Photo "Lit by the setting sun"

photo:

Lit by the setting sun

photographer:

Sabirjan Kurmayev add to favorites

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¢ photorating

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architecture, city, landscape

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In March 1872, the Trinity Church parish in Boston invited several architects to submit designs for their new church. After its former site burned in the Great Boston Fire they wanted to move to a new district. Most designs submitted were in the then popular Victorian Gothic style. But the commission was awarded to a design by Henry Hobson Richardson. Richardson proposed a relatively low church based on Romanesque architecture found in southern France. Сonstruction took place from 1872 to 1877. It is the birthplace and archetype of the Richardsonian Romanesque style, characterized by a clay roof, polychromy, rough stone, heavy arches, and a massive tower. This style was soon adopted for a number of public buildings across the United States, and was the first American architectural style imitated in Europe and Canada.

The original facade was flat and the towers were much simpler than they are today. On Richardson's own recommendation, the towers were later remodeled. The current portico was also added later. It is based on sketches made by Richardson on a trip to Arles in France.

The photo shows a fragment of the portico and a reflection of one of the towers in the windows of John Hancock skyscraper. 

published:

Thu 22 Sep 2011 05:26

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