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Broadway Tower, Worcestershire, England

The Dunmore Pineapple in Scotland

In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but either suggesting by its appearance some other purpose, or merely so extravagant that it transcends the normal range of garden ornaments or other class of building to which it belongs. In the original use of the word, these buildings had no other use, but from the 19th to 20th centuries the term was also applied to highly decorative buildings which had secondary practical functions such as housing, sheltering or business use.^{[dubious – discuss]}

18th century English gardens and French landscape gardening often featured Roman temples, which symbolized classical virtues or ideals. Other 18th century garden follies represented Chinese temples, Egyptian pyramids, ruined abbeys, or Tatar tents, to represent different continents or historical eras. Sometimes they represented rustic villages, mills and cottages, to symbolize rural virtues.^[1] Many follies, particularly during famine, such as the Irish potato famine, were built as a form of poor relief, to provide employment for peasants and unemployed artisans.

Characteristics[link]

General properties[link]

The concept of the folly is highly ambiguous and it has been suggested that the definition of a folly "lies in the eyes of the beholder".^[2]At best, some general guidelines can be produced, all of which have exceptions.

• They have no purpose other than as an ornament.^[3]Often they have some of the appearance of a building constructed for a particular purpose, but this appearance is a sham.
• They are buildings, or parts of buildings.^[3] Thus they are distinguished from other garden ornaments such as sculpture.
• They are purpose-built. Follies are deliberately built as ornaments.
• They are often eccentric in design or construction. This is not strictly necessary; however, it is common for these structures to call attention to themselves through unusual details or form.
• There is often an element of fakery in their construction. The canonical example of this is the sham ruin: a folly which pretends to be the remains of an old building but which was in fact constructed in that state.
• They were built or commissioned for pleasure.^[3]

What follies are not[link]

Public art/folly in Coal Harbour, British Columbia, Canada

Follies fall within the general realm of fanciful and impractical architecture, and whether a particular structure is a folly is sometimes a matter of opinion. However, there are several types which are related but which can be distinguished from follies.

• Fantasy and novelty buildings are essentially the converse of follies. Follies often look like real, usable buildings, but never are; novelty buildings are usable, but have fantastic shapes. The many American shops and water towers in the shapes of commonplace items, for example, are not properly follies.

• Eccentric structures may resemble follies, but the mere presence of eccentricity is not proof that a building is a folly. Many mansions and castles are quite eccentric, but being purpose-built to be used as residences, they are not properly follies.

• Some structures are popularly referred to as "follies" because they failed to fulfill their intended use. Their design and construction may be foolish, but in the architectural sense, they are not follies.

• Visionary art structures frequently blur the line between artwork and folly, if only because it is rather often hard to tell what intent the artist had. The word "folly" carries the connotation that there is something frivolous about the builder's intent. Some works (such as the massive complex by Ferdinand Cheval) are considered as follies because they are in the form of useful buildings, but are plainly constructions of extreme and intentional impracticality.

• Amusement parks, fairgrounds, and expositions often have fantastical buildings and structures. Some of these are follies, and some are not; the distinction, again, comes in their usage. Shops, restaurants, and other amusements are often housed in strikingly odd and eccentric structures, but these are not follies.

History[link]

Follies began as decorative accents on the great estates of the late 16th century and early 17th century but they flourished especially in the two centuries which followed. Many estates had ruins of monastic houses and (in Italy) Roman villas; others, lacking such buildings, constructed their own sham versions of these romantic structures.

In English, such structures came to be called follies: "a popular name for any costly structure considered to have shown folly in the builder" according to one authority,^[4] and were often named after the individual who commissioned or designed the project. The connotations of silliness or madness in this definition is in accord with the general meaning of the French word "folie"; however, another older meaning of this word is "delight" or "favourite abode" ^[5]

However, very few follies are completely without a practical purpose. Apart from their decorative aspect, many originally had a use which was lost later, such as hunting towers. Follies are misunderstood structures, according to The Folly Fellowship, a charity that exists to celebrate the history and splendour of these often neglected buildings.^{[citation needed]}

Follies in 18th century French and English gardens[link]

The temple of philosophy at Ermenonville

Follies (FR: fabriques) were an important feature of the English garden and French landscape garden in the 18th century, such as Stowe and Stourhead in England and Ermenonville and the gardens of Versailles in France. They were usually in the form of Roman temples, ruined Gothic abbeys, or Egyptian pyramids. Painshill Park in Surrey contained almost a full set, with a large Gothic tower and various other Gothic buildings, a Roman temple, a hermit's retreat with resident hermit, a Turkish tent, a shell-encrusted water grotto, among other features. In France they sometimes took the form of romantic farmhouses, mills and cottages, as in Marie Antoinette's Hameau de la Reine at Versailles. Sometimes they were copied from landscape paintings by painters such as Claude Lorrain and Hubert Robert. Often, they had symbolic importance, illustrating the virtues of ancient Rome, or the virtues of country life. The temple of philosophy at Ermenonville, left unfinished, symbolized that knowledge would never be complete, while the temple of modern virtues at Stowe was deliberately ruined, to show the decay of contemporary morals.

Later in the 18th century, the follies became more exotic, representing other parts of the world, including Chinese pagodas, Japanese bridges, and Tatar tents.^[6]

Famine follies[link]

The Irish Potato Famine of 1845-49 led to the building of several follies. The society of the day held that reward without labour was misguided. However, to hire the needy for work on useful projects would deprive existing workers of their jobs. Thus, construction projects termed "famine follies" came to be built. These include: roads in the middle of nowhere, between two seemingly random points; screen and estate walls; piers in the middle of bogs; etc.^[7]

Examples[link]

Follies are found worldwide, but they are particularly abundant in Great Britain. See also Category:Folly buildings.

Australia[link]

• Ballandean Pyramid Ballandean, Queensland
• Big Bridge at the entrance to Peter Warren Cars at Warwick Farm, New South Wales
• Big Banana, Coff's Harbour New South Wales
• The Golden Guitar Tamworth, New South Wales

France[link]

• Chanteloup Pagoda, near Amboise
• Désert de Retz, folly garden in Chambourcy near Paris, France (18th century)
• Parc de la Villette in Paris has a number of modern follies by architect Bernard Tschumi.
• Ferdinand Cheval in Châteauneuf-de-Galaure, built what he called an Ideal Palace, seen as an example of naive architecture.
• Hameau de la reine, in the park of the Château de Versailles

Germany[link]

• Ruinenberg at Sanssouci

Hungary[link]

• Bory Castle at Székesfehérvár
• Taródi Castle at Sopron
• Vajdahunyad vára in the City Park of Budapest

India[link]

Swallow's Nest near Yalta, Crimea, Ukraine (1912)

• Overbury's Folly, Thalassery, Kerala

Ireland[link]

• Carden's Folly
• Casino at Marino
• Conolly's Folly
• Killiney Hill, with several follies
• Larchill in County Kildare, with several follies
• Powerscourt Estate, which contains the Pepperpot Tower
• St Anne's Park, which contains a number of follies
• The Wonderful Barn

Italy[link]

• The Park of the Monsters Bomarzo Gardens

Russia[link]

• Ruined towers in Peterhof, Tsarskoe Selo, Gatchina, and Tsaritsino
• Creaking Pagoda and Chinese Village in Tsarskoe Selo
• Dutch Admiralty in Tsarskoe Selo

Ukraine[link]

• Swallow's Nest near Yalta

United Kingdom[link]

Wainhouse Tower, Halifax, England, from Wainhouse Terrace

Rushton Triangular Lodge, Northamptonshire, England, built in the late 16th century to symbolise the Holy Trinity

Wimpole's Folly, Cambridgeshire, England, built in the 1700s to resemble Gothic-era ruins

The Beacon One of the remaining follies at Staunton Country Park originally commissioned by George Thomas Staunton and designed by Lewis Vulliamy

• Ashton Memorial, Lancaster, England
• Beckford's Tower, Somerset, England
• Broadway Tower, The Cotswolds, England
• Bettisons Folly, Hornsea, England
• Black Castle Public House, Bristol, England
• Brizlee Tower, Northumberland
• The Cage at Lyme Park, Cheshire, England
• The Castle at Roundhay Park, Leeds, England
• Clavell Tower, Dorset, England
• Clytha Castle Monmouthshire
• The Caldwell Tower, Lugton, Renfrewshire, Scotland
• Dunmore Pineapple, Falkirk, Scotland
• Faringdon Folly, Faringdon, Oxfordshire
• Flounder's Folly, Shropshire, England
• The Folly Tower at Pontypool, Wales
• Fonthill Abbey, Wiltshire, England
• The Forbidden Corner, Yorkshire, England
• Fort Belvedere, Surrey, England
• Freston Tower, near Ipswich, Suffolk
• Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare, Hampton
• Gothic Tower at Goldney Hall, Bristol
• The Great Pagoda at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London¨
• Gwrych Castle, one of Europe's largest follies, Abergele, North Wales
• Hadlow Tower, Hadlow, Kent, England
• Hawkstone Park, follies and gardens in Shropshire, England
• Hume Castle, Berwickshire, Scotland
• Horton Tower, Dorset, England
• King Alfred's Tower, Stourhead, Wiltshire, England
• Mow Cop Castle, Staffordshire, England
• National Monument, Edinburgh, Scotland
• Old John, Bradgate Park, Leicestershire, England
• Penshaw Monument, Penshaw, Sunderland, England
• Perrott's Folly, Birmingham, England
• Pope's Grotto, Twickenham, south west London, England
• Portmeirion, Wales
• Racton Monument, West Sussex, England
• The Ruined Arch at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London
• Rushton Triangular Lodge, Northamptonshire (16th century)
• Severndroog Castle, Shooter's Hill, south-east London
• Sham Castle, Bathwick Hill, Bath, Somerset[1]
• Two of the follies in Staunton Country Park have survived until the present day
• Stowe School has several follies in the grounds
• Sway Tower, New Forest, England
• Tattingstone Wonder, near Ipswich, Suffolk
• The Temple near Castle Semple Loch, Renfrewshire, Scotland
• Wainhouse tower, the tallest folly in the world, Halifax, England
• Wentworth Follies, Wentworth, South Yorkshire
• Williamson's tunnels, probably the largest underground folly in the world, Liverpool, England
• Wilder's Folly, Sulham, Berkshire, England
• McCaig's Tower, Oban, Argyle and Bute, Scotland

United States[link]

• Bancroft Tower, Worcester, Massachusetts
• Belvedere Castle, New York City
• Bishop Castle, outside of Pueblo, Colorado
• Cabazon Dinosaurs, Cabazon, California
• Italian Barge, Villa Vizcaya, Miami, Florida
• Körner's Folly, Kernersville, North Carolina
• Lawson Tower, Scituate, Massachusetts
• Lucy the Elephant, Margate City, New Jersey

See also[link]

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Follies (architecture)

Spit Syndicate are an ARIA Award nominated^[1] Australian hip hop duo based in Sydney.

Biography[link]

In 2006, Spit Syndicate debuted by releasing a mixtape CD: The Future's Bright.

Not a great deal of planning went into the mixtape; we had a bunch of hot verses we'd keep writing to beats that weren’t ours, and we had a handful of original tracks we just wanted to get something out there to show the people what we can do. Granted, it’s nothing too deep content-wise, but its gotten our name out there.

—Nick Lupi^[2]

Since bursting onto the local music scene in 2007, Sydney duo Spit Syndicate have established themselves as some of the country’s most exciting new hip-hop groups. Hailing from Sydney’s Inner West, rappers Nick Lupi (22) and Jimmy Nice (23) have steadily developed an electric buzz and loyal following across the country.

The duo have toured New South Wales with Bliss N Eso twice, and have opened for international acts such as Cypress Hill, Xzibit, Ice Cube, Lupe Fiasco, Atmosphere, Brother Ali, People Under The Stairs, Diverse, Savage + Mareko and were billed to support Fabolous before his tour was cancelled. Spit Syndicate have also appeared on MTV’s 'The Lair'.^[3]

In addition to this, Spit Syndicate have supported for local groups such as Funkoars, Urthboy, Ozi Batla, The Lullabyes, Phrase, Lyrical Commission and Hyjak N Torcha.^[3]

In February 2008 the duo signed with Obese Records^[4]

We actually signed on the dotted line in February of this year, but we started talking to them in about November of last year. We were both overseas during the summer and we had this album ready and we were gonna put it out when we got back, it was just a matter of who we did it with.

—Nick Lupi^[5]

In July 2008 the duo released their debut album, Towards the Light.^[6] Production credits on Towards the Light feature Jase, M-Phazes and Fame with an appearance from L.A. producer Ro Blvd (Common, Lupe Fiasco), with contributions from emerging Sydney artists including Rowan Dix and Sarah Corry and featuring guest spots from MCs Fame (Overproof) and Solo (Horrorshow).^[7]

In February 2010, Spit Syndicate played as one of the local artists booked at the Sydney Good Vibrations Festival 2010. In May 2010, they released their second studio album, Exile.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• The Future's Bright mixtape (2006, independent)
• Towards the Light (19 July 2008, Obese Records)
• Exile (2010, Obese Records) #81 Australia
• Best Intentions PART 1 mixtape (2011)

Awards and nominations[link]

• 2008 ARIA Nomination - Best Urban Release - Towards the Light

References[link]

External links[link]

• Spit Syndicate on Myspace
• Artist bio at Obese Records
• Spit Syndicate at Facebook
• Rapcella Artist Discography

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