Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Spanish term or phrase:
portada parlante
English translation:
the doorway, an example of architecture parlante
Added to glossary by
Charles Davis
Feb 22, 2015 02:11
9 yrs ago
Spanish term
United States
Reliability, conscientiousness and style
Native in: English (Variants: US, UK) 
Works in: Spanish to English, English
portada parlante
Spanish to English
Art/Literary
Architecture
My text (from Spain) does not offer much helpful context, so I'll provide a couple of examples (of the very few I've been able to find) from other sources:
http://www.euskomedia.org/aunamendi/149010/130819
"El primero corresponde a la magnífica portada plateresca orientada hacia el norte y abierta a una plazoleta. La PORTADA PARLANTE organiza su programa escultórico e iconográfico con acento humanístico a tres bloques ..."
For a picture of this building, see: https://recordandovitoria.wordpress.com/2012/01/06/el-palaci...
http://www.ehumanista.ucsb.edu/volumes/volume_24/Monograph 2...
"Es una PORTADA PARLANTE derivada de tipologías andalusíes [...] dotada de un mensaje claro. En ella aparece un
cordón franciscano, que da nombre al palacio, enmarcando el Sol de San Bernardino que campea sobre los dos escudos familiares, el de los Velasco y el de los Mendoza. En la parte inferior aparece una inscripción ..."
There is a picture of this building just above this section of the text.
I think I get the basic, idea, that the decorative elements on the facade tell a story of sorts. I just can't put my finger on an appropriate term in English, if there is one.
Thank you very much in advance.
http://www.euskomedia.org/aunamendi/149010/130819
"El primero corresponde a la magnífica portada plateresca orientada hacia el norte y abierta a una plazoleta. La PORTADA PARLANTE organiza su programa escultórico e iconográfico con acento humanístico a tres bloques ..."
For a picture of this building, see: https://recordandovitoria.wordpress.com/2012/01/06/el-palaci...
http://www.ehumanista.ucsb.edu/volumes/volume_24/Monograph 2...
"Es una PORTADA PARLANTE derivada de tipologías andalusíes [...] dotada de un mensaje claro. En ella aparece un
cordón franciscano, que da nombre al palacio, enmarcando el Sol de San Bernardino que campea sobre los dos escudos familiares, el de los Velasco y el de los Mendoza. En la parte inferior aparece una inscripción ..."
There is a picture of this building just above this section of the text.
I think I get the basic, idea, that the decorative elements on the facade tell a story of sorts. I just can't put my finger on an appropriate term in English, if there is one.
Thank you very much in advance.
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 +2 | the doorway, an example of architecture parlante |
Charles Davis
|
| 3 | 'speaking architecture' front |
Eileen Banks
|
| 1 +2 | expressive facade |
Denise D
|
Change log
Mar 1, 2015 00:34: Charles Davis Created KOG entry
Proposed translations
+2
6 hrs
Selected
the doorway, an example of architecture parlante
It should be architecture parlante, in italics, being a foreign expression.
In your examples, "portada" really means "doorway". I don't know whether this is the case in your ST. It could be "porch". It doesn't usually refer to a whole façade, though this translation is sometimes used.
This is a French architectural term, coined in the mid-nineteenth century and associated with the Neoclassicist Claude-Nicolas Ledoux (1736-1806), and although it literally means "talking architecture" or "speaking architecture", these translated versions are not used in architectural writing; it's kept in French, rather as art critics use the word chiaroscuro in Italian, not "light and dark".
So architectural writers don't refer to a "speaking/talking (architecture) doorway", at least not in this sense, nor even to a "parlante doorway". They use the whole term architecture parlante, and when referring to a detail such as a doorway or porch or facade, I think the way to handle it is to use a phrase such as "an example of architecture parlante" or perhaps "in the manner of architecture parlante". How to phrase it will depend on the exact context, of course.
You could add "talking architecture" in parentheses after it, but I don't think it's necessary in a specialist text.
"The S façade can only be seen from here; it was never intended to be seen as a whole. It is almost all harled and is a fine example of Victorian architecture parlante"
(On Glasgow)
https://books.google.es/books?id=F2gpuPZF_FMC&pg=PA267&lpg=P...
"The multi-paned glass transom above the south doorway is an example of Victorian "architecture parlante""
(On Green St. Smith Campus, Northampton, MA)
http://www.historic-northampton.org/members_only/histimages/...
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Note added at 6 hrs (2015-02-22 08:41:18 GMT)
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"Expressive" is not enough; forms can be aesthetically expressive without being explanatory.
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Note added at 7 hrs (2015-02-22 09:14:11 GMT)
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Sorry; I copied the second reference wrongly; the word "Victorian" should not be there, simply 'an example of "architecture parlante"'.
In your examples, "portada" really means "doorway". I don't know whether this is the case in your ST. It could be "porch". It doesn't usually refer to a whole façade, though this translation is sometimes used.
This is a French architectural term, coined in the mid-nineteenth century and associated with the Neoclassicist Claude-Nicolas Ledoux (1736-1806), and although it literally means "talking architecture" or "speaking architecture", these translated versions are not used in architectural writing; it's kept in French, rather as art critics use the word chiaroscuro in Italian, not "light and dark".
So architectural writers don't refer to a "speaking/talking (architecture) doorway", at least not in this sense, nor even to a "parlante doorway". They use the whole term architecture parlante, and when referring to a detail such as a doorway or porch or facade, I think the way to handle it is to use a phrase such as "an example of architecture parlante" or perhaps "in the manner of architecture parlante". How to phrase it will depend on the exact context, of course.
You could add "talking architecture" in parentheses after it, but I don't think it's necessary in a specialist text.
"The S façade can only be seen from here; it was never intended to be seen as a whole. It is almost all harled and is a fine example of Victorian architecture parlante"
(On Glasgow)
https://books.google.es/books?id=F2gpuPZF_FMC&pg=PA267&lpg=P...
"The multi-paned glass transom above the south doorway is an example of Victorian "architecture parlante""
(On Green St. Smith Campus, Northampton, MA)
http://www.historic-northampton.org/members_only/histimages/...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 hrs (2015-02-22 08:41:18 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
"Expressive" is not enough; forms can be aesthetically expressive without being explanatory.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 7 hrs (2015-02-22 09:14:11 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Sorry; I copied the second reference wrongly; the word "Victorian" should not be there, simply 'an example of "architecture parlante"'.
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you very much for your help!"
38 mins
Eileen Banks
Argentina
Argentina
Native in Spanish
Argentina
Thorough, fast and dependable
Native in: Spanish
Works in: English to Spanish, Spanish to English
Related KudoZ points
:
8
'speaking architecture' front
Search Results
Architecture parlante - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architecture_parlante
Architecture parlante (“speaking architecture”) is architecture that explains its own function or identity. The phrase was originally associated with Claude Nicolas...
Architecture parlante - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architecture_parlante
Architecture parlante (“speaking architecture”) is architecture that explains its own function or identity. The phrase was originally associated with Claude Nicolas...
+2
39 mins
expressive facade
parlante refers to talking or a loudspeaker so this made me think that the facade is expressing itself. Hope this helps.
Reference:
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
David Hollywood
: I think this is along the right lines
22 mins
|
| agree |
EirTranslations
5 hrs
|
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