History and Theory of Architecture - William Liles

  Mannerism and Architecture  We use the word mannerism to describe the transition period between the first 1500 crisis and the developments of the Baroque style.  Mannerism is explained well in this quote from John Summerson in his book 'The Classical Language of Architecture': "For our purpose, which is to consider architecture as a language, what we want to know is the extent to which Mannerism coloured the language and enriched the vocabulary" The last line is the most important, as mannerism enhanced the views which the Renaissance created to a significant extent, and for that it deserves its own appreciation; maybe even to the same extent that the renaissance period had. The direct definition of Mannerism: From the word Maniera: - A characteristic or customary mode of acting - A mode of procedure or way of acting - Method of artistic execution or mode of presentation Maniera is a historiographical invention and is attributed to Giorgio Vasari, who used it to de...

  The Renaissance and Architecture The Renaissance was a period in Italy that was a rebirth of the classical values and styles of Ancient Greece and Rome. It was between the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries and its motto was "Go to the Source"; and that there was a need to understand everything on the basis of your own observation and not on a preordained explanation. This blog will go into detail on the architectural evolution of the early and middle parts of the Renaissance period, therefore the length of this blog will be longer that the previous ones. There were two fundamental concepts to the Renaissance: preoccupation with the secular over the Devine, and a self-conscious awareness of the individual and his powers. The Renaissance was a major escape from the dark-ages in Italy, It was a period of growth for the city states and a new class of professional administrators came into power, who were not directly related to the Church. There was an increase in the teaching of La...