Neues Palais, Potsdam

Under heavy renovation and possibly finished by 2016, The Neues Palais (or new palace) in Potsdam is one of the more impressive structures in the area. Parts of Potsdam are basically a suburb of immense palaces, now nearly all museums.  There are many excellent books available on the many palaces and the area itself.

The Neues Palais wasn't meant as a home for the King when it was completed in 1769 but rather as official state apartments for entertaining other royals and ambassadors. Therefore it was built to impress and not necessarily be very homey for the monarch who retained a small apartment in the palace.

Opposite the palace (above) are the Communs (seen below), creating an entry courtyard. The Communs held the kitchens, service spaces, and offices for the palace - a sort of 'downstairs' if you will. The king had underground passages built connect the Palais to the Communs so servants could get between the buildings unseen but also undeterred by weather.

The ornate interiors are astounding. Designed in the Baroque style favored by the king they're beginning to show traces of upcoming Neoclassicism. Frederick the Great didn't like the strict lines of Neoclassicism so you have to look hard though!

The palace was originally designed by Johann Gottfried Buring.  Buring had completed other buildings in Potsdam for the king but was fired from the job after it was started after disagreements on the palace facade. Perhaps Buring wanted to bring in the 'new' Neoclassicm.

 I don't know, I think some of the rooms look pretty Neoclassical to me, wouldn't you agree? They could have been remodeled at a later date.

 The floors in the palace are stunning. The parquet floor above looks absolutely modern to my eyes.

 Carl von Gontard took over construction of the palace after Buring's dismissal.

 The salon above is really interesting -I love how the treatment continues to the ceiling.

Almost a sort of garden room. Also notice the modern light fixtures which are hung holding all of the modern necessities like security.

While these modern fixtures might seem strange to some, I like that they don't damage any of the delicate walls and finishes and stand separate and discreet as their own 'thing'. Europeans do this exceptionally well.

 More gorgeous parquet floors, almost like fine furniture.

 After awhile all of these grand rooms start to look the same; gold, gold, and more gold.

 I think we need to bring back the use of bed niches.

I imagine particularly in the 18th century Germany the alcoves felt really cozy and warm before central heating.

 More gorgeous painted paneling - chinoiserie here. No gold here!

The palace was later used by successive monarchs as a full time residence and it was therefore renovated with modern conveniences. I love the Victorian heat grate above.

But not all of the rooms are gold. A number of rooms are silver gilded like the bedroom below. I suppose the silver would reflect candlelight just as well if not better than the gold gilding.

As always thanks so much to my Australian penpal Neil for supplying us with these gorgeous images from his travels. If you find yourself in Berlin a visit out to Potsdam is really heavily encouraged: read more about visiting Potsdam palaces here.

Turkish Pavilion at Schwetzingen

 Located in the gardens of the Schwetzingen Palace complex (along with the Bathing Pavilion and the Temple of Apollo of which I've blogged) is an unusual structure referred to as the Turkish Pavilion.

Designed by French architect Nicolas de Pigage in 1779, the Pavilion was completed two years later and has recently been totally restored and opened to the public.

Designed primarily as a backdrop to the gardens where concerts were held, the building was later sometimes used by the Islamic community as a Mosque.

A large walled loggia surrounds the concert lawn with interesting Turkish inspired detailing.

The building is strictly European with many sort of "Turkish" bits glued on and the end result is totally of its' time. Think of this as Turkish Chinoiserie; not quite a copy but a European version of the original.

 The details such as the arches look almost Gothic in parts.

 The gardens are in the beautiful English style.

 Notice the brick floor patterns of the loggia.

 The Pavilion does have a small interior and again no detail was over looked.

 Beautiful carved stone is classically European with nods to the Turkish style.

The centerpiece is a large room rising up through the room with a gorgeous domed ceiling allowing light to flood inside.

 The polychromed work is playful without being too over the top.

 Many thanks as always to Neil for providing these luscious photographs to inspire us!

Schwetzingen bathhouse -a private Italian Villa

The Schloss Schwetzingen which I mentioned last week (the Temple of Apollo) was essentially a very public space, even in the 18th century before becoming the even more public museum it is today. The elector, in order to get away from 'court life' and from the general public which were allowed into the grounds, built the Badehaus (bathhouse) as a private refuge from what was essentially his 'work'.  Imagine having to live at your office!

Built in the style of an Italian Villa the bathhouse featured not only a small sauna area but also a bedroom & sitting room - a sort of Petit Trianon at Schwetzingen!

While strictly classical I love the sense of playfulness found throughout the details. The round entrance hall is stunning.

Directly off the entry hall is the bath -thats what the building is for afterall!  You may recognize the spaces as they were featured in the May 2009 issue of World of Interiors Magazine (one of my favorites).

You also will catch a rare glimpse of my Australian Penpal in the mirrored door who is kind enough to always share his travel pictures with us here on ArchitectDesign!

Rather than a large palatial room the bedroom is quite residential, even featuring a now out-dated twin sized bed. Seriously - when was the last time you slept in a twin bed? Even kids seem to have bigger beds these days!

Don't miss the chamber pot pulled out of its' little closet with a porthole window for ventilation. Also the Wedgwood vases are unusual to spot in Germany rather than Meissen or another German porcelain.

The room above features a more typical German porcelain chandelier (Dresden or Meissen perhaps?) along with a number of very German looking figurines on the mantelpiece. I hope you enjoyed this very private look at the Schwetzingen Badehaus!

Temple of Apollo, Schwetzingen

The gardens of Schloss Schwetzingen, in Schwetzingen, Germany, are world renowned, even more so than the palace, as they are preserved from the mid 18th century and feature a number of unique areas. The first of these is the Temple of Apollo.

The gardens are a mixture of Italian and English styles, popular at the time, and the temple is set atop terraced walls. Set inside the garden folly is a statue of the Greek god Apollo, the god of the Arts and of light.

They look down to an Italianate fountain which ends at a rounded lawn, perfect as an outdoor amphitheater.

 The guardrails have a beautiful verdigris finish with gilded suns set at the posts. The details of even such a small corner of the gardens are astounding!

Next week I'll bring some special structures from the Garden at Schwetzingen. I hope this leaves you with a taste of whats to come!

Inside the Villa della Regina; an 18th century chinoiserie fantasy

Located high in the hills above Turin, Italy, and surrounded by luscious Italianate gardens is the royal Savoy palace known as the "Villa della Regina".  Despite damage from WWII and years of neglect the villa has remained a fantastic example of the exotic 18th century chinoiserie style.

The building has been the property of the country since 1994 and maintenance is directly funded by visitors ( so make sure to visit! ). The views of Turin alone would be worth the trip.

Above you can see the highly terraced gardens with the house nestled into the hillside creating a protected entry court.

 The views down to Turin are stunning!

 I love these highly terraced, architectural gardens.

 The fountain at the entrance is large enough to be a pool!

 The fountain above is stunning even when not running.

 This teahouse terminates the view up the hillside.

The real thing to see here however are the interiors, preserved from the 18th century in all of their exotic-ness.

 The boiseries in many of the rooms contain panels of chinoiserie wallpaper.

 The details are gorgeous

 and the scenes intriguing.

Very few examples of the original furniture exist but the above cabinet gives one a taste of what once was.

 The room above has a bit of everything: rococo, chinoserie, Pompeian scenes, etc.

In the above enfilade you can tell just how big this place is although not all of the rooms retain their original decoration.

The rooms which still boast their frescoes make up for it though. Have you ever seen anything so fanciful?

The ceilings in most cases are more interesting than the walls.  Let this be a lesson to all of us; no more boring white ceilings!

 You almost need a microscope to take in all of the detail.

Some of the rooms have lost their original decoration but retain the plasterwork like above for a more modern look.

Comparing the same room's ceiling from 2 different angles shows one what a difference the decoration makes.

I hope you enjoyed this peek into the Villa della Regina and found something to inspire you! Thanks again to my Penpal for sharing these gorgeous images. As always click on the photos to view in greater detail.