Williams, Heather IAR 221 Blog Post 7

Sources: The Architecture of Happiness, Alain de Botton

Williams, Heather Reading Response 7

Sources: A Global History of Architecture, Francis D.K. Ching; Understanding Architecture, Leland M. Roth,   http://www.kinabaloo.com/fce.html

Williams Heather, IAR 221 Blog Post 6

These two show the height of the
towers reaching toward heave

Cologne is constructed with many columns to support the height of the structure. It has two towers directing focus on the entrance instead of portraying one tower as a central point.  The taller towers need more material to support this structure from the bottom and it becomes thinner up toward the top. There are direct paths made as you go into the building because of the axis made by the towers on top that lead you first through the front doors. The towers are extended upward toward and pointed on the top to point towards heaven and reinforce the idea of no boundaries because the line towards the sky and to the heavens never ends. It is an axis to infinity

                                                       The inside showing the stretched

                                                                              height becoming thinner towards the top

The cathedral in Salisbury, England frames the entranceway by the width of the building creating an essence of holiness and importance on entering through the doors.

The picture on the left shows the width of the front which is used to frame the entrance and the One large tower marking the central point of importance extending toward heaven. The picture on the right shows the tall expanse of the building upward similar to the cathedral in cologne.

Both the Cathedral in Cologne, Germany and in Salisbury England use massive structural features such as the height of the building. They both represent the idea of no boundaries and infinity with the towers pointing toward heaven: the Cathedral at cologne uses two of these to frame the entrance and the central point. The Cathedral at Salisbury uses instead, one tower toward the heavens marking the central point.

Williams, Heather IAR 221 RR6

Sources: A Global History of Architecture Ching Jarzombek Prakash and Understanding Architecture Leland M. Roth

Williams Heather IAR 221 Unit Summary

    Unit 1 describes the way humans naturally encounter the cosmos through constructing towns and civilizations around a center point of importance. I am going to focus on the importance of having ritual centers of ancient civilizations. The beginning of China’s Civilizations included a Niuhealing Ritual Center which was located along the Loaoha, Yingjin, and Daling rivers that empty into Boai Bay. These were burial mounds and altars dating around 3500 BCE located in the center of the town (Ching 8). Our group focused on Mohenjo-Daro. In Ching pages 30-31, it is described that the area was prone to flooding which is why they built it on fired brick to protect themselves of water even thought this area receives very little rain.  This represents the fear they had of the water. The neighborhoods were set up so that all houses were facing toward the inner center of the town where a public bath was located, “The Great Bath of Mohenjo-Daro”. “Mohenjo-Daro was raised high on a platform of bricks to disperse the floodwaters through a series of culverts […] Burnt bricks lined the pool while a layer of bitumen waterproofed it” (Ching 30, 31). This represents the ritualistic value the water portrayed in the city as well as fear. Roth talks about the humans creating Stonehenge by following the stars and mapping out how they wanted to represent them. This is another example supporting how humans wanted to portray an idea through their architecture. They show how important the center element is to them by surrounding it with their towns.

This is an image of the Great Bath at Mohenjo-Daro

It is constructed of fired brick and represented in the center of the town as a main focus enforcing the importance of water in ritual.

Unit 2: Humans noticed connections made through things such as the sun and moon, which are representative of circles; groups: groups of trees, and also stacks, mountains where all things came together in one place. The ritualistic importance of circles, groups, and stacks is represented through early attempts at building and then rebuilding through environmental influence passing on rituals. “The upper surface is divided into forty sections, corresponding to the celestial zones of the Etruscan pantheon; these have the names of gods […] one of the words used to descrive this liver was templum, which could refer o the sky”(Ching 100). This is a quote describing the thought behind Etruscan religion and building. The Etruscan ach represent signs manifested in the sky to the gods. They used their religion to form their structure enforcing their beliefs.

The Pantheon

Week 3 deals with the way structures are built to enhance their perception. The Parthenon was constructed on a inclined verticle axes of the perimeter columns of the Parthenon. “forty-six perimeter columns was tilted slightly inward, with the corner column tilging on a diagonal. If the columns of the short sides were extended upward, they would meet around 4.8 kilometers above the roof (Ching 130,131). This explains how the Parthenon was created to seem grander for the god Athena. This also relates to how the statue on the inside of Athena’s temple had a statue of Athena holding a regular sized person in her hand to emphasize the large scale and importance of the statue Athena. As stated in Roth’s text on pages 226-227, the Greek public buildings were constructed with columns down the middle to support the roof ad small chambers along the back for offices, similar to the layout of the Parthenon.

The Parthenon

Week 4: Diverse building types in Rome represented power and made trade routes possible through their engineering. The colosseum in Rome was constructed around the time Rome was at the height of its power. A new central bath was rebuilt (Ching 178). “By the 2^nd century CE, the Roman Empire extended as far north as Gaul and across the channel to England” (Ching 194). The great expanse of the Empire was greatly influenced by the technology they acquired to transport water. It gave them power because they had the ability to make water go where they wanted it to go. Roth describes the large public buildings that Romans built also representing their gained power. “They had large interior volumes with concrete vaults of interior space” (Roth 264). Every roman city had at least one theater that was ramped up on tiled vaults raised on stone piers. These theaters were a large part of Roman architecture that represented great volume and power.

The Roman water system. This image shows how it was constructed of arches. The point of these arches were to be able to spread a larger distance of weight through and down the sides of each vertical section in order to use much less materials and weight over large distances. This water system gave great power to Rome through their ability to control the use of water.

Hunger in Rio de janeiro

 For my project I want to make a dining space in Brazil near the equator for homeless families. There are a lot of homeless families in Rio de Janeiro because it is such a large city. The kids try to get drivers attention in the street for food or money for food.  The streets here are very crowded so a lot of the time the kids are hit by cars for being in the way when the light turns green, or for being in the street while drivers are running red lights. The numbers of homeless families in Rio are greatly rising because the cost to rent an apartment for the month is more than what a Brazilian would make in a month on minimum wage. The self-interests of the economic elites are too strong to prevent deaths among homeless families in the streets of Rio. Instead of helping these families, police in the area harass them. I plan to design a space for the homeless people to dine in and also others interested in preventing families from being homeless and without food.  I want to bring awareness about the event through the use of social media to bring attention to others who want to support the event and help stop the government from taking homes and from these people and not allowing them to have jobs or eat. The space I started is about 17 feet wide and 23 feet long. This is area will have a table that is about 48” by 72” that is actually 4 separate tables, each being 36” by 24”. For the table I wanted to use either a light colored wood or a type of stone, marble, or granite because these materials are more common among the area. Also, I wanted to use a warm color for the walls and add in large floor length windows or openings with no glass so they can be experience the outdoors, but be comfortable in a space with a roof.  I want to decorate with plants from the area that will make a contras between the warm colors and create a calming feeling. I want to incorporate food that Brazilians commonly eat so the food is familiar to them and a lot of fruits.

Williams Heather IAR 221 Reading Response 5

Fire Temple in modern-day Iran (Ching 234)

Architecture of structures has changed throughout time based on religion. They began with having an arch shape, to a square structure, and then to a square structure containing a circle. An example of a first attempt of this building in the text by Ching are the Zoroastrian Fire Temples built around faith. "The role of fire in the religious services was mainly symbolic and served the purpose of consecration, much as the cross does in a Christian context"(Ching 234). This quote from the text represents the importance of religion in ancient structures. In these particular temples cult statues were removed and rituals were  performed which lead to the chain of these Fire Temples. Another example of the way religion shapes architecture is represented in Agenta Caves on page 235 of Ching's text.
These rock-cut structures are representative of the journey that a Buddhist takes in reaching nirvana. For example, the structure is in 3 sections: first, you enter at the porch, and then circumambulate around the space. This direction is provided by the paths made by the columns, and leads you to the inner sanctum where the cult figure is found. While physically taking this journey, buddhists are also representing the journey to nirvana. Many columns on the way are carved with symbolic representations where the buddha reached enlightenment as well as the stupa. I found this interesting because compared to these ritualistic structures, our structures today have little meaning and are constructed poorly for their purpose.

Interior of Cave No. 19 at Ajanta (Ching 237)

I wanted to relate this buddhist structure to the My Son temple in Da Nang, Vietnam because this temple is also cut from rock and is constructed to serve a ritualistic and spiritual purpose. This is found on page 283 of Ching's text. This temple is a Hindu temple that also represents a trip to higher spiritual knowledge. To support this, the temple is made of three stories representing kailasa, the abode of Shiva, and they walk around the temple clockwise and then go up the stairs to the next level on their way to meditate to Shiva.

In the text by Roth, it explains how the fall of the Roman Empire lead to Christianity through Constantine. "At first, there was no need for specialized architecture, for the small Christian groups adapted their worship to the available spaces in private homes"(Roth 279). This quote shows how christianity, the ritual or belief, came first and shaped the architecture after around specific purposes. Buildings were constructed to allow large numbers of people to use the building and space was enclosed to allow people to hear words being spoken and for the sound of the psalms they sang. This relates to the same way the Tire temples, the Ajenta caves, and the My Son temple in Vietnam were constructed because they were all based around spiritual purposes and ritualistic practices.

Williams Heather, IAR 221 Blog Post 5

Edward T. Hall : The Anthropology of Space

Edward T. Hall talked about the way space affects human behavior and how our behavior then in return affects the design of spaces. He started by talking about the differences in culture and how spaces are made. For example, in Japan, homes are not categorized by their size or grid of the area; they are placed according to date, when they were built, and order, which came first. Roads of Japan and India are examples of something poorly designed for their function. In india the roads fail to separate walking and vehicle traffic. Poor design in America starts with poor consideration to the needs of the people occupying the space. Instead, Architects design things based on materials, the given space that exists, and previous knowledge of the environment and spacial structures they have always experienced. This leads to design that does not consider the people who will be using the space.

People are shaped by their surroundings, and in return, they determine how their surroundings will continue to be constructed. An example of this by Hall: The seating situations and the likeliness of conversations among people sitting there were recorded. There was the most conversation among those who sat around a corner to each other and then second to that were people who sat directly next to each other. There were no conversations among people who sat across a table. This is probably because we have been shaped in our society to feel boundaries and keep in our own space. To feel that we can talk to someone, we must feel that there is no boundary preventing that or it would seem inappropriate. The people who were sitting across a table most likely felt the boundary of the object separating their space from the person across from them. The people were sitting right next to each other had a smaller boundary because they were not separated by an object, but their seating position lead them to feel a vertical boundary, like an invisible wall in between them. They were able to make conversation despite this boundary, but it was uncomfortable to do so. The people sitting across a corner were positioned in a less structural position so they were less likely to feel boundaries preventing them from talking to the people who were seated comfortably in talking distance.

The movie Barbette's feast represents the importance of design when experiencing a social situation. The room where the dinner was prepared was plane and kind of dark, but the table was well lit and thoughtfully set. The placement of the candles to provide light and the way the table was arranged with such importance, made the atmosphere feel enjoyable to the experience. The table was arranged so that the people were able to make conversation across it contributing to the experience.

This article made me think of my friend who is from West Africa. The customs their are very different from America because people do not feel social boundaries the ways we do. All people of the same town  feel they are apart of one group instead of being individual strangers. They will talk to anyone like they have known them forever because they have grown up without these boundaries.

Williams Heather IAR 221 Reading Response 4

A couple examples of Roman Arches represents the advancement in technology and power to Rome

Arches were important to the construction and technology of water transportation in ancient Rome. This system represented power for their empire because they were able to control the direction of the water. This also corresponds with the idea of mapping out cities or buildings with walkways providing a space where we are to walk.

The use of arches was a big step forward in technology for the Romans because they were able to support more weight and make much longer bridges across an area because the arches were much wider than columns so this hollowed out excess weight and the weight from the height of stacked arches was pushed to the sides and directed down the center of the vertical axis. This is much more economical than the use of columns because it would have taken about four to five columns to hold up the weight of a distance that one arch supports. 

This is an example of to archways before an entrance. These arches are not holding anything up but themselves; however, the represent how the technology of an arch uses them to distribute weight through the sides. 

Williams, IAR 221 Blog Post 4

Civilizations can be built on and focused across an axix. This is important to the structure of the corresponding spaces and the aesthetic quality. An axis gives balance, unites the area, and gives direction. An example of an axis that is off is the EUC and the walkway leading towards the parking garage area. They are slightly off center. The entrance to the library demonstrates examples of ionic capitals that support the curved roof over the porch area. This corresponds with the circle entrance in the EUC and also if you look directly across the axis, you see the Home economics building and this is on axis. It also repeats the theme of columns.

On the left is an example of the curved inside of the EUC before the hallways repeating the curved entrance to the building on the right. The entrance is curved tall glass, and the inside repeats this pattern by having an axis in the middle of the area within the circle and the floor patterns.

 The axis that goes through this one is on the music building and education building. This axis shows the main, most important even of the university. This means the most important buildings to the university are the library, the home economics building, the music building and the education building. So they are on this axis although they are not located directly in the middle of the school.

Theory Reading Feb 4

In reading Designerly Ways of Knowing, by Nigel Cross, the most effective way of designing is to start anywhere and put down your ideas. Often this is dont through drawing, which quickly puts down ideas and details. The drawings are not necessarily going to have anything to do with the final product, but to get to a more developed idea a designer needs to draw out their ideas or make models of them to decide on the next step in the design. In design i have found it most helpful to make models of my designs first to get a better understanding of what my idea is, and then make drawings of different ways to represent the idea and adding in details, then making some more models. The best way to learn design is through designing things and creating things yourself. Learning from text books about other designs and designers is helpful because it teaches you about how they find their inspiration and where they took their ideas, but the best way to learn your own way of forming an idea and finding inspiration is the best way to learn to turn it into something meaniniful and useful. Design is not something that can be done by computers becasue artificial intelligence does not have the type of intelligence necessary to understand art and design. Computers may be able to memorize information and provide data, but they are no substitute for the natural intelligence in art and design.