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.

Williams Heather IAR 221 Blog Post 10

Solar Panels are a change in technology that have impacted the way we view building and natural light. After attempts to use more sustainable technology, building has changed tremendously in the way structures are designed. Now, buildings are designed to be environmentally sustainable and use as few resources as possible. Insulation is better, to keep heating and cooling to a minimum, water systems such as showers and sinks are built to use higher air pressure and less water, and even grey water systems are used in some homes. The change to trying to build sustainably has shaped the types of materials buildings are made of, where they are built, and how much it costs the builders to make them. I think Solar Panels are a good example of this because they show how energy use has changed. You go from using natural sunlight to making energy from oil for electricity, and then back to using natural lighting as energy with the use of Solar Panels.

 This reminds me of the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park from Roth pages 487 and 488. This structure was built in 1851 and was made sustainably so that it would not disrupt the environment around it. The structure was made to be disassembled and built around the existing environment. The walls and ceiling were made of glass to allow light to come in so that the trees could get sunlight that way. This represents an attempt at sustainable building and using natural light as energy through the glass walls. In this time period, we are using the same similar ideas of obtaining solar energy not through glass ceilings, but through solar  panels to provide electricity for our homes, and are attempting to build more sustainable structures that leave less of an impact on the environment, similar to the Crystal Palace.

Williams, Heather Reading Response 10

Industrialization leads to new technologies and Sustainability

• A need for larger structures
• Technology used for greenhouses such as wrought-iron and glass
• Engineers designing structures, not architects
• The idea that structure needed to be able to be disassembled and built in a short amount of time

The industrial revolution resulted in factories and urban populations. Engineers built the factories and used the technology of cast iron and wrought iron building. Then, greenhouse gases used these technologies and incorporated the use of glass paneling to keep exotic plants in other climates. The use of these new technologies allowed larger structures to be built without using as much material. The Crystal palace, designed by Joseph Paxton, was created using cast iron columns and beams. He used glass panels for the walls of the structure. This was basically a giant greenhouse and it was the fist structure that had a greater amount of space on the inside, then mass or materials of the building. This shows the huge impact industrialization and urbanization had on building. As human needs and ideas change, structures are changed to fit them. For example, The reason for building factories was the demand for factory jobs which led to the technology that was used for the design of the  Crystal Palace. Also the idea of sustainability that we still use today is present, because they did not want to cause destruction to the environment. Instead, the built the structure around the environment that was already there. The ceiling and walls were made of glass so the trees inside could still get sunlight, and after they were done using the building, the structure was disassembled and the environment was left as it was before.

Williams, Heather IAR 221 Reading Response 9

The original Tempietto structure in Rome was built to represent perfection of the heavens. It is a representation of Heaven on earth by its symmetry and the perfect circle of the structure. A circle is representative of eternity, so it has a lot of importance in the idea of eternal after life in heaven. Another idea supporting this thought is that the dome is pulled upward toward the sky and the windows were made so that the view outside of the building would be toward the sky, cause people to think of eternal life when looking through them. The outside view of this structure shows this through the tall windows that pull upward similar to the gothic cathedral, and the tall center point in the middle of the dome pointing toward the sky, or heavens. St. Paul's Cathedral in London is representative of this structure because it takes the same idea of eternity using a dome shape, but does not copy the building. Instead, it incorporates the dome by making it the center of the structure on top of a cross shaped building. To accentuate the idea of reaching upward, the outside was built taller, and the inside vault was painted to make it appear taller. This shows How two different structures take ideas from another and represent them in their own way, like how the structure in London used the idea of a dome but put it on top of a cross shaped building instead of a circle, and painted the inside to reinforce the idea of height making it appear larger.

Williams, Heather IAR 221 Blog Post 9

           John Charnock's Toomb in Calcutta India

This building represents geometry through stacking of layers and angles. It also shows a dome on the top which is a perfect circle, so the building is based off of a circle while incorporating stacks and angles. The horizontal divisions are interupted by verticle divisins at each of the angles around the building pulling it upward despite the representation of horizontal stacking. The openings around the building are represetative of the importance of reaching high and expanding upward in the gothic cathedrals because they are narrow arches going upward. This reinforces also the done at the top of the building that also shows height and expanse toward the sky through the one point in the middle at the very top of the dome and the way it is stretched upward.

Constantia Cape town 

This building is also white and has perfect symmetry down the middle unlike the other that represents radial symmetry. This building uses vertical windows to show the idea of verticality. The door in the center of the building reaches up and is made more prominent through the triangle shape above the door pointing upward to the highest point of the building. The religious figure above this is at the highest point of the building where it is reaching upward representing verticality through religion.

Both of these structures represent how ideas migrate to different places and these ideas are not copied, but built off of to make structures representing the same ideas, in this case verticality, without copying an exact structure. For example, these buildings represent verticality through aspects of a gothic cathedral: vertical windows and openings stretching upward and a higher center point, but they are built horizontally instead of vertically.

In the late seventeenth century, especially in france, "nature was seen as something to be mastered, tamed, and controlled-something having no inherent form or beauty in its own right"(Roth 425). Sir Henry Hoare's English Garden at Strourhead, Wiltshire, England is an example of how we build off of previous ideas in architecture. Unlike the structures above, this was an attempt to see nature as beauty the way it naturally is instead of creating lines of symmetry. This idea was working with the natural land and accentuating the non symmetrical aspects of it instead of forming it to be symmetrical, geometrical, or horizontally arranged in rows. This is a change from the perfectly symmetrical and horizontally stacked attempts at recreating perfection and ideas representing verticality reaching toward the sky.

Williams, Heather Blog Post 8

The Nautilus Shell represents eternity or infiniti and the idea of no boundaries because it representative of the golden ratio which is a number that has no end. It is possible that ancient architects used Phi, representing the Nautilus shell,  in each of these structures because the golden ratio found somewhere in the building. This shows that the idea of an unsolvable number which relates to not having knowledge to an end, is present  everywhere. The Nautilus Shell represents Phi in itself mathematically but also through the fact that the nautilus continuously adds onto its shell when it outgrows the space and because they are the most ancient animal we know of so they present a mystery. This connects with the mystery of where architecture will go in the future and from where it began; for example: the meaning behind stone henge. The infinity concept of the shell is shown in how our architecture continuously changes and uses ideas from previous structures to build off of like the nautilus builds from its shell repeatedly over time.

Williams, Heather Reading Response 8

The Taj Mahal was built for Mumtaz Mahal. It's great vastness is significant to the idea of a life in heaven. This burial site was so important to the Shan Jahan because of their belief of moving into a life after death and he wanted to construct heaven on earth for her. This is shown through the expensive materials like stones and the amount of time it took for this to be built. The garden of Eden in the old testament was used as an inspiration to the building of the Taj Mahal because of their faith in heaven. He wanted her to be in paradise and represented this by building her tomb to represent the islamic Garden of Paradise. Symmetry is used to show that the Islamic Garden of Paradise is perfection. The light colors of stone make the building look weightless despite the weight of the marble. He wanted it to appear that it was rising up and floating above to represent a higher spiritual place. 

Sources: A Global History of Architecture, Ching Jarzombek Prakash; http://www.pbs.org/thestoryofindia/gallery/photos/20.html

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.