point: alternatives

In the alternatives unit, we began discussing not only buildings, but furniture much more than before. We went over Palladio's villa rotunda and how it's the most copied building in the world. We arrived at a place in time where people began actually writing about architecture, including Palladio's The Four Books on Architecture. To some, the writing becomes more important than the buildings, and architecture itself. Going through Palladio's design process of the villa rotunda step by step, we begin realizing the notion of centrality. The circle in the center is different and stands out from the rest of the building, and is borrowed from antiquity. The structure begins to resemble a compass in a couple of different ways; the way in which it appears in plan, and the way borrowed elements from the ancient world directs us back to the ancient world. The dome is centralized and is reaching heavenward with a vertical axis. This notion of "reaching heavenward" has been seen before. The villa rotunda however, explores a new notion of a facade on all sides of the compass, which breaks away from the traditional single facaded building. Having included the verticality reaching heavenward, and the facades on all North, South, East, and West sides of the building begins to show Palladio's idea of the perfect world.

We also discussed palaces in more urban areas. As in the villa rotunda, the facade becomes a very important part in the building. The facades of these buildings speak a language of symbolism. The different use of spaces in the building are clearly seen on the facade, which faces the street. The facade appears "rough" at the bottom, and moving to the upper levels, becomes "smooth". The bottom level is typically used for storage, the middle for entertaining, and the top for sleeping. The facades of not only palaces, but government and public buildings as well gives a sense of civic pride. Walkways are covered as you travel through parts of a city.

We discussed and analyzed furniture much like we did with buildings, without distinguishing them in regard to form, but focusing on the design aspect. Furniture reinforced the architectural style and period through including the same elements and geometrical forms. An abundance of items or things throughout the Renaissance led to an abundance of furniture to store them in. Much of it was disguised as being storage devices, but rather pieces of art. In viewing images, scale was often hard to dictate due to the level of detail and the elements of architecture depicted as with columns and pediments. We discussed not only furniture for storing things, but also chairs, tables, other pieces. We saw a lot of wood inlays of different colors and different types of wood. This was used in creating different designs, showing contrast, and also creating borders. The location of furniture almost always lined the perimeter of rooms when not in use, and were moved elsewhere if they were being used.

The alternatives unit covered Renaissance, Baroque, and Rococo periods. We learned about the language in which design speaks to people, different cultures, and places in the world. This leads to the discoveries of new ideas, being inspired by different places, and the movement of ideas and objects throughout the world. We also came to terms with the fact that we are still stuck in the renaissance in 2010.

http://www.bergerfoundation.ch/Vertige/images/img028.jpg

I believe this image sums up the unit by the way it flows, relating to the different types of architecture talked about and how they build upon one another and flow into a new style. 

reading comp. 4

[1]

Classical elements can be seen throughout. Buildings are symmetrical. When not in use, furniture lines perimeters of rooms. Places borrow and share elements from others. Rooms are oversized and often highly decorative. Characteristics include light scale, mathematical proportions, and geometrical forms. All buildings are symmetrical. Horizontal lines appear on facades representing different floors. All buildings have an emphasis on the entrance. The most common way of expressing this was with porticoes, with the exception of the Russell house. Although the Russell house lacked having a portico, it was still successful in having a defined entrance. This was achieved through having a gate with oversized columns on either side of a walkway, the walkway then leads one’s eye to the front door which stands out in a couple of different ways; the pediment and columns surrounding the door emphasizes it, and there’s contrast among the painted white surrounding the door and the red brick. With most of the artifacts being highly decorative and full of ornamentation, all serve a purpose and are functional.

[2]
Furniture arrangements support room function. Vernacular forms of local materials are used. Houses and furniture are simple. All houses show a strong emphasis on horizontalness. As can be seen in the parson capen house and other New England houses, the upper floor is projected beyond the lower, these are “jettied” floors. This is a technique to avoid sagging. It also creates a horizontal line on the façade representing different floors, much like the lines talked about earlier from across the Atlantic. Box and simple geometric forms are seen in houses and furniture. Horizontal and vertical lines are seen often. “From the time of the Egyptians up to about 1750, monumental Western architecture in any given time or particular region was relatively uniform.” Roth, p441

[3]

Inspired by Frescobaldi's Balletto Terzo and taking from Palladio's villa plans, this is the plan I chose to design. Architectural proportions are argued to be derived from music ones, from that; Palladio came up with ratios as to how rooms should appear in plan. I feel this plan fits best with what was discussed.


[4]
Baroque is said to be the age of theater. I do believe the architecture and design stands as a form of social performance. The Baroque period, in contrast with the renaissance, captures movement. This is seen through all examples of baroque architecture. Theatre of dramatic lighting and color can be seen in Michelangelo’s Laurentian library.

Point: Foundations

Foundation [Merriam-Webster]: 1: the act of founding; 2: a basis (as a tenet, principle, or axiom)       upon which something stands or is supported; 3: an underlying base or support; esp: the whole masonry     substructure of a building; 4: a body or ground upon which something is built up or overlaid

http://www.rama-arya.com/image_library/egypt/pyramids_saqqara1.jpg

The Foundations unit covered various building types, including some that are more than extraordinary. They baffle our minds as to how these magnificent structures were built. This leads me to an important issue, we as designers and appreciators of design should question how these buildings were constructed, and what kind of technology was used in accomplishing these tasks. I believe this unit served as a [foundation] to future architecture and design. Both through the vision of the use of stones, stone being what our present day structural foundation consists of, as well as the different building types introduced giving foundations in design which are still in use today. 

The unit included methods and techniques such as stacking. Stacking can be found in the stepped pyramids serving as a memorial or tomb. It is also seen in the Great Wall of China, where the wall is used to mark a boundary between two empires. This is a great example of how architecture can be used in a more abstract way of storytelling. The wall tells us there were political and social issues among these two empires. 

Male: Female 

The subject of male vs. female was discussed, with one case being the observation of differences between the Pyramids of Giza vs. Hatshepsut's temple. In comparing these two, the first thing to point out could be the fact that the pyramids "stand out" and Hatshepsut's temple seems to "fit in" with the natural environment. We're also dealing with polytheistic religions where there's an established dominance with male gods over  female gods. 

Real: Ideal 

The Minoan and Mycenaean periods took hundreds of years to reach the "ideal", which was the Hellenistic that lasted only 470 years. The Minoan and Mycenaean were formed by the Dorian, Ionian, and Aeolian people. Following this, the [Megaron] was introduced. The megaron began being a 3-sided structure and ultimately ended in the temple form. This being the [Foundation] of classical architecture which was carried onward to present day. 

Greek palaces were very colorful during this time which is a bit contrary to what we see today. Orders consisted of the Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite forms, all of which were getting bigger and more detailed as time passed. Temples were built to give eternal respect to those gods or goddesses for whom they were built.

As you wander outward from the "center", you begin to discover where a lot of breaking-of-the-rules and innovation was happening. The center being the major cities where the majority of development was happening.

Rome essentially included the first vision of focusing on horizontal design. A technological breakthrough arose during the Roman time. This discovery, the [arch], and the widely use of concrete lead to various new building types. The arch, which can be seen in almost all examples of Roman Architecture allows for a much bigger space inside buildings. Then came the dome which was derived from the arch, it essentially was an arch which was rotated about its axis. Bread and Circus structures are seen often throughout Roman Architecture. These were recreational buildings that were designed to help relieve the people of what was going on regarding governmental issues. 

One last thing I would like to include is the discussion on the triumphal columns. These columns, such as Trajan's Column were used as memorial storytelling devices for the leaders they were built for. The more powerful the leader, the bigger and taller the column. A theory which has been passed down from the late David Niland tells us these columns, or Wu Wu's, resemble a part of the male anatomy. Wu Wu's can be found almost everywhere we look. We use these vertical elements everyday as landmarks or for example, as a reference point to guide us in an uncommon city. Below, I've included an image of Professor Niland himself in Disney World and highlighted in red are different examples of Wu Wu's. 

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5241904&o=all&op=

1&view=all&subj=111413342252261&id=574636327

The theories of design were taken and succeeded by foundations; building blocks in which architecture and design could be built upon. This unit covered an entire host of things including: different methods and building techniques, symbolic reasoning for design, cultural issues, and the overall development of design and architecture dating back to Ancient Egypt moving forth through Medieval Architecture. 

Reading Comp. 3

Cologne:Salisbury
The innovation of using pointed arches and rib vaulting allowed the use of more windows and less structural elements. More windows led to more natural light flooding the interior  space which was very important in the Gothic Era. "stained glass filtered and transformed sunlight so it symbolized divine illumination" as quoted by Roth. The use of glass also created a new way of telling stories. Roth mentions how all other parts of the building tell stories and with the addition of colored glass depicting stories from scripture, the entire building then becomes a Bible for the illiterate. I find Cologne and Salisbury very similar regarding the use of light. Light is of extreme importance during this moment in time, it helps give insight towards a better and [brighter] future. An outlet of less than stellar conditions which were taking place through this time period we're speaking of. Light has taken a vital position in Gothic Architecture. It's uses in the era grow to entail a whole host of things, including but not limited to: natural daylight; an illumination that brings you closer and connects you to Heaven; a story-telling device, breaking away from the sole use of concrete and stone alone to tell stories; and of course the aesthetics of the divine beauty these stained glass forms created.

Cologne:Amiens
 The "Dark Ages" was a time where cultural and economical conditions suffered greatly. Given these circumstances, this period was surprisingly full of structural innovations. A few reasons for this: the people were confident in getting through this hard time; as Roth said, "people looked to temporal life with greater anticipation"; and the church continued to be the "unifying agent across Europe", therefore the buildings which excelled the most were the churches. This bit of information leads me to the assumption that the people involved most were both those who were average civilians and those of higher power in the church. 


Cologne:Florence 
Comparing Cologne and Florence, there are many differences that can be seen. The intersection of the nave and transept show very different conditions. There is this space with several possibilities and Florence for the first time shows the use of a dome. This illustrates the opening into the Renaissance and ending of the Gothic. 




The room in which the woman is working is probably a multifunctional room. There is perhaps an area for sitting and a place for sleeping. It appears to be made up of stucco walls. The windows continue to repeat throughout the room. 







 

Reading Comp. Two

[1]
George Hersey's the lost meaning on classical architecture is a brilliant composition of his understanding through research on culture and how it so greatly influences classical architecture. He begins with the tree and moves on to such things as relating a tabulatum to an offering table. A holy tree, which is extremely sacred to the Greek culture. The Greeks surrounded early structures with trees and columns were originally constructed from wood. Hersey digs deep in the cultural and mythological reasons and influences on architecture. It's something i've never before thought of but through reading his text, I find great validity in all of his arguments. He presents wonderful evidence for everything he speaks of. 

[2]
Macaulay's Motel of the Mysteries tells a story about how a man would discover present day situations as ruins in the future. His understanding of his finds are completely distorted from the truth. This man, now can go about misleading others with his own generated perception of what he [believed]  happened at the Motel of the Mysteries, much like the internet today. The internet is a wonderful resource we have today. I would, as well as most people i'm sure, would have a difficult time without the internet at our fingertips. The internet however, can be extremely deceptive. When you base all of your information from the internet, it's possible you could be gathering material posted by someone like the man in the Motel of the Mysteries who shares information based solely on what he [believes] to be true. One could avoid this by having a balanced library of resources i.e. books, internet, periodicals, and videos. then compile this and be sure you don't have contradicting information. 


[3]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Hephaistos.temple.AC.02.jpg

The Egyptian and Greek culture and architecture had many commonalities but they also had a lot of differences. The Egyptians focused more on repetition and symmetry. They had geometric and stylized naturalistic designs. They tended to use a lot of color. Greece focused on proportions and order. Their temples paid more attention to the exterior more so than interior. 

[4] 
The temple of Queen Hatshepsut and the pyramids for other pharaohs are similar in that they make a statement and they both reek power. Hatshepsut's however, is built in to the side of a mountain almost as if it were intentionally trying to fit in. This reason somewhat could be that the mountain is already there, so use what you are already given and built onto the mountain. The problem with that though is I believe if she wanted her temple to stand out like those of the pyramidal forms, that is what she would've got. She perhaps wanted to be more subtle in the design. Regardless of how subtle it may be, it is still a magnificent structure. I think it may even be plausible to compare it to present day civilization; men want these huge hummers, 70' boats, and mansions, which all are to stand out and make a statement that everyone can see. Typically these things aren't what woman fantasize about. So maybe looking at in this way is what the thought process was back then. 

[4]

Harwood's examples of Egyptian furniture describes it being made from things such as: wicker, ivory, leather, linen and other delicate materials. Comparing furniture to tombs, tombs are made up of stone and other heavy materials. Perhaps the reasoning behind this is that tombs are built from these massive and statement making objects such as stone to: 1.) show divine power from the exterior and 2.) these materials are suitable for their eternal purpose. Furniture is built from precious materials which was probably preferred by whomever the user may have been. Furniture didn't have to withstand weather and wear and tear as the tombs did. 

[5]

Both images listed has meaning of what's going on regarding gender. The one on the left has what appears to be a young male of some power position with a woman greeting him, or presenting something in front of him for his approval. This could also be a slave of sorts serving him. The second image has an older male who looks to be of higher power with two women, both of which appear to be serving him. 

Point: Theories

The theories unit covered material on practice <opposite> theory, culture, the design cycle, foundations, alterations, reflections, and explorations. We discussed how these played a major role in the conceptual/idea stage, the completed stage, and the life span of design. 

Wotton dubbed good design having commoditie, firmness, and delight. Having discussed this in great detail, we learn design should include function; a church should be designed so that individuals are able to worship. Function however, should not be so basic. Worship does not require a "St. Peter's" to worship or any building of any kind for that matter. A designed church although, should have seating and perhaps a pulpit. But digging deeper, there is more much more function to be thought of. First, how is the building designed to create good acoustics? If the space is rather large, the voice of the preacher or priest or whomever it may be should be well distributed throughout the room. Visual contact is important as well, by raising the pulpit, or raising the seating row after the next so that someone in the back row is able to see down to the pulpit. 

Architecture is a part of design where time, geography, and culture are all tied together. Various cultures have their own unique way of creating foundations for design and building. China, for instance, focuses on ordering systems such as axiality and hierarchy. This was embedded before conceptualizing of design began in lieu of designing first, and come up with ways of incorporating this afterwards. Before the easy access of trading information through internet and visits across the world, cultures would over time come up with new, innovative ideas on how to improve their current design strategies. As seen in nature and dealing with biometrics, when there is growth on the inside, there also needs to be growth on the outside accommodating that which is within. 

Culture is important in design, culture can also be broken down into subcultures. An example of this would be something one thinks of to be great, because it gives them enlightenment (culture), on the other side, the person who thinks in a negative way about this something is the subculture. 

Architecture includes aedicule in more situations than what you would think. Aedicule is implied space created by a form. When sitting at Frank Lloyd Wright's table in the Robie House, the high backs on the chairs creates an implied space, a room of sorts within the table you are sitting. This, i think is a great example of how aedicule is used in architecture. 

As alterations were mentioned before, they are seen all throughout the design world. When something is invented or discovered, it seems that alterations or advancements never end. There are constantly ideas brewing up for a new and better way of making something function better, make it stronger, and to make it look better. Examples of these can be seen everywhere you look. In order to advance , there is often times of failure. Depending on how you look at things, if you're a optimist or pessimist. Failure can be good, very bad, or not even exist at all. Cell phones are interesting regarding their rapid advancements. There is constantly new technology available for cell phones. Overtime, there has been the ability to make them extremely small. This can be very convieneint as far as putting it into a pocket but there's a point where it gets too small. This has been recently, people don't want a phone there're unable to dial a phone number on because it's so small. Manufactures once had a goal of reaching the smallest possible, now that it is achievable, it's no longer the goal. 

Architecture of Happiness

     "[Beautiful] architecture has none

     of the unambiguous advantages of

     a vaccine or a bowl of rice"

          -Alain de Botton, The Architecture of Happiness, 2006

http://www.visitingdc.com/images/st-peters-picture-2.jpg

Achieving [Architecture of Happiness]. Is it possible? I believe St. Peter's Basilica is a perfect example. From the time you arrive, the Colonnade welcomes you to enter as if it were opening it's arms to you. Once inside, despite the height and openness, it gives a feeling of security with massive concrete columns. You feel comfortable surrounded by gold with a breathtaking level of detail. The monumental Michelangelo dome which floods the space with light seems to bring you closer to the sky, helping you to forget about failure and realizing nothing is impossible. 

De Botton talks about how a building, or architecture can help alter the mood you're in. This is very true, I can only imagine the level of astonishment one gains when exploring St. Peter's. [Architecture however, cannot be expected to suddenly make all of the unhappiness you exhibit disappear]. At this point, begin thinking; if architecture can't make you happy all of the time, what can? Anything? A spouse, a car, a tv show? Unhappiness is inevitably going to occur. If you happen to be within beautiful architecture as this moment happens, don't blame the architecture. Having said that, [architecture can create [happiness] only to a certain extent].