Baroque Architecture In Classical Antiquity

As if in a Bright Mirror -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Abbreviations -- Bibliography of Cited Works -- Index

Starting in antiquity and finishing in the Baroque, this book provides a complete analysis of significant works of architecture from a structural viewpoint. A distinguished architect and academic, the author's highly illustrated exploration will allow readers to better understand the monuments, get closer to them and to explore whether they should be conserved or modified. Contents: Stones Resting on Empty Space; The Invention of the Dome; The Hanging Dome; The Ribbed Dome; A Planified Revenge - Under the Shadow of Brunelleschi; The Century of the Great Architects; The Omnipresent Sinan; Even Further; Scenographical Architecture of the 18th Century; The Virtual Architecture of the Renaissance and the Baroque.

This book defines classical architecture in all its manifestations, from Graeco-Roman antiquity, through its re-working during the Renaissance, the inventiveness of Baroque and Rococo, the rediscovery of antiquity, to the various phases of late classicism throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. It also explores the language of classical architecture, and demonstrates its cultural, emotional and symbolic richness compared to today's architectural language. The author points out the integral role of ornament and decoration in classical architecture. Also included in this book is an illustrated glossary. James Stevens Curl is the author of The Art and Architecture of Freemasonry.

Derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture in antiquity, the classical style has long dominated the history of western architecture from the Renaissance to the present. Sir John Summersons timeless text, as relevant today as it was when first published, distils the visual language of architecture into its core classical elements, and illustrates that building throughout the ages express an awareness of the grammar of style and its rules even if they vary, break or poetically contradict them. From the original edifices of Greece and Rome to the recapitulations and innovations of the Renaissance; the explosive rhetoric of the Baroque to the grave statements of Neo-classicism; and finally, the exuberant eclecticism of the Victorians and Edwardians to the 'stripped Neo-classicism' of some of the moderns; Summerson explains how every period has employed classical language to make their statement. With a new introduction by academic and architectural historian Alan Powers, this introduction continues to be one of the defining texts on the subject and is essential reading for all students of architecture.

In this fully updated new edition, Frank Sear offers a thorough overview of the history of architecture in the Roman Empire. Arranged logically in six historical sections interspersed with material on Roman architects and their techniques, the building types found in Roman cities and the different buildings found in the Roman provinces, this volume now contains the latest insights into Roman architecture and takes account of the past 20 years of scholarship. This seminal work covers the architecture of the Republic, the Age of Augustus, the imperial period, Pompeii and Ostia, the eastern and western empire, and the Late Antique period, exploring subjects such as patronage, building techniques and materials, Roman engineering, town planning and imperial propaganda in a concise and readable way. Illustrated with nearly 300 photographs, maps and drawings, Roman Architecture continues to be the clearest introductory account of the development of architecture in the Roman Empire.