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Forbidden City. Beijing, China. Ming Dynasty. 15th century CE and later. Stone masonry, marble, brick, wood, and ceramic tile.

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Forbidden City. Beijing, China. Ming Dynasty. 15th century CE and later. Stone masonry, marble, brick, wood, and ceramic tile.

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Mesa Verde cliff dwellings. Montezuma County, Colorado. Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi). 450-1300 CE. Sandstone.

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Mesa Verde cliff dwellings. Montezuma County, Colorado. Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi). 450-1300 CE. Sandstone.

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Concical tower and circular wall of Great Zimbabwe. Shona peoples (Southeastern Zimbabwe). c. 1000-1400 CE. Coursed granite blocks.

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Concical tower and circular wall of Great Zimbabwe. Shona peoples (Southeastern Zimbabwe). c. 1000-1400 CE. Coursed granite blocks.

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Fallingwater. Pennsylvania, U.S. Frank Lloyd Wright (architect). 1936-1939 CE. Reinforced concrete, sandstone, steel, and glass.

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Fallingwater. Pennsylvania, U.S. Frank Lloyd Wright (architect). 1936-1939 CE. Reinforced concrete, sandstone, steel, and glass.

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Villa Savoye. Poissy-sur-Seine, France. Le Corbusier (architect). 1929 CE. Steel and reinforced concrete.

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Villa Savoye. Poissy-sur-Seine, France. Le Corbusier (architect). 1929 CE. Steel and reinforced concrete.

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1. Entering the 20th century, many architects had begun to adopt a new style of architecture to favor functionality over design, becoming truly modern. Heading this movement was Le Corbusier, who was a part of the true modernist movement (avoidance of applied decoration and absence of ornamentation), laying out his ideas as simply as his structures- “The house is a machine for living.” Villa Savoye adapted these ideals in its overall design, incorporating pilotis (stilts), a free plan and facade with ribbon windows (for open-ness), and roof gardens (to “give back” to nature what the house had damaged), as laid out in his Five Points of Architecture. The structure wasn’t solely an artwork, either. It was a vacation home located in the French countryside, near Paris. The use of Ferro concrete facilitated Le Corbusier’s design, and allowed for previously-impossible architecture. His use of a ramp within the home likewise was stylistic, and allows for a seamless flow from the inside into the roof terrace outside.

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Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament). London, England. Charles Barry and Augustus W.N. Pugin (architects). 1840-1870 CE. Limestone masonry and glass.

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Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament). London, England. Charles Barry and Augustus W.N. Pugin (architects). 1840-1870 CE. Limestone masonry and glass.

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Monticello. Virginia, U.S. Thomas Jefferson (architect). 1768-1809 CE. Brick, glass, stone, and wood.

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Monticello. Virginia, U.S. Thomas Jefferson (architect). 1768-1809 CE. Brick, glass, stone, and wood.

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The Palace at Versailles. Versailles, France. Louis Le Vau and Jules Hardouin-Mansart (architects). Begun 1669 CE. Masonry, stone, wood, iron, and gold leaf (architecture); marble and bronze (sculpture); gardens.

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The Palace at Versailles. Versailles, France. Louis Le Vau and Jules Hardouin-Mansart (architects). Begun 1669 CE. Masonry, stone, wood, iron, and gold leaf (architecture); marble and bronze (sculpture); gardens.

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1. While the homes of the modern age tend to be more akin to “machines of living,” the royalty of the past saw them as lavish art pieces that were extensions of their own power. Versailles was originally a hunting lodge, but was converted to an enormous palace for Louis XIV and his 20,000 friends, family, peers, and advisors, shifting the royal court out of Paris. Visually extravagant, the facades of Versailles are symmetric and ornate creations calling back to the buildings of Rome and Greece. The palace is most commonly known for its “Hall of Mirrors,” a hall that runs down the whole central building. The hall is lined on one end with hundreds of floor-to-ceiling windows, with the other featuring similarly sized mirrors, all covered in copious amounts of gold. As a result, the room is easily filled with sunlight- an intentional design by Louis XIV’s architects to display his “sun-king” status. Furthermore, the structure is built along the East-West axis, same as the rising and setting sun, for the same reason.

2. Connections to other Image Set works include:

1. Nan Madol. Royal structure created to both house a court but also to legitimize the leader’s power.

3. Sources:

1. Class Notes (December 2023)

2. https://smarthistory.org/chateau-de-versailles/

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Alhambra. Granada, Spain. Nasrid Dynasty. 1354-1391 CE. Whitewashed adobe stucco, wood, tile, paint, and gliding.

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Alhambra. Granada, Spain. Nasrid Dynasty. 1354-1391 CE. Whitewashed adobe stucco, wood, tile, paint, and gliding.

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1. While currently a church under Spanish rule, The Alhambra was once the marvelous court of the Nasrid Dynasty in the Iberian Peninsula. The Nasrids were the last Muslim dynasty within Spain, and lasted around 2 centuries before being defeated during the Reconquitsa. After their defeat, the Spanish would opt to keep the Alhabra’s design while converting it into a Christian space for their own use. Some of these visual features kept for aesthetics include the painted tile and stucco walls. Most famously, the complex features The Court of the Lions, which was the private retreat of the Sultan. The Court most notably had 4 streams of water flowing from a central basin, denoting the charbagh (four-part) gardens of Paradise as described in the Qur’an. The entire building is decorated with elaborate tilework, featuring patterning and detailing along with calligraphy- all in-line with Islamic conventions of aniconic imagery within sacred spaces.

2. Connections to other Image Set works include:

1. Taj Mahal. Use of aniconic patterning on the exterior and depiction of Paradise as a 4-part system, in this case with gardens rather than water.

2. Palace of Westminster. Site of royal court and societal function.

3. Sources:

1. Class Notes (December 2023)

2. https://smarthistory.org/the-alhambra/

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House of the Vetti. Pompeii, Italy. Imperial Roman. c. second century BCE; rebuilt c. 62-79 CE. Cut stone and fresco.

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House of the Vetti. Pompeii, Italy. Imperial Roman. c. second century BCE; rebuilt c. 62-79 CE. Cut stone and fresco.

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1. This work, once buried due to the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE, was once an extravagant home and place of business. The work exemplifies the domestic relationship between clients (clientes) and patrons (patronus), and how the home’s decoration was influenced by the client’s watchful eye. The architecture of the home was thus very unique, and had several details like an impluvium (a small basin to collect rain) overtop a hole in the roof, located within the atrium. Other surrounding rooms, like the cubicula (bedrooms), culina (kitchens), and a small hortus (garden), were likewise key details. More artistic details include the level four wall frescoes, which involve elaborate architecture and narrative scenes with still lives. The home itself was inhabited by the Vetti Brothers, who had freed themselves from slavery and had climbed to the top, done after taking advantage of a recent power vacuum in Pompeii. Though the home is a primary example of lavish Roman architecture, it shows an otherwise non-discussed domestic side of Roman life.

2. Connections to other Image Set works include:

1. Sistine Chapel. Use of frescoes are a comparison in European works.

2.  Alexander Mosaic from the House of Faun. Not only were both works located very close to each other, but both works featured a peristyle garden.

3. Sources:

1. https://web.mit.edu/course/21/21h.405/www/vettii/sources.html

2. https://smarthistory.org/pompeii-house-of-the-vettii/

3. Class Notes (October 2023)