Tag: medieval | ArchDaily

Beyond the Walls: 21 Contemporary Interventions in Castles and Fortresses

Camilla Ghisleni — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 07:30:00 +0000

Castles and fortresses often rise from strategic, commanding positions when standing alone or integrated into urban and rural landscapes. From above, they overlook the city, bearing in their imposing structures the weight of history. With their original functions now limited to contemplation, these spaces have been undergoing revaluation and reintegration into everyday urban life. Once symbols of military or political power, they are now taking on new roles through contemporary interventions that engage with their heritage without erasing their past.

Bologna's 12th Century 'Leaning Tower' Set to Undergo Extensive Restorations after Fear of Collapse

Maria-Cristina Florian — Tue, 02 Jan 2024 06:30:00 +0000

Bologna officials announced plans to secure and repair the leaning Garisenda Tower, a medieval structure in the center of the Italian city. Earlier last month, the area surrounding the tower was secured after raising fears of collapse, as monitoring has found shifts in the direction of the tilt. The 47-meter-tall tower leans at a four-degree angle, similar to its more famous counterpart, Leaning Tower of Pisa. The Garisenda Tower has been a defining feature of Bologna’s skyline along with its neighboring Asinelli Tower, which is around twice the height and also leans, though at a smaller angle, and is usually open for tourists to climb.

How the Renaissance Influenced Architecture

Rebecca Ildikó Leete — Mon, 23 May 2022 04:00:00 +0000

After a prolonged period known as the Middle-Ages, a growing desire to both study and mimic nature itself began to emerge, with an inclination to discover and explore the world. Between 1400-1600 A.D. Europe was to witness a significant revival of the fine arts, painting, sculpture, and Architecture. The ‘Renaissance’, meaning ‘rebirth’ in French typically refers to this period of European history, although most closely associated with Italy, countries including England and France went through many of the same cultural changes at varying timescales.

Architecture without Architects? Campanópolis, the Small Medieval Village Born from Recycling in Buenos Aires

Agustina Iñiguez — Tue, 08 Mar 2022 05:00:00 +0000

Nowadays, the role of architects exceeds the limits of construction, reaching fields that are often unthinkable, but which nonetheless demonstrate a close relationship with the profession. If we go back in time, the fact is that many buildings, houses, monuments and even cities have been built intuitively without urban planning or renowned architects. Undoubtedly, today's architects are facing a great challenge that goes beyond demonstrating our skills and knowledge and extends to other areas that involve us, but we still don't know it. So we ask ourselves, what will be the profile of the architect of the future?

Medieval Brutalism: The Entrance of Switzerland's Castelgrande Captured by Simone Bossi

Dima Stouhi — Mon, 11 Jan 2021 06:30:00 +0000

Situated on Ticino's rocky peaks are the historic Medieval Castles of Bellinzona: Montebello, Sasso Corbaro, and Castelgrande. And while all three castles and their fortifications have become part of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites, it is not only the ancient walls that leave visitors enchanted, but the gateways that leads to them.

9 Cities with Medieval Plans Seen from Above

Camilla Ghisleni — Mon, 30 Nov 2020 05:00:00 +0000

In his book Breve Historia del Urbanismo (Brief History of Urbanism), Fernando Chueca Goitia states that the medieval city appeared at the beginning of the 11th century and flourished only between the 12th and 13th centuries. According to the author, this growth was closely linked to the development of commerce that allowed permanent occupations, resulting in a city no longer composed mainly of travelers. In other words, the bourgeoisie was formed thanks to the most diverse activities - craftsmen, tradesmen, blacksmiths, longshoremen - which stimulated the development of the medieval city.

AD Classics: Red House / William Morris and Philip Webb

Luke Fiederer — Fri, 16 Jun 2017 04:30:00 +0000

In the heart of a suburb just east of London stands an incongruous red brick villa. With its pointed arched window frames and towering chimneys, the house was designed to appear like a relic of the Middle Ages. In reality, its vintage dates to the 1860’s. This is Red House, the Arts and Crafts home of artist William Morris and his family. Built as a rebuttal to an increasingly industrialized age, Red House’s message has been both diminished by the passage of time and, over the course of the centuries, been cast in greater relief against its context.

AD Classics: Himeji Castle / Ikeda Terumasa

Luke Fiederer — Tue, 30 May 2017 04:00:00 +0000

With its gleaming white walls and elegantly terraced roofs, it is easy to forget that Himeji Castle was built as a fortress . Standing on two hilltops in the city of Himeji, the old fortress, also known as Himeji-jo, is the greatest surviving example of Japanese castle architecture from the early years of the Shogunate, which governed the island nation from the late 1500s to the 19th Century. Although never tested in battle, the castle’s elaborate defensive measures represent the best strategic design the period produced. While these measures have since been rendered obsolete, the same cannot be said for the castle’s soaring, pristine aesthetic, which earned it the nickname Shirasagi-jo – “Castle of the White Heron.”

AD Classics: Palais des Papes / Pierre Poisson & Jean de Louvres

Luke Fiederer — Thu, 09 Mar 2017 04:00:00 +0000

While the Roman Catholic Church is synonymous with the Eternal City (and Italian capital), the greatest monument from its medieval heyday actually stands in southern France. The relic of the Papacy’s brief departure from Rome, the Palais des Papes (“Palace of the Popes”) in Avignon is the largest Gothic palace ever built. Constructed in two main phases by two of its residents, the Palais des Papes is a grandiose architectural expression of the wealth and power of the eleven popes who called Avignon their home and base of power.

The Unexpected Stories Behind 10 Skyscrapers That Were Actually Built

Luke Fiederer — Tue, 24 Jan 2017 04:00:00 +0000

As long as there have been buildings mankind has sought to construct its way to the heavens. From stone pyramids to steel skyscrapers, successive generations of designers have devised ever more innovative ways to push the vertical boundaries of architecture. Whether stone or steel, however, each attempt to reach unprecedented heights has represented a vast undertaking in terms of both materials and labor – and the more complex the project, the greater the chance for things to go awry.

AD Classics: Royal Basilica of Saint-Denis / Abbot Suger

Luke Fiederer — Fri, 02 Dec 2016 04:00:00 +0000

The origin of Gothic architecture, a style which defined Europe in the later Middle Ages, can be traced to a single abbey church in the northern suburbs of Paris. The Basilique royale de Saint-Denis (Royal Basilica of Saint-Denis), constructed on the site of an abbey and reliquary established in Carolingian (800-888 CE) times, was partially rebuilt under the administration of Abbot Suger in the early 12th Century; these additions—utilizing a variety of structural and stylistic techniques developed in the construction of Romanesque churches in the preceding centuries—would set medieval architecture on a new course that would carry it through the rest of the epoch.

AD Classics: Forbidden City / Kuai Xiang

Luke Fiederer — Mon, 03 Oct 2016 05:30:00 +0000

As the heart of Imperial China from 1421 until 1912, the Forbidden City—a palatial complex in the center of Beijing—represented the divine authority of the Emperors of China for over five hundred years. Built by the Ming Emperor Zhu Di as the centerpiece of his ideal capital city, the palace would host twenty-four different emperors and two dynasties over the course of its history. Even after the subsequent democratic and communist revolutions that transformed China in the early 20th Century, it remains as the most prominent built relic of a cosmopolitan empire.[1]

Explore the Fascinating Overlap of Architectural Styles Throughout History With "The Piranesi Project"

Lauren Crockett — Mon, 19 Sep 2016 08:00:00 +0000

Driven by an intrigue in the ruination of Roman architecture, Brazilian architect, and photographer Olympio Augusto Ribeiro has undertaken a fascinating comparative analysis of Giovanni Battista Piranesi's architectural etchings and the scenes as they stand today. Travelling to each of the Italian sites brought to life in Piranesi's drawings, Ribeiro has managed to recreate the original angle and shot, eventually compositing them together to create collages which cross time periods.

AD Classics: Palazzo Santa Sofia / The Ca d’Oro

Luke Fiederer — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 05:00:00 +0000

Sitting on the northern bank of Venice's Grand Canal is a great house whose ornately carved marble facade only hints at its original splendor. The Palazzo Santa Sofia—or the Ca D’Oro (House of Gold), as it is also known—is one of the most notable examples of late Venetian Gothic architecture, which combined the existing threads of Gothic, Moorish, and Byzantine architecture into a unique aesthetic that symbolized the Venetian Republic’s cosmopolitan mercantile empire. Built to serve as the grand residence of wealthy Venetian businessman and politician Marin Contarini, the palazzo has seen a number of owners and renovations over its lifetime before ultimately coming to serve as a museum for medieval painting and sculpture.[1]