Opus Week 13

Self expression of architects can be seen in the monumental like structures of post modern design. Nicholas Grimshaw's work is renowned world wide and is a form of self expression juxtaposed to the simplified architecture for the masses mid century. Above is the National Space Centre in England.

Post-modern design has transposed modern architecture into a form of self expression in which the building carries a monologue from the architect himself and a dialogue between other architects and the world as a whole. This may seem like a very broad statement so lets break it down. Modern architecture of the early and mid 20th century was about the masses. Although designers were coming up with new and original ideas, their work was mass produced and therefore their work was less personalized (Roth 567). Personally I have a set of Eames style molded plywood chairs. They are not original Eames yet such items were mass produced not only by the manufacturer but also by 'knock off' companies so that design was universal. Much of post modern architecture celebrates the designer himself and his personal creation.


Mass produced modern chairs of the mid century: The Eames molded plywood dining chair

A juxtaposition is seen between the 'characterless' modern architecture of the early to mid 20th century and the creative endeavors of the post modern architecture of the late 20th century. Architects make statements through their work and they become celebrities in the world of design through their works. Frank Lloyd Wright hardly cared about the inhabitant of a house he design, he cared about his design. Wright is an example of highly personal designed architecture that does not relate to the inhabitant or the function. We see this dysfunction in the Guggenheim Museum, which is a beautiful building, but highly dysfunctional when hanging flat art work on curved walls. While modernist design was able to reach the masses critics such as Robert Venturi 'asserted that less is not more.' Modernists designs were easily universal because they were simple designs to duplicate. Venturi argues that we must recreate modern architecture in a way that we take the advancements in materials and technology and use these tools developed by early modernists in order to create modernism with 'ornament, references to the past, local tradition, social practices, and to the users' received conventional sensibilities' (Roth 568). I could not agree more because although I find early modernist architecture interesting, I would never want to live in such a characterless building. I do not think that humans work like machines and a machine for living while practical, is emotionless and does not cater to the human psyche.

The Guild House in Philadelphia was Robert Venturi's attempt to create modernist architecture incorporating ornament and other features

Venturi made a great point in his writing from the book Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture (1966) yet I don't believe that his philosophy transposed itself successfully in his work. His 'first public demonstration of this philosophy' was the Guild House in Philadelphia, an apartment complex made for elderly Quakers (Roth 569). The windows are tiny and the building reminds me of the many poorly designed buildings that attempted to take modern architecture and apply ornament. There are buildings such as this all over the U.S. and especially in Greensboro. The YMCA close to downtown comes to mind, and many other buildings built throughout the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. Despite many failures, post modern design thrived in the hands of other architects such as Richard Meier. His work, the High Art Museum in Atlanta, is a beautiful white building which plays with solid volumes which play with light and shadow. The question arises with such buildings as the High Art Museum, does art=architecture? I think that architecture is a systematic and mathmatical form of art and one can see the many systems created by the forms in the High Art Museum (Roth 571).
Buildings such as the High Art Museum above paved the way for High Tech architecture such as Phillip Johnson's Pennzoil Place, or the Louvre's glass pyramid by I.M. Pei. High tech is defined by roth as being 'an extreme excentuation and exaggeration of structure and mechanical systems' (574). Architects took the beauty of industrialism and exposed systems to a whole different level making the literal workings of the building abstract forms and works of art. Architects meditated on ornament and it's connection with modernism and what resulted on one end of the spectrum was the celebration of technology and systematic parts-which became the ornamental pieces to post modern structures.

Opus Week 12

The Guggenhiem by Frank Lloyd Wright

Designers of the modernist movement began shaping and stretching the limits of a new architecture. Architects such as Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe compromised with city officials on ground space in order to stretch the Seagram Building vertically. Frank Lloyd Wright stretched the boundaries of his normally rectilinear architecture with his design for the Guggenhiem Museum. The modernist movement is defined by the machine and the stripping away of all ornament of previous eras (Massey 63).

Designers and architects of the 20th century speculated about the direction of design and many people wanted to compose a new architecture which resulted in the modernism movement and the following mid-century modern movement. Modern architects went back to basics when designer the new architecture and put a great emphasis on geometry and form. The Bauhaus, directed by Walter Gropius, fueled modernists desires and served as a creative school for the new industrial inspired architecture (Massey 67).

The Studio Wing of the Bauhaus

The Bauhaus taught a strict architectural discipline despite the it's ideas being new, this in part could be the nature of the Germans and their relation to industrialism. Lighting designs of Marianne Brandt, K.J. Jucker and Wilhelm Wagenfeld rose in popularity from the Bauhaus. The table lamp designed by K.J. Jucker and W. Wagenfeld is an almost surrealist view of a table lamp in that it is not functional as a table however much of it's form is shaped as though it should be a table. The glass bulb takes up the entire surface which could be a table, which is humorous in my mind because the user of such a design may want to set something down on it only to be reminded that the surface is round and functions solely as a light (Massey 74).

Table Lamp by K.J. Jucker and W. Wagenfeld

Post World War II the United States experienced great prosperity in the years after the war and people all over now had access to modern design. Despite the fact that U.S. just came out of a war the U.S. was energized by their success. The cold war also led the Soviets and the U.S. to compete not only in weapons and space but through design and technology.

The Pedestal Chair by Eero Saarinen used the new molded technology for plastic and employed one leg rather than four.


Mid-century was a time where modernist design could be design for all. One could by a house that came in parts, pre-assembly. The idea was that you could assemble your house on your own. New uses of plastics, aluminum, and other materials made much of this possible (Votolato 153). The 1950s was the beginning of the consumer age where people were presented with choices on materials and brands. The following is an excerpt from Gregory Votolato's book American Design in the Twentieth Century:

"During the early 1950's Sterling Ready-Cut-Homes advertised extensively their 'cut to fit homes' for self builders or self contractors. Sterling's color catalog shows a choice of fifty seven designs. Their kits included 'easy to follow plans,' all lumber, roofing, nails, glass, hardwar, paint, doors, and windows. The prices from 2,150 in 1952 including delivery to the building site, were made possible by economies in quantity production and bulk purchasing components."

Every time I think of house kits of the 1950s I smile because the idea is slightly rediculous, however house kits were quite popular and actually ended up making decent homes (Votolato 154).

House Kit Home by Sears The Westly Floor Plan

Modernism became the mainstream by the mid century and great works of furniture, architecture, and many products were developed due to the cold war and great prosperity in the U.S. Eero Saarinen's Pedestal chair is a great example of the beautiful work with plastics that came out of these modern years (Massey 154). During the 20th century architecture and design were inspired by industrialism, the development of new materials, and was fueled by the competition of the cold war.

Opus Week 11

The AEG Turbine Factory, industry as the inspiration for architecture

Picasso's self portrait, he is among the the artists that worked with abstraction and cubism

The roots of modernism lie within the arts and crafts movement, post impressionism, expressionist and cubist art, and the industrial revolution. Artists of the early twentieth century explored the abstraction and flattening of art. Architects, designers, and artists toyed with different geometric patterns and designs. The rise of industry and the invention of the automobile and airplane inspired architects and designers to find a architectural model for the future rather than following Greek, Roman, and Renaissance models (Roth 519). World War I brought the use of new materials and many advances in the industry which in turn helped the modernist movement (Roth 520).

The word congruence implies fluidity and a constant which relates to the congruence of eclectic revivals in many public buildings. The Manhattan Municipal building, which I am doing my precedent analysis on, is an example of an classic eclectic building with it's statuettes and triumphal arch. The materials used are mostly concrete but a new form of building takes place because many of the eclectic buildings in New York and other large cities at the time are skyscrapers. Technology of the 20th century is employed in order to build these skyscrapers yet designs inspired from the roots of architecture-the classical era-are used (roth). So while the classical tradition is continued with new materials and technologies the modernist movement pushed forward with the creation of the Bauhaus in Germany.

The Bauhaus's main building

Architectural training changed drastically with the creation of the Bauhaus and architects were trained across many disciplines and were later able to choose which design discipline fit them best. Sweedish modern and architects from the Netherlands were also a large part of modernist design. Their concepts for modern were less strict than those of the Bauhaus. Alvar Aalto is a large contributor to the Sweedish aesthetic that was brought to America around World War II. Aalto's work is described as a more 'humanistic scandanavian approach to modernism' (Massey 86). The Bauhaus focused on machine and like Corbusier, finding the most functional machine for living. I think that the Bauhaus created beautiful work but much of it is cold and far to utilitarian for my taste. I enjoy the less invasive scandanavian work. Artists and architects were exploring the use of the machine and how it fit into our everday lives. I think that no man works as a machine and a machine for living might sound pleasing, but in reality it is not 'humanistic'.

ApartmentTherapy.com is one of my favorite websites which features photos from modern apartments. Many of which are eclectically mixed with modern and traditional elements. Above is an example of the Tulip Chair.

The idea of compression and release is a very broad concept in the the design world. Undulating walls automatically comes to mind such as in Gaudi's work. In class we spoke about a skyscraper that used bay windows in each apartment, thus creating undulating walls across the whole building. Compression and release also speaks to the way steel and glass are molded. The 20th century brought architects to play with curvilinear walls and different forms such as molded plywood. Charles and Ray Eames were among the most renouned for their work with molded plywood, however I would like to look at Eero Saarinen's work with the Tulip Chair and his molding of plastic. The Tulip Chair was made out of one mold while many of the chairs at the time were made in parts. Without the technological advances of the war the creation of such chairs would not have been possible (Massey 155).

The new technologies brought by both of the wars in the 20th century allowed architecture and design to move forward at a rapid pace into the modernist movement. The abstraction and reduction to the basics made designers start from the beginning and build from there. Corbusier began with the basics and moved forward as did Charles and Ray Eames, both Eero and Eliel Saarinen, Alvar Aalto, and the many designers of the modernist movement. A congruence of the same revivalist architecture is seen throughout this time where architects and artists were trying to find a new architecture. The underlying factor in this is technology. Technology bound together the new concepts (modernist architecture) and the old concepts (classically rooted architecture).

Opus Week 10

Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio is a beautiful example of the Arts and Crafts style.

Craft defines a design that is made with skill and dexterity. The Aesthetic movement, Arts and Crafts, and the English Free Architecture movement focused on excellent handmade craft, particularly in woodwork and textile designs. Designs such as the beautiful arts and crafts interior of the Gamble House by Greene and Greene represent excellent craft in that each piece was made with care (Massey 22). Homes today exhibit the worst kind of craft in order to build them quickly and cheaply. The Arts and Crafts style is not cheap, especially if the design is completely handmade as William Morris advocated for throughout his lifetime. Many designers throughout the Arts and Crafts movement and it's various 'sister' movements incorporated both handmade and machine made elements. Morris's ideals were just that, ideals, and many realized that machines were not the enemy. What the design movements of the 19th and early 20th century focused on was detailed designs made with thought and craft.

An interior view of Falling Water by Frank Lloyd Wright.

The separation between public and private spaces became less defined in the beginning of the 20th century with the work of Frank Lloyd Wright and the modern movement. Frank Lloyd Wright searched for his own style as well as an American style in his work which reflects the arts and crafts style. Wright worked under Louis Sullivan and took much of his inspiration from the work he did with Sullivan and his firm. Wright came into his own however and developed a very recognizable style of his own that went far beyond the original 'Chicago-school' style of architecture. Wrights work was inspired by nature and integrated the outdoors into the interior through large windows and stone and natural materials. Through this outdoor/indoor design, Wright chose not to follow traditional home designs where living areas are specifically designed. His floor plans such as those at Falling Water have no defining walls, simply a few load bearing walls and columns (Massey 84).

The Holocaust Memorial in Berlin

Design is a visual language. It can tell a story and evoke feelings without words as art does. Two similar examples which were designed to evoke very strong emotions in the people who walked through the spaces are the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin and The Holocaust Museum in the United States. The Holocaust Museum in the US exhibits dark feelings of fear and gives the viewer the experience of being in the holocaust itself. Small doorways, sharp angles, and the use of concrete tell the viewer how cold and hard life must have been like living in the camps of the Holocaust. The use of concrete and many sharp rectangular prisms of all different sizes describes the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin. It is a "Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe" designed by Peter Eisenman. The space is very abstract and one experiences the space through it's design language. Personally I see the many blocks as representing the coffins of each individual affected by the Holocaust. It is difficult to navigate freely through the space since the blocks are presented in grid form. Some choose to walk on top of the blocks while others weave throughout the rows. The blocks are thick and heavy which represent the weight of the deaths on the German people and all those involved (http://www.holocaust-mahnmal.de/en).

Antoni Gaudi was inspired by the techniques used by Moorish architects.

Architectural techniques are passed down to each generation. Techniques that have consistently been followed throughout time are those first developed in classical Greece and Rome. Columns and decoration inspired by classical designs some of the most popular techniques in architecture alone. Arrangement of spaces has even translated from ancient times into modern architecture. The Baths of Caracalla and their arrangement of large public space inspired Pennsylvania Station in NYC by McKim, Mead, & White (Roth 505). Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi developed his famous style through inspiration from techniques of the Moors such as the 'molded forms based on curved structural walls' (Roth 511).

An early image of UNCG's Quad. Are these buildings bringing the campus historic character or simply using too much energy and not providing enough housing for our growing campus.
Virtual renderings can be very helpful because they are detailed and precise. Although many argue that they lack character and that is why students must learn different drawing techniques. The comparison between virtual and hand-crafted harkens back to the argument between handmade and machine-made designs. One finds character in hand-made and historic designs. A local issue right here at UNCG is whether or not we should demolish the historic 1920's dormatories in the quad. There is a great need for more student housing and these dorms are using more energy and space then they need to be. Demolishing these buildings would be unsustainable and would take away the architectural character these buildings bring to the university. The dorms in the quad remind the students that UNCG is a historic school. UNCG started as a school for women and now sororities mainly live in the quad, making the quad a historic home for women students. The other issue is that the dorms are not sustainable as they are and UNCG needs more dorms. Building a new dorm in a new area means cutting down trees and interfering with the environment as well, so each option will be unsustainable, we really must find the lesser of the evils.
Virtual renderings such as the one above show a great amount of detail, yet I think that hand drawn renderings provide much more character and a designer is able to express their concept through stylistic techniques rather than computer animation that is the same for every rendering.

Craft and techniques help to create a space that is narrated through a specific design language. The 20th century gave way to the development of space planning and modernism. Whithin the latter sphere of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st we saw design become a virtual experience. Many argue that these virtual techniques, although precise, are not as personable as handcrafted renderings are. Just as handcrafted is often preferred by many, so are older buildings compared to brand new buildings. As designers we struggle between following the past and creating new forms for the future and how we build these forms can be just as important.

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

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'.

Opus Week 5

The word metric pertains to the metric system. Architecturally this pertains to a system in the built environment. This week we learned about systems of vaults and domes in Italian churches. These systems were important because structurally the dome needed to be fully supported. The system of arches worked together to hold up the dome. ‘Aisle construction’ requires a space to be divided to create a central nave with aisles. The next part of the systems is to support the truss with ‘arcade posts’ and to support the wall with horizontal beams. Although this system gave the space more floor area the arcade posts seemed obstruct the space and actually make it seem smaller. A few types of medieval systems for beam construction were aisle construction, crown post construction, cruck construction, and hammer beam construction (Blakemore 75). Although many historians say that the medieval period was one that destroyed the architectural accomplishments of the ancient world, which it did in some ways, it also came up with certain systematic advances, the systems of construction being one of them (Roth 301).


A precedent is something that serves as a guide and helps justify something. In court cases precedents are used to determine the outcome of similar cases. Greek and Roman architecture serves as a precedent for many governmental buildings today. In our reading for this week we read about medieval architecture and castle building. Castles had a basic rectangular shape with towers at each corner. The center gate was the most important and also had a central tower. The Castles often had open space in the center and were not complete solid rectangles. This provided outdoor living space and a public place much like a forum or marketplace. Castles seized to continue their popularity past 1400 or so but the basic plan served as a precedent for residential buildings in France and other areas of Europe during the Renaissance as well as Baroque period. (Roth 308)


Presence means that something is in the immediate vicinity, or is in close proximity. It is also used in terms such as a building has a great presence, meaning that it is noticed and most often in a positive light. The presence of churches in medieval cities was a great one because an immense amount of work and detail went into these cathedrals. The community became involved in the building process. Masons and families gave money to the church in order to fund the building of it. As Patrick said in class, people were able to buy their way into heaven in a way if they help fund the cathedral significantly. Castles also had a great presence in the medieval world and one could say that the Kings who built castles did so in the same way Pharoahs of ancient Egypt built pyramids. Edward I built many castles and according to Roth he had four major projects going on at the same time between 1277 and 1300. Thousands of men worked on these castles just like slaves did in Egypt. These castles represented a King’s greatness just as the Pyramids did, and their scale and presence were what made these structures stand out. (Roth 308)

A moment in architecture is an architectural detail, the top of a column, the way the light enters the center of a chapel, the detail in an arch. Different people notice different moments. One person may appreciate the detail in a wall relief while the other may appreciate the rose window of the cathedral. Moments are personal and create the space. Connecting a previous weeks topic, a moment is a part of the greater whole.

Duality in architecture can mean many things. It can mean something can function as one or more things. There are many artifacts and buildings that have more than one purpose or function. Referencing our material for this week, castles dually functioned as the home for royalty and the center of a kingdom and its authoritative matters. Cathedrals function as a place for religion, sometimes there was a living space attatched or nearby where monks, priests, or nuns lived. Cathedrals also were places where people could show off their wealth. In the case of chapels, rich families were able to pay enough money to have their own chapel, showing the community that family’s power. Duality in special function was a characteristic of medieval homes as well. The residents of a home used the hall as a communal living space for ‘sleeping, dining, recreation, administration of justice, calls to arms, ritual, reception of guests, and living room’ (Blakemore 70)

Opus Week Four

Source:http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2162/1558732104_5a660032ab.jpg?v=0

This week we looked at Rome, an ancient Empire that encompassed Italy, Greece, parts of Asia Minor and the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Ancient Roman architecture has become an archetype for numerous modern building forms today. Governmental buildings in the United States are hybrids modeled after Roman architecture mainly because Rome was considered the first democratic society. Another beautiful example of modern architecture synthesizing Greek and Roman Architecture together in a hybrid of ornament and dedication to the fine arts is the Pan Pacific Exposition of the Palace of Fine Arts in San Fransisco originally built in 1915 and later reconstructed in the 1960s.

We get our inspiration from Rome; but where did Rome get it’s source of inspiration? The prototype or the very first form of Roman architecture came from the Greeks and the Etruscans. The Greeks and Etruscans were the main settlers in the Roman Empire coming from Greece and parts of Asia Minor and the orient. The Etruscans brought with them great structural techniques for architecture were very skilled builders. The Greeks brought with them the classical orders and ornament that inspired much of Roman architecture. (Blakemore 45)





One can see the source of Roman Columns inspired by the Greeks classical orders. The Corinthian and Composite order seem to be used the most in Rome. What makes Roman columns slightly different from the Greek classical orders is the columns are often plastered onto the building and are there for ornament (these are called engaged columns or pilasters). One can see examples of engaged columns right here on campus on many of the buildings on College Ave. The Pantheon is an example of columns being used as decoration for the facade of a building rather than structural purposes. As Patrick said in class, the Pantheon would be rather plain on the outside without that front facade.

An entourage in architecture is defined in the dictionary as the environmental features surrounding a building. An entourage can also be a group of people. In this context we can look at the word entourage and think about space and how people moved in and out of public and private spaces in ancient Rome. Roth says that the "shaping of space became the essence of Roman architecture." (Roth 247) Romans put great emphasis on public space and the development of their city. The streets of Roman cities such as Pompeii were laid out in block form and at the heart of the city was the forum, a public space with civic and governmental buildings. The forum can be compared to the Greek agora. (Roth 253) Much of Roman life took place outdoors. The streets and public forums were surrounded by an environment much like that of Greece, where the sea is close and the there are hills and lush mountain sides. Although a great deal of Roman life took place outdoors there were domestic homes (domus) where the Romans lived. When entering a Roman domus such as one in Pompeii a visitor would first enter at the Vestibulum, a covered area right off of the street. Then this room opened into another room called the Fauces, another small room with a low ceiling. Finally the visitor can enter the atrium, the main reception hall which is much larger and has furnishings and natural light. Rainwater would fall into a storage space in the center of the atrium called a impluvium. Then one could enter the tablinum , an area defined by Blakemore as having 'the most commanding view of the house. It is an area between the atrium and the peristylium, a courtyard with columns and garden features. Surrounding rooms are for private use only and were often bedrooms and rooms for bathing and dining. (Blakemore 49)

Hierarchy of people was defined in the design of seating as it was in Egypt. Thrones were made for the Gods and often had reliefs of spirital animals such as the sphinx or griffen. Stools functioned as 'a seat of honor and symbol of legal authority, it was used by high magistrates or by the emperor.' (Blakemore 63) Those who were allowed to sit had hierarchy over someone who was standing.

Opus Week Three

Scale informs us about what is important in architecture. The scale of the pyramids and Grecian temples was far superior to the scale of any other building forms of both ancient time periods. Scale is just as important today. The size of the U.S. capital is reminiscent of a Grecian temple sitting up on the hill side. The U.S. Capital is raised on a hill and is capped with it's magnificent dome. Although Grecian temples did not have domes they were quite massive and their columns reached towards the heavens. Pyramids were also massive and are still a mystery in their built form in how the Egyptians were able to build such masterpieces. The scale of the pyramids shows the importance of religion and the afterlife to the people of Egypt. Scale plays a significant role in the built environment allowing the viewer to understand what is important to that culture that makes up that environment.



Unity exists in architecture when all of it's parts come together to form a cohesive and concise whole. The Greeks achieved unity in their architecture in that they built into the land and their buildings were unified with their surroundings. The theater at Epidauros was built in the 4th century B.C. and is an example of architecture unifying itself witht the land. It is built into the mountain side and because it was built upwards in semicircular form the acoustics are actually quite advanced.

Sections allow us to look at an artifact or building in detail to where we can see how it was made and to better understand its working parts. Sections are a part of the whole and one will look at a building differently as a whole after seeing a section of it. One building type that is mysterious on the outside and just as enigmatic on the inside is the pyramid form from ancient Egypt. The outside doesn't give you many clues to what is happening on the inside, the entrance is purposefully hidden. Once you enter the pyramid, if you can get that far, there are many long series of mazes and passageways. Only a one or two of these passageways actually lead to something, the others are dead ends. Along the way one will encounter traps and it can be very dangerous. How do we today in 2009 know so much about pyramids? Well, I take historians and archeologists word that this is how they were built. But the most appealing piece of evidence is visual. A section of a pyramid shows the chambers and layout of the tomb. The ancient pyramids are quite complex on the inside and it shows the Egyptian's great emphasis on keeping a ruler's body sacred and out of harms way. This was done obviously for ethical reasons but mainly for religious purposes because Egyptians believed that they could preserve and use their bodies and their property (including slaves and wives) in the afterlife. The pyramid form speaks volumes about the beliefs of the Egyptians and how far they would go to protect the dead.

Boundaries are constructed in society for many reasons. They can either welcome or hinder a person from entering. In the case of the pyramids the entrance was made to hinder any person from entering the tomb. The entrance to a piece of architecture informs us about who is welcome and who should keep out. The White House is blocked off with a large fence on all sides. The White House can be viewed at a difference though saying that democracy and the President are in reach of the people, but it is under a great deal of security. Homes in the south often have large front porches and stairways that become wider towards the street making the home seem more welcome to visitors. Some boundaries are meant to block off people from entering and even viewing an area such as the Berlin Wall did. It represented the divide in the German governments and it represented the fact that Stalin wanted nothing to do with governments going against the soviets/communists.



A Vignette is a glimpse into a moment in time. It is a drawing or illustration that fades off at the edges and is not a 'complete' drawing. Vignettes tell a story by placing certain images together and by making those images the center of the vignette and the less important parts fading off the edge. It is a less formal style of drawing and it brings character to an illustration. One could say that the boundaries are implied and there is not a complete sense of unity but it is more of a detailed moment.

Overall this week has been about understanding how to approach design from different points of view. One must define the boundaries of a design project. The scale of a piece of architecture is very important because it defines the importance and the usage of the building. A building has unity when all of its parts such as scale, detail, structure, and space work together. A vignette and a section of a building or artifact takes a look at the piece of architecture usually after it is erected. The vignette and section are the detailed moments of the piece and these are just as important as the whole.

Opus Week Two

Illuminate
Light and the environment determine how we orient our buildings on the land. Architects today do not think of the environment and light as thouroughly as those from ancient times. For example, the architects and planners for the Cliff Palace dweling in Mesa Verde, Colorado (Roth 138) thought about the environment quite extensively. The Ancestral Pueblo Village known as Cliff Palace is a village built into a rocky mountain side. The sun passes through the opening in the winter to heat the village yet there is a cliff overhang that protects the village from harsh weather and the scorching sun in the summer months.




Light is also a source of spiritual meaning defined in everything from the pyramids in Egypt to Le Corbusier's Ronchamp. Ancient Egyptians had a strong belief in the afterlife. Pyramids represent a Pharoah's legacy that he left on earth. They hold and keep safe all of a pharoh's worldly possessions and his body so he can use them in the afterlife. A pharoahs pyramid was his own sacred structure and not only did he want to show off his legacy but a pharoh usually wanted it to be spiritually sacred. The sun god Ra is one of the ancient Egyptians most important Gods and he is represented by the light used to showcase the structures. A beacon made out of gold was often placed at the very top of a pyramid so that the sun would illuminate down onto the top of the pyramid and down the sides. Le Corbusier's Ronchamp church has many openings for light that shine in a create an ambient and spiritual atmosphere. Such light allows for the people inside of the church to reflect and transend spiritually with ease. The judeo-christian God is also represented as light in popular culture. People use the idom "I'm going to see the light," saying they are going to go see God or in other words, they are going to die soon. Light has a sacred meaning to almost all cultures and numerous religions and this is reflected in the architecture we see around us, especially buildings for worship.


In ancient egypt the pyramids were built with a white polished stone in order for them to stand out against the sand. . The Egyptians were very smart because this is how they illuminated their important structures before electricity was ever around.We illuminate the things that are most important to us today as well. The Empire State Building, The White House, and many famous buildings are highly illuminated at night in order to show their importance.
Light has a functional purpose as well as a figurative purpose in design.

Idiom
Idioms are figurative phrases that are defined by the cultures in which they are shared. If you say that someone "kicked the bucket" you don't literally mean that someone kicked a bucket but figuratively you are saying that a person died. If you say this phrase to someone who is not American and is not familiar with such a phrase they might be very confused. Idioms can be thought of in a physical aspect as well. This week we have looked at ancient building practices and the mysterious and monumental structures of the ancient world. When we see a structures such as Stonehenge it is an idiom to us because we are a part of the modern world and a completely different culture so we do not understand the design language of the people of the ancient world. Archeologists and Historians do their best to find why and how buildings of the ancient world were built. The buildings and ruins of the ancient world are all that are left of these people. Their structures tell their stories, some are more defined than others, and some are a complete mystery such as Stonehenge.

Commodity : Firmness : Delight
Taking elements from ancient structures and learning what works and what doesn't work helps us in the overall design process. Architecture is never defined as one movement and then the next, there are many layers, stories, and factors that must be kept in mind. Societies and the environment in which these societies are established define where we go in architecture. So many factors come into play such as the social moral, philisophical beliefs, art and music, and political state of a nation at the time. All of these factors effect how we build certain buildings and why. For example, today there is an energy crisis and people are FINALLY realizing that we are destroying the earth due to our careless consumer habits. More products than ever before in the modern world are using recyclable and earth friendly materials. Green buildings are in demand and more people want to do their part in improving the way we build things and treat this Earth. So while the commodity of many new buildings today is to create a green/eco friendly environment the firmness and appearance of the structure is just as important. New building technologies are being utilized in order to protect our buildings from earthquakes and other disasters. Furthermore, many of the green buildings I've seen are not your traditional building with moulding and columns, they are often sleek, modern and use different products and materials that not only are eco-friendly but are quite beautiful as well. The reason why many green buildings are so modern could be that architects want to show that eco-friendly materials can be just as good (if not better) as the materials that made modern buildings before that.
Architects today have the biggest challenge of all because they must make buildings functional, stable, beautiful, and design them in a conscious matter that is good for the earth.

Material
Today we use different building materials such as adobe for homes in hot and arid environments because they work with the environment and help keep the harsh elements out and the energy that we want to use in. Solar skylights allow light to come in to a room without having extreme heating issues from lets say an entire wall of windows facing the sun. Ancient Egyptians used the stone surrounding them to build most of their buildings while other societies used wood. Materials in the ancient world depended upon the environment in which a society inhabited. Today there is a massive world for trade and materials can always be exported. Nevertheless, it is cheaper and far more eco-friendly to use local materials. There was trade in the ancient world, in fact, the Nile river was the center for trade in Egypt, the Silk road a place for trade in China, and goods and materials were often transported through these highways of trade.

Sources-Roth & Blakemore

Opus Week One

A large theme in the book Understanding Architecture (Roth) is the idea of commodity, firmness, and delight in architecture. Firmness refers the structure and many architects like to play with the idea of buildings being firm, or the opposite of that. Curving undulating walls, glass boxed buildings, and many other tricks in architecture try to create an image of a building that is not simply four heavy walls and an entrance. Also architects and artists alike enjoy playing with the idea that a piece of the structure is just barely holding on or about to fall off the side. This can be better explained visually with looking at Paulsen and Gardner's Shapero Hall Pharmacy on the campus of Wayne State University. The "heavier" and larger elements are on top of the smaller structure and visually this makes us wonder how the top elements are held up by the smallest component. Strucurally architects can do this up to a certain point when built correctly.

My second image on this page is referring to Roth's discussion of delight in architecture. I drew the image of Notre Dame de Chartes from the book. I could look at this piece of architecture for hours because it is so complex and as Sir Henry Wotten calls it, delightful! I love how the two towers carry similar elements such as the bottom half of the towers have similar openings. However the top of each tower is drastically different and this makes the building much more interesting and I think beautiful.

The idea that architecture is not architecture unless is delights is based on people's personal opinions. What makes the delight of St. Basil's Cathedral any different from the color murals on dirty city streets? I'm sure that St. Basil's would amaze me if I saw it in person more than a simple mural would but a mother who's child helped paint this mural may find more delight in the more meek piece of architecture than the grand cathedral.






The reading from Roth also talks about proximity and negative and positive space. Positive space is one that takes up a space that was negative or bare beforehand. Negative space can be compared to hollowing out a cave for a dwelling. It takes an already existing solid and hollows it out. I am not in any studio courses so I am able to relate this part of the class to my sociology class when speaking about personal space. Architects and urban planners must always keep in mind how much personal space people need and cater to that need when planning a specific building. When on a crowded subway car many people are fine with being quite close to one another because it is the cultural norm. However, if one goes to the opera and pays a nice amount of money for the tickets he or she would not want to sit as close to the person next to them as they might on a subway car. It's all about the environment in which you are at the time that determines whether you will be comfortable being close to someone.

Finally tying back to where we started in class with the Golden section/nautilus shell I see there are many layers to architecture as a whole that we can pick apart and look at individually. We can look at the social and psychological implications, the artistic and visual aspects, or the structural and functional aspects. Some people might see a very plain building by Le Corbusier as the ideal form of architecture while others might view the Amiens Cathedral as the best. We are all entitled to our personal opinions because there are far to many layers to architecture for us all to agree upon.