Jan 25th
1.5 The House 1
House and Atrium
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Courtyard: open spaces (aka atrium) with columns, enclosed space open to the sky
Entry Atrium, Sant’Ambrogio, Milan, 4th century (rebuilt 11th century)
The Greek House
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House A. VII4, Olynthose, CA. 430-350 BCE
Solid walls and opens
Main access to house comes through street, small vestibule
Other rooms open to street
Otherwise, house is completely enclosed, inward focued
Greek domestic Arch: inward-focused home, blocked off from outer world
Front spaces closes to street were the most public
Strictly divided into zones by gender
“Andron”- male-only spaces for entertaining, mostly in the front
“Gynaecem”- female, private for domestic work, mostly in the back of the house
The Domus
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House of the Faun, Pompeii
Much more elaborate, large
Aristocratic house, that’s what a domus is
Many more rooms, basic physical arrangement similar to Olynthose
Limited access to city street to bottom, whole house was mostly enclosed
Atrium with Impluvium; square area that sunk in and collected rain water; Peristyle gardens
Peristyle gardens, the biggest spaces that were surrounded by large columns; nature was contained within this arch
framework
Roman Aristocratic home = class division, “stage set for class relations”
Wasn’t defined by gender like the Greeks
Paterfamilias: (“Father of family”) daily vists from clients… extended family from lots of generations and large paid
assistances and slaves
o Everything took place within the home
o Clients would come into this house to pay respects and ask favors to the patrons of these house who supported
them
o Godfather movie
o Politics, economics, society was huge based around this
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Tablinum: “record room” for the family, aligned on atrium axis so visitors could see
“Public” zone: anyone may enter
“Private” zone: only invited guests could go far into home
“privacy” in the modern sense was nonexistent, you could never be alone (slaves still there!)
On house or two?!? It’s a full city block
o Probably a separate house purchased to enlarge original house
Interior Vs. Exterior
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Pompeii, House of the Faun’s neighborhood, surrounded in the streets by all 4 sides
o Didn’t have windows cause the streets were dirty, noisy, dangerous
House of Menander, Pompeii, much more typical house
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o Houses were essentially carved from solid blocks
o You needed an atrium for light and air cause you couldn’t rely on street
o Windows exterior were high, protected, small
The atrium was like the core of the house, then rooms were attached to that
To grow, a house would buy the neighbors
To shrink, a house would sell rooms
The exterior form of the house was irrelevant
What made an house impressive was its interior; size, arrangement, design, overall sense of order, necessary arrangement
of specific areas: atrium, tablio, peristilio, giardino
Ancient Apartments
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Ancient Rome: hilltop enclaves for rich households
Plebians: live in lower, overcrowded city districts
Insulae: multistory, multifamily urban housing
o Often collapsed and burned down
Shops were on the ground floor, they had open courtyards at the center
Upperfloor apt had windows and balconies
The Villa
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Rome really was a crappy place, lots of people wanted to leave the city and go to the country
Villa: traditional farmstead of Roman Aristocrat
Evolvers into country retreat; pleasure, escape from city
Villas were provided with elegant places, like dumos
Villa Rustica (Rural Farm) and the Villa Suburbana (near the city)
o Distinct domestic arch “type”, it’s actually a house! You can see exterior
Breathing Room
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Anit-Domus: deliberately open to the outside
o Windows, terraces, connections to nature
Soak in nature before heading back to the city
Still requires army of slaves, servants, and social stability
Everyone except for rich people lived hard, gritty lives
Roman army kept countryside “safe” for isolated houses in the rural area
Villa lifestyle ended when Roman stability also ended.. therefore the medieval castle was created for defense
Seaside Villa, Ancient Roman Wall Resco, CA. 60 CE
Villa, House of M. Lucretius Fronto, Pompeii, CA. 40 CE
The Medieval Domus
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Rise of cities again: aristocrats left the castles for urban life
Alberti Tower and Loggia, Florence
Medieval Florence: family power = neighborhood control
Towers, Loggia, and Insignia were how these families marked the signs of family ownership
Towers: provided safety when things go dangerous, which they often did
Loggia: provided door space where public ceremonies were conducted
Power Incognito
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Palazzo: elite family house, exterior visbility?
Exteriors made it more impressive, show off the wealth of the family
Shops were on the lower level, residential spaces above, courtyard above
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Interior cortile: open, organizing vertical void, protected open air space, irregular geometry (rhombus)… sense of
space counted the most
Palazzo Giugni, late 14th century, Palazzo Rinuccini
Changing the Rules
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Central Florence: carved up into family districts
The Medici: newly wealthy family in banking, wanted to establish their status
The city walls were being expanded
The family bought property in the “suburbs”, the outside old city walls
Sponsor major church projects at S. Marco and S. Lorenzo
Build a brand new house at the most prominent corner of the city… this was their neighborhood
Palazzo and Power
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Palazzo Medici: visible, 3D object that really stands out
80 feet high
Inward focus, regular geometry, around an open courtyard, perfect squares, right angles
Lots of stone work, elaborate wood work
Unprecedented scale, expensive!!!
40,000 square feet!
You didn’t need to step inside to see how impressive the place was, the exterior did that enough
It was scandalous and arrogant, but it worked
Declared prestige in a new way
Social zoning: hortiztaonl layers, expressed in types of bricks used
o Bottom floor, mostly shops
o Middle, for family and guests
o Third, personal family
o Top was for servants
“Model house” copycat palazzos, no one could copy them though
A Room for One
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Palazzo: for family, servants, business, and religion
Now privacy actually! The Studiolo- private room for male owner
Space for the individual identity, and elite male privilege
Inlaid wood imagery: shows Erudition, interests
Express owners worldly knowledge and intellect, his uniqness
Farm, Castle, Villa?
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Giusto Utens, view of Villa Medici at Cafaggiolo, remodeled 1450s
Renaissance Florence: emulate ancient Roman culture
Remote, rural family estantes were abandoned for city life
Medici: remodeled house at Cafaggiolo into retreat
“Villa” or castle? Machicolated towers (jut out to drop stuff on attactors), there were few windows
o Safety was still Medici’s biggest issue
The Villa Revived
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Florentine regional power = safer countryside
Giusto Utens, view of the Villa Medici at Poggio A Caiano, 1485-1520
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Poggio A Caianon: symmetry, views, interior-exterior
Encourage vistors to take in views and fresh air
“Nature”: agriculture, formally designed gardens
Area around the house has an enormous front yard, plain
Ag gardens in the back, then very geometrical gardens around too, perfected piece of nature
Villa: framework for experiencing the landscape
Villa as Contrast
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One villa type: compact from as “perfect” foil for nature
Villa Rotunda: hilltop location, dominates the surroundings
Spaces for viewing the landscape are integrated into the main form of the home
4 porches, perfectly semetrical
Relationship between nature and home… you can see the nature, or you can see the nature and see the house
Strictly a pleasure house
Palladio, Villa Torunda, Vincenza, 1567-70
The Integrated Villa
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Other option: open design, extending into landscape
Houses long, U shaped plan, maximizes perimeter
Has loggias, garden connect to nature
A little bit of “perfected nature”
Villa Maser: both working farm and a country home for pleasure
Palladio, Villa Barbaro, Maser, 1560-70
Town and Country
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Palladio’s books (he was also an author): spread taste for villas to Great Britain
Londesborough Hall, Ca. 1709
Burlington House, London c. 1698, had this remodeled
Richard Boyle, fan of Palladio: aristocrat, 3rd Edarl of Burlington… he was a seasonal “commuter”, lifestyle defined between
town and country
Yorkshire Estate: engine of wealth, theater of local power
London Townhouse: rituals of national class affiliation
Inherited family patrimony; he was expected to maintain these houses then pass on to the heirs
o Were only about the family, not about himself, the inidivdual
o He was obsessed with arch and wanted to express himself in built form
An English Villa
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He built himself a new house
This third house, the villa, was a middle ground between the estate and the townhouse
Chiswick House: “small” Palladian house by Burlington
Constructs individuality vs. family or class affiliation
This was his private realm, would only invite like 1 or 2 people
Similar to Palladio Rotunda
House of the Muses
Housed his library, art collection, architectural studio
Lord Burlington, Chiswick House, 1726-29
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Entire house designed to express character and identity of one specific person: not social class or family, but who HE is to
himself and the world
Attached Housing
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John Wood the Younger, Royal Crescent, Bath, beg. 1767
Bath: Genteel Resort city: urban life for prosperous
Uses long ribbon of attached houses to define a neighborhood
Wraps homes around a circle, then down
Royal Crescent: unified form for luxury row houses
Design: harmonious street façade is what you see, when they really are individual units
Elite class identity, uniformity, and social control… group membership!
Uniformity from the street showed the social purpose of how elite they were… this was a neighborhood where the elite
class had control
City Life and Democracy
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Row houses: combine density with private housing
Brick Row Houses, Philly, Brooklyn Brownstones
U.S. cities: balance overall order and individuality
Form was so important; doors, projecting stairs, sometimes physical breaks between houses
Social identity through arch was just as important
Class pressure: “democracitic” uniformity vs. display
So wealth shouldn’t be done, it was like the rigid social system that was rejected, so you wanted to be modest like everyone
else or they would hate you
New World Aristocrats
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Main House, Evergreen Plantation, Wallace, LA 1832 vs slave cabins
American South: deliberate imitation of British Elite
Domestic Arch: reflects rural estates, villas
Symmetry, dramatic entry stairs, all project dignity and importance
Wealth and elite status
Plantation: wealth through large-scale agriculture
Built on the labor of slaves (blacks)
Emphasis on radical difference expressed in housing
Some slaves had access to main house, most lived separately
You could tell the difference clearly between the slaves and owners… socially, etc.
Where you lived reflected who you were
Plantation owners were new world aristocrats
Presidential Villa
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Thomas Jefferson, Monticello, Charlottesville, VA, 1768-1809
Thomas Jefferson: American politician, amateur Architect
Wanted to express himself through his home like the other guy
Has lots of features similar to Villa Rotunda… domes, sits on hill
Monticello: compact Palladian villa, more “private” scale
Looks like a smaller home but… in realitiy, it was a plantation
Was home to more than 100 people! (80+ slaves)
Mascarade makes the house not look too big, but its 4 stories
Together and Alone
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The site hides how big the house really is
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Monticello combines villa types: contrast and extension
Dependencies: separate wings on a lower level
Zones the community socially and racially, does so through design
Contain and express support functions for elegant life
Coordinated, collective living supports a private life
Did a huge amount of entertaining
But he also did this to quentch his thirst for private: Jefferson’s “cabinet”… he made devises that would elimate help from
slaves…
This was both a community and a space that he wanted for himself
Both a house of many and house that is ultimately meant for the comfort and pleasure of one
American Mythology
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Log house, East Berline, PA, 1832
House takes on increasingly important role in America
Farming, houses, and the ‘real America”… do “good houses” produce “good people?”