The leaded windows of Ancroft church date from a nineteenth century renovation but the stonework and round headed window arches survive from the original 12th century building. This village church still shows the solid simplicity of its early medieval architecture, unlike the abbey and cathedral churches across Europe which were enlarged, rebuilt and decorated as styles developed.

 

Reims cathedral is an example of High Gothic architecture. Built to replace and earlier church destroyed by fire, in the 13th century but not completed until the 15th.
Milan’s Duomo took nearly six centuries to complete. Begun in 1386, construction was completed in 1965
The stone tracery of these windows, at Melrose Abbey, divides the landscape view beyond into a pattern of geometric shapes. Most of the fine stonework dates from a late 14th century rebuilding.
Barcelona’s Basilica de la Sagrada Familia is an extraordinary development of a traditional form. It’s due for completion in 2026 after 144 years.

 

The architecture of Eglise Saint Augustin in Paris depends on building components more often associated with railway stations.  The Romano-Byzantine style building, completed in 1871, has a roof supported by cast iron pillars and roof trusses.  The development of cast iron and glass technologies in the nineteenth century opened up previously unknown possibilities for wide spans and glass roofs.

 

The iron framed Eglise Saint-Augustin de Paris, built in 1860-1871, is described as Romano-Byzantine in style
London’s Kings Cross station was built in 1851 -2
The palm house of the Serres d’Auteuil on the outskirts of Paris – completed in 1891
Abstract organic forms support the canopy at Chatelet Metro station
Sunlight streams through the new roof at King’s Cross – January 2016
Tropical waterlilies in Kew Gardens, London – May 2018

 

Glasshouses and conservatories brought plants indoors into an environment tailored to their needs. Bringing a garden into the heart of a building, in a colonnaded courtyard, is a much older architectural tradition.  Recently the relationship between buildings, plants and gardens has been explored in new ways, from high tech green walls and roofs to ‘vertical forests’

 

In the Bosco Verticale, trees anchored on specially designed balconies cool the building, filter the air reaching the appartments and provide habitats for a wide variety of wildlife – Milan, April 2018
The courtyard garden of the Grande Mosquée de Paris is based on the ancient islamic tradition of the paradise garden – June 2017
A sunken forest at the Bibliotheque François Mitterand is accessible only to wildlife (and the occasional essential maintenance worker) – Paris, July 2016
At Mucem museum terraced roof gardens of mediterranean plants blur the boundary between land and buildings – Marseille, June 2018

 

Tina’s theme for this week’s Lens-Artists Challenge is Interesting Architecture.