This week's blog will focus on the French Renaissance and Baroque Periods. The French Renaissance is divided into four different periods lasting between 1484-1700. They include Early Renaissance, Middle Renaissance, Late Renaissance, and Baroque Style. Gothic Design began in France, and so it holds a strong influence even throughout the Renaissance.
Designs and Current Applications:
One piece of furniture from this time is a dressoir. A dressoir functions as a cabinet and its earliest designs included hinged doors on top. Ornamentation on this furniture was also very common. Today, this concept is seen often in bedrooms or living rooms as a functional and decorative place for storage.
Dressoir | French Renaissance
Modern Example of a Decorative Dressoir
Another Renaissance furniture piece is the Armoire a Deux Corps. It is a cupboard made up of two pieces with the smaller cupboard placed on the top. Ornamentation was typical on pieces like these. Armoires are still used in spaces today, primarily those that have a more traditional style. In current homes, they are often used as a coffee bar as seen as below.
Armoire a Deux Corps | French Renaissance
Modern Armoire Used as a Coffee Bar
One structure from the French Renaissance that especially sticks out is the Chateau de Chambord. It was paid for by Francois I and partly designed by Leonardo Da Vinci. It includes large and detailed chimneys, dormer windows, and an astonishing double staircase. It also has coffered ceilings with intricate ornamentation. Double staircases are still used in structures today for grand entrances and foyers.
Chateau de Chambord | Spiral Double Staircase | Leonardo Da Vinci
Modern Double Staircase
One Step Further:
One designer from the beginning of the French Renaissance is the Francois I. Francois I was a patron of the arts and was also known as the "King of the Chateau." His support allowed for countless structures termed Chateau's to be built. His chateaus were known for being large structures with elaborate interiors. They contained lakes. fountains, and formal gardens. He is best known for supporting the Chateau de Blois, Chateau de Chambord, and Chateau de Fontainebleau. Attached is a video that discusses Francois I influence on the French Renaissance more in depth.
Chateau de Blois
Chateau de Chambord
Chateau de Fontainebleau
Conclusion:
The French Renaissance focused heavily on ornamentation and royal-like buildings. Palaces and chateaux's were the new structures being built. Exteriors of buildings had as much emphasis as the interiors. Building off of the foundation of Gothic architecture, the French Renaissance had a lasting impact.
Faith, I appreciate how you highlighted the evolution of furniture design, especially the dressoir and Armoire a Deux Corps, and connected their ornamental qualities to how we still use similar pieces today! I also love the emphasis on how Gothic elements continued to shape design throughout the Renaissance. Amazing job!
Faith- Your focus on the furniture of the French Renaissance was very interesting. I look back at these historical furniture pieces and marvel at the detail and craftsmanship. Your current example of the coffee bar was great! Francois I was a great choice to study in more detail. 50/50 points
Hi Faith! I enjoyed your focus on the development of French Renaissance furniture, especially the dressoir and *armoire à deux corps*. Connecting those historical storage pieces to a modern coffee bar was creative because it showed how the appearance and function of furniture continue to evolve. Your discussion of François I also helped explain why Italian Renaissance ideas became so influential in France. Great job!
Summary: This week, I read about Classical Civilizations in Chapter 3 of Hinchman's History of Interior Architecture . This section mainly focuses on the Myceneans and Minoans, the people of Greece, and the people of Rome. This period has more surviving structures and artifacts, so we are able to learn more about the culture and lifestyle, especially relating to design. Designs & Current Applications: The first section I want to focus on is the ancient people of Greece, specifically the Mycenae. The city of Mycenae was located on the mainland of Greece and was occupied by the Mycenae people. One piece of Mycenae architecture that stands out to me is the megaron. The megaron is not a specific piece of work, but rather a structural element that was very defining during this era. The book describes it as "A U-shaped structure, with a porch that features two columns in antis, flanked by projecting side walls." This design element is still u...
SUMMARY This week I read chapter 2 of Hinchman's book History of Interior Architecture Furnitu re, Design, and Global Culture. The focus of this chapter is on ancient civilizations, primarily Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Nubia. An important point made is that each of these three civilization s were in contact with each other. They faced each other in military scenes and traded in commercial ways. This intermingling of civilizations led to cultural impacts that are noticeabl e in their advancements, innovations, architecture, designs, and overall lifestyle. After reading about the period known as "Prehistory" and its simple way of life last week, the idea of mass agriculture production seems much more evolutionary in these ancient civilizations . The rivers are central aspects of their lives and create thriving agriculture areas. This organized way of agriculture a llowed these civilizations to put a larger focus on academics, innovations, structures, and designs. T...
SUMMARY This week I read Chapter 1 of Hinchman's book History of Interior Architecture Furniture, Design, and Global Culture. This section was about prehistory, specifically the time periods of the Paleolithic, Neolithic, and Bronze Age. This chapter included a lot of interesting information, especially about how this early period of design has impacted the world ever since. I learned that one of the first examples of a designed object was a hand axe. The symme trical shape of the object reflected the value of symmetry in health and beauty for the culture during the Stone Age. Something as simple as hand tools had reasoning behind the form, thus making it a design. Another interesting point the book makes is that there was so much less in the world during these time periods that the people were i mpacted by more. That is why the engravings, paintings, and signs created represent so much. The things the people made in...
Faith, I appreciate how you highlighted the evolution of furniture design, especially the dressoir and Armoire a Deux Corps, and connected their ornamental qualities to how we still use similar pieces today! I also love the emphasis on how Gothic elements continued to shape design throughout the Renaissance. Amazing job!
ReplyDeleteFaith this is all beautiful! I am obsessed with the dressers and coffee bar !! that is absolutely stunning !!! Well done!
ReplyDeleteFaith-
ReplyDeleteYour focus on the furniture of the French Renaissance was very interesting. I look back at these historical furniture pieces and marvel at the detail and craftsmanship. Your current example of the coffee bar was great! Francois I was a great choice to study in more detail. 50/50 points
Hi Faith! I enjoyed your focus on the development of French Renaissance furniture, especially the dressoir and *armoire à deux corps*. Connecting those historical storage pieces to a modern coffee bar was creative because it showed how the appearance and function of furniture continue to evolve. Your discussion of François I also helped explain why Italian Renaissance ideas became so influential in France. Great job!
ReplyDelete