The Intentions of Baroque Architecture

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The word “Baroque”, or “Barocco” was first used as a stylistic term to describe a period that flourished at 16th century and 17th century from Italy, originate after the movement of Gothic and Renaissance era. To describe the Baroque style, it is a collection of arts, developed under the Authority of the Catholic Church. Baroque architecture focus on realism and dramatic illusory as demanded by the Catholic Church to serve religious objective. In regard to the timeline movement, the renaissance emphasis balance and Harmony, while Baroque turns to explore on sophistication and drama. It is the combination of painting, sculptures and architecture.
The intention of baroque architecture is to boast the power and wealth of the authorities. The roman church aimed to reassert its position as the spiritual leader, and illustrate the power of god. The Empires wished to establish its authority and power of the kingdom. Luckily, the rise of the economy and the religious faction of the Rome Church in Rome and Italy cleaned out the limitation upon the cost of materials. With this intention, the baroque architecture uses luxurious materials and often build in giant scales. However, unlike Renaissance architecture, the baroque did not follow the traditional form of architecture. It moved from a strict to free style, from the formed to the formless. The Baroque architecture is an exploration, developed without models and limited by theoretical rules. It is fluidity and unity.

The style of Baroque architecture is say to be overwhelm, in other word, heavy and powerful. In order to bring out the sense of solemn, holiness, it is presented in the form of massiveness and movement. The St. Peter’s Basilica, completed in 1626, designed by Donato Brama...

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...famous architects, proposed to demolished and replaced with an underground car park which serves with a city square. This proposal simulated serious debate, as some company considered building hotel on the site, council department was thinking of moving in and out, etc.
The debate was ended in 1971 when the Mayor Alderman Emmet McDermott announced that the Queen Victoria Building would be restored, With Stephenson & Turner’s plan in 1976, the building was restored to its original use as a shopping mall centre, with the design on visually wealthy by Ipoh Garden of Malaysia.

are used as the integral components of the architectural design, this reflecting a conceptual cohesion that is missed in previous architecture.

Works Cited

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque_architecture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Peter's_Basilica#Architecture Renaissance and Baroque

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