Spanish Colonial Revival Design

 

Spanish colonial revival design is an architectural design that comes up in the early 20th century, and it was related to the Spanish colonial architecture. This also had a relationship on the colonization of Americans by Spain. The exhibition which was carried out in 1915 in San Diego, enabled some of the architect to expose the work that they have done, this thus provided Bertram Goodhue with an opportunity which then has been considered so far to have increased the popularity of the style in the nation. The popularity was high between the year 1915 and the year 1931.

             The international exposition facilitated attention on the Spanish colonial revival design. Some of the examples are, the mission revival style Pavillion at the white stucco during an exhibition in Chicago and the Electric tower together with the Mission Inn of the Pan-American exposition that occurred the year 1900 in Bufallo. The designs has brought in many other architectural elements that were combined to bring out the style that was intended. Examples are pediments and colonnades.

            The Spanish Colonial Revival design was not really used in Florida until the around the year 1910 when it was then recognized and applied by the architect from that area. The style was greatly accepted in Florida and St. Cloud for both homes and for commercial buildings which most of them were created by the Ida Annah Ryan and Isabel Roberts. Spanish Colonial Revival can also be followed to have come from Mediterranean revival architecture design (Baker, 2018). There were also designed hotels which are in the Mediterranean revival and others in the Spanish revival style in the years back. With the arrival of the three hotels, that is Ponce de Leon Hotel, Alcazar Hotel and Hotel Cordova, thousands of people who visited the country enjoyed and appreciated the style which was influenced by the Spanish Colonial Revival design. The hotels were built by greatly applying Spanish revival designs just like other buildings, that the style was applied earlier in their construction. Therefore, buildings that had been constructed earlier became the basis for construction of the hotels.

The Spanish design was majorly also practiced along the coastal cities of California. This was made popular after the San Diego Panama-California exposition. In the exhibition areas varios structures were constructed in order to enable other people to see what the design entails and how it might look like. Cities such as the Santa Barbara also adopted the style, and this was after an earthquake destroyed the city (Skewes-Cox & Sweeney, 2015). The Spanish Colonial Revival style was also used in other developmental areas such as construction of real estates which had been seen in some areas such as California where many buildings were constructed.

There is also the style such as the Spanish Baroque and Churrigueresque. Baroque is a term that was derived from Portuguese Barocco and the design was popular for almost 200 years in both Europe and Latin America and there was support from a Spanish court to build the churches in that style. The style was more emotional and not rational because it created an illusion, enlarged domes and better-designed interiors to create chiaroscuro effects.

Churrigueresque is an example of the Spanish baroque style that has extreme details which are usually in the front view of the building entrance. This design got its name after architect and sculptor, Jose Benito de Churriguera, he was Madrid where he was born. The style that was named after him was widely used in the Spanish Colonial Revival in the current world.

The design was later popularized after an exhibition which was done in San Diego where most of the buildings wherein the Baroque Spanish design. The design also had a significant influence on the production of 1920s movie concerning the great palaces

The Spanish colonial revival design had a different origin in Mexico from the ones that were developed in the United States. After the Mexican revolution, there was an emphasis on the culture of the nation and also the architecture. There was an influence in Mexico in 1915 to set up the viceregal architecture as the national identity (O'Rourke, 2017). To promote this, tax exception was even offered to the individuals who built their how using the colonial style. In the 1920s, there was a rise in the number of houses that were created with elements of plateresque such as, pinnacles, grotesques and mixtilinear arches.

In the Philippines, the architecture was greatly influenced by the Latin-America and the Iberian. This influence was after the colonial rule by Spain which lasted for over 300 years. Before it was conquered by the United States, the mission style and the Spain colonial revival style had already been used with its inspiration being from California. There was also the development of the buildings with American amenities by the American architect. It was also involved in modernizing the buildings.

In Australia, there was an influential architect who went to Spain and came back with style to the country during the early years of the 20th centuries. They influenced the population and even claimed that the Mediterranean styles were the best and it suited the country’s climate and also the lifestyle of the individual (McAlester, 2015). Between the years 1920-1930, the style was the most popular and was better understood in other part. The people of Australia during this time were able to learn and have knowledge concerning the designs from movies and also magazines they that found and the information was available.

There were also various houses that were built in Shanghai, this was the town of China, and the homes with style was built in the former French Concession. The inspiration to build using the style is significantly linked with Hollywood movies, and this is because the culture of the people of that place has no relationship with that of the people of Spanish origin.

The Spanish colonial Revival where more popular during the period of the 1920s and the 1930s this is because of the style which had. They were characterized by well-carved decoration on their entrances, the windows and also on the cornices. However, the mission and the Mediterranean and the mission styles had plain and somehow flat surfaces, but they exhibited a complex and intensely designed surface. Other characteristics include the arcaded entrances and porches, curvilinear gables and parapets, bell towers, canvas awnings, casement windows, smooth stucco walls and chimneys, decorative iron trim, hipped red tile roof. It also included a loggia, ornaments of terra cotta or cast concrete and carved and molded capitals.

 

 

           

 

 

 

References

Baker, J. M. (2018). American House Styles: A Concise Guide. The Countryman Press.

McAlester, V. S. (2015). A Field Guide to American Houses: The Definitive Guide to Identifying and Understanding America's Domestic Architecture. Knopf.

O'Rourke, K. E. (2017). Modern Architecture in Mexico City: History, Representation, and the Shaping of a Capital. University of Pittsburgh Press.

Skewes-Cox, P., & Sweeney, R. (2015). Spanish Colonial Style: Santa Barbara and the Architecture of James Osborne Craig and Mary McLaughlin Craig. Rizzoli Publications.