Alternatives Unit Summary

The Ecstasy of St. Theresa by Bernini

Design movements tend to repeat themselves every other generation. This is because we desire to set ourselves apart from the previous generations in order to show that we have evolved. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Christianity went from being the alternative religion to the religion pronounced by kingdoms throughout the European world. Christianity and Catholicism especially proved a great influence over architecture of the middle ages as seen through cathedrals. During the middles ages the world was introduced to both Romanesque and Gothic architecture. Romanesque architecture evolved into Gothic, then history repeated with Greek and Roman revivals of the Renaissance. Romanesque cathedrals were characterized by many of the same elements that characterize Gothic architecture such as groin vaults, cross plans, and pointed arches. Arcades, arches, and statuettes were ideas translated from Rome into this transitional style of architecture between Rome and the middle ages. Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance architecture are connected through details and foundations in that details such as arches and columns were used throughout, and foundations such as cross plans are also found in each period. Each type of architecture was an alternative to its immediate predecessor.

Because mass was presented in Latin many people's religious experience was through the architecture of cathedrals. Stained glass and murals depicted religious stories such as the Crucifixion of Jesus. Michaelangelo's work for the Sistine Chapel which depicts a myriad of biblical stories and figures, may be the most well known of cathedral frescos. In addition, Bernini created a captivating sculpture, the Ecstacy of St. Theresa, for the Cornaro chapel which is a great example of story telling through imagery.

While some used literal imagery to inform the public about religion, cathedral architecture mimicked the idea of heaven as enormous and full of light. Architects of the time made cathedrals massive in scale and emphasized vertical elements and light more than anything else. Gothic Cathedrals such as Notre Dame of Amiens has breathtaking architectural details which mimic the idea of heaven. Patricks gothic cathedral website features the cathedral. The fourth image down of the vaulting at the cross depicts this exact notion of heaven in my opinion. The complexity of the vaulting also speaks to the complexity of the universe, God, and heaven itself.

Hierarchy is seen in these cathedrals where the alter is the most important place, raised up past the pews. Hierarchy of the members of the church can also be seen where the rich and most prominent people sit either in front or above the rest of the church members.
Moving on from Romanesque architecture the proceeding Gothic architecture of the middle ages can easily be found in castles. Flying buttresses, detailed wood and stonework, and dark heavy elements can describe Gothic architecture. Gothic Cathedrals however were full of light and rather than the dark and heavy architecture we imagine stone castles to be made of. The main differences are that the function and context of each piece of architecture. Castles were dwellings for Royalty and housed the main functions for government and the kingdom itself. They needed to be indestructable as to keep enemies from destroying the kingdom. They also needed to protect the King, therefore castles had many secret passages and were built with heavy stone elements. Cathedrals on the other hand, although strong, were not built to withstand battles. They were built for the communities worship and the display of the wealthy and religious.

Opus Week 8

Mid-century Modern Furniture: A twist of modern and mid-century designs. See Phillip Starck's Ghost Chair (right)

As designers we revise our work constantly, always looking to improve upon our creations. In class this week we touched on the fact that a current generation never looks back at their parent's generation for inspiration, rather we are inspired by our grandparents era and so forth. We are not seeing the demand for avocado cabinets and orange shag rugs because that is what our parents generation made popular. Today mid-century modern is a popular twist between the style that is popular today and the mid-century designs from our grandparents era.
Relating the urge for a current generation to rebel against it's immediate forefathers, the first Americans rebelled against the British and their opposition was reflected in the furniture of the time. In class we looked at two dining chairs, one predates the American Revolution and the other was made afterward. The dining chair on the left was made before the American Revolution and reflects the heavy imperial style of Great Britain. The chair on the right is much lighter in appearance and is more clean cut in it's lines possibly represents a fresh start, rising above the heavy ruling of the King. People of the renaissance looked back not to their immediate forefathers but to their ancestors before that. Renaissance architects looked to the classically inspired Romans and endeavored to make new forms with the fundamentals of the classic world intertwined in the design (Roth 397).


Throughout history, rulers and Kings have made their mark on the landscape through elaborate building programs from the Pyramids to the royal palace at Versailles. La Chateau de Versailles, the royal Chateau grandiosely revised by Louis XIV was originally much smaller and was used as a hunting lodge. Louis XIV took his revisions to an extreme by not only adding onto the building but changing the landscape completely (Roth 418). Revisions set design apart from the norm, they make work stand out, and they have a great influence on politics and social thought for the time.

Architecture tells a story to it's audience. Architects think deeply about the context of a building when devising its plans. For whom is this building for and where is it located? An audience not only is made up of a buildings users, but also the audience is made up of viewers of the building. For example, a building represents an institution such as UNCG or a government or kingdom. The architect of such buildings should always think about what message the building projects to the world since the world is architecture's audience.

This week we were introduced to the baroque period which was an architectural movement following the renaissance in the 17th century. Focus on light, movement, color, and materials characterize the baroque period. Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini was a prominent sculptor and architect of the baroque period. His most famous work includes his sculpture of the Ecstasy of St. Theresa and the Piazza Di Pietra, also known as St. Peters Basilica (Roth 410). Piazza Di Pietra is mapped out so that all points are centralized, leading us to believe that all points really do lead to Rome.

A precise transition between one style to the next in architecture has never been achieved nor ever will be. Styles and periods overlap one another and skip generations periodically. Inspiration is drawn from numerous different eras in order to achieve a certain style. Blakemore speaks of transition as being a temporary moment between two eras (290). That is exactly what a transition in design is, a temporary moment. When we design a home the transition between the outdoors and indoors is a moment where there are two different entities joined by a common ground (the outdoors joined to the indoors through the doorway). Transitions are just as important as the main components in design because without transition our story can be lost in translation.

The datum of the midevil period left architects of the renaissance with the data to devise complicated structures such as the domes in renaissance churches. Each generation leaves a bit of datum for the next to build upon and improve. The French took what the people of the Renaissance did and revised and reworked what datum was left to them. Roth and Blakemore are historians that provide us, the next generation of architects with the datum of the past so we can better create the datum of the future. Datum now has another part to its definition within architecture because now technology holds the codes and plans that create architectural forms ie AutoCAD (1).

1. http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=2704278

PA Deliverables

Essay

I. Original Municipal Building
II. Design Competition
III. Winners McKim, Mead, and White
IV. Architecture of building inspired by renaissance and classicism
V. New York City Skyscrapers
VI. Stalinist architecture inspired by Municipal Building
VII. Function and resounding effects of building on New Yorkers
VIII. Connecting buildings architectural details and building materials to commodity and symbolic nature of building
IX. Conclusion pulling together buildings influence on New Yorkers and the world..

Images

3 perspectives (watercolor & ink on watercolor paper, one black, white, and gray prismacolor markers)
1 interior section elevation (pencil and ink on vellum)
1 exterior front elevation (pencil and ink on velum)
2 plan views (Colored pencil and ink on vellum)
3 architectural details (prisma color markers, and pen on white bond paper)

I have some more exact research to do to figure out the best scale for these images. We have to base these images on other scaled down renderings we find and I'm not exactly sure how to do that, or if we first must find the original dimensions of the building in order to correctly draw our buildings.

Should we have a presentation board for our images? I thought we should but I'm not sure if that would mean that we would need to determine how large our boards could be in order to fit enough in a room for presentations.

Opus Week 7

P-Week

Periphery comes from the Greek word periphéreia meaning circumference. Periphery is the external boundary of a space and can be defined in architectural terms as the planning and division of space. Tying to our class discussion of Renaissance architecture the centralized courtyard is an open public area for guests in the Renaissance home. The periphery is marked off on all four sides where the courtyard gives way to the private rooms of the home. Visually this is saying that the boundary for guests stops at the periphery of the courtyard unless they are invited further into the home. You can find courtyards and plans as so in the villas and Palazzos of Italy such as the Pallazo Farnese and Pallazo Medici (Roth 376)

As designers and artists we put together our work in a Portfolio in order to look at our work as an overall picture. We see how we've improved and what we need to work on. In a broad sense architects do the same thing over time with building forms and materials. Architects look at what was successful and build upon that. The Renaissance was very much about reviving the successful parts of ancient architecture and re-working the details. The French took the ideas of the Renaissance and revived them even further (Blakemore 97). As building materials and other factors come into play we are always searching for more advanced ways of building through looking back at old techniques and improving on techniques that could be more successful. Looking at a detail in time the arch, which was extremely popular in Roman times, was transformed into a pointed arch in medieval times. Ste. Marie Souiallac features the first renditions of a pointed arch. Later the arch became even more pointed in the middle. This earie church also has detailed sculpture built into its columns of twisted bodies of people and animals. The columns and wall reliefs remind me of the column of Trajan in that they tell a story through sculpture rather than frescos. Looking at this church sends chills down my spine.



Design process can be long and drawn out in that there are so many steps one should take in order to create something original and well thought out. First one must do research, possibly a precedent analysis. Next the designer needs to brain storm ideas making sketch models and determining which ideas are successful and scraping the ideas that do not work. Then doing a series of more final models and eventually a scale model will help the designer understand how their creation works structurally and visually overall. Once a project comes to life and a designer's creation is actually built there is a whole new process of steps that come into play when physically bringing a design to life. From a history of design standpoint the architect Brunelleschi began studying Roman architecture in order to help him with his arch designs, this is like the first part of a design process in doing research or a precedent analysis (Roth 357).

Perspective is the way one views something. Blakemore talks about optical illusions in architecture through frescoes on walls and ceilings. The Sistine Chapel painted by Michaelangelo breaks the mold of simple wall frescoes in churches. Everything from the floor to the walls to the ceiling is painted with detailed depictions of biblical figures. The way the frescos are painted on the ceiling and the curve from the arches spaning across the periphery create a curved materpiece that makes it difficult to find where the wall ends and the ceiling begins. This is all because Michaelangelo painted with the perspective that these areas should be rounded and so he didn't paint the celing as flatly as he painted the walls. Thus the perspective he created is one of the most famous pieces of art in the world (Blakemore 154).

There are numerous professional design jobs today however in the 14th and 15th centuries there were mostly tradesmen, artists, and collaborators that worked together on constructing buildings. Similar to today however there were a few professionals that were well trained in the arts such as Brunelleschi who was both an artist and architect and known for the Duomo (1). Today architects are trained in drawing and the arts and many are artists on the side from being involved in architecture, IARC's own Tommy Lambeth, Stoel Burrows, and Suzanne Cabrera are all artists in their own right. A design professional today is usually trained in a broad range of subject areas and has a main focus where they are most talented or interested in.

1. http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?ParagraphID=hgk

Opus Week 6

Macro to Micro

In the renaissance people were looking back at the foundations of antiquity and attempting to build off of and improve upon the building achievements made by the Greeks, Romans, and other ancient civilizations. They also were looking back at ancient texts such as those by Cicero, Virgil, Plato, and Aristotle. A new generation of thought emerged. The poet Petrarch from mid-fourteenth-century Florentine 'stressed the study of the ancient authors and reliance on one's own observations' (Roth 356). Juxtaposing the repugnant conditions of the medieval period, the renaissance focused on beauty and the appreciation of nature. Detail played a large role in renaissance architecture. Most notably renaissance churches were full of intricate details, complex plans, and innovative building techniques (Roth 358). These details were not only for aesthetic purposes but they also visually extended the space (Blakemore 97). Wood beams, intricate domes, and detailed frescoes reached across the ceilings and expanded buildings such as renaissance churches. Churches and cathedrals represented heaven and architects used building techniques such as large scale columns, domes, and entrance ways that would leave the impression of a space that was broad and as intricate as possible.

Salisbury Cathedral

Cathedrals were not entirely about grandiose scale and the impression of heaven, they also were a place to worship and socialize. Church was where entire communities gathered and one's hierarchy in the community was constituted by where that person sat during the service. Families who invested in the church were able to sit in their own private chapels during a service since their money went to the building of these chapels. Often these wealthy families sat in a balcony area literally looking down upon those below them in stature. Church, much like the opera in the 17th century, was a place to 'see and be seen' (Roth ...).


One can diagram the Cathedral to further clarify the 'circulation, hierarchy, and function' of each space. Renaissance cathedrals usually were built in a cross-plan, a plan that formed the shape of the Christian cross. People would enter from the bottom of the cross and would proceed down a long aisle with pews flanking either side. Balconies and private chapels lined the outer walls of the church, and were placed closest to the alter. The top of the cross where the horizontal section overlaps the vertical aisle is where the most important people sat in their private chapels at the closest place to the alter and to heaven. Because these people were wealthy and were the dominant contributors to the church they were closest to God and were pardoned into heaven before all others of the church.


Another factor of the Cathedral that can be diagrammed is the three pronged Porch-Court-Hearth. The Porch-Court-Hearth layout was formally introduced in Greek society. The porch, court, and hearth are exemplified in the Acropolis. The porch is the entrance and at the Acropolis it is the Propylaia. The court is the gathering space where people disperse after entering. The hearth is the more secluded area towards the back with a religious statue for worship (Blakemore 31). This set-up is also represented in Roman households and the cathedrals of the renaissance. In Roman homes the porch and court were quite similar to the original purpose of entrance way and gathering area. The hearth in a Roman household would be the bedrooms or private rooms in the back.


The Porch-Court-Hearth trio are parts that make up the whole composition of the building. Dictionary.com defines a composition as 'combining parts or elements to form a whole'.

Foundations Unit Summary

“In architecture, as in all operative arts, the end must direct the operation. The end is to build well. Well building hath three conditions: Commodity Firmness and Delight.”- Sir Henry Wotton

In the beginning there was the aedicule, the cave, and various structures for living. These structures were functional and and served their purpose as firm shelter from jeopardous weather and predators. Nomadic structures served seemingly the first two conditions of architecture defined by Sir Henry Wotton: commodity and firmness. The last condition, architecture for delight, was not fulfilled until the time of Stonehendge and the Egyptians. Delight in architecture is the aesthetic value of an edifice brought on by artistic notions. People first used the concept of delight in building for religious complexes, tombs, and temples dedicated to the gods. Nomadic peoples may have had structures made for religious purposes but it is more likely that they used the natural environment around them for spiritual practices.

The Pyramids of Giza, Stonehenge, and numerous other stone structures are the first religious structures still surviving today. All serve a function and were built with such precision that they are astoundingly still standing. They also complete the design cycle and fulfill the delightful notion of architecture. Stonehenge and the pyramids were quite simple in form. What made these structures delightful was the material used such as the bright stone of the pyramids that stuck out against the sand, their grand scale, and the unity created by visual hierarchy. More complex and decorative elements manifested in buildings in Greece and Rome. Grecian and Roman architecture has also outlived its time and continues to be the foundation and inspiration for building forms today.



Male and female forms in architecture date back to the ancient world with the Pyramids representing the powerful male form. Large columns also represent the male form and the power of a government or ruler. Trajan’s Column in Rome was built in honor of the Roman emperor Trajan. Reliefs of two successful military campaigns circle up around the column. Monuments such as this one depict the greatness of an empire and its military in a highly decorative male form. Female forms in architecture are less common because almost all rulers were male and the ruler and government defined architecture established, as much of it still is today. Queen Hapshepsut's temple is an example of a female form of architecture with smaller male forms lining the entire structure. The temple is long and horizontal sitting into the rocky mountainside. It is much more about going in and becoming a part of the landscape rather than building up off of the landscape. The columns that go across the front façade of the building are male forms however they are much smaller in scale compared to the horizontal elements of the structure.

Building forms have evolved from these foundations of geometric forms, gender defined architecture, and decorative surfaces. Today we still use all of these foundations of architecture to mold our modern buildings. The difference between modern buildings inspired by ancient architectural foundations and actual ancient architecture is that modern buildings have different commodities; furthermore, although ancient edifices were built firm enough to sustain the years up until now but the buildings today require hi-tech structures in order to achieve their great heights and remain firm even in a natural disaster. The foundations unit summed up the basic features that allows for us to build upon and evolve into better architectural forms today through finding the most effective commodious, firm, and delightful systems for architecture.