Romanesque and Islamic

Romanesque and Islamic

Romanesque

Right off the bat architects established a stable order with a centralized authority, similar to that seen in their politics. Two of the more famous furniture pieces were inspired by their political figures: Dagobert I and Charlemagne. Both chairs resemble a triad of strong rulers and a unified government through pieces resembling both Medieval and Romanesque features. Dagobert I was one of the few, if only, rulers who ruled over a united realm during a period of prosperity. Due to the fact that he
advocated for the arts, his chair, or throne, was made of metal with an X-frame with the Roman sella curulis as a precedent. While modest, Dagobert’s chair was both ecclesiastical and secular resembling the frame most favored by popes. With its frontal orientation and collapsing middle, similar to that of a Chinese folding chair, it is small in scale but grand in cast bronze details. It portrays power in a time of instability with the legs of the chair replicating a lion’s paw. On the other hand, Charlemagne’s throne screams authority through its height, materials, and social circumstances of its use. The chair is on a raise platform with a means to convey status. Due to his achievement in creating a unified government, the shape of Charlemagne’s throne is made of marble sheets with little to no decoration. The lack of detail in his throne conveys the grand context of the ruler and nodding to his finer constructions during his reign: the palace and royal church at Aix-la-Chappelle.

During this time period, churches – specifically those in France – were known for their intricate and masterful carvings as seen in the Cathedral of St. Foy. This was in part due to the inability to read, so many facades consisted of reliefs, carve capitals, and sculpted voussoirs to display Biblical lessons without the use of words. In addition, church plans during the Romanesque movement developed from Early Christian church plans and were inspired by rediscoveries of antiquities. They follow the form of basilicas with the addition of an apse and, later, the transept to provide a central focus on the altar. Following this, side aisles were added to make the plan laterally expansive, and ambulatories were developed from choirs seen in early Christian apses. The last additions consisted of a chevet that was displayed as a rounded mass made bulbous and imposing, and a narthex that corresponds to the façade as a threshold as one enters the church.

Islamic

Similar to Romanesque, Islamic design is centered on religion and this story begins with the prophet Mohammed. Through its ability to incorporate local architectural and decorative trends, Islam spread into Africa, Asia, and Europe. Within these three continents mosques were built and shared resembling features like a courtyard, prayer hall, ablutions fountain, and qibla wall with mihrab. Decorative motifs still made an appearance on both the interior and exterior facades, as well as on columns, floors, and ceilings, however, these varied from region to region.

All mosques were based off the form of the Prophet’s farm in Medina which consist of

traditional mosque features. These included the perimeter wall, the covered hall of columns that becomes the prayer hall, and the courtyard. It should be noted that here the courtyard acts as both forecourt to the prayer hall and overflow space. Due to the fact that the central activity within a mosque is praying by oneself, the apse is what signifies the direction towards Mecca and corresponds to the human scale, but significantly smaller than the central apse seen in Christian churches. This can be seen in the Great Mosque of Damascus in Syria, where it was converted from a Roman temple.

Throughout this time period, a lot of designers drew inspiration from work seen in classical architectural languages and frequently reused ruins to incorporate Roman capitals and columns. This relationship can be seen when studying the interior of the Prayer Hall of the Great Mosque of Kairouan, one of the key Islamic monuments. Its classical capitals uphold Islamic arches, pointed like a Gothic arch but hold a semi-spherical shape exceeding 180 degrees.

One Step Further

H. H. Richardson was an architect known for initiating the revival of Romanesque in the United States. Within his own work, however, he drew from the plain granite designs he was surrounded by in Boston, and later, studied abroad and became fluent in French. One of his alter commissions, the Trinity churches in Boston, were designed for the renowned preacher, Phillips Brooks, and was seen as one of the most important Episcopal churches in America. Richardson’s revival of Romanesque design inspired many others to move to the Boston area, in hopes of creating works similar to his own. While favoring horizontal lines, simple silhouettes, and large-scale details – inspired by Romanesque and Byzantine architecture – Richardson’s most famous works stand in Quincy Massachusetts. The Crane Memorial Library was built with a tripartite layering of a rough-faced granite base beneath clerestory windows. These windows supported a tiled gable roof and its entrance arch. The functionalism of his designs inspired many, like the revolutionary works of Louis Sullivan.