Alternatives Unit Summary

This past unit has been about alternatives. Previously we studied the foundations of the design world established by the Grecian and Roman rational designs. This unit was on the times following the Greeks and Romans in which the ideas of what was known was challenged and new possibilities tested. After the fall of the Roman Empire the Church took responsibility for reassembling order for the West. The church therefore became a representation of community and regionalism for the West and in turn took on renovations in design aspects. The Church had a large courtyard in front leading to the entrance of the church; the interior experienced a major crossing in space and the place for alter was an aedicule. The church had a Romanesque style with applied columns, arches, an oculus or “rose window,” spire(s), and an ornate front façade. During these Dark Ages, the Church took a new form known as the Gothic style cathedral. The gothic style church was created in massive scale with an emphasis on height, which was an alternate way to portray the idea of bringing heaven to earth. The gothic era also transformed the classical orders, stretching them to appear as if they could continue into infinity. An emphasis on light was born in the gothic times. Before, light was used in oculus’ to give connection to heaven; the mood created by light and the way in which light allows one to see things was explored during the gothic age. Following the gothic age was the Renaissance or the rebirth and revival of ancient world models. The Renaissance brought about humanism and reconnection to the natural world. Florence is credited for being the epicenter for this rebirth. The Renaissance was significant because of its revival of the ancient ideas and writing them down as design rules. Out of the Renaissance came the duomo in which the largest dome space was incorporated into design. The largest dome space of this time was Santa Maria del fiore. The restoration of the importance of geometry in design led to buildings with parts making sense to the whole. Many buildings took the front façade of an ancient temple form and superimposed it to the rest of the building which often disappeared in a vernacular language as opposed to recreating an entire structure like that of the ancient world. As a result of Humanism and the importance of the mercantile industry, living spaces were created around the industry; palazzos were created so one lived about their industrial space. After the writing of the rules during the Renaissance, individuals became curious as to creating alternate means of design by breaking the established rules and testing the waters of their boundaries. In this there was the gothic voice with the classic voice with emphasis on movement and fluidity. Designers such as Michelangelo provided an example of one testing the waters of design; he incorporated ambiguity and free form into his designs as well as visual illusions while using symbolism and ideals of the classical era. The designer Bernini then came along and completely turned from the rules and created alternate means of design; he used curves and deliberate complexity and ambiguity in order for the viewer’s eye to never rest while looking at a structure of his. His style of design became known as Baroque style of design. Roth says that baroque was derived from a Portuguese word meaning misshapen pearl; and baroque design had an emphasis on appearance, yet not a perfect appearance. In the baroque era, the designers went beyond the rules, captured motion, and was based on emotional versus rational. After a short time of appreciation of baroque design, the ideals of the Renaissance were once again in demand. The alternatives of the baroque design was too much for the West and they intended to rewrite the rules of the Renaissance with slight modern twists, however, the classical form from the initial design foundations was predominate over the outside-the-box ideas. With the coming of the French Revolution, baroque design was no more.

Opus Week Eight

[Re] vision. Revision is the revising or renewal of what was known to be previous knowledge. Revision can be for the better or for the worse. Revision can lead to a circular effect, or a cycle; one idea may develop into another idea through revisions, and can be revised back to it’s previous state. Augustin Charles D’Aviler stated that “’it is an error to constrain oneself by the rules, when one can make new ones’ (Roth, 397).” D’Aviler is reinforcing the concept of revision, he is claiming that it is insignificant to abide by the written down rules of the Renaissance when one can revise those rules or change them to suit oneself. The Baroque form of design was a form in which did an extreme revision to the classical rules; basically did a 180 in terms of design. Baroque architecture was based off a Portuguese term meaning misshapen pearl (Roth, 398). Baroque design challenged the classical forms of style by creating fluidity among the forms. The eye was led to travel vertically and horizontally and in curving forms, in other words, the eye of the viewer was constantly moving. This was the intentions of the Baroque form of design. Roth says baroque design was “made deliberately complex (398).” This revision to the classical forms of the Grecian and Roman design to the baroque form was the western peoples testing the boundaries of what was seen as architecturally correct in a sense. By the end of the nineteenth century, however, Baroque design experienced a revision of its own: there was a desire to be pulled back into the box and revert back to more of the classical forms in a modern way. As Roth says, “the pendulum was swinging back to the rationalism of the Renaissance (435).” The irony in the term revision is created when you look at in as re-vision, or a repetition of a previous vision; in the case of classical and baroque design, the irony was reality. There was only a short time where the west veered from ancient ideals and then they reverted back to the classical forms, however with slightly less dramatic revisions. Outside of architecture, revisions are occurring all around us: revision in class of papers, revision of clothing styles, revisions of video games, revisions of political operations and revisions on economic stability. Revision is all around us, it consumes us because things are constantly changing. Once again, the irony of revision is evident in clothing styles, the plastic jewelry and shirt dresses, and cropped pants are returning in the present from the 80’s as well as the old school styles. And perhaps President Obama will see again see a vision from JFK’s New Deal to aid us in our current economic decline. It will be interesting to see his [re]visions.
This is the pendulum Roth was speaking on swinging from the baroque style back to the Renaissance.


Audience. Audience is the group to which a decision is comprised around. An audience is often the most important factor when it comes to design or writing. The audience determines a person based on their works and therefore their presentation must be suitable for their audience. In design, King Louis XIV wanted to prove to his audience his authority and his power through his palace at Versailles. The entire presentation of Versailles was for his audience, the French people and outside nations. Versailles was consumed by displaying power and it was solely to recognize and celebrate the King. His palace was a statement of his absolute monarchy role in France at the time, the King said “’l’état c’est moi (the state is I)’” both verbally and symbolically through his enormous palace at Versailles (Roth 420). Flaunting for an audience was King Louis XIV’s approach towards his audience, the designer Michelangelo Buonarroti related to his audience in his design of the Laurentian Library Vestibule in a different form. He was displaying the significance of the library to his audience through his architectural design of the staircase. The staircase had a sense of ambiguity through a sort of waterfall effect which in turn said to his audience that the library was pouring forth knowledge. Along with the design of the staircase, the actual existence of stairs also spoke to the audience by symbolizing that you had to work hard to achieve knowledge, somewhat like a one-step-at-a-time approach to knowledge. In writing, the author must be aware of their audience, whether it’s an e-mail to a family member or a formal paper as a school application, or even a blog entry for a course at school. The author must be aware of their audience and respond in accordance to what society has deemed the way to behave when communicating with audience X, Y, or Z. In drawing, the audience somewhat takes the backseat, but remains existent in the artist’s mind; it is a form of self expression and frankly doesn’t necessarily HAVE to appeal to an audience for personal art, yet mainstream artists do have to consider the people in which they are painting for, or the people who will be viewing their piece…their audience.If I created this piece with the intentions of posting it in a retirement home, my piece would be unsuitable for my audience. In creating this, it was important for me to keep my audience in mind.



Character. Character is the presence to which a piece or a person carries. Character is an adjective to describe such presence. The character of a piece can say a lot about the designer; and the character of the designer can say a lot about the piece. Going back to Louis XIV and Michelangelo… his strong power and arrogance sense of character led to his massive, elaborate, Louis-consuming palace at Versailles. Michelangelo remained quiet in his design for the stairs at Laurentian Library, or in his painting of the Sistine Chapel, or his creation of David… he let his pieces speak for him through the character or presence to which he incorporated into his designs.





Transition. Transition is a movement from one known existence to another. Transitions to me go hand in hand with revisions. A transition comes with time and brings about change and movement. In the idea of evolution, human beings experienced transitions from primates to humans. Girls experience transitions into womanhood through their development of menstrual cycles. People transition from helpless infants, to walkers, to puberty, to adulthood, to mid-life crisis, to becoming a senior citizen, to helpless yet accomplished human beings. In music, it’s the movement from one piece to another. In art it can be a texture change, a color change, any sense of movement across the page. In essence, in order for there to be a transition, there must be movement of sorts. In architecture, there are major and minor transitions. I feel over time the major transition in architecture were the movement from abiding by the natural environment to defying the natural environment. Other transitions throughout architecture were from cave peoples to Greek, to Roman, to Medieval, to Gothic, to Renaissance, to Baroque, to Enlightenment, to the technological era. A transition can be for the better or for the worse, but change must occur.



Datum. Is an individual piece of information or data; it is also an axis to which a measurement is made. I feel that during the time of the baroque form of design, the use or thought of using datum is less important, that the emphasis was on ambiguity versus uniformity (Roth, 398). In baroque design, the rules of the Renaissance were disregarded and therefore the mathematic and systematic approach to design wasn’t focused on.



The grammar: syntax week I found the discussion of Michelangelo and his works very interesting, most likely because of my interests in art. I enjoyed dissecting his pieces and interpreting the ways in which he tested the boundaries and broke rules. I feel that without breaking rules you never really know what else is possible and what else is out there. Personally, I did not like much of the baroque form of design; I felt it was too heavy and ornate. While I did like the concept of causing the viewer’s eye to move, and causing them to become engaged in the piece, I felt that the movement and fluidity was emphasized to the extreme. I found the Sant’ Ivo della Sapienza’s dome not appealing to my eye, it seemed too busy to me. I tend to appreciate the geometrically fitting and symmetrical pieces because while my eye still travels across the structure, I also realize the genius that had to go into making the piece pleasing to the eye. I am glad the baroque form was just a phase and that designers reverted back to the classical rules.
This is the Sant' Ivo della Sapienza and it's dome, which isn't my favorite...

Precedent Analysis

1. Sketches:
a. Georgia Dome Floorplan I (Pen Ink on paper)
b. Georgia Dome Individual Floor Drawings (Pen on Paper)
c. Georgia Dome Dome drawing I from underneath(Pen on paper)
d. Georgia Dome Dome drawing II aerial(Pen on Paper)
e. Georgia Dome Aerial View (Pen and water color or colored pencil on paper)
f. Georgia Dome Entry way( pen and water color or colored pencil on paper)
g. Georgia Dome front facade (pen and water color/colored pencil on paper)
h. Georgia Dome detailed view with dome removed (pen and water color/colored pencil on paper)
i. Georgia Dome dome detail drawing (pen on paper)
j. Georgia Dome detailed dome process (pen on paper)

2. Outline:
I. Introduction
a. Establish what it is/ its use
b. declare designer, location, construction year
c. thesis
II. History
a. history of the football team
b. history of the dome
III. Design Process
a. explain design process of the dome in depth
b. explain the seating in contrast to the field
IV. Relevance to the Design World

3. Questions:
I am a bit worried whether I will be able to find enough clear images of the floorplan and construction of the dome.

Opus: The P Week

Periphery. Periphery can be defined as the outlying boundary of and area or shape. In architecture, it is critical to work in accordance with the periphery, or the outer parameters instilled by nature or other forms of boundaries. An example of a city/location which has a strict periphery to abide by is the city of Venice. Venice is surrounded by water and their architectural limits must work in accordance with the natural limits. Many natural forms seem to make architectural endeavors impossible, but over time, people have learned to adapt to their natural limits. Venice has learned to adapt to the rise and fall of the tides of the sea by creating higher stoops to entry ways. Also, the peoples from Venice accept the tides and continue their daily lives despite the rise of the sea. Peripheral vision is the side vision or the outer most images available to the visual spectrum, or the boundary to which the eye is able to see.




Portfolio. Portfolio is the accumulation of works to make up an entire vision of work. A portfolio is usually organized and provides clarity to what is perceived by the author to his audience. In architecture, this may include floor plans, sketches, accent ideas, dimensions... The criteria as to which a desired outcome is planned and made possible logically on paper. Being an artist, my senior year in high school I was to create an art portfolio in my AP art class. My portfolio was comprised of all my works of the year, including my concentration pieces which all were related and my breadth pieces showing my abilities with other materials. My concentration pieces were all progressing forms of body art from more traditional to modern using text, warm colors paired with grayscale. To me, the concentration form of my art portfolio is what I think of when I consider an architectural portfolio. I feel that it is comprised of many works to establish a central goal, and is tied together with related elements. My art portfolio is something that I am probably most proud of from my high school career, and that also makes me assume that an architectural porfolio is dear to the designer and has had many, many hours invested in it. A portfolio is a clear representation for others to see the thoughts and intentions of the designer.



Process. Process is an event or happening that is achieved over time. When I think of process or a process I think of a passing of time, no process can be achieved at once. The Renaissance was a process that sprouted from Italy. It was not as though the Roman Empire falls, then there's automatically the Dark Ages, and then in a days time that turns into the Gothic era and then soon after the Renaissance. There was a process leading to these different stages in time, architectural styles developed and ideals changed from the classical time to the Renaissance. The process included the use of arch systems and orders and domes, the intentions or goals became altered and the technological abilities improved. Also, the construction of a form in itself is a process. There must be the ideas, the portfolio, the technoligical abilities, the peripheral allowance, the commodity, firmness, and delight to be determined before the ground is even broken and the structure built. And the building itself is another process, from the foundation, up. Nothing in architectural history or in the theory of design is capable without the undergoing of a process, whether substantial or not. Being an artist, my pieces were a process as well; from the initial goal, to the plan for the design, to the intital ground breaking or the beginning of the drawing process, to the adjusting what has been begun in the creation as opposed to the vision, to the final, complete piece.



Perspective. Perspective holds several definitions or forms. Perspective can be defined as the way in which an individual perceieves what is before their eyes. Despite the intentions of a designer, the perspective of the viewer in their own hands. Perspective makes me think of the phrase "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Different angles of a structre can aslo be a way of looking at perspective. The designer should consider the delight from different angles, whether its elaborate or fluid, but it is important for different angles to be visually pleasing.
Also, perspective can be a form of drawing. In my drawing class i have learned drawing in one-pint and two-point perspectives . This enables you to draw one or two viewing angles on a two dimensional sheet of paper to make a three dimensional appearance.



Professional. When I think of professional, I think of the quality of a work. The more professional, or the more clear the design is, the more seriously it is to be taken. By taking a professional appeal to a design, the audience is more likely to respect the designer. Also, professional refers to the intelliegence of an individual with their profession. A professional individual also has respect because of the way in which they carry themselves.

New Precedent Analysis

Building Selection: Georgia Dome
Project Director/Leading Architect: Scott Braley
Completed: 1992
Location: Atlanta, Georgia

Because I couldn't go with my interest in art with the Guggenheim Museum, I have decided to research my interest in football through the Georgia Dome. I have not been able to see the structure in person, having seen pictures I have become intrigued by the massive size of the dome and how one would go about the construction of it. Through my precedent analysis I hope to learn the design process of the base as well as the dome, and I am interested to learn the effects of the Georgia dome to the design world. Because I am not familiar with the design world, other than the previously learned foundations unit, I feel this project is an opportunity at connecting the many little parts to the big picture. Perhaps after studying and becoming so familiar with the structure I will be interested in visiting it in person and I may gain an appreciate for the design process of a dome structure.

Opus Week Six

"The most conspicious property of Carolingian and Romanesque buildings is their combination of massive eclosure and manifest verticality. ...So the Romanesque church is simultaneously stronghold and gate to heaven, and the two main building types of the period, the church and castle, are profoundly related."

Christian Norberg-Schulz,
Meaning in Western Architecture, 1975 (Roth, 301)

"The Gothic church...stood for the Heavenly City of Jerusalem... [and] was a monument that seems to dwarf the man who enters it, for space, light, structure, and the plastic effects of masonry are organized to produce a visionary scale. There is no fixed set of proportions in the parts, ...and no standard relationship between solid and void."

Robert Branner, Gothic Architecture, 1961 (Roth, 301)

Porch: Court: Hearth
Porch is the part of a structure where transition is ensued along with a place of gathering. The porch is often found just before then entrance to a structure making way to the world of the structure as opposed to the outside world. The idea of a porch is credited to the Greek civilization, in which the temple form provided the earliest examples. The porch of a living space would be a porch itself, a patio… some form which leads to the entrance, providing the place of transition.
Court is the passage way in the structure which in a sense connects the structure, drawing one to the hearth after parting from the porch and entrance. The court in the early temple form was the hallway which led to the alter. The court in a living space would be the hallway and the den.
Hearth is the central place of focus in a structure, the place in which one gathers in and is the emphasis among which people are drawn to the structure. The Greek temple form provides the example that the alter was the hearth of the building. In a living space, or home, the hearth would be the kitchen, however Frank Lloyd Wright claimed for the hearth to be the chimney.
The earliest model of the idea of porch, court, and hearth would be the Megaron, which stated before, was the early Greek temple. The porch, court, and hearth also somewhat marked the start of a holy place being open to the public and providing order to which the public is to approach the hearth, or the central essence of the building. Since the Greek civilization, the idea of porch, court, and hearth can be traced in all building forms since Grecian times. The Romans continued these ideals, and in turn heavily influenced Western civilization, which fed to the rest of the world.


Composition
The composition of a structure again provides evidence for architecture being an art form. This is because the composition is the plan at which the structure is to me composed of, or build around. Just as any piece of art, the composition determines heavily the delight of the piece. Visually, the composition can either please the eye or distraught the eye. By creating the floor plan, the composition can be visualized, and the delight can be determined. As an artist, I am to focus on what I am going to put in the space I am given and to determine the emotions I want to inflict on the viewer; before I begin the construction of the piece, or intertwining the use of the elements and principles, I must first organize my piece in a way pleasing to the eye. Often, a sense of balance or rhythm is killer in providing a strong composition. These same concepts can be applied to the creation of a structure. Composition became important in Grecian times, and was emphasized heavily in the turn of the medieval times and into the Renaissance. This is apparent because of the emphasis on symmetry and geometry.


Diagram
Diagram is putting the composition ideals into drawing, sketches…diagrams. The diagram is similar in essence to the floor plan of a structure. A diagram makes possible the ability to visualize on a smaller scale the composition of a future structure. The more intimate the diagram, the clearer the structure, the clearer the composition, the clearer the aspects of delight. In the design process, composing diagrams are essential in the beginning to determine any other factor in the process.


Impression
Impression can be taken in a couple ways. Impression can be similar to the presence of a structure; it’s the reputation in a sense of the structure. The impression of a structure can help one determine the hierarchy of the building, the importance of the building, and the emotional connection between the viewer and the building. Just as a person inflicts a first impression when meeting another, a structure inflicts a first impression on a viewer. This once again relates to the composition and delight of the structure. A sense of balance and unity can give off a more positive impression than an unbalanced, non-unified piece. Impression applies to both the interior and exterior. The Gothic style church is a huge example of a visual impression on a viewer. The massive scale, immaculate arching system, front façade, and geometric angles provide a visual impression on the viewer, upon which the viewer themselves determines the impression. Essentially, the Gothic cathedral’s visual intentions were: to back up the reality that the church had reestablished order, to have a tower imposing the idea of the structure reaching heavenward, to have light in the interior to insinuate the emotion of a somewhat heaven on earth feel.
Impression can also be a design method. It’s something which is embedded in a sense into a material. As opposed to adhering material to material, the use of impression is a subtractive way at creating a certain texture or some form of ornament.


Details
The term detail is found in so many fields. Details, to me, are the icing on the cake. They determine the impression of a viewer; they make the many parts of a structure feel whole. Details are not necessary in a sense but once details are added they seem necessary. Without the heavy, ornate four petal flower design on Cologne’s flying buttresses, the buttress will seem lacking…having seen the buttress with the detail. The rose window is not necessary but it seems as though the Gothic form of cathedral would almost be incomplete. It’s the details which make a piece memorable. The front façade of a Gothic cathedral begins the emphasis of detail defining the structure. The ideals of intricate detailing continue and are almost perfected in the Renaissance through geometry. Once again, the importance and use of detail in a structure, both in the interior and exterior provide evidence for architecture being an art form. Details of a piece indicate a sense of communication in time of the construction. During the Dark Ages, details in the interior and exterior of a structure composed of images depicting the end of the world. Because of the anticipation of the millennium and the thought that the year 1000 would be the end of the world, much of the architecture of this time had details depicting this thought. The Sainte Marie church in Souillac has forms of people in fear and suffering, indicating the time in which the church was built. Through details, millennial observations are portrayed, and times of construction are as well. Details were also used to emphasize the idea of visual language; churches often depicted biblical stories through visuals. Once again, these details were not necessary but enhanced the structure as a whole.




This week has helped me begin to visualize the connections between bits and pieces of emphasis when it comes to architecture. Each of the terms this week, minus porch:court:hearth has had some sort of connection with another term. I am beginning to see a somewhat cycle in architectural forms. After having learned the foundations of structural forms in the early design world, I am able to see correlations between changing time periods. The general idea of the early ideas are there, these populations are now adding to the established ways…or creating alternatives.

When considering the communication between churches, the visual and structural ideals provide evidence of similar influences across countries. The use of the arch system, crossing vaults, the ideas of a tower (wu-wu) be built, the emphasis on the front façade, the vertical emphasis, the buttress system, the rose window, the four petal flower are all pieces of evidence which show the communication between the countries during this time period. The portraying of light varied from the cathedral forms, but the idea of creating heaven on earth was the same. Cathedrals were ways at deciphering regions and they each had their own personality, however the intentions of the impression were the same, the structural ideals were the same, and there were little details shared among the cathedrals.

Castle:
Horizontal Emphasis
Contains chapel
Courtyard
Outside of City
Protecting towers (Roth, 307)
….”rectangular solid or a hollow, marked by corner towers and a prominent central gate tower.” (Roth, 308)
Available for military efforts



Church:
Rectangular bases, incorporated dome form (Roth 131)
Groin Vaulting
Vertical Emphasis
Inside the city, marking the city
Open to public




Both:
Interior uses vaulting and arch system
Massive scale
Use of prominent towers/ spires
Pilgrimage church also marked by towers on the corners (St. Michael)
Have commodity, firmness, delight

The church of Saint Micheal shows the similarities between the castle and church. It shows the adoption of the 4 towers on each corner providing protection and portraying the look of a safe place or fortress. Like the castle, the church was to represent a stronghold because of it's pressure to reestablish order after the fall of the Roman Empire, so the common castle form evolved into the holy, church form at the time as well. Latterly, churches had a central tower, which once again created a place of power and a stronghold.

The sketches below was my way of seeing the relation between castle and church. Sorry they are unclear.

The foundations unit covered the early civilizations’ impact on the architectural world of today. After the early developments of Stonehenge and caves, civilizations began to create large architectural forms. The Egyptian peoples began early architectural forms such as the temple. They established the idea of social hierarchy displayed through structures for the public to see; the higher a structure was the more social significance it held. This was expressed in all forms, including both the interior and exterior of structures. Latterly, the ideals of social hierarchy would also be expressed through intricacy of a structure. The social hierarchy also expanded from inside a community to among civilizations, which thus created a sense of competition; who would create the largest structures and their ability to expand and defy nature would express a hierarchy across civilizations. The Greek civilization fed from the Egyptian architecture as well as expanded on it. The Greeks believed in reaching the idea of perfection, and through this foundation of the temple design was created through the use of orders. The orders themselves experienced expansion as far as detail as a result of the earlier mentioned competition for hierarchy. The temple structure related to the Stonehenge because of its religious intentions but this form emphasized symmetry, balance, and delight to one’s eye. The Greek civilization also developed the idea of a porch, court, and hearth in an architectural form; the Megaron was the early form establishing this ideal which is traced in all buildings since Greece. The porch was a gathering place for the population or a place of transition; the court was in a sense a walkway or pathway leading to the hearth, or the central focus of the structure. In a religious place, this would be the alter. The acropolis is perhaps the greatest example of the main foundations created by the Greek civilization. The acropolis portrays the idea of visual perfection and symmetry through the Parthenon, it portrays all of the popular forms of orders, the introduction of massive scale through the propylaia, the ideals of porch, court, and hearth, as well as architecture becoming a place of gathering, also found in the propylaia and erechtheion. After the Greeks came the Roman Empire, who added to the earlier established Grecian foundations. The Romans continued the idea of competition and because so they took the Grecian forms and added to them, showing their power. The Roman intention was to express their power through their architecture. The Romans expanded by introducing the use of concrete and the vaulting system. They expanded the possible forms and uses of buildings, and they also had a technological breakthrough through the construction of the arch. The arch paired with the dome are what I feel are the most significant structural foundations the Romans established. Also, the Romans introduced the idea of going against nature, or defying nature. Their arrogance and sense of power was also expressed through their defiance of the natural world; they building straight roads, creating bridges when needed, they also built the amphitheater which didn’t go with the earths curves. The Romans also valued size, to them, size mattered. As well as delight, or ornament. The ornament of a structure became the essence of the structure often times. This became the foundation for latter churches which used ornament to portray a visual language and to place emphasis on the structure. The Egyptian, Grecian, and Roman civilizations build upon each other while also establishing the foundations for Western civilization architecture continued through to the present.