Wednesday, 9 May 2012

Age of Enlightenement: Thank to the Rich


Age of Enlightenement: Thank to the Rich

The Age is Enlightenment or 'The Age of Reason' is the age where people started exploring the rest of the world, seeking for truth and logic.

The Grand Tour where they explored different places around the world and study the past and seeking for the truth. Rich people would travel the world, paid some great artist to paint him (or her (rather unlikely) ) at different places, came back and create architecture from bits they could recalled from the great architecture around the world. Almost literally cutting and pasting pieces together like a collage. Supposedly eclectic is the name given to this type of creation where ideas, style or taste are derives from broad, diverse range of sources. Apparently, from architecture and architecture movements being about the form, the function, the belief and etc, architecture during the grand tour period became about whether or not you have the money to go on the tour.

Folly is another subset of architecture born during the age of enlightenment where money are spent on the creation of 'fake' building with no living space that are extravagant and usually take a form of architecture from around the world(hence the owner with the kind of money to spent on a folly is most likely to already have gone on a grand tour) and usually are made to look old since brand new. The important of follies are not to depict important or outstanding architecture from around the world but rather to be an part of . . a garden. According to wikipedia, the outstanding features of a folly is that it is 'merely so extravagant that it transcends the normal range of garden ornaments or other class of building to which it belongs'.

It also said that many follies were built to provide employment for peasants and unemployed artisans so supposedly there were good intensions behind the ridiculousness of money spent on gardens. Lets thank to the rich from the 18th and 19th century who had a contribution to open the world for people who cannot pay for the grand tour by creating architecture that practically combines many things from many places together and also creating follies mimicking architecture from around the world for other to see and also increase the employment rate and prolong the skills of skillful artisans. Probs to them.

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Grand tour


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Folly



http://dictionary.reference.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folly#Follies_in_18th_century_French_and_English_gardens





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