Since their time in history the designing methods of structures have dominated the field of architecture. Architects, since forever have brought new creative ways to attract culture, populace and religious influence be it the present times or 2000 years back in time. Architecture encompasses and brings forth new designs incorporating portions from history and affecting the future designs while ensuring that these structures are unique. Architecture, from the very start has clearly represented the culture that prevailed in a particular regime and in this article are described a few of the architectural designs which are representative of their actual cultures be it a Hindi, Muslim, Mughal culture or whatsoever.
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Adirondack Architecture
This type of architecture surrounds the outdoors and compliments nature. Natural building materials were used to make their rugged designs which are found in Adirondack Mountains. The examples of such natural materials included bark, granite and logs, roots making designs that matched well with the surroundings. The extremely popular designs were massive fireplaces and chimneys that were cut from stone along with big campsites designed for families like the Vanderbilts, who were wealthy. These Adirondack Mountains, located in the New York upstate, were a popular escape for the Victorian era wealthier barons around 1940s.
Borrowing some designs from other forms, Adirondack architecture had developed their design choices by Swiss chalets which were introduced by architect Andrew Jackson in America as a first around 1850. Camps were designed by William West Durant (1850-1934) in the Adirondack great camp styles which are now historical and national landmarks. Some examples of such architecture are found online.
Architecture: Adam style (Adamesque)
Coming from bits of Neoclassical designs of the 18th century, which turned the industry with a fresh, graceful look; the design is also called Adamesque (Adams brother’s style). This design of architecture and interior was set by three brothers; namely James Adams (1732-1994) and Robert Adams (1728-1792).
It took its popularity it 1760’s when this architecture became prominent in middle and upper class homes. The designs that are unique to this architecture include fixtures, fireplaces, walls, ceilings, carpets etc. These constructions were common in Russian, Britain and post-revolutionary War United States. Taking the name of federal design, the design lasted till 1795 in United States. This style was then replaced by French Empire Styles and Regency. To see more about this design go and search the web and books.
Architecture: Art Nouveau Style
The name of Art Nouveau of French translates to the words: “New Art” and it had increases popularity in the late years of 19th and 20th century. This style incorporated multi-colorful buildings which has been famous throughout Europe. This style was known to influence various areas like furniture, textile, lightning, jewelry including fine art.
These building were stained glass, mosaics and were asymmetrical in shape having arches as well as designed surfaces set by plant image and floral motif décor. This style is often associated with 1920 and early 30’s of the US. You can see some examples of this architecture at various online platforms.s
Indian Architecture
Deeply engraved in their religion, culture and history, Indian architecture is said to have developed from several influences which has been the result of the global discourse of India and of other religions since the past. In the case of this architecture the structure, design and the decorated surfaces are specific to their region and had shown the influence of the western design in the area. In form of the influence, the colonial era Buddhist Stupa is said to have been a major influence. As a result of the economic reforms that came in 1991, the so called urban architecture had become more deeply engraved in the economy of the world. You can find more information about the splendid form of Indian architecture online.
Islamic architecture
The most common of Islamic architecture include towers, domes and Islamic calligraphy which are widely being used for mosques, tombs and forts. The most notable of all examples is probably the architectural design of Alhambra. This is a very recognizable yet specific architectural style which had emerged after Muhammad’s time had been inspired previously by Byzantines and Sassanid. To know more about this beautiful architecture do search online and in books.
Ottonian Architecture
The emergence of this architecture dates back in Germany under the reign of Emperor Otto, the great of his time. The architecture was greatly predominant from somewhere in the middle of 10th century to middle of 11th century. It was also believed that the Ottonian architecture had been greatly influenced by Carolingian and Byzantine architecture. A good example of this type of architecture is clearly visible in the apse of the Holy Trinity Abbey located in Essen. This has been keeping the double-ended Carolingian features of apses at the ends of the church; be it either.
Victorian architecture
This is among the most recognized of all forms of architectures and this style had seen its peak time in the era of Queen Victoria which was from 1837 to 1901. The structures that fall under this design are extremely decorative, much colorful in most cases and are massive in size and scale. If you take a walk through an authentic home of the Victorian era you may be able to notice overhangs, the extravagant nature, timber-framed box forms and the irregular planning of floors.
It is said that this sort of architecture had been clearly influenced by the Asian and Middle East designs and much of it had dictated this architecture. The Victorian style architecture came after the Georgian style and the Regency designs and overtime had been replaced by the Edwardian style of designing architecture which came later and took over the previous design.
If we talk about the United States, an authentic Victorian home at that time did not have a closet design and instead of that the homeowners used armories. The reason behind this was that in Victorian homes taxation was imposed based on the number of rooms in the house and the closet, then, was considered a room giving you a good reason not to pay tax for an extra room i.e. closet. For the upper classes, who could afford, rooms were larger in order to compensate for the number of rooms present in a house.
Like many other articles on architects that you will find Article by HL Architects North East should also be on your read list in order to help you with any guidance that you may need. As we have seen, there is a great variety of architectural designs that are present and have existed since history. Much of the designs of architecture today are designed using ideas from the past with some innovations and improvements. Architecture, overall, is a very good area of study because it allows you to explore the culture that prevailed or prevails in a particular era.
It just doesn’t stop here. If you are interested in studying the architecture and its link to culture, you can always search online to find old and new architecture designs and compare them to find the recent trends and patterns. On the internet, you will find a great, in depth research of different architectures.