"Our Principle receptors for sensing the environment are our eyes, and the illuminating that environments critical for the information we recieve." (Roth p55)
The idea of illuminating has been around in the Architectural world since the beginning of time. Architects have used many different techniques to illuminate their work of art. Such strategies can be expressed through detail, material, scale and shape. This can either blend or set apart the work from it's surrounding environment. A great example in class is the Pyramids in Giza Egypt. The Egyptians made the pyramid to stand out from its surrounding environment. These shapes jet out of the ground are exact, clean cut and polished with a limestone coating and at the top, gold. This plays with the idea of light: the sun. Each point of the base of the pyramid is facing either north south east or west. Therefore when the sun moves from east to west the shadows created change and the gold at the top shines for all to see. When our eye Takes it in we think of beauty through grandness and at the same fear through difference.
These sketches also use the idea of illumination through light. What was once a plain 2 dimensional image is now an image with weight. It becomes more of a 3 dimensional figure by using hints of color to make certain things pop or stand out just as the light at the top of the pyramid makes the structure stand out from the area surrounding it.
"A myth is, of course, not a fairy story. It is the presentation of facts belonging to one category in the idioms appropriate to another."
Idiom's are phrases that shouldn't be taken by literal meaning but rather the underlying meaning behind it. for my Fairytale, The Frog King, i made a set of handcuffs to represent the essence of the story. I felt that the story had more meaning to it than the text itself. I felt like the underlying text or meaning in this story was being a prisoner. While the princess was a prisoner to her visual appearance and class, so is the frog to his. Once he chains are broken they make a bond together and create something beautiful. Another meaning behind the story was that sometimes fate is planned. The frog and princess thought that they had found each other on their own but it was in fact the King's plan all along for the two to wed. Te idiom is the underlying meaning in the story itself.
Commodity Firmness and Delight are the three main factors in Architecture. Commodity is the functionalty of the building: what does it do and does it carry out it's job well? Firmness is the structural integrity or the strength of the building: does it hold up and how long will it be standing? Delight is the asthetic value: is it pleasing to the eye? I feel that the Brooklyn Bridge, although not studied in class, carries out all of these functions extremely well.
"Architecture, Virtruvius wrote, must provide utility, firmness and beauty or, as Sir Henry Wotten later paraphrased it in the seventeenth century, commodity, firmness and delight." (Roth 11)
"Commodity-useful or valuable thing such as water or time"
The basic commodity of the Brooklyn Bridge is transportation. Like any other Bridge it transports people in vehicles from one place to another in this case Brooklyn to NYC but this Bridge goes one step further. Taking into consideration the people of New York, most without a car, the architect built a walkway/bikepath in the middle of the Bridge. This allows people to get from one place to the next without the expense of having to purchase a car and pay extrodinary amounts for parking.
"Firmness- solidly in place and stable: no building can stand without firm foundations"
Firmness is also a big key and challenge into building every bridge. The architect must deal with suspension, grounding, and support. The Brooklyn Bridge successfully managed all of these three issues. It was the first bridge to use intertwining steel cables in it's construction therefore making it stronger and long lasting.
Delight-please (someone) greatly: an experience guaranteed to delight both young and old.
The bridge brings the element of delight through it's detail and overall appearance. It also ties in to commodity because walking over the bridge not only serves a value for transportation but also brings beauty into the picture. For example some people go over the bridge to watch the sun rise or set and some even get engaged. The design of the building could also make synthetically pleasing logo's or graphics such as the one above.
Materials- "The sun would have risen directly over the heelstone, as viewed from the center of the trilithons." (Roth p173)
The Egyptians had a scarcity of material and had to make do with the resources indigenous to the area. This is why the pyramids were made out of basic sand stone which was a mixture of the deserts of Egypt and some sort of aggregate. The limestone finish and gold top are slick and shiny materials. These materials represent the grandness of the emperor. These materials also made it easy to carve hyeroglyphics therefore keeping communication and records through the ages.
citations: dictionary.com
thinkexist.com
images from Google
OVERVIEW:
Every Piece of Architecture is an idiom. The characteristics, details, commodity, firmness, delight, and illumination of a building are only the outer appearance. You have to look within the architect and his meaning behind the building. Why would you use limestone on a pyramid ; to make a building for people to adore or to protect what is inside from unwanted visitors. Illumination connects to the material because illumination can also represent that guarding effect. Materials are chosen to create commodity, firmness, and delight and the building as a whole truly represents an idiom or an underlying meaning that the architect is trying to portray. Look at the world around you. Make connections, and find the underlying meaning in the idioms we call pieces of architecture.
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