Architects and critics in the nineteenth century were most influenced in design by their interest in historical style. "As they studied Greek, Roman, and Gothic architecture, they came to understand by the end of the nineteenth century that these ways of building had begun first as vernacular expressions, which had then been clarified and stylized, becoming cultural expressions rich in meaning." (Roth 511) Detailed and accurate knowledge of the architectural past was readily available in portfolios of engravings of measured drawings in detailed accuracy. Building forms continued to be traditionally determined by historical precedent. The association of architecture, "with various ideological and literary concepts was still enormously persuasive. (Roth 469) The image of Classical order came to be strongly associated with public buildings of Greece and the role of public buildings in elevating public virtue. (Roth 472) "So too a nineteenth-century educational building might reflect Greek Classical sources to make a connection with the structural clarity of Greek philosophy. This associationalism became an underlying concept in the stylistic eclecticism that pervaded the nineteenth century and the later rise of historicist Postmodernism. The informed and selective borrowing of historical building forms and details, rooted in associationalism - can be viewed as developing in a series of sequential related phases extending all the way from the early eighteenth century to the present day." (Roth 469-470)
As knowledge of the architecture of the past expanded, architects experienced more freedom in mixing historical references, synthetic eclecticism, and elements in a building design. (Roth 470) However, this knowledge also led to a strict adherence to details as a revival, specifically of Greek and Gothic, and judged on accuracy of architectural knowledge of ancient models. Armed with this new architectural knowledge, architects naturally wanted to make buildings like those they were learning about in detail. "Furthermore, the growing nationalistic fervor, particularly in those countries that were overrun by Napoleon and that now sought to reestablish their unique national identities, impelled architects to use historical references to establish recognizable national architectural style. In England, there was a return to handcrafted, vernacular, medieval residential building traditions..." (Roth 471)
As we are learning in Design History, Antoni Gaudi of Barcelona, developed a unique architecture style characterized by brilliant color and molded forms based on curved structural walls looking like bones and thin masonry vaults. "He created an architecture rooted in Catalonia's Moorish and medieval past - an architecture ablaze with colored tile, exploiting the thin, curved, tile vault construction for which Catalonia had long been famous." (Roth 513)
The road trip to Monticello, University of Virginia campus and Fallingwater symbolized a search for national roots. At the time Monticello was built, Thomas Jefferson was searching for symbolism in what America and himself were about. Frank Lloyd Wright found inspiration for Fallingwater in the roots of the native Americans and in the landscape itself. Drawing from ancient Greek and Roman architecture, Thomas Jefferson found inspiration in the roots of traditional architecture for the designing of Monticello and University of Virginia campus.
Parthenonwww.flickr.com
Monticellowww.flickr.com
University of Virginia campusWhen I read The New York Times newspaper today, a leading article on the front page speaks of the return to Japan's roots with youth reviving rural farms to help Japan's troubled economy. As we have learned in our Design History class, when there are difficult and/or transitional times in our collective histories, there is often a return to roots for meaning and development. Below is a photo from the New York Times article of Tatsunori Kobayashi, 27, "who uproots overgrown mizuna as he helps prepare for a new growing season. A janitor at the Tokyo Disney Resort, he is one of many workers who descended on the Japanese countryside on a recent Sunday. They are part of a 2,400-strong Rural Labor Squad, urban trainees dispatched to the countryside under a pilot program to get Japan's underemployed youth to work tilling its farms."
Materiality
Louis Sullivan remarked, "... the best designs always grow out of a cultural response to function," (Roth 511) as architects of the period were challenged to adapt the historical form with modern day building functions and evolving needs, like large, covered public markets and railroad stations. The buildings needed to be larger than any since Roman times. Architects were made available new building materials in large quantities: cast and wrought iron as well as glass, as a result of industrial production. Beginning around 1906 avant-garde architects like Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius uncompromisingly rejected historical references, imagined an industrially inspired architecture of unadorned flat planes and roofs of metal, concrete and glass. (Roth 471)
Conceived to have an uplifting and moralizing impact, starting with Leo von Klenze's public museum, built for the viewing and studying of collections of paintings and sculpture, buildings began to be built solely for this purpose. "The museum became an extension of the art being housed in it, enhancing art's educational function." (Roth 473) This external representation of internal function through varied building masses, and the expressive use of various building materials in their natural colors. John Ruskin influenced in favor of architectural criteria in his book, The Seven Lamps of Architecture (London, 1849) and : the use of functionally expressive ornament, truth in expression of building materials and structure, beauty derived from observation of nature, bold and irregular forms, durable construction, and adherence to traditional Christian architectural forms. (Roth 485-486)
The technology of the machine, and the earlier Crystal Palace that had inspired it, were made possible by the growth of industry in producing iron and steel, as well as by the application of mathematics to determine the forces at work in large structures. The design world was experiencing the implications of the machine on architecture. As with the buildings for locomotive and passenger depots, a large span was needed built out of fire safe materials. Previously buildings of large span had been built with wooden trusses which would be susceptible to fire caused by embers blown from the smokestacks. The new technology in building with iron provided the appropriate material for this new need, making possible extremely light trusses to be made of wrought-iron bars and rods. (Roth 489)
The further development of material technology lead to architecture development in the radically new technique of supporting office blocks. During the construction of the Home Insurance Office Building in Chicago, designed by architect William Le Baron Jenney, the structural support of the building was adapted to incorporate a metal skeleton instead of masonry when the bricklayers' strick brought construction to a halt. "Within five years, Chicago architects had almost completely changed over to using metal frames, composing of every form of iron available : cast-iron columns, wrought-iron beams, with some parts of steel... Such iron and steel frames reduced the total weight of these office blocks by a half or more and simultaneously eliminated the thick supporting walls at the ground floor and in the basement." (Roth 507)
To expand our knowledge of building materials and appropriately specifying them in a project, our studio was given three materials to research individually. I was given the assignment to research marble, bamboo and walnut. From my search I have included photos of each material in a raw state or installed.
Carrara, Italy
DePadova dining table designed by Achille Castiglioni with carrara marble top harvested in Carrara, Italy.
A well conceived idea in design. The concept is the driving force in all design decisions in the process. The concept tells a story or philosophy that should come through in the work. The concept should communicate a clear vision of the design's purpose. In our current studio project we are designing a light installation that produce a duality of light cast from the studio east windows. This is the overarching concept for this project. Below are images that helped in capturing the concept as a process of exploration.
light cast by windows at Monticello
first sketch model
drawings of light dualities
Compression/Release
Compression refers to the reduction of volume of an object and release refers to being set free from confinement. Fallingwater's design by Frank Lloyd Wright masterfully connects a series of separate spaces of varying height and dimension through a sequence compression and release as you move through the house. The narrowing of hallways and stairs lead to the openness of the main living spaces. The desired effect creates a feeling of a cave-like dwelling, privacy, and relaxation as a retreat from the hustle and bustle of city life. Another effect of the compression and release is the directing of one's eye outward toward the landscape.
Fallingwaterwww.flickr.com
Congruence
The agreeing, enhancing or coming together of different elements in harmony.
The architecture of the nineteenth century did not express congruence with the industrial production and evolving needs of the period, and however, remained influenced by historical precedent. "Must the nineteenth century, then, come to a close without ever possessing an architecture of its own? Is this epoch, so fertile in discoveries, so abounding in vital force, to transmit to posterity nothing better in art than imitations, hybrid works without character and impossible to classify." (Roth 469)
The architecture of the nineteenth century did not express congruence with the industrial production and evolving needs of the period, and however, remained influenced by historical precedent. "Must the nineteenth century, then, come to a close without ever possessing an architecture of its own? Is this epoch, so fertile in discoveries, so abounding in vital force, to transmit to posterity nothing better in art than imitations, hybrid works without character and impossible to classify." (Roth 469)
As seen in the photo below, there is a vertical and horizontal congruence at Fallingwater in the overall design. This harmony of vertical and horizontal elements was successful in Frank Lloyd Wright's attempt to destroy the box and creating organic architecture on the particular site. The glass corners on the windows also help destroy the box. The house appears to be an extension from the natural surroundings made up of stone, trees, water, etc.
In my light design inspired by Fallingwater above, I am joining vertical supports with horizontal elements to create a light effect and feeling of meditation and relaxation, like with Fallingwater which is in natural harmony with its landscape.
Fallingwater
www.flickr.com
In my light design inspired by Fallingwater above, I am joining vertical supports with horizontal elements to create a light effect and feeling of meditation and relaxation, like with Fallingwater which is in natural harmony with its landscape.
Fallingwaterwww.flickr.com
www.flickr.com
Summary
Good design should not need to be explained. The designer's philosophy or roots of thought should be clearly communicated in the work and be the driving force in the design process. The materiality of the project should be well chosen to best communicate the concept. All component parts of the whole should be congruent to accomplish a tight design and a strong design concept.
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