ARCHITECTURE

 

Architecture is considered one of the seven arts. It consists in the planification and building of living spaces for the use of human beigns. The word "architecture" etymologically comes from the    of two Greek words that mean "chief" and "constructor". 

"Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness".-Frank Gehry

Even though we can find traces of human buildings dating from the Upper Paleolithic, large structures, such as the palaces, temples and funerary monuments of the Egyptian and Mesopotamic empires, began being built in the Neolitic and the Metal Ages.

In the ancient Greek and Roman eras, architecture reaches a civil dimension that it never had before. The Greek polis and its public spaces became central elements for political and social life. Urban planning was born in this time, and one of its first representatives was the Greek architect Hippodamus of Miletus.

This portal contains works which include depictions of architectornic monuments in Spain and other places throughout Europe. One of the most important, "Les antiquités d'Athènes", shows blueprints of the oldest buildings of the ancient Greek era.

                                                                  

Ancient Rome also left an impressive architectonic legacy. The Romans were renowned for the construction of public places (civil engineering works): baths, temples, libraries, etc. One of the most important roman buildings is the Colosseum, in Rome, erected in the first century and located east of the Roman Forum. The Forum was the city centre, where all citizens of all social classes met and where justice was served. It was also a commercial, business and prostitution area, among other things. 

                               

 Marcus Vitruvius Pollio was one ot he most important architects, engineers and treatise writers of the Roman era. He worked as an architect for Julius Caesar and, after he retired, wrote the oldest treatise on architecture that is preserved today "De Architectura", which was one of a kind in the ancient world. This treatise contains information on materials, proportions, decorative techniques, hydraulic engineering, mechanics, etc. 

Different editions and copies of this work are available through this portal. These are some of the most illustrative images of the treatise:

                                                            

Other important architects from other historical periods did also leave their imprint in this discipline. One of them was the German Matthias Döguen, who worked in the renovation of the fortifications in the city of Berlin, which were built according to the old Lynar system. His work "L'Architecture militaire ou Fortification : confirmée par diverses histoires tant anciennes que nouvelles" is one of the best-known in this field of study.

"Architettura civile", the posthumous work of Father D. Guarino Guarini, is another of the essentials of this art. Guarino was a Theatine priest, mathematician, writer and architect who lived in the 17th century. He designed many public and private buildings in Turin (palaces for the Duke of Savoy, the Royal Church of San Lorenzo), as well as in Modena, Messina, Verona, Vienna, Prague, Lisbon and Paris. 

Bernard Forest de Bélidor became an orphan at a very young age, so he followed a relative in his travels as the head engineer in Montreuil-sur-Mer, later inheriting his library. Notable among his works are "La Science des ingénieurs dans la conduite des travaux de fortification et d'architecture civile", "Le Bombardier françois, ou Nouvelle méthode de jeter les bombes avec précision" or "Architecture hydraulique, ou l'art de conduire, d'élever, et de menager les eaux pour les différens besoins de la vie..." available through this portal.

                                                       

There have also been great Spanish architects, of course. The Asturian architect Juan Miguel de Inclán Valdés dedicated most of his working life to teaching. He had ties to the Royal Academy of San Fernando, and was the first principal of the  Escuela Especial de Arquitectura. He later would write about this school in "Lecciones de arquitectura civil leídas a los alumnos de su escuela especial en el presente año académico de 46 al 47". He also wrote "Apuntes para la historia de la arquitectura y observaciones sobre la que se distingue con la denominación de gótica" published in 1833 by Ibarra and part of this digital library's collection.

Many cultures have dedicated a great deal of effort and resources to their religious architecture. Places of worship and sacred spaces are among the most impressive buildings humanity has erected. Ramón Vinader wrote about some of the architectural styles present in the Spanish temples in "Arqueologia cristiana española : nociones de las arquitecturas bizantina, gótica, mudéjar y del renacimiento aplicadas á los Templos de España".

                                                                                        

Dictionaries, particularly those that are specialized, are essential reference materials. So the "Diccionario general de arquitectura e ingeniería : que comprende todas las voces y locuciones castellanas , tanto antigüas como modernas , usadas en las diversas artes de la construcción, con sus etimologías, citas de autoridades, historia, datos prácticos y equivalencias en francés, inglés e italiano" was extremely useful as a reference book during this time.

Since its beginnings, photography has been used as a tool to document and capture the essence of buildings. Thanks to it we have pictures taken by both anonymous photographers as well as great figures of the art such as Loty, Laurent or Papeghin.

Some of the most notable photographs included in this library were taken by Antonio Passaporte (Loty), who travelled across Spain taking snapshots of the different perspectives of a great number of places with his camera, like the Basílica del Pilar de Zaragoza, the Roman Theatre of Mérida, and several castles scattered throughout the national territory sucb as the castle of San Fernando in Alicante.

                                                      

Other important photographers took pictures of  both Spanish national architecture and monuments from around Europe. The French photographer Jean Laurent was one of them. The following images are some of the most important among those which immortalized some places in Spain..

                       

Papeghin, A photographed the city of Paris in the early 20th century. His pictures were later turned into postcards that depicted the most important monuments in the City of Love and Light.

                                   

 

"Architecture is the great book of humanity".- Víctor Hugo