Portal:Architecture
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Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings or other structures. The term comes from Latin architectura; from Ancient Greek ἀρχιτέκτων (arkhitéktōn) 'architect'; from ἀρχι- (arkhi-) 'chief', and τέκτων (téktōn) 'creator'. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural symbols and as works of art. Historical civilisations are often identified with their surviving architectural achievements.
Architecture began as rural, oral vernacular architecture that developed from trial and error to successful replication. Ancient urban architecture was preoccupied with building religious structures and buildings symbolizing the political power of rulers until Greek and Roman architecture shifted focus to civic virtues. Indian and Chinese architecture influenced forms all over Asia and Buddhist architecture in particular took diverse local flavors. During the Middle Ages, pan-European styles of Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals and abbeys emerged while the Renaissance favored Classical forms implemented by architects known by name. Later, the roles of architects and engineers became separated.
Modern architecture began after World War I as an avant-garde movement that sought to develop a completely new style appropriate for a new post-war social and economic order focused on meeting the needs of the middle and working classes. Emphasis was put on modern techniques, materials, and simplified geometric forms, paving the way for high-rise superstructures. Many architects became disillusioned with modernism which they perceived as ahistorical and anti-aesthetic, and postmodern and contemporary architecture developed. Over the years, the field of architectural construction has branched out to include everything from ship design to interior decorating. (Full article...)
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The city of Paris has notable examples of architecture of every period, from the Middle Ages to the 21st century. It was the birthplace of the Gothic style, and has important monuments of the French Renaissance, Classical revival, the Flamboyant style of the reign of Napoleon III, the Belle Époque, and the Art Nouveau style. The great Exposition Universelle (1889) and 1900 added Paris landmarks, including the Eiffel Tower and Grand Palais. In the 20th century, the Art Deco style of architecture first appeared in Paris, and Paris architects also influenced the postmodern architecture of the second half of the century.
<gallery mode="packed" heights="150px"> File:Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés 002.JPG|The Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés (990–1160) File:Notre Dame vista do Sena.JPG|Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris (1160–1230) File:Louvre FranzI.JPG|Renaissance wing of the Louvre (1546), by Pierre Lescot File:Cathédrale Saint-Louis-des-Invalides, 140309 2.jpg|Dome of Les Invalides (1677–1706) by Jules Hardouin-Mansart File:École Militaire at dawn, NW view 140405 1.jpg|The École Militaire (1751–1780) by Ange-Jacques Gabriel File:Arcdetriomphe 2.jpg|The Arc de Triomphe (1806–1836) by Jean-François Chalgrin File:Paris Opera full frontal architecture, May 2009.jpg|Palais Garnier (1861–1875) by Charles Garnier File:Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre, Paris 18e 140223 2.jpg|The Basilica of Sacré-Cœur (1874–1916) by Paul Abadie
File:Main entrance of Grand Palais, Paris July 2014.jpg|The Grand Palais (1897–1900), by Henri Deglane, Charles Girault, Albert Louvet and Albert Thomas (Full article...)General images –
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that Ron Labinski has been described as the world's first sports-venue architect?
- ... that Sarkis Lole, the Armenian chief architect of Mardin who constructed much of the early modern architecture of the city, never received any formal training and designed his buildings in the sand?
- ... that as municipal architect, Albert L. Harris led the design of all city buildings in Washington, D.C., from 1921 until his sudden death in 1934?
- ... that Grove Road Cemetery once had two chapels by architect Thomas Charles Sorby, and contains self-made men George Dawson, Richard Ellis and David Simpson, banker John Smith, bandleader Daniel Schwarz, newspaperman Robert Ackrill, kayaker Fridel Meyer, and miser John Turner?
- ... that Saints Peter and Paul Seminary, the last Catholic high school seminary in Ohio before its closure in 1990, was designed with influences from Chinese architecture?
- ... that Owen Jones's elaborately ornamented Book of Common Prayer "pointed to the direction that books in general were to follow in the Victorian Age"?
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