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Ephemeral architecture is the art or technique of designing and building structures that are transient, that last only a short time. Ephemeral art has been a constant in the
history of architecture The history of architecture traces the changes in architecture through various traditions, regions, overarching stylistic trends, and dates. The beginnings of all these traditions is thought to be humans satisfying the very basic need of shelt ...
, although a distinction must be made between constructions conceived for temporary use and those that, despite being built with durability in mind, have a brief expiration due to various factors, especially the poor quality of the materials (wood,
adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for '' mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of ...
,
plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "r ...
, cardboard, textiles), in cultures that would not have sufficiently developed solid construction systems. Ephemeral architecture was usually used for celebrations and festivals of all kinds, as
scenography Scenography (inclusive of scenic design, lighting design, sound design, costume design) is a practice of crafting stage environments or atmospheres. In the contemporary English usage, scenography is the combination of technological and material ...
or
theatrical scenery Theatrical scenery is that which is used as a setting for a theatrical production. Scenery may be just about anything, from a single chair to an elaborately re-created street, no matter how large or how small, whether the item was custom-made or ...
for a specific event, which was dismantled after the event. It has existed since
ancient art Ancient art refers to the many types of art produced by the advanced cultures of ancient societies with some form of writing, such as those of ancient China, India, Mesopotamia, Persia, Palestine, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. The art of pre-lite ...
—it is at the origin of forms such as the
triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. In its simplest form a triumphal arch consists of two massive piers connected by an arch, crow ...
, whose ephemeral model was fixed in permanent constructions during the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Medite ...
—and it was very common in European courts during the
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...
and especially in the Baroque. Despite its circumstantial character, the ephemeral has been a recurrent and relevant architecture. From Baroque scenographies to
contemporary Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...
installations, each ephemeral period has given shape to its idea of celebration and has materialized it with the technique available at the time. Today the ephemeral continues to fulfill these playful and experimental functions, but it also aspires to channel new ideas about public space and social participation, halfway between the city and
nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans ar ...
.


Classification

In the social context there are various ways of including ephemeral architecture: for specific events (traditional ephemeral architecture), as a way of life (nomadic architecture), as a requirement of a society that reveres change (obsolescent architecture), and as a necessity (emergency architecture).


Traditional ephemeral architecture

The architecture that is ephemeral because of its "eventuality".


Ancient period

File:Ardemans-parnaso.jpg, Ephemeral architecture project for the entry of
Felipe V Philip V ( es, Felipe; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was King of Spain from 1 November 1700 to 14 January 1724, and again from 6 September 1724 to his death in 1746. His total reign of 45 years is the longest in the history of the Spanish mon ...
in Madrid (February 18, 1701), by
Teodoro Ardemans Teodoro de Ardemans or Ardmans (ca. 1661–1726) was a Spanish architect and painter. Ardemans was born in Madrid to a German father. He was a disciple of the painter Claudio Coello, although he mainly practiced architecture; the municipali ...
. File:Lorenzo quiros-calle platerias.jpg, ''Embellishment of the Platerias Street on the occasion of the entry of Charles III in Madrid'', by Lorenzo Quirós, 1760. File:Pompe funebre for Katarzyna Opalińska.jpg, Funerary ceremony in honor of Catherine Opalińska, mother-in-law of
Louis XV of France Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached ...
, held in 1747 at the
Cathedral of Notre Dame Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a Middle Ages#Art and architecture, medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris ...
in Paris.
There are few documents of constructions designed with an ephemeral duration, on the contrary, both Egyptian architecture and
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
and
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...
stand out for their monumentality and the long-lasting eagerness of their constructions, especially the religious ones. The ephemeral constructions were especially used for public ceremonies and celebrations of military victories, or for festivities related to kings and emperors. Thus, there is a valuable testimony of a pavilion erected by
Ptolemy II of Egypt ; egy, Userkanaenre Meryamun Clayton (2006) p. 208 , predecessor = Ptolemy I , successor = Ptolemy III , horus = ''ḥwnw-ḳni'Khunuqeni''The brave youth , nebty = ''wr-pḥtj'Urpekhti''Great of strength , gold ...
to celebrate a banquet, reported by
Athenaeus Athenaeus of Naucratis (; grc, Ἀθήναιος ὁ Nαυκρατίτης or Nαυκράτιος, ''Athēnaios Naukratitēs'' or ''Naukratios''; la, Athenaeus Naucratita) was a Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourishing about the end of t ...
:


Early modern period, Renaissance and Baroque

The splendor of ephemeral architecture was produced in the Early Modern Period, in the
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...
and—especially— the Baroque, eras of consolidation of the
absolute monarchy Absolute monarchy (or Absolutism as a doctrine) is a form of monarchy in which the monarch rules in their own right or power. In an absolute monarchy, the king or queen is by no means limited and has absolute power, though a limited constituti ...
, when European monarchs sought to elevate their figure above that of their subjects, resorting to all kinds of propagandistic and exalting acts of their power, in political and religious ceremonies or celebrations of a playful nature, which showed the magnificence of their government. One of the most frequent resources were the thriumphal arches, erected for any act such as military celebrations, royal weddings or visits of the monarch to various cities. There are several testimonies in this regard, such as the triumphal arch at the Porte Saint-Denis for the entrance of Enrique II in Paris in 1549, the arch at the Pont Nôtre-Dame for the entrance of Charles IX in Paris in 1571, the triumphal arch of Maximilian I designed by Dürer in 1513, the triumphal arch for the entrance of
Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infant ...
in
Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Scienc ...
in 1515, the arch for the entrance of Prince Philip (future
Philip II of Spain Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal fro ...
) in
Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest i ...
in 1549, etc. During the Baroque, the ornamental—contrived and ornate character of the art of this time conveyed a transitory sense of life—related to the ''
memento mori ''Memento mori'' (Latin for 'remember that you ave todie'vanitas A ''vanitas'' (Latin for 'vanity') is a symbolic work of art showing the transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death, often contrasting symbols of wealth and symbols of ephemerality and death. Best-known are ''v ...
''. This sentiment led to a vitalist appreciation of the fleetingness of the instant, to enjoy the light moments of relaxation that life offers, or the celebrations and solemn acts. Thus, births, weddings, deaths, religious ceremonies, royal coronations and other recreational or ceremonial events were dressed with pomp and artifice of a
scenography Scenography (inclusive of scenic design, lighting design, sound design, costume design) is a practice of crafting stage environments or atmospheres. In the contemporary English usage, scenography is the combination of technological and material ...
character, where great assemblies were elaborated that agglutinated architecture and decorations to provide an eloquent magnificence to any celebration, which became a spectacle of almost catartic character, where the illusory element, the attenuation of the border between reality and fantasy took on special relevance. Baroque art sought the creation of an alternative reality through fiction and illusion, resorting to
foreshortening Linear or point-projection perspective (from la, perspicere 'to see through') is one of two types of graphical projection perspective in the graphic arts; the other is parallel projection. Linear perspective is an approximate representation, ...
and illusionist perspective, a tendency that had its maximum expression in festivities, the playful celebration, where buildings such as churches or palaces, or a neighborhood or an entire city, became theaters of life, in scenarios where reality and illusion were mixed, where the senses were subverted to deception and artifice. The Counter-Reformationist Church played a special role, seeking to show its superiority over the
Protestant Churches Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seekin