Paint the World: North and Central American Architecture
Before we get into this article, there are 3 things you need to know about me:
I love painting.
I love geography.
When I have a crazy idea, I almost always say yes.
This all came to a culmination a few months ago when I had the idea, ‘What if I painted a house from every country in the world?’ and the idea was born.
The main thing I needed to figure out was what counties I was going to paint. Because while you think that the idea of a country is straightforward, in actuality, the lines are a bit blurred. I am not going to go into the whole silence behind what makes a country, but if you are interested in the question, I suggest you check out this video: There are not 195 countries.
For this project, I decided to make a list of all the countries I would paint. In the end, I had 199 countries, which I know, not as satisfying as having a clean 200, but if I started to add more or open my parameters, well then we would be creeping up to 300. And this was going to take a long time anyway, so keeping it as short as possible was probably best.
I also wanted to tie together the countries, so I moved in a linear order through the world instead of just jumping around and in that order. I decided to start with North and Central America.
All of this happened in the middle of August. It is now October, and I finally finished the first continent and am 12% done.
I thought at the end of each continent I would share the houses I painted and give some reasoning behind what I picked, the styles or elements I did.
If you are interested in watching all of the videos of me painting them, make sure to check out this playlist where I show a bit of the painting process. But here I am going to break down the reasons that went into the painting.
Canada
The first country in the series was Canada, and well, I don't know if you know, this but Canada is huge. It has a population of over 38 million and is over 3.8 million miles squared. Which means there are many different architectural styles across the country.
However, for this series, I wanted to go for a very classic middle-class family home. And when looking up Canadian architecture, there was a lot of French influence, with steep roofs to sustain the snow. And I also found a lot of pictures of townhouses that were built closely together. So this is the final style I ended up going with.
I also was doing a little mini challenge of trying to incorporate some color of the country's flag into the house since I love flags, so that's why I went for a red brick here.
Fun fact: the tee-pee was first invented in Canada!
The United States of America
The USA house, was probably the easiest one of the whole series, as I am from America. And in fact, as of writing this, I have been to 47 states, which means I have seen a lot of the different architecture that the country has to offer.
And you could do a series like this where you paint a house from every state, but one style that I feel you find in every state is the classic cookie cutter house.
This style was popularized after World War 2, when cars were more accessible and people started living further from their jobs.
The Bahamas
As we travel into the Caribbean, and honestly through the test of the series, we will see that a lot of styles are influenced by colonization.
A lot of countries have some form of European influence, but once again I want to focus on a bit more of the traditional styles and highlight these aspects.
In the Bahamas, there is some British and Spanish influence, but the architecture was modified to fit the climate in the Bahamas. Additionally, a trend you will see in the Caribbean is the use of bright color siding.
In the Bahamas specifically, the clapboard house is popular with big windows. And they are built in a way to improve ventilation.
Antigua and Barbuda
One way Antigua and Barbuda's architecture is different from other Caribbean islands is that there is a bit more of a modern feel due to tourism.
There is a bit of British influence as well. However, the natives emphasize preserving their history and architecture, meaning most of the European influence is by military bases, and the rest of the island has bright colors and a very airy feel.
Dominica
In Dominica, we start to see the use of verandas and balconies a lot more. Their architectural style is a mix of Caribbean with French and birth influences.
Barbados
One popular style of house in Barbados is the Chettle house, which used to be built on coral blocks so they could be transported. But now they have lots of color, one story with shutters and siding. They also have a bit of African influence.
Grenada
Most early Grenada architecture has succumbed to the weather, but it now has a mix of modern and Caribbean styles. All of the houses I found when searching looked like villas to me they were built on stilts with big balconies and windows.
Trinidad and Tobago
The architecture in Trinidad and Tobago has a mix of British, Spanish, and Caribean influences. There are a lot of mud/Leepay houses that are made using a mud mixture between panels.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
While a lot of Caribbean countries have brightly colored exteriors, the architecture in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a bit more beige. They still have a lot of porches.
While working on this house, I learned that in the Caribbean they have porches to enjoy the view but they are also used as common meeting grounds in communities.
Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia might be a country that rings a bell for you since this year during the Olympics J. Alfred took home a gold and silver medal in track and field!
And it is the only country in the world to be named after a human woman.
As for their architecture, it has a mix of French, Caribbean, English, and Dutch influences.
Fun fact: it used to be called the island of the iguanas.
Saint Kitts and Nevis
I knew of Saint Kitts and Nevis before this project because they have the Alexander Hamilton Museum. But their architecture is pretty standard of what you would see in the Caribbean but with more square hip roofs.
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic marks the walkway points through the continent.
Their architecture experienced a lot of experimentation in the early 1900s, and they have had a lot of cultural impacts, giving different styles rise and fall. But most of their homes have gothic or neoclassical vibes but in a Caribbean way.
Haiti
Haiti houses have a lot of influence from Victorian architecture and is one of the countries that popularized the gingerbread house, but then they added their own Caribbean vibe to it.
I will mention that while I have been trying to do the more middle-class or traditional house in each country, the gingerbread house is definitely not that. It is a more wealthy style house in Haiti, but since it is popular and also different from the styles of other countries, I decided to go for it anyway.
Jamaica
Jamaican architecture has Spanish and Georgian influence but is made to withstand the Jamaican climate. They have tall thick walls, and that classic, colorful exterior.
Cuba
Cuba has very bright-colored Spanish-style homes. With a mix of neoclassical and baroque architecture. Similar to the Dominican Republic, they experienced a lot of architectural exploration in the early 1900s due to the economic boom.
Mexico
Mexico has a lot of intricate details in its architecture, with bright-colored walls, tile roofs, and lots of floral elements.
The style is a mix of Mesoamerican with some European colonization touch. It's a mix of functionalism and modernism.
Belize
The architecture in Belize is a mix of Caribbean, Spanish, and Mayan. They use a mix of stucco, wood, and stone exteriors.
Guatemala
Similar to Belize, Guatemala's architecture pulls from Mayan and Spanish influences. Unlike most other countries in this list adapting styles to withstand hurricanes, Guatemala had to adopt the styles to withstand earthquakes.
El Salvador
El Salvador has a mix of Caribbean, Spanish, and Gothic architecture.
They have classic one-story homes with bright-colored walls and tiled roofs. But they also have a lot of wooden detailing.
Honduras
Honduran architecture has, once again, Spanish and Mesoamerican influence. They have iron or tin roofs, shutters, and tiled floors. But one element that makes them a bit different is their use of carports!
Nicaragua
At this point in the series, after painting so many Spanish and Caribean mixed single-story homes, I was kinda desperate for something else. So I was very happy when I found out that the adobe brick style is one popular in Nicaragua.
These houses are made using bricks that combine mud and grass.
Costa Rica
Moving to Costa Rica, we start to see a bit more tropical architecture. They still have the classic tin roofs, but they tend to lean a bit more Art Deco with cinderblock walls.
Panama
In our last home for this continent, we have Panama! One style of house popular in Panema is the Cob house, with porches, skylights, and multiple front doors. They are also typically made from cement.
And there we have it! A house from most of the countries in North and Central America, including the many islands in the Caribbean!
This has been so much fun to do to push my art and learn more about houses around the world.
Next up we have South America!
Which is the smallest continent (country number-wise) so it hopefully will not take me 2 months to finish but we will see!
If you want to follow along as I post, make sure to head over to my YouTube channel!
Happy learning,
Hailey <3
Comments
Post a Comment