Architectural sculpture
Encyclopedia
Architectural sculpture is the term for the use of sculpture
by an architect
and/or sculptor in the design of a building, bridge, mausoleum or other such project. The sculpture is usually integrated with the structure, but freestanding works that are part of the original design are also considered to be architectural sculpture.
It has also been defined as, an integral part of a building or sculpture created especially to decorate or embellish an architectural structure.
Architectural sculpture has been employed by builders throughout history, and in virtually every continent on earth save pre-colonial Australia.
Modern understanding of ancient Egyptian architecture is based mainly on the religious monuments that have survived since antiquity, which are carved stone with post-and-lintel construction. These religious monuments dedicated to the gods or pharaohs were designed with a great deal of architectural sculpture inside and out: engaged statues, carved columns and pillars, and wall surfaces carved with bas-reliefs. The classic examples of Egyptian colossal monuments (the Great Sphinx of Giza
, the Abu Simbel temples, the Karnak
Temple Complex, etc.) represent thoroughly integrated combinations of architecture and sculpture.
Obelisks, elaborately carved from a single block of stone, were usually placed in pairs to flank the entrances to temples and pyramids. Reliefs are also common in Egyptian building, depicting scenes of everyday life and often accompanied by hieroglyphics.
The Fertile Crescent
architectural sculptural tradition began when Ashurnasirpal II moved his capitol to the city of Nimrud
around 879 BCE. This site was located near a major deposit of gypsum (alabaster
). This fairly easy to cut stone could be quarried in large blocks that allowed it to be easily carved for the palaces that were built there. The early style developed out of an already flourishing mural tradition by creating drawings that were then carved in low relief. Another contributing factor in the development of architectural sculpture were the small carved seals that had be made in the area for centuries.
Classical Greek architecture, like the prototypical Parthenon
, incorporate architectural sculpture in a fairly narrow set of standard, formal building elements. The names of these elements still comprise the usual vocabulary for discussion: the pediment
, the metope
, the frieze
, the caryatid
, the quadriga
, acroteria, etc.
Greek examples of architectural sculpture are distinguished not only by their age but their very high quality and skillful technique, with rhythmic and dynamic modeling, figural compositions in friezes that continue seamlessly over vertical joints from one block of stone to the next, and mastery of depth and legibility.
The known Greek and Roman examples have been exhaustively studied, and frequently copied or adapted into subsequent neo-classical styles: Greek Revival architecture
, usually the most strict; Neoclassical architecture
; Beaux-Arts architecture with its exaggerated and romantic free interpretations of the vocabulary, and even Stalinist neo-classical architecture like the Central Moscow Hippodrome
adapted to a totalitarian aesthetic. These re-interpretations are sometimes dubious, for instance, there are many modern copies of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, like the National Diet Building
in Tokyo, despite the fact that all classical descriptions of the Mausoleum are vague.
, constructed 1871 through 1901, is recognized as the turning point, because of the approximately 250 sculptures planned for the building, the large finial
of William Penn
, and the practical effect of Alexander Milne Calder
training many assistants there.
In the same years, H.H. Richardson began to develop his influential signature genre, which included romantic, medieval, Romanesque stone carving. Richard Morris Hunt
became the first to bring the Parisian neo-classical Ecole des Beaux-Arts
style back to the United States, a style that depended on integrated figural sculpture and a highly ornamented building fabric for its aesthetic effect. The Beaux-Arts style dominated for major public buildings between the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition
in Chicago, through about 1912, the year of the San Francisco City Hall
. The need for sculptors saw the emergence of a small industry of carvers and modelers, and a professional organization, the National Sculpture Society
.
The advent of steel frames and reinforced concrete encouraged, at first, more diverse building styles into the 1910s and 1920s. The diversity of skyscraper Gothic, exotic "revivals" of Mayan and Egyptian, stripped classicism, Art Deco
, etc. called for a similar diversity of sculptural approaches. The use of sculpture was still expected, particularly for public buildings like war memorials and museums. In 1926 the pre-eminent American architectural sculptor, Lee Lawrie
, with his longtime friend and collaborator architect Bertram Goodhue
, developed perhaps the most sophisticated American examples at the Nebraska State Capitol
and the Los Angeles Public Library
.
Goodhue's premature death ended that collaboration. The Depression
, and the onset of World War II, decimated building activity. The old building trades disbanded. By the postwar years the aesthetic of architectural modernism had taken hold. Except for a few diehards and regional sculptors, the profession was not only dead but discredited. As of 2010 there are isolated signs of a revival of interest, for instance in the career of Raymond Kaskey
.
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
by an architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
and/or sculptor in the design of a building, bridge, mausoleum or other such project. The sculpture is usually integrated with the structure, but freestanding works that are part of the original design are also considered to be architectural sculpture.
It has also been defined as, an integral part of a building or sculpture created especially to decorate or embellish an architectural structure.
Architectural sculpture has been employed by builders throughout history, and in virtually every continent on earth save pre-colonial Australia.
Egyptian
- Main article: Ancient Egyptian architectureAncient Egyptian architectureThe Nile valley has been the site of one of the most influential civilizations which developed a vast array of diverse structures encompassing ancient Egyptian architecture...
Modern understanding of ancient Egyptian architecture is based mainly on the religious monuments that have survived since antiquity, which are carved stone with post-and-lintel construction. These religious monuments dedicated to the gods or pharaohs were designed with a great deal of architectural sculpture inside and out: engaged statues, carved columns and pillars, and wall surfaces carved with bas-reliefs. The classic examples of Egyptian colossal monuments (the Great Sphinx of Giza
Great Sphinx of Giza
The Great Sphinx of Giza , commonly referred to as the Sphinx, is a limestone statue of a reclining or couchant sphinx that stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, Egypt....
, the Abu Simbel temples, the Karnak
Karnak
The Karnak Temple Complex—usually called Karnak—comprises a vast mix of decayed temples, chapels, pylons, and other buildings, notably the Great Temple of Amun and a massive structure begun by Pharaoh Ramses II . Sacred Lake is part of the site as well. It is located near Luxor, some...
Temple Complex, etc.) represent thoroughly integrated combinations of architecture and sculpture.
Obelisks, elaborately carved from a single block of stone, were usually placed in pairs to flank the entrances to temples and pyramids. Reliefs are also common in Egyptian building, depicting scenes of everyday life and often accompanied by hieroglyphics.
Assyro-Babylonian
Fertile Crescent
The Fertile Crescent, nicknamed "The Cradle of Civilization" for the fact the first civilizations started there, is a crescent-shaped region containing the comparatively moist and fertile land of otherwise arid and semi-arid Western Asia. The term was first used by University of Chicago...
architectural sculptural tradition began when Ashurnasirpal II moved his capitol to the city of Nimrud
Nimrud
Nimrud is an ancient Assyrian city located south of Nineveh on the river Tigris in modern Ninawa Governorate Iraq. In ancient times the city was called Kalḫu. The Arabs called the city Nimrud after the Biblical Nimrod, a legendary hunting hero .The city covered an area of around . Ruins of the city...
around 879 BCE. This site was located near a major deposit of gypsum (alabaster
Alabaster
Alabaster is a name applied to varieties of two distinct minerals, when used as a material: gypsum and calcite . The former is the alabaster of the present day; generally, the latter is the alabaster of the ancients...
). This fairly easy to cut stone could be quarried in large blocks that allowed it to be easily carved for the palaces that were built there. The early style developed out of an already flourishing mural tradition by creating drawings that were then carved in low relief. Another contributing factor in the development of architectural sculpture were the small carved seals that had be made in the area for centuries.
Indian
GrecoRoman
Parthenon
The Parthenon is a temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena, whom the people of Athens considered their virgin patron. Its construction began in 447 BC when the Athenian Empire was at the height of its power. It was completed in 438 BC, although...
, incorporate architectural sculpture in a fairly narrow set of standard, formal building elements. The names of these elements still comprise the usual vocabulary for discussion: the pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
, the metope
Metope (architecture)
In classical architecture, a metope is a rectangular architectural element that fills the space between two triglyphs in a Doric frieze, which is a decorative band of alternating triglyphs and metopes above the architrave of a building of the Doric order...
, the frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
, the caryatid
Caryatid
A caryatid is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term karyatides literally means "maidens of Karyai", an ancient town of Peloponnese...
, the quadriga
Quadriga
A quadriga is a car or chariot drawn by four horses abreast . It was raced in the Ancient Olympic Games and other contests. It is represented in profile as the chariot of gods and heroes on Greek vases and in bas-relief. The quadriga was adopted in ancient Roman chariot racing...
, acroteria, etc.
Greek examples of architectural sculpture are distinguished not only by their age but their very high quality and skillful technique, with rhythmic and dynamic modeling, figural compositions in friezes that continue seamlessly over vertical joints from one block of stone to the next, and mastery of depth and legibility.
The known Greek and Roman examples have been exhaustively studied, and frequently copied or adapted into subsequent neo-classical styles: Greek Revival architecture
Greek Revival architecture
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...
, usually the most strict; Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
; Beaux-Arts architecture with its exaggerated and romantic free interpretations of the vocabulary, and even Stalinist neo-classical architecture like the Central Moscow Hippodrome
Central Moscow Hippodrome
Central Moscow Hippodrome, founded in 1834 is the largest horse racing track as well as horse breeding research facility in Moscow and Russia.-External links:...
adapted to a totalitarian aesthetic. These re-interpretations are sometimes dubious, for instance, there are many modern copies of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, like the National Diet Building
National Diet Building
The is the place where both houses of the Diet of Japan meet. It is located at 1-chome, Nagatachō, Chiyoda, Tokyo.Sessions of the House of Representatives take place in the left wing and sessions of the House of Councillors in the right wing....
in Tokyo, despite the fact that all classical descriptions of the Mausoleum are vague.
Pre-contact North and South America
United States
Not until about 1870 did the U.S. develop the talent, the economic power, and the taste for buildings grand enough to need architectural sculpture. The Philadelphia City HallPhiladelphia City Hall
Philadelphia City Hall is the house of government for the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At , including the statue, it is the world's second-tallest masonry building, only shorter than Mole Antonelliana in Turin...
, constructed 1871 through 1901, is recognized as the turning point, because of the approximately 250 sculptures planned for the building, the large finial
Finial
The finial is an architectural device, typically carved in stone and employed decoratively to emphasize the apex of a gable or any of various distinctive ornaments at the top, end, or corner of a building or structure. Smaller finials can be used as a decorative ornament on the ends of curtain rods...
of William Penn
William Penn
William Penn was an English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony and the future Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He was an early champion of democracy and religious freedom, notable for his good relations and successful...
, and the practical effect of Alexander Milne Calder
Alexander Milne Calder
Alexander Milne Calder was an American sculptor best known for the architectural sculpture of Philadelphia City Hall. Both his son, Alexander Stirling Calder, and grandson, Alexander "Sandy" Calder, were to become significant sculptors in the 20th century.-Biography:Alexander Milne Calder was...
training many assistants there.
In the same years, H.H. Richardson began to develop his influential signature genre, which included romantic, medieval, Romanesque stone carving. Richard Morris Hunt
Richard Morris Hunt
Richard Morris Hunt was an American architect of the nineteenth century and a preeminent figure in the history of American architecture...
became the first to bring the Parisian neo-classical Ecole des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...
style back to the United States, a style that depended on integrated figural sculpture and a highly ornamented building fabric for its aesthetic effect. The Beaux-Arts style dominated for major public buildings between the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
in Chicago, through about 1912, the year of the San Francisco City Hall
San Francisco City Hall
San Francisco City Hall, re-opened in 1915, in its open space area in the city's Civic Center, is a Beaux-Arts monument to the City Beautiful movement that epitomized the high-minded American Renaissance of the 1880s to 1917. The structure's dome is the fifth largest in the world...
. The need for sculptors saw the emergence of a small industry of carvers and modelers, and a professional organization, the National Sculpture Society
National Sculpture Society
Founded in 1893, the National Sculpture Society was the first organization of professional sculptors formed in the United States. The purpose of the organization was to promote the welfare of American sculptors, although its founding members included several renowned architects. The founding...
.
The advent of steel frames and reinforced concrete encouraged, at first, more diverse building styles into the 1910s and 1920s. The diversity of skyscraper Gothic, exotic "revivals" of Mayan and Egyptian, stripped classicism, Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
, etc. called for a similar diversity of sculptural approaches. The use of sculpture was still expected, particularly for public buildings like war memorials and museums. In 1926 the pre-eminent American architectural sculptor, Lee Lawrie
Lee Lawrie
Lee Oscar Lawrie was one of the United States' foremost architectural sculptors and a key figure in the American art scene preceding World War II...
, with his longtime friend and collaborator architect Bertram Goodhue
Bertram Goodhue
Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue was a American architect celebrated for his work in neo-gothic design. He also designed notable typefaces, including Cheltenham and Merrymount for the Merrymount Press.-Early career:...
, developed perhaps the most sophisticated American examples at the Nebraska State Capitol
Nebraska State Capitol
The Nebraska State Capitol, located in Lincoln, Nebraska, is the house of the Nebraska Legislature and houses other offices of the government of the U.S. state of Nebraska....
and the Los Angeles Public Library
Los Angeles Public Library
The Los Angeles Public Library system serves the residents of Los Angeles, California, United States. With over 6 million volumes, LAPL is one of the largest publicly funded library systems in the world. The system is overseen by a Board of Library Commissioners with five members appointed by the...
.
Goodhue's premature death ended that collaboration. The Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, and the onset of World War II, decimated building activity. The old building trades disbanded. By the postwar years the aesthetic of architectural modernism had taken hold. Except for a few diehards and regional sculptors, the profession was not only dead but discredited. As of 2010 there are isolated signs of a revival of interest, for instance in the career of Raymond Kaskey
Raymond Kaskey
Raymond Kaskey is an American sculptor.He was born in Pittsburgh. He studied architecture at Carnegie Mellon University and Yale University...
.