102,815
edits
Changes
From Nordan Symposia
Jump to navigationJump to searchCreated page with 'File:lighterstill.jpgright|frame ==Etymology== [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Mid...'
[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Folly_tower.jpg|right|frame]]
==Etymology==
[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English] folie, from Anglo-French, from fol fool
*Date: [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/13th_Century 13th century]
==Definitions==
*1 : lack of [[good]] sense or [[normal]] prudence and [[foresight]]
*2 a : criminally or [[tragically]] foolish [[actions]] or conduct
:b obsolete : [[evil]], wickedness; especially : lewd [[behavior]]
*3 : a foolish [[act]] or [[idea]]
*4 : an excessively costly or unprofitable undertaking
*5 : an often extravagant picturesque building erected to suit a fanciful taste
==Description==
In [[architecture]], a '''folly''' is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Building building] actually constructed primarily for decoration, but either suggesting by its [[appearance]] some other [[purpose]], or merely so extravagant that it [[transcends]] the [[normal]] range of garden ornaments or other class of building to which it belongs. In the [[original]] use of the [[word]], these buildings had no other use, but from the 19-20th centuries the term was also applied to highly decorative buildings which had secondary [[practical]] [[functions]] such as housing, sheltering or [[business]] use. In the 18th century [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_gardens English gardens] and French landscape gardening often featured [[Roman]] [[temples]], which [[symbolized]] [[classical]] [[virtues]] or [[ideals]]. Other 18th century garden follies represented Chinese temples, Egyptian pyramids, ruined abbeys, or Tatar tents, to [[represent]] [[different]] continents or historical eras. Sometimes they [[represented]] rustic villages, mills and cottages, to [[symbolize]] rural [[virtues]].
==Characteristics==
The [[concept]] of the folly is somewhat [[ambiguous]], but they generally have the following properties:
* They are buildings, or parts of buildings. Thus they are distinguished from other garden ornaments such as [[sculpture]].
* They have no [[purpose]] other than as an ornament. Often they have some of the [[appearance]] of a building constructed for a particular purpose, but this appearance is a sham.
* They are [[purpose]]-built. Follies are deliberately built as ornaments.
* They are often [[eccentric]] in [[design]] or construction. This is not strictly [[necessary]]; however, it is common for these [[structures]] to call [[attention]] to themselves through unusual details or [[form]].
* There is often an element of fakery in their construction. The [[canonical]] example of this is the sham ruin: a folly which pretends to be the remains of an old building but which was in fact constructed in that state.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folly]
[[Category: Architecture]]
[[Category: General Reference]]
==Etymology==
[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English] folie, from Anglo-French, from fol fool
*Date: [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/13th_Century 13th century]
==Definitions==
*1 : lack of [[good]] sense or [[normal]] prudence and [[foresight]]
*2 a : criminally or [[tragically]] foolish [[actions]] or conduct
:b obsolete : [[evil]], wickedness; especially : lewd [[behavior]]
*3 : a foolish [[act]] or [[idea]]
*4 : an excessively costly or unprofitable undertaking
*5 : an often extravagant picturesque building erected to suit a fanciful taste
==Description==
In [[architecture]], a '''folly''' is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Building building] actually constructed primarily for decoration, but either suggesting by its [[appearance]] some other [[purpose]], or merely so extravagant that it [[transcends]] the [[normal]] range of garden ornaments or other class of building to which it belongs. In the [[original]] use of the [[word]], these buildings had no other use, but from the 19-20th centuries the term was also applied to highly decorative buildings which had secondary [[practical]] [[functions]] such as housing, sheltering or [[business]] use. In the 18th century [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_gardens English gardens] and French landscape gardening often featured [[Roman]] [[temples]], which [[symbolized]] [[classical]] [[virtues]] or [[ideals]]. Other 18th century garden follies represented Chinese temples, Egyptian pyramids, ruined abbeys, or Tatar tents, to [[represent]] [[different]] continents or historical eras. Sometimes they [[represented]] rustic villages, mills and cottages, to [[symbolize]] rural [[virtues]].
==Characteristics==
The [[concept]] of the folly is somewhat [[ambiguous]], but they generally have the following properties:
* They are buildings, or parts of buildings. Thus they are distinguished from other garden ornaments such as [[sculpture]].
* They have no [[purpose]] other than as an ornament. Often they have some of the [[appearance]] of a building constructed for a particular purpose, but this appearance is a sham.
* They are [[purpose]]-built. Follies are deliberately built as ornaments.
* They are often [[eccentric]] in [[design]] or construction. This is not strictly [[necessary]]; however, it is common for these [[structures]] to call [[attention]] to themselves through unusual details or [[form]].
* There is often an element of fakery in their construction. The [[canonical]] example of this is the sham ruin: a folly which pretends to be the remains of an old building but which was in fact constructed in that state.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folly]
[[Category: Architecture]]
[[Category: General Reference]]
