Answer to Question #293922 in History for paas

Question

As stated about Greek Architecture from your reading this week: “The formulas they invented as early as the sixth century B.C. have influenced the architecture of the past two millennia.” 

Please give an example of a building built after 1900 you may have seen either in person or in pictures that was designed in a classical style. Why do you think the architect(s) chose to copy the classical style? What kind of messages does that style convey? How is the building’s function (use) suited to the classical style?

Answer 1

Beeby’s Rice Wing at the Art Institute of Chicago is an example of a building built after 1900

The stark building stands out to the more recent contemporary addition by Renzo Piano. The

Rice Wing was deigned to have open space from the ground floor to the top-lit two-story

sculpture gallery to bring in lots of natural light. Its beautiful architecture is bold, clean and open.

Why do you think the architect(s) chose to copy the classical style?

Architecture always has a functional purpose and is subject to the desires and needs of who

designed it and who is going to use it. I think the main reason why architects chose to copy the

classical style is because of how proportioned and symmetrical buildings built in the classical

style are. Classical style buildings built in ancient Greece were of significant importance.

Buildings such as houses, grocery stores and so on were not built in a classical style as they were

not impressionable like government buildings, theatres, courthouses and important institutions.

Architects chose to copy this classical style to emphasize the importance of the building to

anyone who sees and uses it. Classical style buildings are built with proportion, symmetry and

strong foundations and the classical orders and classical principles of symmetry and proportion

are still applied in nearly every building built today (Stackhouse, 2018) . Classical architecture is

the backbone of architecture since the history of time.

What kind of messages does that style convey?

There are several messages that this style conveys like strength, tradition and power. Buildings

built in this style are important buildings and of great significance. It conveys consistency and

bold design with details. The skylit central court lined with Doric columns and three floors of

permanent-exhibition galleries for the museum's collections of 20th-century art, American art

and European decorative arts. It is a true significance of original character.

How is the building’s function (use) suited to the classical style?

The Rice Wing at the Art Institute of Chicago was a return to architectural beginnings with its

classical design. It was designed with a sense of calm, formal order with sentimental value that

houses great works of art showcasing the traditionalist structures.