Facade

Facade (pronounced fuh-sahd or fa-sahd)

(1) In architecture, the front of a building, especially an imposing or decorative one; any side of a building facing a public way or space and finished accordingly.

(2) By extension, the face or front (most visible side) of any other thing.

(3) Figuratively, a superficial appearance or illusion of something; a deceptive or insincere outward appearance; a front.

(4) In computing (object-oriented programming), a structural design pattern that provides an object that is a simplified interface to a larger body of code, such as a class library.

1650–1660: From the sixteenth century French façade, from the Italian facciata (the front of a building), from the Upper Italian faciada & facciata, derivations of faccia (front; face), from the Vulgar Latin facia from the Classical Latin facies (face).  The French façade, appears still to be an accepted alternative spelling and one popular with architects.  The figurative use dates from 1845.  Facade, facadectomy and facadism are nouns and facadal is an adjective; the noun plural is facades.

Neoclassicism in eighteenth century architecture

Neoclassicism (new classicism (from the Latin classicus (highest; best)), refers to an eighteenth and early-nineteenth century movement which took inspiration from Greece between the eighth and fourth centuries BC and Rome between the fifth and first.  The revival was expressed in art, literature, philosophy, history, music, and, most memorably, architecture.  Neoclassicism could not exactly replicate the works of antiquity.  Because only fragments remained, either as ruins or (perhaps not entirely reliable) depictions of what was built by the earlier civilizations, the world imagined was a construct, an idea of what once was.  This did mean neoclassicism tended often to adopt the few, most dramatic motifs which survived either in the representational record or as crumbling remains, a movement, at least initially, driven more by idealism than reality.  It was another example of the West’s enduring reverence for the ancient world and its supposed sublimity of form, neoclassicism serving what was perhaps the myth of classical perfection.

Facade of Chiswick House (1729), London, a villa built and designed by Richard Boyle (third Earl of Burlington (1694-1753)) in the Neo-Palladian style (a European school which followed the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580).

Classical revivalism actually began during the Renaissance, some four centuries earlier, renaissance (rebirth) translating historically as the rebirth in Europe of the spirit of Ancient Greece and Rome.  However, eighteenth century Europe saw the Age of Enlightenment, transforming philosophy, politics, society & culture and the new science of archaeological excavation which led to astonishing discoveries such as the largely intact Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum, buried after a volcanic eruption in 79 AD.  From these ruins, it was found the societies of antiquity were technologically more sophisticated and their art more extraordinary than once thought and the discoveries sparked renewed interest and as part of the research effort, a less idealized view of the past evolved.

A McMansion which features at least one element a architect would describe as a facade and (possibly) a sub-facade.  However, being a McMansion, it may appear on the plan as a "Demi-Façade".

With the rise of Romanticism in the nineteenth century, neoclassicism fell from fashion but it didn’t die and elements continue to be interpolated into modern architecture although, the borrowing of aspects usually rendered on large scale and applying them to relatively small-scale suburban houses is unfortunate though many critics think it no worse that the mash-up of motifs, neoclassical and otherwise, which appear on McMansions.  The noun facadism is a technical term from architecture and structural engineering which describes (1) the practice of retaining only the facade of an old building when redeveloping a site (something often required by heritage legislation) and (2) in building construction, a technique where the facade is designed to be constructed independently of the rest of the building (a modular approach which not only can mean a cheaper build but also one which permits a much easier “updating” or “refreshing” of the appearance, conceptually (though not structurally) analogous with a surgical facelift.  The noun facadectomy probably began as humorous in-house slang among architects and builders but is now accepted as a standard word, something doubtlessly assisted by the frequency with which facadectomies are latterly performed.  On the model of appendectomy (The surgical procedure for the removal of the vermiform appendix) etc, it describes either (1) the removal (and sometimes replacement) of a building's facade or (2) the retention of a building's facade behind which a new structure is built after the original building is demolished.

Lindsay Lohan in front of the Louvre, Paris, March, 2015.

Architects point out that regardless of the way dictionaries tend to describe the things, a facade is not simply "the front or outward facing surface of a structure" and that to be defined as such one must in some way be separate from the structure in that were it to be removed, the building would still stand.  That might deprive the building of it aesthetic appeal and even let in the wind and rain but it would remain standing.  In that, the architects' precision is closely aligned also with the way the word is used figuratively of people or institutions.  Depending on how one deconstructs, the Louvre has a facade, a multi-piece facade or a number of facades whereas the Louvre Pyramid has none at all; it is a unitary structure.  Like the Eiffel Tower which in the years immediately after its erection was much derided (especially by Parisians), the pyramid was much criticized but opinion seems to be softening; either the disapproving are dying off or they're coming at least to tolerate it.

Pantechnicon

Pantechnicon (pronounced pan-tek-ni-kon or pan-tek-ni-kuhn)

(1) A building or place housing shops or stalls where all sorts of (especially exotic) manufactured articles are collected for sale; most associated with the Pantechnicon, a large warehouse where goods (delivered by Pantechnicon's vans) were stored.

(2) A large van, especially one designed for moving or furniture and other household goods; originally "pantechnicon van".

1820-1830: A creation of modern English using the Ancient Greek, the construct being pan-, from the Ancient Greek πᾰν- (pan-), a neuter form of πᾶς (pâs) (all, every) + τεχνικόν (tekhnikón) (artistic, skillful), neuter singular of τεχνικός (tekhnikós, “technical”), from tekhnē (art), from the primitive Indo-European tetḱ- (to create, produce).  The clippings pantech (UK) & pantech van (Australia) are now less common.  Pantechnicon is a noun; the noun plural is pantechnicons.

The Pantechnicon building, Motcomb Street, Belgrave Square, London.  It was built in what was then called the “Greek Revival” style, featuring a neo-classical facade using Doric columns.  It’s described now as a “contemporary fashion emporium” and includes the inevitable café, restaurant & bar.

A Pantechnicon van (almost always called a pantechnicon and, in certain places. “pantech” endures) was originally horse-drawn and used to transport furniture to and from The Pantechnicon, a bazaar in central London where objects were stored as well as sold.  The Pantechnicon building was built in the early 1830s, the name coined from the Ancient Greek to convey the idea of an institution which traded in all aspects of the arts.  That commercial use continued but the building and the eponymous vans became famous in the twentieth century after the premises were converted into furniture storage warehouse. The warehouse was burnt out in 1876 and suffered another severe blaze in 1939, the latter unfortunate timing as many people had stored there the household effects of grand London houses which were being shuttered for the duration of the war.

Although originally used exclusively to service clients of The Pantechnicon, the design of the vans, being functionally deterministic, was optimized for the task and soon adopted by all removalists, the name to describe the vans quickly becoming generic.  The design persisted when the vans were motorized; now built on truck chassis, they were now even more obviously slab-sided cuboids and the new technology permitted them to become very large.  In a city like London with some narrow lanes and tight corners, some of which dated from the Roman occupation, that presented problems of its own and some small, horse-drawn pantechnicons continued to ply their trade even after the Second World War.

1947 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith "Pantechnicon" by Hooper.

Being functional work-horses designed for the maximization of internal space and the ease of loading, few commented on the aesthetics but when the same style was adopted in 1947 for a Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith commissioned by an exceedingly rich oil trader called Nubar Gulbenkian (1896-1972), many were aghast and the thing was soon nick-named the Pantechnicon.  Built by the coachbuilder Hooper, it didn’t start a trend for the design although, over the next decade, some details would appear in the cars of many manufacturers because of the contribution to aerodynamic efficiency.  Time has perhaps been kinder to Mr Gulbenkian’s pantechnicon than critics at the time, compared with some of what would be produced in the years that followed, Hooper’s lines had coherence and even a simplicity which, until their bankruptcy, would elude some coachbuilders and certainly, there are more hints of the future in the pantechnicon than most of the Silver Wraiths (1946-1958) which were usually pastiches of pre-war mofifs.

1956 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith by Hooper.

Unmoved by the staid critics, Mr Gulbenkian continued to favor both the Wraith and Hooper though not their standard range.  While he didn’t again request anything pantechnicon-like, his tastes nevertheless remained eccentric, purchases including a four-door cabriolet (a rarity even then) and a sedanca de ville (a body style thought almost extinct), the latter fully-trimmed in sage-green lizard-skin.  Probably the most dramatic of Gulbenkian’s Hooper-bodied Rolls-Royces was a left-hand drive example built for use on the Côte d’Azur where he kept a house (and reputedly several mistresses); it had conventional four-door saloon coachwork but its novelty lay in its transparent Perspex roof, complete with an electrically-operated fabric inner blind to keep the occupants cool despite the Mediterranean sun.  Eschewing the usual acres of burl walnut which had been a Rolls-Royce signature since the earliest days, the interior was trimmed entirely in leather, a hallmark of all the Gulbenkian cars as was the speedometer fitted in the rear passenger compartment.  So distinctive was the appearance that after it was sold, it was used in the 1964 film Les Félins (released in English-language markets as The Love Cage) which starred Alain Delon (b 1935) and a young Jane Fonda (b 1937).

1966 Mercedes-Benz 600 SWB by Chapron.

Mr Gulbenkian must have been quite taken with the Perspex roof because in 1965, impressed by Mercedes-Benz’s extraordinary new 600 (W100; 1963-1981), he approached them and requested they build him one with such a roof.  Stuttgart declined.  Undeterred, in 1966 Mr Gulbenkian purchased one from the French distributer and had it delivered directly to Henri Chapron’s (1886-1978) coachbuilding studio in Paris to which he provided a specification sheet and what is said to have been a quite professional-looking sketch.  The build took almost a year because, better to enjoy the view through the transparent roof, Mr Gulbenkian fancied the idea of gazing at the stars at night so the rear seats were configured to recline into a bed.  The door panels were equipped with handheld mirrors and glass deflectors designed to minimalize the air turbulence in the cabin. Special tobacco pipe holders were fitted, as well as a minibar.  One piece of German engineering Chapron didn’t try to emulate was to extend the hydraulic control system to operate the roof blinds.  The 600 was unique in that it didn’t use electric motors for things like the windows, these along with the doors, seats, sunroof and trunk (boot) lid instead silently run by a hydraulic system, which ran at an extraordinary 2176 psi (150 bar), something which absorbed about a sixth of the power generated by the 386 cubic inch (6.3 litre) V8 although what remained was sufficient still to propel what was a big, heavy and not obviously aerodynamic car to almost 130 mph (210 km/h).  The 600 was anyway expensive but Chapron's work more than doubled the price.  Mr Gulbenkian who then owned some 5% of BP, didn't quibble.

419 Venice Way, Venice Beach, Los Angeles, 31 January 2012.

This is the pantechnicon Lindsay Lohan hired when moving from where she lived during 2011-2012 in a semi-mirrored construction (a style of architecture sometimes called “pigeon pair”) next door to former special friend Samantha Ronson who inhabited Number 417.  She moved out after being disturbed by "a Freemason stalker".  In North America, this pantechnicon would usually be called a "semi", a clipping of "semi-articulated trailer" and even in the UK the term "pantechnicon" is now less common, as is the Australian clipping "pantech van". 

Masquerade

Masquerade (pronounced mas-kuh-reyd)

(1) A party, dance, or other festive gathering of persons wearing masks and other disguises, and often elegant, historical, or fantastic costumes.

(2) A costume or disguise worn at such a gathering.

(3) A false outward show; façade; pretense.

(4) An activity, existence etc, under false pretenses.

(5) To go about under false pretenses or a false character; assume the character of; give oneself out to be; a pretentious display.

(6) To disguise oneself.

(7) To take part in a masquerade.

(8) Figuratively, an assembly of varied, often fanciful things.

(9) A dramatic performance by actors in masks; a mask or masque (obsolete).

(10) A Spanish entertainment or military exercise in which squadrons of horses charge at each other, the riders fighting with bucklers and canes (always rare, now obsolete).

(11) In military jargon, to conceal (artillery pieces etc) from the view of the enemy.

1560s: The noun "assembly of persons wearing masks and usually other disguises" was from the Middle French mascarade, masquerade & masquerade (the modern French is mascarade (masquerade, masque; farce)), or the Spanish mascarada (masked party or dance) (sometimes as masquerada & mascarado), from the Italian mascarata (a ball at which masks are worn), a variant of the etymon Upper Italian mascherata (masquerade) from maschera (source of mask), from the Medieval Latin masca (mask).  The English word was cognate with Late Latin masquarata, the Portuguese mascarada and the Spanish mascarada.    Some sources insist the supposedly Spanish derivatives of the French were actually “pseudo-Spanish” but in Spanish mascara was anyway “a mask”.  The spelling maskerade has been obsolete since the late 1600s although the synonym masque endured beyond another two centuries.  The verb was derived from the noun and the extended sense of a "disguise in general; concealment or apparent change of identity by any means" dates from the 1660s; the figurative sense of "false outward show" emerging during the next decade.

The related verb forms (used without object) were masqueraded & masquerading and masquerader was a noun, the adjective masqueradish and the adverb masqueradingly both rare; the plural was masquerades (also attributively).  Words vaguely similar, if not actual synonyms, include carnival, circus, cloak, color, costume, cover, cover-up, deception, dissimulation, domino, facade, festivity, front, guise, impersonation, imposture, mask, mummery, personation & pose.

Curiously, although the word appears not to have entered English for another half-century, the masquerade (masked ball, festive entertainment in which participants wear a disguising costume) was known in French since the 1510s.  It developed to mean an "amateur theatrical performance" in the 1560s, such entertainments popular (and performed originally in masks) with the Elizabethan nobility.  The military sense to describe a type of camouflage used to conceal field pieces such as cannons dates from 1706 and, in the army way of things, was quickly shortened to “mask”.

Masked Ball at the Opera (1873) by Edouard Manet (1832–1883).

Much associated with the tradition of the Venetian Carnival, masquerade balls (maschera in the Italian) moved from the ballroom to become costumed public festivities in Italy during the sixteenth century Renaissance although they never lost the perception of the link with the upper classes.  As they spread to France and England, they also took with them their fashionable status and, expensive & exclusive, they soon became one of the most preferred gatherings for the urban elite of Paris and London which constituted a genuinely new economic and social structure but, although symbolizing extravagance, whether there was ever the extent of sexual frivolity, debauchery, and gender subversion that was suspected then and has often been the depiction in latter-day popular culture, is at least uncertain.

The perception of there being something wrong surfaced early, clergy and the other usual suspects assuming the anonymity and sexual mixing of the masquerade must obscure the gender restraints they thought proper.  The satirical artists of the time lent weight to the vicars’ vexations, prints of masquerade balls showing women often scantily clad and leaning towards men with immodest intention: gender roles not just fluid but actually reversed, women asserting sexual power.  Henry Fielding’s (1707–1754) first published poem, The Masquerade (1724), highlighted the subversive power of the masks.

here, in one confusion herl'd,

seem all the nations of the world,

Cardinals, quakers, judges dance;

Grim Turks are coy, and nuns advance,

Grave churchmen here at hazard play;

So for his ugliness more fell,

Was H-d-g-r toss'd out of hell,

And in return by Satan made

First Minister of masquerade.

Lindsay Lohan in masquerade mask.

Reading Fielding, that middle-class moralist, it seemed that when masked in the company of masked men, women tainted their innocence and some feared that were women to taste sexual freedom, who knew where that might lead.  The masquerade, like many things which broke barriers of class, gender, and ethnicity by at least appearing to challenge social norms, induced one of the moral panics at which the English excel.  The clergy would preach from their pulpits of the "evils of the masquerade" and if that didn’t get through to the congregation, pamphleteers passed out their papers on the streets, warning of corruption and depravity.  Perhaps conflicted, because their presses printed advertisements and tickets for the very masquerades they claimed to oppose, newspaper editors wrote scathing editorials and the civil authorities responded with a predictably selective suppression, The Weekly Journal of 10 April 1775 describing with some relish the forcible breaking-up of a masquerade described as a gathering of "Chamber-Maids, Cook-Maids, Foot-Men, and Apprentices".  It seems the idea of a massed gathering of the working class in masks was a threatening thing; there’s no record of the events hosted by the gentry being disturbed.

Masqueraders (circa 1880 by Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta (1841-1920).

The concerns however persisted and the masquerade was just one example of what was seen as an epidemic of unwholesome foreign influences which had of late landed upon English shores.  Returning to his theme, in a submission to An Enquiry into the Causes of the Late Increase of Robbers, Henry Fielding wrote that, "bad Habits are infectious by Example, as the Plague itself by Contact" and the masquerade being foreign meant it was suspect, like much of the diabolical and unwelcome cultural epidemic spread from Italy, France and the Orient.  In a 1724 sermon, the Bishop of London blamed the presence of the masquerade on English soil on a certain "ambassador of a neighboring nation” and went on to preach that the masquerade was a plot devised by France to "enslave true Englishmen by encouraging in them licentious and effeminacy" and journalists pursued the idea of continental corruption, noting the masquerade began in "hot countries notorious for Lewdness”.  There was even a conspiracy theory, one writer suggesting this “foreign diversion" was a European plot to neutralize the beauty of English women by forcing them to "hide their charms with a mask".

The fear of women enjoying sexual licence was the problem.  Those in the anti-masquerade movement equated attending the masquerade with the sexual act itself, just another expression of the double standards in eighteenth-century English culture, the presence of women at masquerades thought something heinous, while that of men, though hardly condoned, was more or less tolerated.  Some female critics were more pragmatic.  Writing in The Female Spectator Eliza Haywood (circa 1693–1756) advised her female readers that "women of honour" not only should not attend the masquerade but "shun the gentlemen who were so depraved as to offer them tickets".  On the other hand, she advised her male readers not against going to the masquerade themselves but against bringing their wives or sisters, lest their mistress might also be in attendance.  Undeniably sound advice.

Nineteenth century drawing, Lisbon earthquake, 1755.

It was an act of God which drove a stake through the heart of the English masquerade.  On November 1, 1755 an earthquake destroyed much of the city of Lisbon, killing thousands.  As news spread, the anti-masquerade movement spoke out publicly, claiming the earthquake was visited upon the Portuguese for their sin and corruption, the very thing that had spread to England.  Whether those in government took this analysis too seriously isn’t known but they certainly reacted to the public outcry the mob’s rantings summoned and masquerades were banned for a year.  Although there were spasmodic attempts at revivals, the popularity suffered and it was by the late eighteenth century extinct in England, not to return for more than a hundred years.