Kite style
The dragon style is an architectural style that was mainly used in Norway . It originated in Sweden in 1870 under the name fornnordisme and spread in Norway from 1880 to 1910. It is linked to the national romantic trend in an effort to develop a national architectural language of form.
Historical classification
The emergence of the kite style coincides with the national romantic trend in Norway, when the striving for an independent identity in art and culture was great. Norway was in a union with Sweden, which was terminated by Norway in 1905.
The archaeological literature reported on the excavation of Viking ships Tuneskip , Gokstadskip and Osebergskip . Furthermore, Lorentz Dietrichson published a book about the stave churches in 1892 and JC Dahl worked hard to preserve them. Thus, the wooden architecture of the stave churches and their medieval ornamentation as well as the ornamentation of the Viking Age came into focus. Architects went on study trips to study the works.
Style phases
Development of the kite style under Holm Hansen Munthe
The architect Holm Hansen Munthe , who studied under Conrad Wilhelm Hase in Germany in 1878 , coined the dragon style as an architectural concept of style. He advanced the style through his conscious attitude towards wooden architecture. Two of his earliest works, from 1883, are the waiting hall (Ventehallen) for steamship passengers in the Pipervika district ( Oslo ) and the Saugbrugs Association portal (now Oskar II. Portal) for the Norwegian industrial and art exhibition. The waiting hall has been demolished and the portal has been moved to Bygdøy for the Norsk Folkemuseum . He created his most important dragon-style works, the Holmenkollen Turisthotell and the Sanatorium, for the Holmenkollen – Voksenkollen Society. The Frognerseteren restaurant and the Hasselbakken restaurant were also built in the St. Hanshaugen district .
In 1890, the German Emperor Wilhelm II paid a state visit to Norway. He was so enthusiastic about Munthes buildings that he commissioned him to build the hunting lodge Rominten for himself . Further orders for a band and the Royal Sailor Station in Potsdam followed.
The dragon style came into vogue and was continued after Munthe's death in 1908. The expansion of the Holmenkollen was continued by his assistants Henning Klouman, Balthazar Lange and Ole Sverre, among others.
First phase of the kite style
The Urnes and Borgund stave churches were important models for the dragon style. Initially, motifs of tendrils or the dragon snake ( drageslyng ) were copied. As time went on, freer forms developed. This phase lasted until 1905 and was full of imagination and nationalism. An example of this phase is the Dalen Hotell by architect Haldor Larsen Børve from 1894.
Second phase of the kite style
The second phase of the style lasted from 1900 to 1915 and was less fanciful than the first. It creates a connection to Art Nouveau . Art Nouveau architects took over elements of the dragon style and integrated them. The architect Henrik Bull added the dragon style ornamentation to the government building from 1904. In the early 20th century, a reaction against the dragon style emerged among leading architects who turned away from it.
Construction and style features
Design
The design is based on typical house shapes from inland Norway. The house type is borrowed from arcade houses from the 18th to the beginning of the 19th century or loft and storage buildings ( stabbur ) from the Middle Ages. The building is placed on a base that can be adapted to the terrain. The element of the base was probably taken from the Swiss style , a Northern European style epoch of wooden architecture between 1840 and 1920. The asymmetrical floor plan is characteristic of the dragon style. The upper floors protrude on one or all sides over the floor plan of the ground floor. Another style element are arcades or porticos. These can be designed as round arches or dwarf arcades. The often far cantilevered gable roofs are flat in contrast to the Swiss style.
construction
The construction of the building is a hybrid of the block construction and the rod construction, as was common in stave churches. The walls are not paneled and the outside has been tarred. Inside they have been treated with a varnish to preserve the natural wood structure. The bases consist mainly of natural stones.
ornamentation
The ornamentation is mainly borrowed from Old Norse art, as can be found on objects from the Viking Age or in the architecture of stave churches . Tendrils, knots, and the kite serpent are common decorations. The most striking feature that gave the style its name is the dragon's head. It was placed on the top of the gable and often also at the lower end of the verge . The gables were also decorated with neo-Gothic elements or ornaments in the Swiss style.
literature
- Stephan Tschudi-Madsen: Veien hjem, Norsk arkitektur 1870–1914. In: Norges art history. Volume 5, pp. 7-108, Oslo 1981, ISBN 82-05-12269-5 .
- Stephan Tschudi-Madsen: Drag styles. In: Honnør til en hånet stil . Oslo 1993, pp. 19-45, ISBN 82-03-22009-6 .
- Stephan Tschudi-Madsen: Vandringer på en utstilling og i en jaktvilla. In: Honnør til en hånet stil . Oslo 1993, pp. 99-110, ISBN 82-03-22009-6 .
- Lorentz Dietrichson , Holm Hansen Munthe: The wood construction art of Norway in the past and present . Berlin 1893.
Web links
- Dragon style in St. Hanshaugen NRK - accessed February 7, 2013 (Norwegian)
- Dragon style as a national symbol NRK Fylkesleksikon - accessed February 7, 2013 (Norwegian)
- Sveitserstil og Nasjonalromantikk pdf dead link
- Villa Balderslund NRK - accessed February 7, 2013 (Norwegian)