Spanish Renaissance: Discussion and Video

For the beautiful Spanish period, I viewed Kristina and Samanatha's blog. Samantha's blog presented me with a ton of information on the Moors that I didn't know before viewing her blog. She also presented a understandable connection between the style then and today. Kristina's pictures that she posted of the buildings, castles, and different cathedrals is what made her blog post so interesting.

Here's a video to help you learn more about the Spanish period.

Italian Renaissance: Discussion

For this era, I'm going to discuss Natalie and Kristina P's blog post.

I love how in depth Natalie went on the furniture used during this time. She talked about how portable the furniture was. She also talked about the tresyle table. It was the most commonly used table and was able to be extended which served as a perfect dining table.

Kristina P's post taught me how it would be to live in a palazzo. She stated that it includes different shops, vestibule, kitchens, bathrooms, a grand staircase, and a piano noble. Her pictures also gave me a great visual versus using my imagination.

Spanish Renaissance

The Spanish Renaissance took place during the 16th century and was most definitely one of the biggest highlights of the Spanish history. The Italian Renaissance also played a role in influencing the Spanish. This is why it may be difficult to distinguish between the to. Although there are things that set them apart, the are still extremely similar. Spanish architecture was full of life, color, and geometrical elements. It's without a doubt, a sight to see. For example, the Alhambra's fountains, garden full of flowers, and dynamic reflective pool are all extremely beautiful. There were also three styles of the Spanish Renaissance. The Plateresco phase that took after the work of a silversmith, the Desornamentado phase, and the Herrera Style.

Here's a few pictures that I enjoyed looking at during this time...

Current applications...

Italian Renaissance

The Italian Renaissance was the period of rebirthing. (Renaissance mean "rebirth") This era took place between the 24th and 16th century. The rebirth took place in Florence, Siena, and Venice but it all started in Tuscany. Italian Renaissance architects based their theories and practices on Classical Roman examples. The Renaissance revival of Classical Rome was as important in architecture as it was in literature. A pilgrimage to Rome to study the ancient buildings and ruins, especially the Colosseum and Pantheon, was considered essential to an architect's training. Classical orders and architectural elements such as columns, pilasters, pediments, entablatures, arches, and domes form the vocabulary of Renaissance buildings.


Palazzo style refers to an architectural style of the 19th and 20th centuries based upon the palazzi built by wealthy families of the Italian Renaissance. The term refers to the general shape, proportion and a cluster of characteristics, rather than a specific design. In the 20th century, the style was applied, like the Gothic revival style, to multi-story buildings. In the late 20th and 21st century some Postmodern architects have again drawn on the palazzo style for city buildings.

Then...

Modern Applications...

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The Americas: Discussion

For this section I chose to view Dana and Samantha's blog. I've been enjoying my fellow classmates that have personal experiences blogs. Dana was already knowledgeable about the Americas because of her Spanish background. She is very familiar with the different cultures. I like how she targeted the Aztec design and excited to see what she learns when she visits Cancun this summer. Samantha's blog was interesting to me as well. I like how she really went in depth about the different civilizations within this period. I also enjoyed her current applications.

The Americas

After learning about the history of the Americas, I realized that it's much more complicated than I once thought. I found the Olmec to be most interesting within this period. The Olmec were the first civilization in the America. The name Olmec means "rubber people" in Nahuatl. It was the Aztec name for the people who once lived in this area, and extracted latex from rubber trees. The word Olmec also refers to the rubber balls, used for the ancient ball game.

Modern Applications (Aztec Interiors)...

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