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Fantastic Architecture
Fantastic architecture is an architectural style featuring attention-grabbing buildings. Such buildings can be considered as works of art, and are normally built purely for the amusement of its owner. Architects that employed this style include Antoni Gaudí, Bruno Taut, and Hans Poelzig.Curl and Wilson, ''Oxford Dictionary of Architecture'', ''s.v.'' "Fantastic architecture," n.p. Fantastic architecture should not be confused with novelty architecture. While both styles have unusual, attention-grabbing designs, novelty architecture is meant to be an advertisement for the business inside, such as Randy's Donuts, buildings with a giant donut on the roof. Fantastic architecture, on the other hand, serves no other purpose than the personal amusement of its builder. Selected fantastic-style structures * Martin Castle in Versailles, Kentucky * Sauer Buildings Historic District by Frederick C. Sauer, Aspinwall, Pennsylvania * Watts Towers by Simon Rodia, Watts district of Los Angeles, C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Architectural Style
An architectural style is a classification of buildings (and nonbuilding structures) based on a set of characteristics and features, including overall appearance, arrangement of the components, method of construction, building materials used, form (architecture), form, size, structural design, and regional character. Architectural styles are frequently associated with a historical epoch (Renaissance style), geographical location (Italian Villa style), or an earlier architectural style (Neo-Gothic style), and are influenced by the corresponding broader Style (visual arts), artistic style and the "general human condition". Heinrich Wölfflin even declared an analogy between a building and a costume: an "architectural style reflects the ''attitude and the movement of people'' in the period concerned". The 21st century construction uses a multitude of styles that are sometimes lumped together as a "contemporary architecture" based on the common trait of extreme reliance on computer-a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antoni Gaudí
Antoni Gaudí i Cornet ( , ; ; 25 June 1852 – 10 June 1926) was a Catalans, Catalan architect and designer from Spain, widely known as the greatest exponent of Catalan ''Modernisme''. Gaudí's works have a style, with most located in Barcelona, including his magnum opus, main work, the Sagrada Família church. Gaudí's work was influenced by his passions in life: architecture, nature, and religion. He considered every detail of his creations and combined crafts such as ceramics, stained glass, wrought ironwork forging, and carpentry. He introduced new techniques in the treatment of materials, such as ''trencadís'' which used waste ceramic pieces. Influenced by Gothic Revival architecture, neo-Gothic art and Oriental techniques, Gaudí became part of the ''Modernista'' movement, which peaked in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His work eventually transcended mainstream ''Modernisme'', developing into a unique style inspired by natural forms. Gaudí rarely drew det ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bruno Taut
Bruno Julius Florian Taut (4 May 1880 – 24 December 1938) was a renowned German architect, urban planner and author. He was active during the Weimar period and is known for his theoretical works as well as his building designs. Early life and career Taut was born in Königsberg in 1880. After secondary school, he studied at the Baugewerkschule. In the following years, Taut worked in the offices of various architects in Hamburg and Wiesbaden. In 1903, he was employed by Bruno Möhring in Berlin, where he acquainted himself with ''Jugendstil'' and new building methods combining steel with masonry. From 1904 to 1908, Taut worked in Stuttgart for Theodor Fischer and studied urban planning. He received his first commission through Fischer in 1906, which involved the renovation of the village church in Unterriexingen. In 1908, he returned to Berlin to study art history and construction at the ''Königlich Technische Hochschule'' in Charlottenburg (now Technische Universi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hans Poelzig
Hans Poelzig (30 April 1869 – 14 June 1936) was a German architect, painter and set designer. Life Poelzig was born in Berlin in 1869 to Countess Clara Henrietta Maria Poelzig while she was married to George Acland Ames, an Englishman. Uncertain of his paternity, Ames refused to acknowledge Hans as his son and consequently he was brought up by a local choirmaster and his wife. In 1899 he married Maria Voss with whom he had four children.Dawson, p.96 His mother was the daughter of Alexander von Hanstein, Count of Pölzig and Beiersdorf who married Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg in 1826. Because of this, Clara was the step-sister to Albert, Prince Consort making Hans a step-cousin to Albert's children. Education In 1903 he became a teacher and director at the Breslau Academy of Art and Design (; today in Wrocław, Poland). From 1920–1935 he taught at (today, Technische Universität Berlin). Career After finishing his architectural education around the turn of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Novelty Architecture
Novelty architecture, also called programmatic architecture or mimetic architecture, is a type of architecture in which buildings and other structures are given unusual shapes for purposes such as advertising or to copy other famous buildings. Their size and novelty means that they often serve as landmarks. They are distinct from architectural follies, in that novelty architecture is essentially usable buildings in eccentric form whereas follies are non-usable, purely ornamental buildings also often in eccentric form. Overview Although earlier examples exist, such as the planned but never completed Parisian Elephant of the Bastille, the style generally became popular in the United States, and later to some other countries, as travel by automobile increased in the 1930s. The Statue of Liberty in New York is a statue that is part sculpture and part monument, which like many subsequent examples of novelty architecture, has an accessible interior and became a tourist attraction. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Randy's Donuts
Randy's Donuts is a donut shop chain originated in the United States, and it is known for a colossal donut sign atop its original building located in Inglewood, California near Los Angeles International Airport, which is considered as "one of Los Angeles’ most iconic landmarks". The original 24-hour drive-in is at 805 West Manchester Boulevard and it intersects with La Cienega Boulevard. It is near the Manchester Boulevard off-ramp of the San Diego Freeway ( I-405). History In the late 1940s, donut machine salesman Russell Wendell founded a chain of drive-in donut shops named Big Donut. The first location opened in 1951 in Westmont. The second location, which is now a Randy's Donuts, was opened in 1952. In 1976, after shifting focus to his Pup 'N' Taco chain (bought by Taco Bell in 1984), Wendell sold the Big Donut Inglewood location to Robert Eskow who renamed the location "Randy's Donuts" after his son. In 1978, Eskow sold the shop to Ron and Larry Weintraub, who deci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martin Castle
The Kentucky Castle, also known as Castle Post, Martin Castle and Versailles Castle, is a castle in Kentucky, located in Versailles, Kentucky, near Lexington, Kentucky, 201 Pisgah Pike near the Woodford County line, part of a estate. Visually situated off Lexington (Versailles) road, it overlooks the Elkhorn Creek watershed on the Woodford/ Fayette county line. Thirteen years after it was sold and received a major renovation, a new owner focused on revitalizing and remodeling the castle in 2017. Currently operating as a bed and breakfast and special functions facility, it hosts special events, weddings, and has an operational farm-to-table restaurant inside. In August 2023, TKC Hospitality Group purchased the castle for $19 million. History Construction on the castle was started by real estate developer Rex Martin and his wife Caroline Bogaert Martin in 1969, after they had returned from a trip to Germany and were inspired by the architecture and many famous buildings t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Versailles, Kentucky
Versailles is a home rule-class city in Woodford County, Kentucky, United States. It lies by road west of Lexington and is part of the Lexington-Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area. Versailles has a population of 10,534 according to 2024 census estimates. It is the county seat of Woodford County. The city's name is pronounced , an anglicization different from the French pronunciation of the royal city of the same name near Paris. History Versailles was founded on June 23, 1792, on of land owned by Hezekiah Briscoe, who was, at the time, only a child. His guardian, Marquis Calmes, named the town after Versailles, France, in honor of General Lafayette, a family friend and hero of the American Revolution. Located in what became known as the Bluegrass Region of Kentucky, where farmers also raised thoroughbred horses and other high-quality livestock, the city was officially incorporated on February 13, 1837. It was briefly occupied during the American Civil War by both Con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sauer Buildings Historic District
Sauer Buildings Historic District, located between 607 and 717 Center Avenue in Aspinwall, Pennsylvania, consists of a group of buildings designed and built by Frederick C. Sauer from 1898 until his death in 1942. This Historic district (United States), historic district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 11, 1985. History In 1898, Frederick C. Sauer, Frederick Sauer bought a hillside tract of land in Aspinwall, Pennsylvania, and built a home for himself and his family. This house was designed in "conventional fashion out of ordinary Kittanning brick on a four-square Colonial Revival architecture, Colonial Revival footprint."''Pittsburgh: A New Portrait'' by Franklin Toker, pages 435-436 (2009, University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) Sauer was an architect by trade, and he designed about a dozen Catholic Church, Catholic church (building), churches in the Pittsburgh area, most of which were fashioned in some variation of Roman ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frederick C
Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Given name Nobility = Anhalt-Harzgerode = * Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) = Austria = * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederick II, Duke of Austria (1219–1246), last Duke of Austria from the Babenberg dynasty * Frederick the Fair (Frederick I of Austria (Habsburg), 1286–1330), Duke of Austria and King of the Romans = Baden = * Frederick I, Grand Duke of Baden (1826–1907), Grand Duke of Baden * Frederick II, Grand Duke of Baden (1857–1928), Grand Duke of Baden = Bohemia = * Frederick, Duke of Bohemia (died 1189), Duke of Olomouc and Bohemia = Britain = * Frederick, Prince of Wales (1707–1751), eldest son of King George II of Great Britain = Brandenburg/Prussia = * Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg (1371–1440), also known as Frederick VI, Burgrave of Nuremberg * Frederick II, Elector of Brandenburg (1413–1470), Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Watts Towers
The Watts Towers, Towers of Simon Rodia, or ''Nuestro Pueblo'' ("our town" in Spanish) are a collection of 17 interconnected sculptural towers, architectural structures, and individual sculptural features and mosaics within the site of the artist's original residential property in Watts, Los Angeles, California, United States. The entire site of towers, structures, sculptures, pavement, and walls were designed and built solely by Sabato ("Simon" or "Sam") Rodia (1879 or 1886 to 1965), an Italian immigrant construction worker and tile mason, over a period of 33 years from 1921 to 1954. The tallest of the towers is . The work is an example of outsider art (or Art Brut) and Italian-American naïve art. The Watts Towers were designated a National Historic Landmark and a California Historical Landmark in 1990. They are also a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument, and one of nine folk art sites listed in the National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles. The Watts Towers of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Simon Rodia
The Watts Towers, Towers of Simon Rodia, or ''Nuestro Pueblo'' ("our town" in Spanish) are a collection of 17 interconnected sculptural towers, architectural structures, and individual sculptural features and mosaics within the site of the artist's original residential property in Watts, Los Angeles, California, United States. The entire site of towers, structures, sculptures, pavement, and walls were designed and built solely by Sabato ("Simon" or "Sam") Rodia (1879 or 1886 to 1965), an Italian immigrant construction worker and tile mason, over a period of 33 years from 1921 to 1954. The tallest of the towers is . The work is an example of outsider art (or Art Brut) and Italian-American naïve art. The Watts Towers were designated a National Historic Landmark and a California Historical Landmark in 1990. They are also a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument, and one of nine folk art sites listed in the National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles. The Watts Towers of Sim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
