Monday, August 8, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
I used to dream about the life I'm living now
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Thoughts of the day...
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Fifth week in Charleston...and $14.00 poorer
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Hyde Park Polo Match
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Studio Charleston opening
On Thursday I attended the ribbon cutting of Studio Charleston. Charleston produces many movies in the Southeast belt, but many get rejected because there is no official production facility to make the movies. Now, Charleston has a real place to produce movies thanks to Studio Manager Harald Galinski. He worked on Dear John in 2008 along with many others that I met on Thursday. Hopefully this facility will bring in jobs for locals, business for hotels/restaurants, notoriety for Charleston and other Southern cities with the end result in more movie productions down here.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
First day in Charleston
Monday, April 25, 2011
US3-EXPLORATIONS
We open up the unit into the first World's Fairs. These expositions showcased art and design from around the world in one central location. It was more than just an exhibition of the best of the best...it was a collaboration of separate worlds into one. The fair was also a celebratory event that recognized world evenths, interests, and changes. The city that was selected to host the world's fair automatically put a footnote into history for that country. Similar to the Olympics, this was a monumental event that was not to be taken lightly. The celebration of nations began here. The arts and craft movement began to form around this time. This was about whether architecture should be essentially "mass produced" or stay true to its roots of handcrafting. William Morris penned the quote: " Good design for all" He was communicating that design should benefit everyone with both a stylistic and utilitarian purpose. His belief was that all designers and architects have a social responsibility to create something that can be appreciated by each person designer or not. This brings us to the movement after modernism. Artists such as Seurat, Cezanne, and van Gogh began to play with the idea of light and material. This created art with a true feeling of emotion and feeling. Forms were harder to decipher and instead of lines finishing the picture, it was left to the viewer to complete the artists' thoughts and visions.
BP 14-My inspirations
Monday, April 18, 2011
extra credit-Two Views of Design
BP 13-Gateway Arch
RR 13-l'architecture parlent
Monday, April 11, 2011
BP 12-"Good Design for All"
Sunday, April 10, 2011
RR 12-Modernism: TAKE 1
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Unit Summary 2-Reverberations
These picturesque scenes served as cognitive maps for the time period and as direction and solutions for those who were left behind. Because of these pictures, we can derive much about the century . The ceiling and interior art were like modern day cameras and captured what was going on at the time and what was being taught in the church. This nonverbal communication avenue speaks volumes and serves as a guide to the past.
The East and West began to differ in their stylistic approaches to architecture. Amidst the differences, they both still had a strong presence to religion influencing their design. They both seemed to be following set rules, but that was about to change. Exploration was beginning and rules were about to be broken. Architecture was going to start breaking away from the norm and moving towards nontraditional techniques that had never been seen.
This movement towards "rebellion of the rules" began with Andrea Palladio and his designs. His Villa Barbaro spread across the entire landscape and incorporated 2 side pavillions. Another beatuiful structure of his is the Villa Rotunda which is constructed with 4 porches and 4 facades. What was different about this building was the uncertainty of where to enter the structure. This left it up to the viewer to figure it out and also just an exception to the rules. The sun entered the building in different ways depending on where you were. The architect was focused on the aesthetics instead of its functionality. This break away from tradition influenced many artists that would soon become the face of timeless architecture. The changes resulted in alterations with the materials being used as well such as wood vs. stone and light vs. dark. Design aspects became the focus as you can see if Micaelangelo's Capella Sistina where the celing seemingly meets the wall. There is no separation or boundaries. In his Laurentian library vestibule, we see 3 separate staircases even though only 1 is needed. The symbolism represented here is that of knowledge pouring out from the library's book contents and flowing down the staircase for the world to experience.
During this time, two different style movements are born...Renaissance and Baroque architecture. The Renaissance offered individualism, calm and sarene spaces; whereas, the Baroque style represented engaging with the world around us, unity, and dramatization. This began a revolution (a drastic and far reaching change in ways of thinking and behaving) through Joseph Paxton's Crystal Palace. Through the use of glass, iron, and classical architecture, he revolutionized what one can do with these utilities. The enormity of the building itself was revolutionary. America soon followed suit in this architectural change.
I have chosen the Crystal Palace to represent this entire unit. From the first paragraph, I addressed the changing styles of church buildings and the constant use of domes. The Crystal Palace is shaped in the form of a dome throughout, but mainly the front facade of the structure. If it hadn't burned down, it would serve as a cognitive map for us today. BUT during that time since it served as an exhibition it was very much a map and peephole of the dress, architecture, and culture of the 19th century. Religion had influence in the Crystal Palace with the presence of a huge cross in the interior. Paxton definitely broke rules with the use of glass and iron as the main mediums in this structure. The scale is impressive and represents revolution and revival of past and new forms. He paved the way for new structures and design techniques to be followed by many at the time and for the start of the 20th century.Sources: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.essential-architecture.com/LO/009b.png&imgrefurl=http://www.essential-architecture.com/LO/LO-009.htm&usg=__abPWvI2NLSK-wp4xuSwzM-TdmdY=&h=341&w=476&sz=70&hl=en&start=1&zoom=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=EG0vrLfF4qBrpM:&tbnh=92&tbnw=129&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcrystal%2Bpalace%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26tbm%3Disch&ei=HEmfTeXiPM-ftgfmxtiXAw
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
BP 11-Style with a purpose
Friday, April 1, 2011
RR 11: A Key to Our Future of Design
Monday, March 28, 2011
BP 10-The Camera
Monday, March 21, 2011
RR 9-Gardens...the icing of architecture
Sunday, March 20, 2011
BP 9- Coffee and Skyscrapers
Monday, March 14, 2011
BP 8-Domes throughout time
Sunday, March 13, 2011
RR 8-Ceilings- the physical limits of a building yet the openings of the structure
Sunday, February 27, 2011
RR 7-Be the change you wish to create in the world
The first thing they revolutionized in architecture was the direction that one’s eye
travels. The Romans caused the eye to move up and down; the Italians decided to build their designs around horizontal and vertical components, which resembled human proportions. Traditional architecture was being thrown out the window, thus begins the RENAISSANCE.
>>>The Egeskov Castle in Denmark is an example of Renaissance architecture, but also it is a representation of how the eye travels across instead of up and down. Just one of many examples of stacking and layering in design. http://www.everyculture.com/Cr-Ga/Denmark.html
- The second innovation to architecture began with Brunelleschi's Dome of Florence Cathedral. This structure was built using design elements that had never been utilized before. The Dome of Florence marked a huge stepping stone for Italy. A quote made by Leon Alberti, humanist scholar and theorist: "We discover unheard-of and never-before-seen art and sciences without teachers or without any model whatsoever." Brunelleschi was willing to think differently about architecture having no guide or blue print to follow. His design was pure inspiration, his interpretation of the outside world.....BUT isn't that what design is intended to be?
- The third advancement made during the Renaissance was Vitruvius's Ideal Form. His ideas were formulated through the guidance of Plato's book Philebus. This book discussed how forms can be made simply by lines and circles, and in turn how these shapes are then viewed as three dimensional. Once again, Vitruvius conceptualized that "ideal systems of proportion...can be found in the perfect proportions of the human body." He formulated how the human body is essentially made up of shapes as well. This began a movement of architects using the human body proportions as a basis for design. Circles were highly utilized because the Romans believed the eternity of a circle represented the Deity of God. These architects used already existing forms to design completely new architectural concepts.