Like most people, whenever I see the ruins of Pompeii, when I study their art, I always, without fail, try to imagine what it must of looked like whole. What did it look like when the paint was still fresh and clean ?
Well, someone went and built a villa in Germany, of all places, and now we know what it would have looked like..... Link here
Well, someone went and built a villa in Germany, of all places, and now we know what it would have looked like..... Link here
27 comments:
God that is so beautiful, I could move in like right now.
If I get my way, when my man builds our 'dream house' it will look almost exactly like this.
And if he don't agree I will just have to smack him around until he does agree.
I can not stop looking at it.
I hope the last thing I see on this earth is as beautiful and colorful as this villa. I would die happy.
Can you imagine every corner of your life being turned into art? Every hallway, doorway, column, a masterpiece.
Oh I can imagine it! The pics helped a lot.
I knew a complete villa would be incredible, but seeing it is just so...inspiring.
I have to have one or my head will explode. I just know it.
If any of you ever build a villa, I will be terribly offended if you don't let me help paint it.
If I ever get my hands on a villa, yall may never see me again until I surface for food and fresh brushes.
Oh, and paint. I will definately need paint. Lots and lots of paint. Every color imaginable.
Oh YES!
I can imagine it. I could spend a lifetime thinking of little else.
Christy
I will try to make lots of money, so that I can commission you for the artwork in my villa.
I design the air conditioning system. You design the artwork. Deal, right? :)
Ally McRepuke
Hell yeah air conditioning!
And that kitchen is way kewl, but we will need a REAL stove. We can disguise it to match the old stuff with appliance paint.
Throw in some hookers and some good swag and you'll never get me to leave!
Like the painter from Murphy Brown. If I never finish, then I can't leave.
And AND... those hole in the floor toilets just won't do.
I admire the old ways, but not that much.
Christy
Stoves and plumbing are also my areas of work, though I am much more comfortable with calculating air movements and cooling loads. :)
I do have to say that my engineering work is more commercial than residential, however. But that may be just fine for a large villa.
You know what? We might be able to build a villa next to wherever Karen ends up going (US, Canada, or otherwise). Now, that's an idea to ponder.
Ally McRepuke
If you build it, I will come.
If you do build it the walls must be of bare stone.
Heating and cooling would be simple because only the intimate areas, bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, ect. only those would be climate controlled. It would take no more electricity than a large apartment, because you fit the apt. into the larger structure of porticos and covered areas.
All of the common areas, a dining hall a living room, can all remain open to the outside air, with powerful fans set up logistically to keep a good breeze going even on the hottest days.
Breezeway type of function. With our modern materials though we could easily make recessed, garage door type of wall to close those areas off to the cold in winter.
If you use that hot water piping under certain parts of the floor, once closed off you can keep a large area very warm that way.
Fireplaces will help keep it toasty.
The reason I say the walls must be stone is because if you paint something like that... it is not something you want termite infested and crumbling in 75 years.
The paints I use, the acrylics, will stay colorful for atleast twice as long as the paints the Egyptians used. Literally thousands of years.
As long as the wall itself stays intact, the paint should stay put too. You can only get that kind of durability with stone.
I saw the most amazing thing once. Will explain it in another post. It is a good way to build lightwieght stone structures for cheap. very cheap.
Ok, the basic idea is this.
You put down a concrete slab. And then take bales of hay, and line them up to form the base of a wall, or column, or whatever.
Then encase the hay in a thick layer of concrete. Once that dries, stack another level of hay on top of it, then encase them, and so on... until you have a stone wall that is perfectly insulated by the pockets of hay inside the encasement, AND the hay takes away most of the volume of stone, so it is a stone wall, but lightwieght.
This contractor is using this idea to build houses on indian reservations and he can build like a 3 bdrm, 2000 sq feet house for less than 15,000 bucks.
Stone houses, at that.
He was actually encasing all the hay BEFORE stacking it. Dunking it instead of spraying it. And doing it that way, he can basically assemble a structure like he is using leggo blocks.
It is a very cool idea. It would be a perfect way to construct a modern villa.
Time to do some brainstorming, and designing. Thanks for your tips, Christy.
BTW, I am NOT an architect, so someone else will have to step up to the plate re: architecture.
Ally McRepuke
I bet you and my man could have a very interesting conversation.
He is an industrial instrumentation tech. Calibration, automation, control systems, flow, pressure.
Someone like you and him together could build great things.
Like Auquaduct great.
And yet I am not sure either of you are any good at art. But that is why I am here!
No, not architechture. But your background in construction is damn handy.
A modern villa, with all the modern technology and materials, would be the envy of everyone who sees it.
And the funny thing is, other than the art, which becomes priceless because of its durability.. other than the art, the structure itself could be done for next to nothing compared to modern day typical homes.
You will be adding a Roman bath too right? Cause if you do, I will never leave.
You will have to get police to remove me and get a restraining order.
When I'm not painting I'll be swimming.
Well architecture wise it is a simple squared structure.
The structure itself it fairly basic. The air cooling system would have to be custom designed but thats your specialty.
And my man can apply the technology and between the two of you, you know enough about raw materials to know what it is suppossed to be done with.
But other than climate control, plumbing (which my man also has covered along side your expertise) Other than those things, the structure ittself is the most basic form of construction and design there is.
The decoration is what makes it exceptional. The basic design makes it simple and timeless.
We don't really need an architect.
Just a plumber/air conditioner lady, and my man has the control systems and computer interfacing covered, along with any solar or electrical or nuclear energy needs you may have.
He can wire it up too. Basic electronics.
Again, it is the decoration that makes it all the sudden go from this big square brown sweater to a fairytale jewl.
Once you have the basic squared compound finished, the rest is all plaster, paint, and crowning.
There is a lot of mass produced artistic touches that can be mortered in for pretty cheap.
You know, just like a few decorative tiles laid into the mortar or moulding to form ledges or ...whatever.
The original artwork is where you will run into time and some cost. But you can save time and money by again buying high quiality mass produced items.. like wall murals to fill in large sections or small sections.
It does not have to all be painted. But it is the decoration that is the most important part of turning it from a warehouse into a villa.
The best part, is since it is such a timeless basic structure, the art itself does not have to be Greek. It can easily be changed to suit any cultural taste.
I would be just as pretty painted in Aztec or Chinese styles.
Use the basic Greek/Roman idea and design, change the decoration and you get a villa that can reflect any style, taste, era, or theme.
Yes, I am still here talking to myself staring at these pics longingly.
It really is exciting to think of modern technology and tools being applied to a villa.
You could change it to any culture, but, it could only be just as beautiful, not more.
Seeing a real one has my mind whirling. So pretty.
Christy
You really went off on the deep end!
We need to put together a written proposal. And show it to Karen to see if she wants such a next-door neighbor in Nova Scotia.
The bath description sounds cool to me too.
Ally McRepuke
Yes, the deep end. All my life I have dreamed of Pompeii. Do you know how many villas I have built and decorated in my head?
HAHA!
Nova Scotia sounds good. But, you will have to explain to me what we we are proposing to Karen.
I mean, really, seriously, you want to build a real one? If so I will write up, build, or paint whatever you like to bring it into existance.
It doesn't really matter if it is for private use or public use, or as an investment property to be sold, no matter what its purpose, like I said these villas would be the envy of anyone who sees it.
The artists who work on it, will dwell forever in it. They will live as long as the walls stay intact.
Oh yes, I'm in the deep end again! I can't help it. Villas have a strange effect on me!
Did you see who had this building commissioned?
Mad King Ludwig of Bavaria!
He also may have been off the deep end, but somehow his madness left behind some of the most truly beautiful things ever built on earth. Or atleast built in modern times.
Maybe if more kings were mad builders instead of mad men in general, it would be a much prettier world.
Mad King Ludwig had his fantasy castle as well - Neuschwanstein. I hope to go there soon.
You do have this thing for villas, for sure! Especially ones based on those at Pompeii.
I'd have to get the money first before I can buy some land next to Karen though... and make sure to comply with Nova Scotia building codes as well. Time to go back to being a greedy capitalist! :)
Ally McRepuke
Well, as much as Egypt was my first love, Pompeii was my second. Egypt caught my eye, inspired my purely artistic nature, but, I seriously would not have wanted to live there. Too many slave for my liking.
But on an realistic level, the level where art must follow need, the first time I understood the 'villa' as Pompeii knew them, I knew 'Now THAT is the way to live'.
Yes they had slaves too, but I am talking about design and function. I really do not understand why we live in plastic shoeboxes when we could build a villa 4 times the size for half the price. I don't understand why the design fell out of favor, because even undecorated it still serves as a living space perfectly balanced between living both inside and outside.
As a 'home' a villa is just that ultimate structure that serves all the actual needs of a family all within one big square structure/compound.
But, the idea of a villa, the art.. then you are talking about a home that not only shelters you, but one that inspires your mind and colors your soul. A home that comes to life around you, and interacts with your heart and imagination.
We, as a race NEED art. We are compelled to create, or seek out what others create. We need beauty to calm ourselves. We need it to stay sane.
Living in a house, that is also a painted masterpiece would literally inspire greatness in those who live in it. It is literally color therapy.
Could you imagine trying to keep up with the Joneses if they had a Roman Villa...? HAHA!
I build a shed today. So what dude? I had a masterpiece completed in my kitchen! Including the ceilings and floors!
HAHAHA!
I try real hard to stay humble, but I have to admit even I would flaunt it.
I have a Roman Villa and YOOUUUU DON'T! Yaaayyy me!
HAHA!
BTW, what I meant to say, before I went off the deep end again...
If you build it, I will do the art for cheap, just exchance a place to crash and some food now and then. I will do it just for bragging rights alone.
Ofcourse I can't do ALL of it by myself. Trying to do even a small villa alone could literally take up a lifetime.
If you ever do build it and I come, I will want to bring one of my kids as a helper/student.
And you might want to seriously consider hiring a few local art students just to fill in outlines or other simple brushwork, bring them in at first just to fill out the large spans of coloration that will form the basis or background the original artwork is bordered by.
You might find a few really good artists among them and could commission them to do further works.
Anyways, like I said, you build it, and definately, I will come.
Check out the floor plan of this Roman Villa.
Notice every room is perfectly squared. If you can build a square room, you can build a villa.
The blueprints are almost kindergarten stuff. Slightly more complicated than leggos, but not much.
http://www.archeobo.arti.beniculturali.it/russi/pianta_en.htm
llouNow I definitely wish that villa was there when I was visiting Pompeii, sadly there was basically very few remains left.
You've been to Pompeii?
Damn I am always so jealous of you!
You know, that is the thing about building something like that, even in ruins, it is still beautiful.
You could smash it and the pieces of it would still be admired.
All else passes. Only art endures.
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