Many different themes and design concepts were discussed during this unit. I feel like this class has completely thrown me out of my comfort zone, but that's design; it is always changing and revolving making it hard for society to keep up. One
theme discussed was how architecture changes and reflects cultural aspects of the era it was created in. Just as Hall discussed this theory in his book, man uses space as an elaboration of his culture. For example, the Ferguson auditorium seats are rather close. This building was build in the 70's, during the 'hippy' era, when people had less desire for personal space. Today, Americans crave personal space so spaces are a lot more open.
Delight is one of my favorite themes discussed in this unit because it is the reason why I want to become a designer. I want to make people happy. I think it's amazing how a space, that isn't 'alive' can still have an 'alive' feel (follow?). The difference between a building and a piece of architecture I believe is boring verse pleasurable. One is art, and the other is just there. Like how de Botton theorized in the architecture of happiness, that a dark, dull room can make one feel sad while a bright "yellow-honey" room can bring one's spirits up. I believe this is a obvious concept of design that I only wish to enhance in myself.
"Well building hath three conditions: commodity, firmness, and delight" -Sir Henry Wotton. This statement applies to all buildings. Delight I have already discussed, but there are two other elements of architecture, the firmness and commodity. Commodity is the function of a building which comes from the needed purpose of a building. If you were to build a school building, obviously you need to make it functional for student, staff members, handicaps, parents, and such. A building can be designed to be utterly delightful, but can have zero functional space, therefore making the beautiful building useless. The last element is firmness. This basically means building the structure so it doesn't fall down. All three of these elements are key to successful architecture. You can't leave out one or the building is useless.
The use of nature in architecture caught my attention. Going back while doing our counterpoint project, I realized how nature was such an ultimate theme of so many buildings. For example, I had the pantheon, and the dome and oculus were two major architectural elements of this building. The purpose of the dome and oculus was heaven and the sky. The dome was giant, giving the feeling of power, and the oculus let light flood in giving the illuminating feeling of heaven. This whole concept was built on the sun and it's luminescence. As for the dome, this brings me to the concept that size does matter. The goal of these builders were to communicate power and greatness, and large scale speaks that. The pantheon was built in a city, so they needed something big to not only communicate greatness, but to stand out in a place full of other buildings. These qualities of this building is what makes it so architecturally famous today.
Inspire to create something bigger then what was created before.
Meeeechelleeeee! I loved the concept of Delight like you were saying. Making something 'pretty' is SO important in design. That is definitely why I want to do Interior Design. So, glad we are on the same page! I am starting to realize how important nature is in design as well. Like Robert said at some point during the first week of class, the wall he would have designed in a forest would be made out of steel, bright every time the sun hit it, exactly the same height all the way across, traveling with the landscape, would be completely contrasting with the surroundings. Like Falling Water in your last post, that clearly blends into the landscape. It just has to do with how the designer wants it to come across. Like the essay and youuu :)
ReplyDeleteanddd your word count is good..more than 500!
ReplyDeleteMichelle- you have a lot of great references to the readings which shows that you are paying attention to how everything talked about in class, and everything that you witness as a designer is connecting. I'm glad that you talk a lot about commodity, firmness, and delight because that is a very important aspect of not just this unit but the class as a whole. Overall great job, but make sure you double check your spelling and grammar next time.
ReplyDeleteMichelle:
ReplyDeleteHappiness is in design! I think that is one concept that all designers should adapt, it will probably change the way we see design, the way we see ourselves and most importantly the world.
I too think that nature is important when building and designing spaces, after nature has to adapt to the space the same way we do. ( Remember Tommy's first year project = ).
Good essay, enjoyed it.....
Also...your word looks great, overall it reads well...what the name of the structure in the image?
ReplyDelete