There are few times in life that we get to witness history. Sometimes it doesn’t affect us in a way that is profound, or it happened before we were born. Or it happens slowly and we become used to it before we realize that our world is now changed. (cue the smartphone… those are less than 15 years to the mass market.)
When learning about History we study and reference the arts and architecture. We can point to periods that have long-standing styles and direct social impacts. An easy one to point to is the Egyptians. They have had the most profound influence on humanity as a whole. Everything from their papyrus motifs to the first written language. Followed closely by the Greeks and Romans, whose further development led to buildings being constructed following mathematical proportions and what we call “Classical” architecture.
There are smaller, less noticeable changes in architecture during the dark and middle ages. These changes were mostly cosmetic and symbolic in the fact that the Catholic Empire ( not a “real” thing but an accurate description of the control the Catholic church exerted over the reigning monarchs of Europe. ) The cathedrals and churches displayed in stone the power and might of “the church” and the way our society had shaped itself.
Thinking about cathedrals most will reference Gothic architecture and rightly so… it is the most stylistically memorable. Notre Dame, Paris is quite an impressive lady. I however prefer the little know Romanesque architecture, and here’s why.
Romanesque is a style period that lasted from (contested) 600-1190AD. The overarching ( yes pun intended ) takeaway from this style is the concept of humility as an exterior and beauty within that resonates so much with me. Europe as a whole was effectively controlled by “the church” and the iconography and marketing of said church were very well executed (also pun intended). Lofty scale, with massively thick exterior walls, with little to no ornamentation. The interiors being filled with the beauty of the soul, a representation of the heavens, and as god-like as possible. The perfect allegory of the human experience.
My favorite example of this - Malmesbury Abbey. I love this Abbey because it has both Romanesque and Gothic elements. Centuries of building are on display. Even older history is buried here. Evidence of an Iron Age fort was uncovered in 1999. Material from the excavation of a coffin found in the grounds of The Abbey House in 1997 is the first recorded evidence that the Romans were in Malmesbury.
A religious site was established by Maelduf around 642, and his pupil Aldhelm became the first abbot of the Benedictine Monastery in 675. Athelstan, Alfred's grandson and the first king of all England- crowned at Kingston - was buried at Malmesbury Abbey in 935. William of Malmesbury writes 200 years later that Athelstan's body was removed from The Abbey and placed in the Abbot's garden to avoid Norman desecration.
I’ve been inside both the Abbey and the House - gorgeous and beautifully preserved you can feel the coldness of the stones permeate like some sort of frozen time portal.
I digress.
Moving on…
History and invention and technology change us and how we build. Most notably, from the Renaissance until now, buildings started becoming easier and easier to build. Albeit slowly, but we started building out of desire and not necessarily out of need. With the invention of brick and then with the invention of steel and I-beams we were racing across the land and up to the sky. Balloon framing also played a huge part in our housing evolution. (we’ll loop back to that in a bit.)
I mention those 2 materials in particular because brick buildings without any added structural support or engineering could only stand the stress and weight up to a certain height before they were no longer stable. The tallest of these buildings is the Monadnock Building.
Continuing into our future, automobiles became a driving force in our economy (again… pun intended) and drove the (god I can’t stop… I’m not sorry) housing industry to design for cars. Garages were never a thing before the 1900s and only became prevalent in architecture after they were accessible to the average consumer.
Now, most real estate in the suburbs have a standard 2-car garage. And we think nothing of it because we didn’t witness the arrival of something that changed us forever.
Modern-day 2021 has seen a very rough previous year. Obviously not as awful as the black death that swept the middle ages and brought about tiny changes in architecture like “The Wine Window” and caused so much death the society as a whole had now “vacancy” in the upper class as well as the working class… but still it was a rough year.
A tiny change that I would like to point out is somewhat PNW localized as our weather dictated our architectural designs. Previous to 2020 - there were very few dining establishments that had much in the way of outdoor seating. Patios were kind of a “hidden gem” to be sought after and discovered. If a restaurant had any outdoor seating at all, it was limited and not necessarily well designed.
Now, because of distancing and safety concerns as well as the need to keep businesses operating we’ve passed mandates that require lots of space and lots of airflow. Enter the arrival of the pop-up (balloon style of building), and what I hope to be, permanent and well-thought-out outdoor dining spaces.
While this type of architecture isn’t groundbreaking and not new to places like Texas or even California… it’s new here to places like Portland and Seattle. If social distancing and safety protocols persist, then I believe we will start seeing more long-standing structures. Some, hopefully, will do themselves justice and really embellish them so that they become destinations and we can say we remember and were a part of this history in the making. I have high hopes for some of my favorite places. Dive bars and boutique cocktail establishments alike.