William Kent: A Landscape Architect's Journey Through Architecture

Ruination is more of a gradual destruction that involves force of nature and force of time. It introduces the question of time in a nuanced way, how we understand nature (not just how we oppose architecture), how we understand sustainable. Early renaissance paintings such as the Christ giving the Keys to St. Peter (1481-82) by Pietro Perugino, the artist uses central perspective. These perspectives are usually that of a white male European. Human perspective, it is omniscient. In the foreground are more white male Europeans. IN the vanishing point is architecture, which is the focus, therefore this pushes the idea that architecture is the creation of humans. In the background, there is a simple landscape that is stripped of grandeur, or other dynamic characteristics. During this time period, paintings were accurately and realistically depicting the world, and this was a particular view on realism, and the particular take on the relationship between humanity, culture, and the creation of humanity, and nature.

Prior to this time, buildings were not planned in the sense that they are today. They were planned and drawn, however, most of major decisions were made during the construction. Major design decisions were made on site. This is because a different person that it is built by designs it often. However, during the renaissance, designs became more regulated. There was a newfound push to design in the studio, and the act was strictly associated to studio. Drawings began to dictate design, and design dictated construction. Elevations become popular during this time, as they show how a 3D world can be realistically translated to a 2D frame, so the drawings could be mass-produced, this was one of the forces of mannerism.

William Kent designed a villa for a client, Merlin’s Cave at Richmond in 1735. This drawings is a prime example of how we are moving away from the regular structure of foreground, background, etc. There is a shift from elevation to a sort of perspective. It has an atmospheric feeling, with conditions of light. There is more appreciation to context and nature. It is different from the elevation of the Banqueting House because there are details understand linear perspective, and there is a claim to accuracy. Things also become more hazy or blurred and some is left to the imagination, there is no obsessions to dictating its own take on the world, but leaving the interpretation to us. It is in this century, that a bunch of artists and architects begin question nature in the background, vanishing point, foreground, etc. And even before William Kent, landscape painters were already questioning this structure of painting. In Chlaude Lorrain’s Landscape with Apollo, the Muses and a River God, the human is in the foreground, and there are some humans in the background. Architecture is also in the background, but there is a big question of how we get to the architecture because the path is no longer regularly gridded. We can potentially get to the building through a multiplicity of routes, this arouses our curiosity and leaves it up to us to interpret the painting and navigating it. The nature now is no longer in the background but is the foreground. It is alive, and the plants and trees become activated.

William Kent goes to Italy on a grand tour, and this allows him to make contacts with other artists and architects. Through his networking, he gains a commission to design villas and other things. He designed centerpieces such as the Hermit’s house that resembles the paintings by landscape painters that trigger a sense of exploration or navigation like the architecture in the landscape paintings. He begins to basically design nature, and becomes labeled as the first landscape architect because he is using nature as a passive background. It becomes unclear weather the landscape was designed or it just came about.

Adventures in Santorini

The last week I had the great opportunity to spend my time in Santorini, Greece. Santorini is an island in Greece whose architecture is very different from that of London. The island’s architecture is categorized as Cycladic architecture. The small villages are white painted and white washed to stand against the high red-colored cliffs. Small churches are slightly different where the roof is actually a bright blue colored dome. The motif of these churches is repeatedly seen throughout the island, so churches are easy to spot.

            Fira, the main town of Santorini, because it is the largest in population, is located at the edge of the caldera, and gives breathtaking views to the volcano. The architecture of Fira’s traditional houses blend with the Venetian characteristics, such as the arches and the colorful stairs. The island is mainly built from vernacular, sustainable architecture, built off steep cliffs. The old Santorini settlements were forced to build away from shores, on the cliffs or in the valleys, for fear from pirate ships. These locations were better defense or were harder to spot from the sea. There is a high density, where many parts of the island is empty and focused in a handful of small towns, this is density and the narrow streets and small buildings are due to the shortage of safe land, mutual protection from the wind and the solar heat, security, family growth, and saving of construction material, as well as the community spirits of the old societies.

The buildings in Santorini resemble that in other Greek islands with solid volumes, thick masonry walls, with small openings, and whitewashed plaster skin that covers almost everything with an integrative power. These elements have produced organic urban and building for.s, evolving through a long response to climatic conditions using the locally available resources, and at the same time, imprinting the social evolution through time. The main building material is the plentiful red or black lava stone, used with or without mortar and covered with plaster that protects the joints from the decay caused by the wind and rain. Timber is a costly element in Santorini, so it is only used to construct smaller elements in the area, such as boats, furniture, or doors, rather than building elements like roofs, lintels, or wall ties.

Trafalgar Square

           Trafalgar Square is the gathering site of many, constructed in the late 1800’s, it has become a square to connect crucial streets in London. The project began by the Prince Regent, standing in for his ill father, George IV, who was ambitious and young. He wanted to use streetscape and architecture to rethink the area. He wanted to provide a great entryway to the palace area. The demographics of that location was characterized by upper class. This is further evident because the area was Westminster, the head of politics. To the east of Trafalgar square was the working class. To the north was Soho. Soho was an extension of what was in the city. Through the centuries, carpenters and workers soon moved to Soho. The prince wanted to intervene in this part of London because he wanted accessibility for member of nobility and upper class. He wanted to isolate the working class, who in fact would use the space to express opposition to power.

            In 1793, monarchy was uprooted in France. So the Prince Regent wanted to express power, addressing to the working class that there was an invisible boundary. The king, by constructing Trafalgar Square, had two motives in mind: embellish the area and provide a grand entrance so diplomats did not have to use the river to come, and to separate different sections of society. Trafalgar square comes from the name of the battle against France, showing that they are winning to capitalize on the victory.
             John Nash was commissioned by the Prince Regent to first survey the site. Nash returns with reports in 1812 that categorize the northern parts of London to be infested with the poor, and southern areas to house the rich. He proposes to build a street that is modeled on the Roman concept of a straight wide boulevard/avenue that leads into the seat of power. He wants to get rid of the north area. So, in 1813 they begin the process of building Trafalgar square by first building certain building to mark the square, such as the Union club. Chronologically, Nash first begins to mark the boundaries of the square before moving into the finer details of the project such as the fountains and the stairs. The finer details are also a class boundary. This is because the large fountains are placed to disrupt great gatherings of crowds to revolt against king. The curating of Trafalgar square also shows that Nash was very interested in urban planning and looked to Wren for inspiration. He is interested in the scale of the project, and has royal backing. The square further marginalizes class by placing buildings for the upper class around the square. The Union club, a gentleman’s club, back in the day, was only accessible to the wealthy. Likewise, the National Gallery was a museum that housed the spoils of Great Britain’s victory over other nations around the world, colonization. Though the museum is free of charge, it has a particular audience geared toward the educated individuals.