to the artistic, architectural, and literary movement in Europe between the 14th and 16th centuries. The Renaissance Revival style is based on the architecture of 16th-century Renaissance Italy and France, with additional elements borrowed from Ancient Greek and Roman architecture. Renaissance Revival is a general term which encompasses the various Italian Renaissance Revival and French Renaissance Revival styles, including Second Empire.

The Renaissance Revival style was popular during two separate phases. The first phase, or the First Renaissance Revival, was from about 1840 to 1885, and the Second Renaissance Revival, which was characterized by larger and more elaborately decorated buildings, was from 1890 to 1915. Due to the expensive materials required and the elaborate style, Renaissance Revival was best suited for public and commercial buildings, and very grand homes for the wealthy.

Related Styles:

Learn More About Beaux Arts:

1840 - 1885: Italianate

Picture Dictionary of House Styles in North America and Beyond

Italiante became the most popular housing style in Victorian America. Italianate is also known as the Tuscan, the Lombard, or simply, the bracketed style.

Old World ideals are transplated to the United States in this Italianate style home, located in Cape May, New Jersey.

Italianate houses have many of these features:

Low-pitched or flat roof
Balanced, symmetrical rectangular shape
Tall appearance, with 2, 3, or 4 stories
Wide, overhanging eaves with brackets and cornices
Square cupola
Porch topped with balustraded balconies
Tall, narrow, double-paned windows with hood moldings
Side bay window
Heavily molded double doors
Roman or segmented arches above windows and doors

About the Italianate Style

The Italianate style began in England with the picturesque movement of the 1840s. For the previous 200 years, English homes tended to be formal and classical in style. With the picturesque, movement, however, builders began to design fanciful recreations of Italian Renaissance villas. When the Italianate style moved to the United States, it was reinterpreted again to create a uniquely American style.

By the late 1860s, Italianate was the most popular house style in the United States. Historians say that Italianate became the favored style for two reasons:

Italianate homes could be constructed with many different building materials, and the style could be adapted to modest budgets.
New technologies of the Victorian era made it possible to quickly and affordably produce cast-iron and press-metal decorations.

Italianate remained the most popular house style in the USA until the 1870s. Italianate was also a common style for barns, town halls, and libraries. You will find Italianate buildings in nearly every part of the United States except for the deep South. There are fewer Italianate buildings in the southern states because the style reached its peak during the Civil War, a time when the south was economically devastated.

After the 1870s, architectural fashion turned toward late Victorian styles such as Queen Anne.

Learn More

Renaissance Revival: This Italian-inspired style is often confused with the Victorian Italianate style.
Victorian Architecture: A review of the most important styles from the Victorian era
Victorian House Plans
Andrea Palladio: The Renaissance architect who designed the first Italian Villas

Monday, October 1, 2007

Rosello to unveil its latest modern designed chairs

PARIS, France -- Rosello unveiled its latest modern designed chairs during MAISON&OBJET 2007.

It is Just A Little Company Profile of Rosello :

It is in 1928 that François and his brothers created the Rosello Freres Company in the faubourg Saint-Antoine district in Paris. In thier workshop on rue Paul Bert, they manufacture chair frames for the neighboring upholsterers who finished and then upholstered them.

This is the original specialty of the company.It is from there that it draws all its knowledge. Then ,theyestablished the company in Villers-cotteret, Aisne, in the heart of a large beech tree forest -one of the lumbers best adapted to seat manufacturing - the activity of the company remained the same during the next fifty years.

In the seventies, the founder's son, Floréal, a graduate of the Boulle School of Design, expented the production to the manufacture of traditional furniture: the production cycle from A to Z was completed.

Luminous furniture with built-in lighting

PARIS, France -- SLIDE displayed its luminous furniture during MAISON&OBJET 2007, which is made of opaque synthetic resins with built-in lighting.

This furniture is design for you who loving simplified, artistic, and not needed more space at your living room. Take a look at under the table, the lightning so nice to imagine.
If are craving for more then just a illuminated coffee table to add a glistening touch to your home then you might not mind going overboard with this luminous furniture. via Aving.