Williams Heather IAR 221 Blog Post 14

My favorite object is an hour glass because they represent thought in time. They make me think of the people who first began recording time and they give the essence of being trapped in time. Similar in design, we are designing things based from our history because with time, there is always history.

Favorite place: The sky. The sky has no boundaries and makes no sense. Everything came from the sky.

I like that the sky brings so many questions because it is unknown and only imagination can possibly begin to see it.

My favorite buildings are buildings in construction. I love to see the process while buildings are being built and see the materials they use to make them. Also, it is tempting to climb up them because there are so man places to climb on.

My favorite place is inside an airplane because they are not new technology, but the idea of building something that humans can fly across the sky with is cool. It makes me think of cars and streets operating in the sky.

Williams, Heather IAR 221 Unit Summary 3

Industrial Modernism Merges with Nature

The Barcelona Pavilion in Barcelona, Spain by Mies Van der Rohe represents modernism that was based off  of aspects of nature. It took various elements from that natural world surrounding it to organize the structure of the building, placement of walls, and types of materials used. For example, The outside walls are made fully of glass panels so that you are able to see directly across the top of the tree line out across the forest. This creates a horizontal line which is then repeated through the walls that are wide and horizontal in placement but also emphasize verticality through reaching from ceiling to floor. When someone is experiencing this structure from the inside, their attention is directed through the glass windows by the horizontal walls leading your eye toward that direction and the outside view is of nature. This design by Mies van der Rohe was a new attempt at modernism for him because he generally looked toward the more industrial types of architecture staying away from nature as an inspiration. However, in this structure, he places a newer importance on the visual aspect of the materials used and how they correspond with the idea of nature or how the horizontal and vertical lines of the structure enhance and draw attention to nature. This space is open and uses different wall lengths and placement to direct circulation through the space and enforce what an observer will obtain from experiencing the space, similar to how nature is organized in its own way, but organized through different levels and placement of elements.

Brazil’s Foreign Ministry was inspired by concrete slab structures. It is a representation of industrial architecture by its concrete and rod structure but it is merging with the Barcelona Pavilion’s inspiration through nature. This concrete slab structure was created in an expressive way stretching concrete and rods thin to create expression through form. It is an expressionist sculpture sculpted from concrete and band steel. Overly detailed designs have been left out to portray the actual materials used structurally and was intended to represent the future of modernism by creating something that technology previously could not do which is one of the main focuses of modernism: to create something that could not have been done before through new technology.

Brasil’s Foreign Ministry’s intent was to inspire advancements in modernism by using new technologies, sculpting concrete slab structures, to create expressionistic works. It builds from the idea of using the simplest form of design and builds it from the root of that idea to create cleaner more straightforward design. It leaves out all extra materials and portrays the structural material as beautiful. The simpler form of this structure merges with the idea of using nature as an inspiration. The structure by Mies van de Rohe reinforces the idea of modernism beginning to look toward nature for inspiration and coming up with the most stripped away and simple aspect of an idea. Building from the simple lines of nature and representing its materials not literally, but more geometrically and using this to encourage observers to understand that the structure is about the root of the elements it is suggesting and an attempt to go toward the cleanest form of design that has not yet been influenced and altered by something or someone else. Therefore, this structure is representing what the newest form of modernism is all about. The materials are geometricized and polished, but they are natural. The actual material that is used is displayed and not covered by paint or drywall.  I think one of the most important focuses of this unit is how modernism has evolved to be about coming up with the simplest form of an idea and making it geometricized and organized but taking simple aspects found in nature. The actual material used structurally is used also aesthetically using the simplest form and not taking away from the importance of beauty of the natural materials while it is still organized and polished to keep simplicity. Mies van der Rohe explored new ideas as far as enhancing nature for the focus of his structure. This was a new approach to modernism and it steps away from simply trying to industrialize buildings without thinking about their functionality. This is where modernism becomes about inspiration from nature, because nature is the simplest thing to look back to and take ideas from and often overlooked. 

Williams, Heather IAR 221 Reading Response 13

Brazil used modern architecture as a form o national identity. It was meant to be accessible by the whole country and mainly by airplane. It was based on habitation, recreation, work, and circulation. The buildings are concrete slab structures and use steel, giving the impression that it has been stretched or bent. This was something that required new technology and represented the future. The glass windows and sleek surfaces are also a representation of modernism. They have taken out the overly detailed designs and let the material be the focus of the design, while the idea of using materials in a way that was perviously not possible represents the idea of future. Before, they did not have the technology to sculpt a building out of concrete and bend steel to make expressionist structures. Architecture has become an art form through the materiality of the structure and the emphasis on shape, expression, and materials of the structure.

Williams, Heather IAr 221 design star philosophy discussion

Education is important to interior design because it is important to be knowledgeable about a lot of different things in order to make your own decisions about how to come up with new design that incorporates history and meaning instead of simply putting things together that look good, because that does not look good and has no value. We need to look at history in a way that helps us to create our own history instead of blindly throwing things together because we are short on time. Great work takes a great amount of time to come up with and thought. It is important to not take the time and thought out of our work.  Credentials help you become more trusted in design. Although i do not think credentials say a whole lot about a designer because this simply shows that they have worked other places, it does not show much about their intellectual ability to design especially because the people who look at their work and give them the opportunity to obtain credentials are often blindly following design trends. However, it is important for a designer to gain a lot of experience and work through jobs in their career to become more experienced and while doing this, also gain credentials which will help them get better jobs and higher pay.
   Taking a holistic approach to design is important to get things to flow together and have one overall main purpose. Without one main purpose, the meaning is lost and random things end up getting thrown together to make a whole. Designers should bring a lot of different experiences and life skills to a profession because it is important to know about a lot of things to be able to truly design for a lot of things and give the design meaning and history. Media causes a lot of problems in design because people simply copy what they see on TV or in magazines and throw stuff together. They end up following trends instead of making their own work because this is thoughtless and takes little effort. In order to truly create your own meaningful work you have to look at history and search for the root of the issue, what needs to be accomplished and the root meaning or idea that you are trying to portray. A perfect example of an issue is music today. Everyone loves this music but they do not even know why they like it. They are blindly following this trend as the "musicians" themselves. The are producing music that they know will sell instead of creating their own work. Artists today do not want to take the time to create and write meaningful work and the one who do are unnoticed. This is in return supported by the consumers who appreciate and seek this kind of meaningless work. People today are supporting bad work. They don't care what it means or the hard work put behind it. They simply want things done quicker and media and trends are reinforcing this problem. Media is not necessary for someone to be a good designer. instead they need to become knowledgeable about history and how to portray it in their work in a more simplified but functional way.

Williams, Heather IAR Blog Post 13

Dulles International Airport Eero Saarinen

This structure represents the use of concrete and steel used in modernism. It uses this idea of simplicity in materials and surfaces but creating interesting shape in the structure. It also shows this through the glass walls. A lot of modernist structures have the appearance of being all glass. Here this whole wall is covered in large windows. modernism shows an attempt to go back to simpler materials and simpler shape. Instead of covering up, they perfect the lines in concrete or steel to not hide edges. Instead they show off the steel and concrete as the materials used. This is a good example of modernism because it is not impractical to the people who must use it. This airport is functional and it is nice to be able to see the view of planes through the tall glass windows, even the view of the parking lot.  Being in the building gives a very open and large feel which seems also to have a lot of importance in modern design. I think the main and most important part of this structure that represents modern design is the uncovered material used.

Williams, Heather IAR Blog Post 12

Senegal, a city in West Africa represents good design because it is focused around the needs of the people who live there and communication instead of simply the way it looks. It is crowded, but this is so that everything is very close together so people can communicate with each other. They rely little on communication through media and electronics and instead have more face-to-face communication. The homes and neighborhoods are all very close to each other so that you can walk down the street to visit your neighbors. They are a more community driven society so they meet with their neighbors often instead of sitting at home talking through computers. Also, because this community is so open and close together, it is common for everyone to talk to everyone. There are less boundaries about who is acceptable to talk to. People here are already considered to be friends even if they have never met before. People will walk down the street and talk to anyone who is there and go visit people's houses without having to call first and this is not considered rude. To them this is friendly and keeps relationships among humans important. The layout of the city is practical bringing people together and encouraging socialization of people within the community. People are not left out and gather together regularly. They treat guests as family and serve food if someone is walking by and is hungry. I think this is an important way to look at design because instead of focusing on the aesthetics, it focuses on the needs of the people, socialization and relationships, and is designed around how to solve this issue and the importance to their culture being social and gathering with friends and family. It is more personalized and values humans instead of  simply material things. They focus on the root of the importance of their culture in their design.

Williams, Heather IAR 221 Reading Response 12

This design was a new attempt at modernism. In the past, Mies van der Rohe designed harsh industrial architecture, but when he designed the Barcelona Pavilion, he instead put importance on the visual aspects of the materials and the way the space was arranged. He used different levels and walls that were  not full walls to allow the space to flow and be open, but still give a sense of space. He uses a marble wall to separate one space and this material is polished so attention is drawn to the material representing nature. The first picture shows how the horizontal planes lead your eyes to the windows to a view of nature and natural light. Also, the green marble represents the forest in the view behind it an extreme way, making nature more geometrical to translate it into a modern form of design. The structure is based on taking elements from nature, such as the different planes, the rich colors, and natural materials, and constructed them in a geometrical way that does not literally copy nature, but it represents nature symbolically and suggests to you to look out through the windows for sunlight and to observe nature.

Williams, Heather IAR 221 Unit Summary 2

     The Dome of the Rock is important to Islam and Christianity. It holds a rock at the center, which is the highest point of Mr. Moriah where the prophet Muhammad went to heaven. It symbolically represents upon which the world was created and is also the place of Abraham’s binding of Isaac, from Christian belief.  It also represents the idea of the heavens in both faiths because of the importance of the center point through the dome.

      

Meridian Gate

      The Meridian Gate, the entrance to the Forbidden city, aligns with the city’s enclosing wall and moat. This Gate physically and symbolically connects the people to the city on its axis. The building itself brings people to an understanding of a universal soul because it represents the idea of connecting beyond, similar to people moving forward spiritually. This gate connects people physically by bringing them together and symbolically by the idea it portrays of a universal spirit.

The Taj Mahal in Agra, India

 “The Islamic Garden of Paradise is a reinterpretation of the Garden of Eden from the Old Testament” (Ching 508). This shows the attempt at symbolizing heaven on earth by creating perfect symmetry in the gardens and the structure of the Taj Mahal. It also represents the connection people had with this architecture because it symbolized the idea of heaven to them, and the idea of moving to a new life.  This connects people through the symbol of the structure.

Tempietto; Pietro in Montario Rome

   This Structure also connects humans to a more spiritual world through architecture. It is built in perfect symmetry, representative of perfection of the heavens, and has a center dome with a cross on top pointing upwards emphasizing the heavens. The windows were meant for a person looking out to be able to see the sky, also connecting people through the world, or another spiritual world through architecture.

The Crystal Palace

   The Crystal Palace was created using iron bars and glass panels filling the spaces of the walls and ceiling. It was also built around the existing environment and able to be disassembled later so it would not cause any harm to the area. Allowing trees to remain in the structure, and the open glass ceiling, gives the people inside the space a connection with nature and the outside environment.

Einstein Tower, Potsdam by Erich Mendelsohn

   “Architecture is much more than a utilitarian appliance- that it can and should be primarily a vehicle for evoking emotional, even mystical states of experience” (Roth 535). This quote referring to the structure Einstein Tower by Erich Mendelsohn represents how architecture is used as a way of communicating emotion, ideas, and energy that cannot be explained with words in physical form. This structure was built based on sketches he made that used different line thicknesses for emotion and to represent a certain feeling. Because of this, it is able to connect the people who observe this structure by communicating and evoking emotion and inspiration.

      Each of these structures represents the impacts architecture can have on humans and the connections they make with it. For example, the Meridian Gate brings the people of the city together and at the same time symbolically suggests the idea of humans coming together in a later life. Although these structures serve very different purposes, they are all connected to each other through the way they act as a connection between the earth and the heavens and portray these thoughts to people observing them.
     Each of these structures were built with thought towards religion and symbolic references that they wanted to portray. The Taj-Mahal is built of perfect symmetry and represents the idea of calmness and perfection, like what is thought of the heavens. “At dusk and dawn, the Taj Mahal appears to float weightlessly, and ethereal, uncanny apparition”(Ching 508). At the same time, Einstein Tower works in the same way because although it is representing emotion in a different way. This structure used many sketches of feelings, and intuitional lines to provide thought. Both of these structures are built in a way that speaks for itself and evokes humans to have their own thoughts and feelings while experiencing it.

Williams, Heather IAR 221 Reading Response 11

Erich Mendelsohn was interested in showing emotion through architecture. He did many sketches showing his emotion using different lines representing energy and even did some sketches based on the feelings music gave him. This shows an expressionist view of architecture instead of basing it off mechanism like others of the time. This comes from a belief that architecture is supposed to be more meaningful than something done mechanically representing perfection. Instead, it should be something that can evoke emotion to the people experiencing it and inspire their imagination and thoughts through the motion that is expressed in the structure and the feel of the expression created. This brings architecture to be an art form representing and evoking human emotion. It was designed from random sketches based on the feelings of the designer,  which is why I think this expressionistic structure so well represents the idea of architecture being a physical form portraying human emotion.

Williams, Heather IAR 221 Blog Post 11

Water Bottles are an object representing modernism because it is taking a step forward away from previous plastic bottles by using even older ideas in an effort to preserve the environment. After learning about the effects that plastic has on the environment and on human health, many people are moving forward in design by using glass or metal. While this is more modern to a plastic bottle, it is using much older design ideas than the plastic bottle. It is taking older design ideas and making them new again. These bottles show modernism through the way they use past materials to create a new and more usable while causing less harm to the environment. New design today is very environmentally cautious and we are trying to go back to simpler materials.

This is a modern kitchen space. Instead of a having a separate dining space connected to the kitchen or a dining table, there is an island with bar stools. Over time the use of a dining room has become less as well as the importance on dining as a time when family comes together and shares this time as something more than just eating. This kitchen represents the way modern design shapes around the more task oriented and fast way of living that have developed over the years. People have become more busy with work because of technology. Technology has led everyone to have less of an attention span for reading or sitting down with family for dinner. People today are brought up to live in the fast paced environments and forget to enjoy the environment and family around them. Because of this, design has further encouraged this type of living by incorporating islands and bar stools into the kitchens so people can quickly eat right there as the food is being fixed or if they are in a huge rush, not even sit down to eat. Dining has become to leave out the importance of meeting together with family for a meal and this is represented by homes today many times leaving out dining rooms and replacing them with kitchen islands. 

Falling Water, Frank Lloyd Wright

Falling water is an example of modernism of its time because although many designers were trying to think of what would be modern, Frank Lloyd wright was ignoring their attempts at modernism and creating his own. This structure is a work of art that he was able to create because instead of trying to figure out what the buyers would think is modern, he created this structure to be what he wanted it to be. He wanted to incorporate nature which was also a step away from what many designers were doing at that time and fits more into the type of design we might expect today because people are becoming more environmentally aware. I think this structure is successful at being modern because he used nature to inspire him instead of the customers. He used many windows to let in sunlight and never covered up a window with any piece of furniture. Also, he made the building out of material such as stone that blended in with the natural environment that was already there. I think this shows modernism because he was looking forward by looking past what builders thought people were looking to buy and went to find his own inspiration in nature. He took time to figure out every small detail such as where the windows would be placed to let in the most sunlight. For example, there is one space where he cut a hole in the desk so that the window would still be able to open, and the windows on the corner are able to open all the way on both sides so that the corner piece isn not there to obstruct the view of nature. This again shows the importance of nature in the design.

Sydney, Australia 

I think that this city represents modernism because of the curves in the concrete and buildings. Modern design incorporates the use of curves more than traditional because of technology. The idea of putting water in a city view is a modern idea of incorporating nature into the design. The buildings appear to be curved and at different angles because they look more sleek and modern. Another example of adding nature  in a modern way are the trees and plants you can see at a distance in the background.

All of these things represent taking ideas from the past and making them new again. They all represent the importance of environment in modern design and how the way humans live affects what is considered modern. For example, being more environmentally aware and a concern for health affects of using plastics and other materials has led designers to go back in time and make a modern water bottle out of those materials. Also, the way people live today has caused designers to make modern designs consisting of islands for quick meals in the kitchen as opposed to long dining with family. Falling Water and the city in Sydney show the importance of incorporating nature in modern designs as a focus, although Falling water represents much more thought into how the structure will be set around nature and putting focus on nature while this city is only adding nature elements into the design to make it more appealing and modern looking.