Subject:
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Re: Insights from a trip to France...
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.castle
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Date:
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Wed, 26 Apr 2000 22:34:18 GMT
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818 times
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In lugnet.castle, David Eaton writes:
> Ok, I just got back from France, where (of course) I saw a few actual historic
> castles. I have to say I've never really seen them before, since I've only
> ever
> really been in North America, where we lack the abundance of Mideaval
> architecture that one might find in Europe :(
OMG! How come I never thought about that... I was in France twice, and in
Germany quite a few times, but even though I've visited some castles it was
(sadly) before my castle renaissance so I didn't think of those things... Well
your post sure ignited some neglected stuff in my head...
> Insight number 1: Drawbridges
I can't say much about this since the aformentioned lack of attention... but
that sounds very plausible, and I might try that in a future MOC.
> Insight number 2: Roofs (not really strictly castle related)
> An interesting thing I always wondered about was roof color was why TLC always
> seemed to just make RED roofs. Here in the US, most roofs are black. Or grey.
> Or dark grey. Sure, you find a red one now and again, but how come the only
> roof piece Lego made in bulk was in red? Wouldn't black be more generic? Well,
> there appeared to be a LOT of red-ish, ceramic tiled roofs in France.
LOL! I didn't realize that Americans don't know about red ceramic roof-tiles.
These are a standard in many, many European countries, probably because of the
abundance of clay in the area and the relatively strong structure they give.
(I took a ceramics class for three years; believe me, those things are STRONG
when constructed well and burned).
You will always see the "white-washed, red-roof" villages spattered around
Europe's less-urban areas. You can see quite a few in Israel too, but less
(because we don't have snow, we don't *really* need sloping roofs :-).
> It stands
> to reason that Lego being located in Denmark would build its standard roofs in
> red. Maybe these were popular all the way back through the Middle Ages? I
> don't
> know... but at least it makes red roofs more plausible. It made me happy to
> realize that Lego's bright (and to me unrealistic) choice in colored roofs was
> based in reality.
Yes, definitely based on reality.
> Insight number 3: Houses
> I would never have expected to see so many houses done in brick and stone. All
> the old villages, etc, seemed to be chock full of old stone buildings. I think
> my 'half-timbered' standard may have to change.
Hehe... another american standard... you don't see too many wooden homes
around Europe, fires were way too abundant. Also, the stone and brick houses
provide more insulation from the freezing cold.
> Insight number 4: Half timbering
> It seemed like 99% of all the half timbered architecture that was there was
> built from the 2nd story up, rather than at ground level (ok, in France you
> call the 2nd floor the 1st floor, to avoid confusion). The ground level was
> usually done in brick or stone. I assume that's to prevent water damage and to
> prevent bugs from easily getting into the wood, but who knows... that's just a
> theory...
I have an extremely vague memory of the reason for this. Too bad I can't
remember it... :-(
I just remember that a tour guide in Germany (somewhere near Ulm) told me that
this was a requirement, set 300 years ago (I doubt if it still holds,
though :-).
> Insight number 5: (the last one) Randomness!
> All the castles were very oddly built. There was very little if any symetry
> (sp?) in a castle, except maybe within a single tower or single "chunk" of
> wall... There were always odd angles and turns in the walls, very few right
> angles, and mostly rounded towers as opposed to square ones... It makes
> modelling them accurately in Lego a new feat of genius!
Yeah, I call for varied-radii macaroni bricks! Think of an 8x8 macaroni
brick...oh, the places this could go...
> Anyway, I thought I'd share my insights. Of course, just cause these are
> somewhat new to me, doesn't by any means mean they'll be new to you. What with
> LUGNET's England contingency, I expect most of that's way old news...
Well, not old; just refreshed... thanks for reminding me of all this stuff. I
never realized that all the places I visited a few years ago were so useful,
too bad I wasn't into castle back then (I would've noticed it all!)
> Now to rebuild accordingly.... :)
Don't forget to post pics! :-)
-Shiri
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Insights from a trip to France...
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| (...) always (...) Well, (...) *Some* Americans. It depends on the building practice of the region - red "spanish tile" is all over southern California (much of it actually concrete these days). Castle roofing could also be slate or lead, but one (...) (24 years ago, 26-Apr-00, to lugnet.castle)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Insights from a trip to France...
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| Ok, I just got back from France, where (of course) I saw a few actual historic castles. I have to say I've never really seen them before, since I've only ever really been in North America, where we lack the abundance of Mideaval architecture that (...) (24 years ago, 26-Apr-00, to lugnet.castle) !
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