April 10, 2021 • 36 mins
For a lot of us, architectural terms like Gothic and Art Deco conjure vague, incomplete mental pictures. Well not anymore! In this episode, Christine and JJ cover thousands of years of Western architectural styles, and describe and contextualize key design elements. Check it out, and prepare to wow them at your next dinner party!
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JJ Hunt (00:04):
Talk description to me with Christine Malec and JJ
Hunt.
Christine Malec (00:29):
Hi, I'm Christine Malec.
JJ Hunt (00:30):
And I'm JJ Hunt. This is talk description to Me where
the visuals of current eventsand the world around us get
hashtag in description richconversations.
Christine Malec (00:47):
We've had several requests from listeners
around the topic ofarchitecture. And it's really
common for a book or a TV showor audio description to
reference a particulararchitectural style in passing
with a kind of expectation thateveryone knows what that means.
And whether that's thatassumption is true or not, for a
(01:11):
sighted person, a sighted personcould grab a phone and in five
seconds, they could find outwhat what a gothic building
looks like. So we thought wewould take a sort of shotgun
approach and talk aboutdifferent styles of architecture
and give some context so thatthey they have some background
in our minds when we hear thename. So we're going to sort of
(01:33):
start chronologically and go wayback. So JJ, are we starting
with classical?
JJ Hunt (01:39):
Yeah, classical architecture from ancient
Greece, seventh to the fourthcentury BC, I think that's a
good place to start. Because itis foundational, right? A lot of
and we're gonna be talking a lotabout is going to be fairly euro
centric, right, a lot of thearchitectural styles feed off of
each other. And so we're goingto be moving from classical
(01:59):
forward seems to make sense. Soclassical architecture, best
known for large religioustemples, often built of stone.
And these are based on theprinciples of order, symmetry,
geometry and perspective. Again,typically stone or marble, very
solid, very heavy buildings. Andthese are primarily simple post
(02:22):
and beam construction, but usingstone, not timbers. So let's
imagine a classical buildingfrom the ground up. So you start
with a solid plinth or platform,the foundation, there are likely
going to be steps leading up toit, the steps tend to be very
wide, perhaps even spanning thewidth of the building, no
(02:42):
railings or anything like that,but steps leading up to the
platform. And then on theplatform, there are always
columns. So these columnssupport the low peaked roof of
the portico, which is like afront porch, and someone who
really knows their stuff canfigure out the exact era of the
(03:02):
building based on those columns,because the column designs are
very particular. So the earliestcolumns are Doric columns. These
are fluted columns fluting incolumns is these are the
vertical grooves that run up theentire height of the column. And
the Doric columns are verythick, and quite, they're
(03:24):
tapered, so they're smaller.
Near the top. We've talked aboutthis before with the Taj Mahal,
when you things that are faraway, appear smaller. So if you
taper your columns, it makesthem look even taller when
you're standing below becausethey must be really far away to
be that small. And because theseare the earliest buildings, they
weren't building quite as tall,they taper the columns a little
(03:44):
bit more so that it made themappear taller. And with dork
columns, they end at the topwith a very simple cap, very
simple. Ionic, that's the nextmove along ionic columns. They
have more narrow fluting, so thevertical grooves are are tighter
together, they're slender ioniccolumns are tend to be more
(04:05):
slender, a little bit moreornate. So there's a decorative
capital at the top of thecolumn, not a simple cap. And
the ionic capitals, they looklike scrolls viewed from the
side. So kind of like a reel toreel tape. So the you know, the
scroll is all wound up on oneside, then there's a flat top
with the paper would go acrossthe top, and then a second, a
(04:27):
wound up scroll, you know pieceof paper at the bottom. So
that's what the ionic capitallooks like at the top of the
column. And then finally, youmove into the the Corinthian
era, the very narrow flutingagain, quite slender, very tall.
Now they've got their ability tobuild taller, and they have the
(04:48):
Corinthian columns have veryelaborate capitals at the top.
So they're packed with likeleaves and small decorative like
little decorative scrolls, andthey almost look like they're
carved floral patterns butwithout the flower heads. So
imagine a bouquet of flowerscarved out of stone. So it grows
(05:10):
wider at the top as the as itspreads out and the leaves spill
out and they bend forward. Butbefore you you put the flower
heads on that image, cut it offwith a flat surface. And that's
what a Corinthian capital lookslike. The front columns in one
of these buildings is theysupport the low peaked roof of
(05:34):
the portico in early examples.
This gabled roof will extend allthe way back and cover the
entire structure. So it's oneroofline for the entire
structure. But in some cases,the portico has a separate
roofline from the main buildingbehind it. And from the front,
(05:56):
inside the gable, what you haveis a triangular pediment. And
this triangular pediment can bepacked with relief carvings, or
it can be left blank thatdepends on the era and the
building. But the shape thesilhouette, this, this low
peaked triangle, that's verymuch the same. And with some
buildings, the entirerectangular exterior, so these
(06:20):
are just very boxy rectangularbuildings. The entire
rectangular exterior is justmade up of perfectly spaced
columns, which support the giantroof, one solid roof. And the
walls of the closed in structureare actually inside that
roofline. So inside this box ofcolumns all around very
(06:43):
symmetrical, simple,recognizable geometric shapes.
The most famous example of thisis the Parthenon in Athens. So
in that building, the entireexterior is columns and there's
one gabled roof over the entirestructure. So that is classical
architecture. And then you getkind of have to jump forward a
(07:06):
few centuries and get to neoclassical. One of the reasons
that classical architecture isso important is because Western
architects drew on this stylewhen they were designing the
most important civic buildingsand institutions in the 18th and
early 19th centuries. So thiswas especially true in colonial
us and colonial Canada, thecolumns, the scale, the stairs,
(07:32):
the solid materials, they makeclassical buildings look really
important, right? These are notfrivolous buildings. These are
staid, respectable designs. Sofar important civic
institutions. The architectsdesigned grand stone buildings
on raised platforms withclassical porticoes columns,
(07:54):
triangular pediments, and thatwhat happens in neoclassical is
the porticoes are often centeredin front of very wide multi
storey buildings behind them,right and the main buildings,
they're going to havesymmetrical windows with heavy
stone trim, perhaps a large domedirectly behind the portico.
(08:16):
Washington DC is packed withneoclassical gems, right? We
talked about the Capitolbuilding the Treasury, the White
House is also a neoclassical andsimilar buildings are actually
found everywhere in the US andin Canada, because many small
town banks or town halls, theyare also neoclassical buildings,
(08:38):
right, concrete stone facades,they will have a columned
portico, sometimes it's verysmall. Sometimes it's just a
political facade with that, youknow, columns, triangular
pediment, and maybe you're goingto make people walk up a wide
staircase to get to the doorsunder the portico. All of this
gives you the impression thatyou are entering an important
(09:00):
institution. So classical intoneoclassical, the same idea
needs to be conveyed by thearchitecture, this is an
important institution.
Christine Malec (09:10):
Does any of that classical and neoclassical
translate into Roman?
JJ Hunt (09:15):
Yeah, classical Roman, very similar. A lot of the Roman
Greek, it can be very difficultto tell what's what. You really
have to know your stuff.
Christine Malec (09:27):
Okay, and so then that sort of transitions
into Gothic Is that correct?
JJ Hunt (09:32):
So with Romanesque architecture, we're moving
toward 10th century Europe, andthis is an era of monasticism.
So there's a need for largechurches, but it's also still
medieval Europe, so there's alot of warring going on, and the
buildings are going to need todouble up as defensive
(09:52):
structures as well. And fire isa constant threat, so architects
want to steer away from timberconstruction. That would be
great. And so what architectscome up with to build their big
churches and cathedrals is whatwe now call Romanesque
architecture. So a typicalRomanesque church or cathedral
is a cross shaped floor plan.
This is very, this is essential.
(10:16):
So if viewed from overhead, thefloor plans of these churches
look like crosses, you've got amain entrance at the foot of the
cross, the altar is at theopposite end. And then the
shorter wings form arms, thearms of the cross across the
main body of the church, andthere's often a tower like
structure at that crossingpoint. Again, stone is the
(10:39):
primary building material, nottimber that's better for fire,
but the stone walls have to bereally thick to support these
large buildings, and the thickstone walls need to be supported
from the outside. So whatarchitects come up with is a
buttress. buttresses ourvertical supports that are like
braces that are deeper near thebase and then thinner near the
(11:02):
top. And these buttresses arepressed against the outside
walls of the church all the wayalong the main body. And large
churches are also designed withvaulted rooms. So these these
allow open ceilings that followthe roofline, not flat ceilings
with an attic space.
And when you have vaulted roofs,it gives you the gives the space
(11:25):
more height to there's moreopenness more grander, often, in
Romanesque times, these werebarrel vaulted ceilings. So what
a barrel vault looks like is notsurprisingly, a barrel lying on
its side cut horizontally. Andso to support this on the
inside, what architects neededto do was, they need to use rows
(11:48):
of columns supporting semicircular arches. And these
arches create essentiallyarcades within the otherwise
open church or Cathedral. So thefront entrance to the church is
often flanked by towers, youcome in with towers on either
side, you come into the mainbody of the church. And what
(12:09):
you're presented with are thesegood virtual hallways, these
arcades between columns withsemicircular arches overtop, and
and the towers that are outsidethe main, the main doors
flanking the main doors, perhapsthey're circular, maybe they're
square, they can even beoctagonal. But they have similar
(12:32):
conical roofs to the towerthat's over the crossing
whatever is over the center ofthe building. And of course,
these towers flanking the doors,they're defensive. So these are
like the towers you would findin a castle. And inside and
outside with Romanesque churchesare relatively simple design
elements are not overly ornate.
So you're going to find frescoeson the inside. These are murals
(12:56):
painted onto fresh plaster, andthey can be painted on the walls
and also on the vaulted ceiling.
inside. There are stained glasswindows inside arched windows.
And again, the windows tend tobe fairly small, they needed a
lot of the wall just to hold upthese big structures. So they
didn't break it apart with largewindows, so smallish windows,
(13:19):
arched at the top stained glass.
And many many many cathedralsfollow this basic pattern,
especially that cross floor planin subsequent eras. Architects
build on these designs and thesearchitectural principles and
expand on them right so famousexamples of Romanesque
cathedrals and churches.
(13:39):
Canterbury Cathedral in Kent,England is of course the most
famous. It's far more decorativethan your average Romanesque
Cathedral. But it follows thesame basic layout, the towers
buttresses, they're all toppedwith pointy finials in the
Canterbury Cathedral. Very grandcarvings around the main
entrances. But otherwise, like Isaid, the layout is as I've
(14:02):
described.
And then we move, we evolve.
Romanesque evolves into Gothic.
I think Jane on Twitter askedabout Gothic, specifically,
Gothic architecture, we'retalking 12th to 16th century.
And the defining architecturalelement of Gothic architecture
(14:23):
is the pointed arch. So unlike astandard semi circular arch, a
pointed arch is taller, and itreally does indeed come to a
sharp point at the top. So ifyou want to make a pointed arch,
you can use both of your handsto make a semi circle with your
fingers touching in the middleof the smooth arch. And then
(14:45):
what you do is just straightenand raise your touching fingers
a little bit. And what you'llget is a pointed arch and this
is an engineering innovationthat has significant design
implications with a with a witha point arch, your arches can be
much taller, they can supportgreater weight, they can be
(15:05):
spaced further apart. And so allof this means you can build
bigger structures that are morespacious inside. Another thing
it does though, is it, it meansthe exterior walls need more
support, and specifically, theyneed support higher up closer to
the roofline. So thosebuttresses that we described
earlier, what they do with thosebuttresses, those vertical
(15:27):
supports that used to be pressedagainst the exterior walls, they
become flying buttresses, andthey move the vertical supports
a few feet away from the mainwall, and then connect them
higher up because it's higher upthat they need the support, not
all the way up and down. And soyou create a gap between the
(15:48):
buttress and the exterior walland you can it's actually big
enough that you can usually walkbetween the buttress and the
exterior wall. And also withthis, with this style of
architecture with Gothicarchitecture, your towers grow
taller. The conical roofs gettaller and they come to very
sharp points in later periods,they actually become needle like
(16:10):
spires. And the taller wallsmean you can have taller windows
so everything in a gothiccathedral looks elongated right,
much more ornate carvingsdecorations around the doors and
windows. And with the very tallwalls. You need to keep the rain
from washing away the mortar inthe difficult to reach places
(16:31):
very high up. So what they do isthey build long waterspouts that
stick out from the roofline todirect rainwater away, and then
they decide to carve thosewaterspouts into open mouth.
beasts, right stone beasts anddragons. These are gargoyles.
And this technique has actuallybeen used for centuries, the
(16:53):
Temple of Zeus in Olympia, ithad lion head gargoyles. Some
stone structures in ancientEurope also had lion head
gargoyles. But gargoyles havebecome associated with Gothic
buildings because of the amazingornate carvings, and they're
everywhere on these very tallstructures. Some famous Gothic
cathedrals Notre Dame,Westminster Abbey, both of these
(17:16):
feature the distinctive pointedarches inside and on the
outside, flying buttresses,needle like spires, the castle
like towers flanking the mainentrance. Those are great
examples of ornate Gothicarchitecture.
Christine Malec (17:31):
I'm thinking about our discussion of the Taj
Mahal and how part of the designwas the intention to draw the
eye in a particular way. And soI'm wondering about the balance
between function and aesthetics,where in the Taj Mahal things
(17:54):
were done deliberately toinfluence the eye or to to sort
of guide the viewer where theyshould look, do you have a sense
of that when you look atclassical and Romanesque and
Gothic architecture? Or is itall function?
JJ Hunt (18:08):
There's not as much the drawing of the eye necessarily,
but definitely architecture toevoke a specific idea or
emotion, right? So you could youcould say that the the pointing
of the spires that all pointingup to the heavens in these
religious buildings in in Grandcathedrals. But the the height
(18:30):
is so important when you'reinside one of these spaces, and
the ceiling is so high up, andthen maybe there are frescoes,
there are paintings on theceiling overhead. And sometimes
it's the Trump loi, right? It'sit's paintings that that make it
seem like you're looking up atthe sky above, you're actually
seeing a winged cherubs andangels above overhead, that
(18:55):
definitely draws your attentionto the heavens, the buildings do
these grand churches really doinspire an idea of importance in
the case of the classicalarchitecture, Greek and Roman.
And, and here in these churchesand cathedrals, they inspire a
(19:17):
sense of awe.
Christine Malec (19:20):
And so where does architecture in the West go
after Gothic?
JJ Hunt (19:24):
Well, we I think the thing to do at this point is to
leap ahead quite a bit. Thereare lots of different
architectural styles, and we'regoing to touch on a few of them
as we move toward the moderns.
But we had some specificrequests by both Jane and CS on
Twitter to talk about art deco.
And I'm a big fan of art deco.
So if you'll indulge me I'd loveto leap ahead to the 1920s and
30s. So the modern architectswere tired of revivalist
(19:50):
architecture styles from the1800s. So in the same way you've
got neoclassical, you also gotNeo Gothic or Gothic revival in
modern architects were tired ofthat. And what they wanted to do
was develop a new style. Theywanted a style that was sleek,
but not minimal. They wanted astyle that was elegant, but not
traditional. They wanted it tosymbolize modern wealth and
(20:13):
sophistication. And they wantedto use a mix of modern and
traditional materials likestucco, glass, Chrome, steel,
and aluminum. And so what theycame up with was Art Deco. Art
Deco uses repetitive geometricmotifs for ornamental detailing,
it uses contrasting colors, andthat one of the most important
(20:37):
things about art deco is thatit's cohesive. So the interior,
the exterior, the signage, thedecor, the furnishings, all of
that can fall under the samestyle category of art deco, and
you end up with a reallycohesive design. So for large
scale buildings, think ofterrorist or tiered skyscrapers,
(20:59):
like the Empire State Building.
So the Empire State Building isa large base. It's about five
storeys tall, and then it stepsin. And at the center of that is
a much smaller tower that risesup to the 21st floor, and then
it steps in again, and it risesuntil something like the 30th
(21:22):
floor and then it steps inagain. And then it rises to the
72nd floor, right you get theidea. It's tiered it keeps going
in it steps in steps in it stepsin perfectly symmetrical, that
kind of stepping in perfectlysymmetrical boxy, but with
rounded corners, that is veryArt Deco. And then the towers
(21:44):
towers, like the Empire StateBuilding often end in a spire.
My personal favorite is theChrysler Building in New York
City. So the Chrysler Buildingin New York City is very similar
in that it's a tiered tower. Butat the top, it's got a four
sided spire made of sevenstacked arches, each arch
(22:06):
slightly smaller than the onebelow it. So with diminishing
arches on all four sides, thetower comes to a point after
seven tears, and inside thosearches are arched rows of
triangles, right geometricshapes, geometric patterns. So
inside the arches are archedrows of triangles in like a
sunburst pattern. And the spine,the spine of the whole spire is
(22:30):
clad in polished stainlesssteel, so it's like a bright
silver crown, a top of thisbuilding and the sunburst
triangles are illuminated atnight. So it's a it's a
stunning, classy, elegant andvery stylish design atop the
building. And the ChryslerBuilding lobby is a perfect
(22:52):
example of the unified designapproach in action. So it's a
glorious lobby. Everything in itis shiny, polished metals,
glossy deep red granite walls,polished floors, everything is
polished and shiny. The lightfixtures, the elevator doors,
the garbage cans, polishedbrass, all unified design style,
(23:17):
everything was designed in theArt Deco style repeating
geometric patterns. Paralleldesign lines, you'll find
zigzagging lines, rows andarches of overlap, overlapping
triangles, even the signage, thesignage features smooth fonts
with straight lines, evencurves, no serifs. All the fonts
(23:40):
that are used are therereplicated the numbers are
always part of the same fontstyle. And then in smaller Art
Deco buildings like movietheaters, all of the same
elements are put to use thatyou'll find in the giant
buildings in the in the bigskyscrapers. So that tiered
silhouette that can be found inthe facades or in the signs on
(24:04):
movie theaters. The signs thatrun up the front of the building
above the marquee those raisedthey'll have like raised
parallel design lines in brightblues may be hot pinks or reds,
and they're set against Earthtone stone exterior walls.
that's a that's a very typicalexterior for a movie theater.
That's an art deco theater. Andthen inside you'll have brass
(24:26):
handrails, balcony railings,lush red carpets, with again
repeated design patterns allunified. They even have a flight
favorite if you go into a reallynice well preserved Art Deco
movie theater. Even thebathrooms are glorious Art Deco
urinals with stylish parallellines smooth rounded corners
(24:49):
that match the shapes that arefound in the marquees. It's
really the attention to detailis incredible in a regular hotel
lobby or a movie theater. Thenyou're probably going to have to
redecorate every so often right?
But you really don't do thatlightly with a great art deco
building,
Christine Malec (25:08):
If you look around a modern city at all the
different types of buildings, socommercial, residential,
business, entertainment, whatproportion of those buildings
have some recognizablearchitectural stylistic choices
in them? And how many are justboxes?
JJ Hunt (25:29):
That's a good question.
And I think it's, it's one ofthe things that makes people
love one city and really despiseothers. If you are in a city in
North America, if you're inCanada or the US, odds are, if
it's a city that's been aroundfor a while, it did have
buildings from all of these erasin it, if it was a city that was
(25:52):
growing at a moderate pace, orat least had moments of
development in all of thesedifferent eras, then you should
have neoclassical architecture,you should have Neo Gothic
architecture, you should havedeco architecture that was there
at some point. In some cities,they have in various periods,
not been interested inpreserving it, and they're gone.
(26:17):
And then in some cases, theyactually didn't have the money
to tear them down. And sothey're still there. And in some
cases, they, they they'redesperate to preserve them,
because there's a recognitionthat these are beautiful
buildings. So I can say, forexample, in Toronto, we don't
have a particularly goodreputation for this. We've got
some decent buildings, somedecent neoclassical, we've got
(26:39):
some interesting cathedrals.
We've got a few deco gems. Butreally, Toronto got huge in some
pretty dull times. And so ourwaterfront for example, a lot of
our condo strips are just glasstowers, they're, they're really
(27:04):
super dull. And I don't thinkthese are buildings that are
going to be considered beautiful100 years from now, because I'm
not even sure they'll bestanding 100 years from now. But
you go to other cities like Iwas in St. Louis recently,
Taylor, who's got some fantasticbuildings, because it was it
boomed at a time where thearchitecture was really
(27:25):
interesting, the railroad era,right, it was great buildings
going up some amazing civicinstitutions. Honestly, some of
the buildings in St. Louis areas grand and fantastic, as the
classic New York Cityarchitecture, right, like the
New York City Library, there arebuildings that are just as
fantastic in in St. Louis. Butthere was a huge period of time
(27:47):
where they, they just didn'thave any money to tear any of
these things down. So they'rejust sitting there.
Christine Malec (27:52):
What is meant by the term modern architecture?
JJ Hunt (27:56):
So modern architecture comes into being around the same
time as art deco and perhapscoming from a similar desire to
reject these revivalist styles,and also wanting to take
advantage of new materialsglass, steel concrete. So with
modern architecture, you have afull embrace of minimalism, and
a full rejection ofornamentation. So with modern
(28:19):
architecture, what you find areclean lines, lots of boxy
structures, so single boxes orconnected boxes. And these these
aren't rounded corners likeyou'll find in deco they are
hard corners, boxy structureswith hard corners, flat roofs,
flat planes, flat surfaces, andwalls of glass. And the windows
(28:43):
are without separate windowpanes, not even window trim just
sheets of glass, lots of naturallight you want to take advantage
of views and landscaping andmodern architecture. And often
they deploy a simple colorpalette so white or off white
exterior walls maybe even justthe raw poured concrete and if
(29:04):
you're using wood, you'restaining it you're not painting
it. And interiors you tend tohave open concept, not broken
into separate rooms. That'smodernist architecture and again
that that with modernarchitecture similar with with
deco there's an idea that thiscan also these design principles
(29:25):
can apply to furnishings aswell. So modern furniture has
similarly the you know, verystraight lines, often quite boxy
clean lines and the naturalmaterials as well.
Christine Malec (29:38):
How does all of this translate into houses the
spaces where people live?
JJ Hunt (29:44):
Sometimes you will find like a modern you definitely can
find a modernist house you know,walking around a lot of
neighborhoods, you'll see housesthat are here or there modern, a
modern house. You don't tend tofind Art Deco houses Or Gothic
houses but you do find Victorianhouses. So with a Victorian
(30:05):
house, think haunted houseright? When they're well kept,
they're delightful and charming,but Victorian houses when
they're rundown, they reallylook old and spooky. With
Victorian houses you've got lotsof varied rooflines. So you've
got dormers and covered porchesand you've got miniature towers
(30:28):
in the house with conical roofs.
Lots of different roof lines anddormers, covered porches, big
windows bay windows, sashwindows that are broken into
separate panes, and lots ofornamentation and trim. So the
Victorian trim is often calledgingerbread, because it actually
looks like delicate white icinghanging from all of these
(30:50):
rooflines trim on everything,trim around the doors, trim
around the porch railing, trimaround the roof lines of
everything. So that's Victorian,and when it's well kept, and
that and the trim is paintedwhite. Sometimes houses are
painted in pastel colors, or,you know, Victorian houses, they
can be brick as well. They lookreally beautiful and and
(31:11):
delightful when they are wellkept. But when they get run
down, all of that becomes a veryclassic haunted house. Another
kind of housing style, which issort of coming off of modernism.
It's kind of modernism mixedwith the ideas of the American
West is like the ranch stylehouse. This is a very informal
kind of like design style. Not alot of ornamentation or
(31:34):
trimwork. ranch style is verylow to the ground, usually one
storey maybe it's a split level,and the rooms are they tend to
be not flat but low, low gabledroofs, picture windows, so not
separated into panes, not a lotof trim around the windows. And
this was, as I say, is kind of amix of modernism and the ideals
(31:55):
of the American West and it wasto take advantage of cheap land.
Big Lots, right? So you tend tohave big flat lawns in front of
ranch style houses, maybe somelow shrubs or some small trees,
double wide driveways, that'sthe ranch style. And CS asked on
Twitter about arts and crafts.
(32:19):
Arts and crafts is reallyinteresting because it's kind of
it's a reaction to the ornatestyles of the Victorian age.
arts and crafts style originatesin Great Britain mid 19th
century came to the US andCanada in the early 20th
century. And with arts andcrafts, you're embracing the
look of handcrafted design, soit's a more approachable house.
(32:42):
More approachable materials,more approachable ornamentation.
So with arts and crafts, thinkof things like cedar shingles on
your roof exposed beams on theinside and exposed timbers on
the outside so you often likeyou'd think of with Tudor homes,
exposed timbers with with stuccoon the outside, and you're using
(33:04):
natural or natural lookingmaterials like stucco in a in
pale or like pale whites or evenpale earthy colors red brick
maybe. And then he got naturalmaterials like stone
foundations, maybe stone halfwalls around the gardens. The
windows in arts and crafts aresash windows with separated
(33:25):
panes. And you've got coveredporches on the outside in the
inside. You've got built inbookcases, stone fireplaces,
again, natural materials,approachable materials, and it's
it's supposed to be a cozy likea hand crafted look as opposed
to the Grand Victoriangingerbread and and you know the
(33:50):
friendliness of the Victorianage.
Christine Malec (33:53):
Okay, I'm going to spring a question on you. Can
you think of examples in movieswhere a particular style of
architecture was reallyhighlighted and reused really
effectively?
JJ Hunt (34:07):
Hmm. Okay, good question. So a lot of film noir
uses Art Deco all over theplace. So film noir often
offices that you'll go into fora private detective will have
like a Deco style writing on thedoors or, or cars the cars from
(34:29):
that era share a very similarsleek styling with the rounded
corners over the over the wheelwells are very similar to the
kind of the rounded corners yousee on buildings like the Empire
State Building. Well, I meanreally, anything that has a
haunted house, it's going to bea Victorian. Any movie that's
(34:49):
got a haunted house that'sprobably a Victorian, that
they've let get old with cobwebsin the corners and built up in
the gingerbread, maybe parts ofthe trim is falling down. If
it's a haunted house, it'sprobably Victorian. Oh well,
James Bond. James Bond andmodernism go hand in hand. There
(35:12):
was something about the cleanlines of modernism [and
brutalism] that worked reallywell with the cold. You know,
Dr. Evil, the cold specter. Soanything that's got that's
either James Bond villain, orthen James Bond parody. The
(35:33):
villains are always usingmodernist architecture,
modernist furniture, very clean,clear, cold architecture.
Christine Malec (35:47):
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can follow us on Twitter at talkdescription.
Talk description to me with Christine Malec and JJ
Hunt.
Christine Malec (00:29):
Hi, I'm Christine Malec.
JJ Hunt (00:30):
And I'm JJ Hunt. This is talk description to Me where
the visuals of current eventsand the world around us get
hashtag in description richconversations.
Christine Malec (00:47):
We've had several requests from listeners
around the topic ofarchitecture. And it's really
common for a book or a TV showor audio description to
reference a particulararchitectural style in passing
with a kind of expectation thateveryone knows what that means.
And whether that's thatassumption is true or not, for a
(01:11):
sighted person, a sighted personcould grab a phone and in five
seconds, they could find outwhat what a gothic building
looks like. So we thought wewould take a sort of shotgun
approach and talk aboutdifferent styles of architecture
and give some context so thatthey they have some background
in our minds when we hear thename. So we're going to sort of
(01:33):
start chronologically and go wayback. So JJ, are we starting
with classical?
JJ Hunt (01:39):
Yeah, classical architecture from ancient
Greece, seventh to the fourthcentury BC, I think that's a
good place to start. Because itis foundational, right? A lot of
and we're gonna be talking a lotabout is going to be fairly euro
centric, right, a lot of thearchitectural styles feed off of
each other. And so we're goingto be moving from classical
(01:59):
forward seems to make sense. Soclassical architecture, best
known for large religioustemples, often built of stone.
And these are based on theprinciples of order, symmetry,
geometry and perspective. Again,typically stone or marble, very
solid, very heavy buildings. Andthese are primarily simple post
(02:22):
and beam construction, but usingstone, not timbers. So let's
imagine a classical buildingfrom the ground up. So you start
with a solid plinth or platform,the foundation, there are likely
going to be steps leading up toit, the steps tend to be very
wide, perhaps even spanning thewidth of the building, no
(02:42):
railings or anything like that,but steps leading up to the
platform. And then on theplatform, there are always
columns. So these columnssupport the low peaked roof of
the portico, which is like afront porch, and someone who
really knows their stuff canfigure out the exact era of the
(03:02):
building based on those columns,because the column designs are
very particular. So the earliestcolumns are Doric columns. These
are fluted columns fluting incolumns is these are the
vertical grooves that run up theentire height of the column. And
the Doric columns are verythick, and quite, they're
(03:24):
tapered, so they're smaller.
Near the top. We've talked aboutthis before with the Taj Mahal,
when you things that are faraway, appear smaller. So if you
taper your columns, it makesthem look even taller when
you're standing below becausethey must be really far away to
be that small. And because theseare the earliest buildings, they
weren't building quite as tall,they taper the columns a little
(03:44):
bit more so that it made themappear taller. And with dork
columns, they end at the topwith a very simple cap, very
simple. Ionic, that's the nextmove along ionic columns. They
have more narrow fluting, so thevertical grooves are are tighter
together, they're slender ioniccolumns are tend to be more
(04:05):
slender, a little bit moreornate. So there's a decorative
capital at the top of thecolumn, not a simple cap. And
the ionic capitals, they looklike scrolls viewed from the
side. So kind of like a reel toreel tape. So the you know, the
scroll is all wound up on oneside, then there's a flat top
with the paper would go acrossthe top, and then a second, a
(04:27):
wound up scroll, you know pieceof paper at the bottom. So
that's what the ionic capitallooks like at the top of the
column. And then finally, youmove into the the Corinthian
era, the very narrow flutingagain, quite slender, very tall.
Now they've got their ability tobuild taller, and they have the
(04:48):
Corinthian columns have veryelaborate capitals at the top.
So they're packed with likeleaves and small decorative like
little decorative scrolls, andthey almost look like they're
carved floral patterns butwithout the flower heads. So
imagine a bouquet of flowerscarved out of stone. So it grows
(05:10):
wider at the top as the as itspreads out and the leaves spill
out and they bend forward. Butbefore you you put the flower
heads on that image, cut it offwith a flat surface. And that's
what a Corinthian capital lookslike. The front columns in one
of these buildings is theysupport the low peaked roof of
(05:34):
the portico in early examples.
This gabled roof will extend allthe way back and cover the
entire structure. So it's oneroofline for the entire
structure. But in some cases,the portico has a separate
roofline from the main buildingbehind it. And from the front,
(05:56):
inside the gable, what you haveis a triangular pediment. And
this triangular pediment can bepacked with relief carvings, or
it can be left blank thatdepends on the era and the
building. But the shape thesilhouette, this, this low
peaked triangle, that's verymuch the same. And with some
buildings, the entirerectangular exterior, so these
(06:20):
are just very boxy rectangularbuildings. The entire
rectangular exterior is justmade up of perfectly spaced
columns, which support the giantroof, one solid roof. And the
walls of the closed in structureare actually inside that
roofline. So inside this box ofcolumns all around very
(06:43):
symmetrical, simple,recognizable geometric shapes.
The most famous example of thisis the Parthenon in Athens. So
in that building, the entireexterior is columns and there's
one gabled roof over the entirestructure. So that is classical
architecture. And then you getkind of have to jump forward a
(07:06):
few centuries and get to neoclassical. One of the reasons
that classical architecture isso important is because Western
architects drew on this stylewhen they were designing the
most important civic buildingsand institutions in the 18th and
early 19th centuries. So thiswas especially true in colonial
us and colonial Canada, thecolumns, the scale, the stairs,
(07:32):
the solid materials, they makeclassical buildings look really
important, right? These are notfrivolous buildings. These are
staid, respectable designs. Sofar important civic
institutions. The architectsdesigned grand stone buildings
on raised platforms withclassical porticoes columns,
(07:54):
triangular pediments, and thatwhat happens in neoclassical is
the porticoes are often centeredin front of very wide multi
storey buildings behind them,right and the main buildings,
they're going to havesymmetrical windows with heavy
stone trim, perhaps a large domedirectly behind the portico.
(08:16):
Washington DC is packed withneoclassical gems, right? We
talked about the Capitolbuilding the Treasury, the White
House is also a neoclassical andsimilar buildings are actually
found everywhere in the US andin Canada, because many small
town banks or town halls, theyare also neoclassical buildings,
(08:38):
right, concrete stone facades,they will have a columned
portico, sometimes it's verysmall. Sometimes it's just a
political facade with that, youknow, columns, triangular
pediment, and maybe you're goingto make people walk up a wide
staircase to get to the doorsunder the portico. All of this
gives you the impression thatyou are entering an important
(09:00):
institution. So classical intoneoclassical, the same idea
needs to be conveyed by thearchitecture, this is an
important institution.
Christine Malec (09:10):
Does any of that classical and neoclassical
translate into Roman?
JJ Hunt (09:15):
Yeah, classical Roman, very similar. A lot of the Roman
Greek, it can be very difficultto tell what's what. You really
have to know your stuff.
Christine Malec (09:27):
Okay, and so then that sort of transitions
into Gothic Is that correct?
JJ Hunt (09:32):
So with Romanesque architecture, we're moving
toward 10th century Europe, andthis is an era of monasticism.
So there's a need for largechurches, but it's also still
medieval Europe, so there's alot of warring going on, and the
buildings are going to need todouble up as defensive
(09:52):
structures as well. And fire isa constant threat, so architects
want to steer away from timberconstruction. That would be
great. And so what architectscome up with to build their big
churches and cathedrals is whatwe now call Romanesque
architecture. So a typicalRomanesque church or cathedral
is a cross shaped floor plan.
This is very, this is essential.
(10:16):
So if viewed from overhead, thefloor plans of these churches
look like crosses, you've got amain entrance at the foot of the
cross, the altar is at theopposite end. And then the
shorter wings form arms, thearms of the cross across the
main body of the church, andthere's often a tower like
structure at that crossingpoint. Again, stone is the
(10:39):
primary building material, nottimber that's better for fire,
but the stone walls have to bereally thick to support these
large buildings, and the thickstone walls need to be supported
from the outside. So whatarchitects come up with is a
buttress. buttresses ourvertical supports that are like
braces that are deeper near thebase and then thinner near the
(11:02):
top. And these buttresses arepressed against the outside
walls of the church all the wayalong the main body. And large
churches are also designed withvaulted rooms. So these these
allow open ceilings that followthe roofline, not flat ceilings
with an attic space.
And when you have vaulted roofs,it gives you the gives the space
(11:25):
more height to there's moreopenness more grander, often, in
Romanesque times, these werebarrel vaulted ceilings. So what
a barrel vault looks like is notsurprisingly, a barrel lying on
its side cut horizontally. Andso to support this on the
inside, what architects neededto do was, they need to use rows
(11:48):
of columns supporting semicircular arches. And these
arches create essentiallyarcades within the otherwise
open church or Cathedral. So thefront entrance to the church is
often flanked by towers, youcome in with towers on either
side, you come into the mainbody of the church. And what
(12:09):
you're presented with are thesegood virtual hallways, these
arcades between columns withsemicircular arches overtop, and
and the towers that are outsidethe main, the main doors
flanking the main doors, perhapsthey're circular, maybe they're
square, they can even beoctagonal. But they have similar
(12:32):
conical roofs to the towerthat's over the crossing
whatever is over the center ofthe building. And of course,
these towers flanking the doors,they're defensive. So these are
like the towers you would findin a castle. And inside and
outside with Romanesque churchesare relatively simple design
elements are not overly ornate.
So you're going to find frescoeson the inside. These are murals
(12:56):
painted onto fresh plaster, andthey can be painted on the walls
and also on the vaulted ceiling.
inside. There are stained glasswindows inside arched windows.
And again, the windows tend tobe fairly small, they needed a
lot of the wall just to hold upthese big structures. So they
didn't break it apart with largewindows, so smallish windows,
(13:19):
arched at the top stained glass.
And many many many cathedralsfollow this basic pattern,
especially that cross floor planin subsequent eras. Architects
build on these designs and thesearchitectural principles and
expand on them right so famousexamples of Romanesque
cathedrals and churches.
(13:39):
Canterbury Cathedral in Kent,England is of course the most
famous. It's far more decorativethan your average Romanesque
Cathedral. But it follows thesame basic layout, the towers
buttresses, they're all toppedwith pointy finials in the
Canterbury Cathedral. Very grandcarvings around the main
entrances. But otherwise, like Isaid, the layout is as I've
(14:02):
described.
And then we move, we evolve.
Romanesque evolves into Gothic.
I think Jane on Twitter askedabout Gothic, specifically,
Gothic architecture, we'retalking 12th to 16th century.
And the defining architecturalelement of Gothic architecture
(14:23):
is the pointed arch. So unlike astandard semi circular arch, a
pointed arch is taller, and itreally does indeed come to a
sharp point at the top. So ifyou want to make a pointed arch,
you can use both of your handsto make a semi circle with your
fingers touching in the middleof the smooth arch. And then
(14:45):
what you do is just straightenand raise your touching fingers
a little bit. And what you'llget is a pointed arch and this
is an engineering innovationthat has significant design
implications with a with a witha point arch, your arches can be
much taller, they can supportgreater weight, they can be
(15:05):
spaced further apart. And so allof this means you can build
bigger structures that are morespacious inside. Another thing
it does though, is it, it meansthe exterior walls need more
support, and specifically, theyneed support higher up closer to
the roofline. So thosebuttresses that we described
earlier, what they do with thosebuttresses, those vertical
(15:27):
supports that used to be pressedagainst the exterior walls, they
become flying buttresses, andthey move the vertical supports
a few feet away from the mainwall, and then connect them
higher up because it's higher upthat they need the support, not
all the way up and down. And soyou create a gap between the
(15:48):
buttress and the exterior walland you can it's actually big
enough that you can usually walkbetween the buttress and the
exterior wall. And also withthis, with this style of
architecture with Gothicarchitecture, your towers grow
taller. The conical roofs gettaller and they come to very
sharp points in later periods,they actually become needle like
(16:10):
spires. And the taller wallsmean you can have taller windows
so everything in a gothiccathedral looks elongated right,
much more ornate carvingsdecorations around the doors and
windows. And with the very tallwalls. You need to keep the rain
from washing away the mortar inthe difficult to reach places
(16:31):
very high up. So what they do isthey build long waterspouts that
stick out from the roofline todirect rainwater away, and then
they decide to carve thosewaterspouts into open mouth.
beasts, right stone beasts anddragons. These are gargoyles.
And this technique has actuallybeen used for centuries, the
(16:53):
Temple of Zeus in Olympia, ithad lion head gargoyles. Some
stone structures in ancientEurope also had lion head
gargoyles. But gargoyles havebecome associated with Gothic
buildings because of the amazingornate carvings, and they're
everywhere on these very tallstructures. Some famous Gothic
cathedrals Notre Dame,Westminster Abbey, both of these
(17:16):
feature the distinctive pointedarches inside and on the
outside, flying buttresses,needle like spires, the castle
like towers flanking the mainentrance. Those are great
examples of ornate Gothicarchitecture.
Christine Malec (17:31):
I'm thinking about our discussion of the Taj
Mahal and how part of the designwas the intention to draw the
eye in a particular way. And soI'm wondering about the balance
between function and aesthetics,where in the Taj Mahal things
(17:54):
were done deliberately toinfluence the eye or to to sort
of guide the viewer where theyshould look, do you have a sense
of that when you look atclassical and Romanesque and
Gothic architecture? Or is itall function?
JJ Hunt (18:08):
There's not as much the drawing of the eye necessarily,
but definitely architecture toevoke a specific idea or
emotion, right? So you could youcould say that the the pointing
of the spires that all pointingup to the heavens in these
religious buildings in in Grandcathedrals. But the the height
(18:30):
is so important when you'reinside one of these spaces, and
the ceiling is so high up, andthen maybe there are frescoes,
there are paintings on theceiling overhead. And sometimes
it's the Trump loi, right? It'sit's paintings that that make it
seem like you're looking up atthe sky above, you're actually
seeing a winged cherubs andangels above overhead, that
(18:55):
definitely draws your attentionto the heavens, the buildings do
these grand churches really doinspire an idea of importance in
the case of the classicalarchitecture, Greek and Roman.
And, and here in these churchesand cathedrals, they inspire a
(19:17):
sense of awe.
Christine Malec (19:20):
And so where does architecture in the West go
after Gothic?
JJ Hunt (19:24):
Well, we I think the thing to do at this point is to
leap ahead quite a bit. Thereare lots of different
architectural styles, and we'regoing to touch on a few of them
as we move toward the moderns.
But we had some specificrequests by both Jane and CS on
Twitter to talk about art deco.
And I'm a big fan of art deco.
So if you'll indulge me I'd loveto leap ahead to the 1920s and
30s. So the modern architectswere tired of revivalist
(19:50):
architecture styles from the1800s. So in the same way you've
got neoclassical, you also gotNeo Gothic or Gothic revival in
modern architects were tired ofthat. And what they wanted to do
was develop a new style. Theywanted a style that was sleek,
but not minimal. They wanted astyle that was elegant, but not
traditional. They wanted it tosymbolize modern wealth and
(20:13):
sophistication. And they wantedto use a mix of modern and
traditional materials likestucco, glass, Chrome, steel,
and aluminum. And so what theycame up with was Art Deco. Art
Deco uses repetitive geometricmotifs for ornamental detailing,
it uses contrasting colors, andthat one of the most important
(20:37):
things about art deco is thatit's cohesive. So the interior,
the exterior, the signage, thedecor, the furnishings, all of
that can fall under the samestyle category of art deco, and
you end up with a reallycohesive design. So for large
scale buildings, think ofterrorist or tiered skyscrapers,
(20:59):
like the Empire State Building.
So the Empire State Building isa large base. It's about five
storeys tall, and then it stepsin. And at the center of that is
a much smaller tower that risesup to the 21st floor, and then
it steps in again, and it risesuntil something like the 30th
(21:22):
floor and then it steps inagain. And then it rises to the
72nd floor, right you get theidea. It's tiered it keeps going
in it steps in steps in it stepsin perfectly symmetrical, that
kind of stepping in perfectlysymmetrical boxy, but with
rounded corners, that is veryArt Deco. And then the towers
(21:44):
towers, like the Empire StateBuilding often end in a spire.
My personal favorite is theChrysler Building in New York
City. So the Chrysler Buildingin New York City is very similar
in that it's a tiered tower. Butat the top, it's got a four
sided spire made of sevenstacked arches, each arch
(22:06):
slightly smaller than the onebelow it. So with diminishing
arches on all four sides, thetower comes to a point after
seven tears, and inside thosearches are arched rows of
triangles, right geometricshapes, geometric patterns. So
inside the arches are archedrows of triangles in like a
sunburst pattern. And the spine,the spine of the whole spire is
(22:30):
clad in polished stainlesssteel, so it's like a bright
silver crown, a top of thisbuilding and the sunburst
triangles are illuminated atnight. So it's a it's a
stunning, classy, elegant andvery stylish design atop the
building. And the ChryslerBuilding lobby is a perfect
(22:52):
example of the unified designapproach in action. So it's a
glorious lobby. Everything in itis shiny, polished metals,
glossy deep red granite walls,polished floors, everything is
polished and shiny. The lightfixtures, the elevator doors,
the garbage cans, polishedbrass, all unified design style,
(23:17):
everything was designed in theArt Deco style repeating
geometric patterns. Paralleldesign lines, you'll find
zigzagging lines, rows andarches of overlap, overlapping
triangles, even the signage, thesignage features smooth fonts
with straight lines, evencurves, no serifs. All the fonts
(23:40):
that are used are therereplicated the numbers are
always part of the same fontstyle. And then in smaller Art
Deco buildings like movietheaters, all of the same
elements are put to use thatyou'll find in the giant
buildings in the in the bigskyscrapers. So that tiered
silhouette that can be found inthe facades or in the signs on
(24:04):
movie theaters. The signs thatrun up the front of the building
above the marquee those raisedthey'll have like raised
parallel design lines in brightblues may be hot pinks or reds,
and they're set against Earthtone stone exterior walls.
that's a that's a very typicalexterior for a movie theater.
That's an art deco theater. Andthen inside you'll have brass
(24:26):
handrails, balcony railings,lush red carpets, with again
repeated design patterns allunified. They even have a flight
favorite if you go into a reallynice well preserved Art Deco
movie theater. Even thebathrooms are glorious Art Deco
urinals with stylish parallellines smooth rounded corners
(24:49):
that match the shapes that arefound in the marquees. It's
really the attention to detailis incredible in a regular hotel
lobby or a movie theater. Thenyou're probably going to have to
redecorate every so often right?
But you really don't do thatlightly with a great art deco
building,
Christine Malec (25:08):
If you look around a modern city at all the
different types of buildings, socommercial, residential,
business, entertainment, whatproportion of those buildings
have some recognizablearchitectural stylistic choices
in them? And how many are justboxes?
JJ Hunt (25:29):
That's a good question.
And I think it's, it's one ofthe things that makes people
love one city and really despiseothers. If you are in a city in
North America, if you're inCanada or the US, odds are, if
it's a city that's been aroundfor a while, it did have
buildings from all of these erasin it, if it was a city that was
(25:52):
growing at a moderate pace, orat least had moments of
development in all of thesedifferent eras, then you should
have neoclassical architecture,you should have Neo Gothic
architecture, you should havedeco architecture that was there
at some point. In some cities,they have in various periods,
not been interested inpreserving it, and they're gone.
(26:17):
And then in some cases, theyactually didn't have the money
to tear them down. And sothey're still there. And in some
cases, they, they they'redesperate to preserve them,
because there's a recognitionthat these are beautiful
buildings. So I can say, forexample, in Toronto, we don't
have a particularly goodreputation for this. We've got
some decent buildings, somedecent neoclassical, we've got
(26:39):
some interesting cathedrals.
We've got a few deco gems. Butreally, Toronto got huge in some
pretty dull times. And so ourwaterfront for example, a lot of
our condo strips are just glasstowers, they're, they're really
(27:04):
super dull. And I don't thinkthese are buildings that are
going to be considered beautiful100 years from now, because I'm
not even sure they'll bestanding 100 years from now. But
you go to other cities like Iwas in St. Louis recently,
Taylor, who's got some fantasticbuildings, because it was it
boomed at a time where thearchitecture was really
(27:25):
interesting, the railroad era,right, it was great buildings
going up some amazing civicinstitutions. Honestly, some of
the buildings in St. Louis areas grand and fantastic, as the
classic New York Cityarchitecture, right, like the
New York City Library, there arebuildings that are just as
fantastic in in St. Louis. Butthere was a huge period of time
(27:47):
where they, they just didn'thave any money to tear any of
these things down. So they'rejust sitting there.
Christine Malec (27:52):
What is meant by the term modern architecture?
JJ Hunt (27:56):
So modern architecture comes into being around the same
time as art deco and perhapscoming from a similar desire to
reject these revivalist styles,and also wanting to take
advantage of new materialsglass, steel concrete. So with
modern architecture, you have afull embrace of minimalism, and
a full rejection ofornamentation. So with modern
(28:19):
architecture, what you find areclean lines, lots of boxy
structures, so single boxes orconnected boxes. And these these
aren't rounded corners likeyou'll find in deco they are
hard corners, boxy structureswith hard corners, flat roofs,
flat planes, flat surfaces, andwalls of glass. And the windows
(28:43):
are without separate windowpanes, not even window trim just
sheets of glass, lots of naturallight you want to take advantage
of views and landscaping andmodern architecture. And often
they deploy a simple colorpalette so white or off white
exterior walls maybe even justthe raw poured concrete and if
(29:04):
you're using wood, you'restaining it you're not painting
it. And interiors you tend tohave open concept, not broken
into separate rooms. That'smodernist architecture and again
that that with modernarchitecture similar with with
deco there's an idea that thiscan also these design principles
(29:25):
can apply to furnishings aswell. So modern furniture has
similarly the you know, verystraight lines, often quite boxy
clean lines and the naturalmaterials as well.
Christine Malec (29:38):
How does all of this translate into houses the
spaces where people live?
JJ Hunt (29:44):
Sometimes you will find like a modern you definitely can
find a modernist house you know,walking around a lot of
neighborhoods, you'll see housesthat are here or there modern, a
modern house. You don't tend tofind Art Deco houses Or Gothic
houses but you do find Victorianhouses. So with a Victorian
(30:05):
house, think haunted houseright? When they're well kept,
they're delightful and charming,but Victorian houses when
they're rundown, they reallylook old and spooky. With
Victorian houses you've got lotsof varied rooflines. So you've
got dormers and covered porchesand you've got miniature towers
(30:28):
in the house with conical roofs.
Lots of different roof lines anddormers, covered porches, big
windows bay windows, sashwindows that are broken into
separate panes, and lots ofornamentation and trim. So the
Victorian trim is often calledgingerbread, because it actually
looks like delicate white icinghanging from all of these
(30:50):
rooflines trim on everything,trim around the doors, trim
around the porch railing, trimaround the roof lines of
everything. So that's Victorian,and when it's well kept, and
that and the trim is paintedwhite. Sometimes houses are
painted in pastel colors, or,you know, Victorian houses, they
can be brick as well. They lookreally beautiful and and
(31:11):
delightful when they are wellkept. But when they get run
down, all of that becomes a veryclassic haunted house. Another
kind of housing style, which issort of coming off of modernism.
It's kind of modernism mixedwith the ideas of the American
West is like the ranch stylehouse. This is a very informal
kind of like design style. Not alot of ornamentation or
(31:34):
trimwork. ranch style is verylow to the ground, usually one
storey maybe it's a split level,and the rooms are they tend to
be not flat but low, low gabledroofs, picture windows, so not
separated into panes, not a lotof trim around the windows. And
this was, as I say, is kind of amix of modernism and the ideals
(31:55):
of the American West and it wasto take advantage of cheap land.
Big Lots, right? So you tend tohave big flat lawns in front of
ranch style houses, maybe somelow shrubs or some small trees,
double wide driveways, that'sthe ranch style. And CS asked on
Twitter about arts and crafts.
(32:19):
Arts and crafts is reallyinteresting because it's kind of
it's a reaction to the ornatestyles of the Victorian age.
arts and crafts style originatesin Great Britain mid 19th
century came to the US andCanada in the early 20th
century. And with arts andcrafts, you're embracing the
look of handcrafted design, soit's a more approachable house.
(32:42):
More approachable materials,more approachable ornamentation.
So with arts and crafts, thinkof things like cedar shingles on
your roof exposed beams on theinside and exposed timbers on
the outside so you often likeyou'd think of with Tudor homes,
exposed timbers with with stuccoon the outside, and you're using
(33:04):
natural or natural lookingmaterials like stucco in a in
pale or like pale whites or evenpale earthy colors red brick
maybe. And then he got naturalmaterials like stone
foundations, maybe stone halfwalls around the gardens. The
windows in arts and crafts aresash windows with separated
(33:25):
panes. And you've got coveredporches on the outside in the
inside. You've got built inbookcases, stone fireplaces,
again, natural materials,approachable materials, and it's
it's supposed to be a cozy likea hand crafted look as opposed
to the Grand Victoriangingerbread and and you know the
(33:50):
friendliness of the Victorianage.
Christine Malec (33:53):
Okay, I'm going to spring a question on you. Can
you think of examples in movieswhere a particular style of
architecture was reallyhighlighted and reused really
effectively?
JJ Hunt (34:07):
Hmm. Okay, good question. So a lot of film noir
uses Art Deco all over theplace. So film noir often
offices that you'll go into fora private detective will have
like a Deco style writing on thedoors or, or cars the cars from
(34:29):
that era share a very similarsleek styling with the rounded
corners over the over the wheelwells are very similar to the
kind of the rounded corners yousee on buildings like the Empire
State Building. Well, I meanreally, anything that has a
haunted house, it's going to bea Victorian. Any movie that's
(34:49):
got a haunted house that'sprobably a Victorian, that
they've let get old with cobwebsin the corners and built up in
the gingerbread, maybe parts ofthe trim is falling down. If
it's a haunted house, it'sprobably Victorian. Oh well,
James Bond. James Bond andmodernism go hand in hand. There
(35:12):
was something about the cleanlines of modernism [and
brutalism] that worked reallywell with the cold. You know,
Dr. Evil, the cold specter. Soanything that's got that's
either James Bond villain, orthen James Bond parody. The
(35:33):
villains are always usingmodernist architecture,
modernist furniture, very clean,clear, cold architecture.
Christine Malec (35:47):
We hope you're loving the show. We really enjoy
the challenge of puttingtogether a new episode each
week. To ensure that our effortsare worthwhile. We need to reach
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That's where you come in, helpspread the word. Maybe send a
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post about the show on locallistservs and Facebook groups.
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(36:10):
you think might like it, or showyour love by becoming a patron.
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Thanks for listening and stayingconnected on social media. It's
what makes this so rewarding forus have feedback or suggestions
of what you'd like to hearabout. Here's how to get in
(36:31):
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