Question 1: Mansart & Le Vau
1. Introduction to Baroque era and architects
2. Background on Mansart (date of birth, education, mentors etc)
3. Mansart's first designs - incl. details that became characteristic of his style
4. Further expansion on Mansart's designs - details on how style has developed
5. Mansart's most preeminent work/final masterpiece
6-9. (Repeated essentially the same structure for Le Vau)
10. Summary
Question 2: The use of light in the Baroque
1. General introduction to the philosophy of light in the Baroque era
2. Why light (or things that created light) were significant - centre of life, philosophy, status, interest in outdoors/gardens
3-4. How light was created in architecture (look at pierced vaulted ceilings, window designs)
5. Artifical lighting (candleabras, fireplaces etc)
6. Mirrors
7. Use of light with furniture (i.e. gilding, lacquering, silvering etc)
8. Summary
I don't know if these books are available where you are (but if they're all the way down in Australia, they should be elsewhere) but some books you might want to look up (apart from good old John Pile) include:
§ Lucie-Smith, E. (1979). Furniture: A Concise History. London: Thames and Hudson.
§ Riley, N & Bayer, P (Editor). (2003). The Elements of Design. New York: Free Press.
§ Wolfflin, H. (1975). Renaissance and the Baroque. New York: Cornell University Press.
§ Hersey, G. (2000). Architecture and Geometry in the age of the Baroque. London: The University of Chicago Press.
§ Blunt, A. (1999). Art & Architecture in
§ Norberg-Schulz, C. (1971a). Baroque Architecture.
§ Norberg-Schulz, C. (1971b). History of World Architecture.
§ Watkin, D. (1986). The History of Western Architecture (3rd ed.).
§ Blunt, A. (1999). Art & Architecture in
§Watkin, D. (1986). The History of Western Architecture (3rd ed.).
