MY OREGON PROJECT

By AVERY J BROWNING

OREGON'S HISTORICAL ARCHITECTURE

OREGON'S ARCHITECTURE IS ORIGINALLY FROM ANCIENT GREECE, ITALY AND A LITTLE BIT OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA. THINK ABOUT IT, GREEK TEMPLES HAVE TRIANGLE TOPS AND RECTANGLE BODIES. NOW THINK ABOUT OREGON HOUSES, TRIANGLE TOPS AND RECTANGLE BODIES. OCCASIONALLY THERE WILL BE A HOUSE WITH COLUMNS, SAME THING. GREEK ARCHITECTS INVENTED COLUMNS.

GREEKS THOUGHT THAT BEAUTY HAD TO BE PROPORTIONAL, LIKE THE HUMAN BODY. SO THEY BASED THEIR ARCHITECTURE ON A BODY. IONIC COLUMNS ARE FEMALE BODIES. THE WIDTH OF THE COLUMN WAS BASED ON THE SIZE OF AN AVERAGE WOMAN'S FOOT. THE CAPITAL, AT THE TOP OF THE COLUMN IS BASED ON A WOMAN'S HAIR, ALL CURLY. THE SHAFT IS EVEN FLUTED TO LOOK LIKE A WOMAN'S GARMENT.

THE DORIC COLUMN IS BASED ON A MAN. THEY ARE WIDER BECAUSE A MAN'S FOOT IS BIGGER. THEY ARE USUALLY TALLER THAN AN IONIC AND PLAINER. IT IS THE ONLY GREEK COLUMN DESIGN THAT DOESN'T HAVE A BASE.

WHERE DO YOU THINK WE GOT OUR HOUSE DECORATIONS SUCH AS BRACKETS AND BAY WINDOWS? WE GOT MOST OF IT FROM THE ITALIANS. BELIEVE IT OR NOT IT'S TRUE. THE ITALIAN ARCHITECT TOOK THE IDEA OF BUILDING AND MADE IT FANCY. THEY MADE BRACKETS FOR THE BOTTOM OF THE ROOF JUST TO MAKE IT LOOK FANCY. EVEN THOUGH THE HOUSES WERE USUALLY SQUARE, THEY ADDED MANY THINGS JUST FOR LOOKS. DENTILS WERE ADDED TO THE BOTTOM OF BALCONIES OR SMALL ROOFS TO ADD DETAIL. BAY WINDOWS WERE ALSO SOMETHING THE ITALIANS ADDED TO THEIR HOUSES. THE GOAL OF AN ITALIAN DESIGNER WAS TO MAKE THE HOUSE LOOK LIKE RICH PEOPLE LIVED IN IT. ONE THING THAT THE GREEKS AND ITALIANS SHARED WAS A COLUMN FOR THEIR HOMES.

WE EVEN GOT SOME ARCHITECTURE FROM AS CLOSE AS SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA SUCH AS THE QUEEN ANNE.

QUEEN ANNE STYLE STARTED IN THE VICTORIAN AGE IN EUROPE AND AMERICA. THIS WAS A TIME WHEN PEOPLE WERE GETTING RICH AND WANTED TO SHOW OFF. PEOPLE WERE GETTING RICH BECAUSE OF INDUSTRIALIZATION AND THE NEW MACHINERY MADE IT POSSIBLE TO BUILD THE FANCY HOMES.

QUEENS ANNES HAVE BALCONIES AND BAY WINDOWS WITH LOTS AND LOTS OF FANCY WOODWORK.

MOST OREGON HISTORICAL HOMES ARE FROM GREECE, ITALY OR SAN FRANCISCO DESIGN. MOST PEOPLE THINK THAT WHEN A HOUSE IS 100 YEARS OLD IT IS HISTORICAL. BUT TO ME IT IS HISTORICAL BECAUSE

IT IS BASED ON DESIGNS THAT ARE OVER A THOUSAND YEARS OLD.

I LEARNED SO MUCH I CAN'T EVEN SAY IT ALL! I LEARNED A LOT ABOUT GREEK ARCHITECTURE AND OF COURSE OREGON ARCHITECTURE. I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT QUEEN ANNES WERE. I EVEN LEARNED HOW TO SPELL ARCHITECTURE. I THINK THAT THIS IS A VERY, VERY, VERY FUN PROJECT. PROBABLY THE MOST FUN THAT I HAVE EVER HAD DOING HOMEWORK!

BIBLIOGRAPHY

WHEN BUILDINGS SPEAK

BY ALICE COTTON

HISTORICAL ARCHITECTURAL ART AND DESIGN CLASSES (2 HOURS EACH) FEB. 9, 2002 PART 1: AN INTRODUCTION TO OREGON's HISTORICAL ARCHITECTURE FEB. 16, 2002 PART 2: CLASSICAL ORNAMENTATION AND DESIGN