Grotesque (architecture)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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- "[grotesque figures] in the frescoes and bas-reliefs which adorned the cathedrals and even village churches of the 12th and 13th centuries"
Used in describing an architectural feature, chimera means a fantastic, mythical or grotesque figure used for decorative purposes. Chimera are often described as gargoyles. Used correctly, the term gargoyle refers to mostly eerie figures carved specifically as terminations to spouts which convey water away from the sides of buildings.
Also used in describing hybrid systems of merged systems or parts. From Index Architecture: "The chimerical system produces cross-categorical couplings in which the initial systems are inextricably merged, that is, transformed into a system or systems with entirely new identities. Employing a 'chimerical mode,' the studio looked at ways of coupling categorically different systems by identifying and exploiting compatibilities and affinities between them." - Sulan Kolatan "Chimera 3: Mongrel Structures," Advanced Studio V, Fall 1997.
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