I. Introduction to Architecture A.) What is architecture? ·The “unavoidable art” (Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water, 1936-38) ·A physical record of human activity (Forum of Pompeii, Ancient Roman, c. 1st century CE) ·A non-verbal form of communication (Notre Dame de Chartres, Gothic Period, 1194-1230 CE) II. Elements of Architecture Roman Architect Vitruvius (25 BCE) established the basic elements of architecture which have remained essentially unchanged. These are referred to as the “Vitruvian Triad”: Notes: Firmitas, Utilitas and Venustas’ (Marcus Vitruvius Pollio ‘The Ten Books of Architecture’ 1st C AD). These qualities may be translated as: ‘Technology, Function and Form’ (C St J Wilson ‘ArchitecturalReflections?; ‘ArchitecturalReflections?; Studies in the Philosophy and Practice of Architecture’ or, in the slightly more familiar but antique: ‘Firmness, Commodity & Delight’
A.) Vitruvian Triad #1-Function/Utility/Commodity: Does a building work by supporting and reinforcing its use? Floor plan Elevation Section 1.) Pragmatic Utility (Parthenon by Iktinos and Kallikrates, Ancient Greek, 5th century BCE) 2.) Circulatory Function (Paris Opera, by Charles Garnier, 1861-75 CE0 3.) Symbolic Function (Notre Dame du Haut, by Le Corbusier, 1951-55 CE) Notes: Pragmatism is a philosophical movement that includes those who claim that an ideology or proposition is true if it works satisfactorily, that the meaning of a proposition is to be found in the practical consequences of accepting it, and that impractical ideas are to be rejected.
B.)Vitruvian Triad #2-Firmness: (The most apparent part of the building— what makes it stand up?) Physical Structure—literal “bones” of the building. Perceptural Structure—what we see, or empathetic analysis (Sainte Chapelle, Gothic, 1243-48 CE) 1.) Structural System: making sure that objects will not fall to earth, despite the incessant pull of gravity. STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS: 1.) Post-and-Lintel (Nile Valley Temple, Ancient Egyptian, c. 2680-2550 BCE
and the Parthenon) · Columnar Orders: Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite · Engaged column and pilaster 2.) Arch System (Vault and Dome) · Tunnel, barrel and groin vault (Basilica of Constantine and Maxentius,Ancient Roman,307-325 CE, the Pantheon, Ancient Roman, 118128 CE, and the Hagia Sophia, Byzantine, 532-37 CE) 3.) Corbel and Cantilever System (Treasury of Atreus, Myceneaen, c. 1330 BCE and Fallingwater) 4.) Truss and Space Frame (Saint’Apollinare in Classe, Byzantine, 532-549 CE) 5.) Tension C.)Vitruvian Triad #3-Beauty I (Delight): Space in Architecture 1.) Space/Indoor Space: architectural space is a powerful shaper of behavior. (Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House, 1901) a.) physical space b.) perceptual space c.)conceptual space d.)behavioral space Nontes: Robie Hoise Interior In plan, the house is designed as two large rectangles that seem to slide by one another. Mr. Wright referred to the rectangle on the southwest portion of the site, which contains the principal living spaces of the house, as "the major vessel." On the first floor are the "billiards" room (west end) and children's playroom (east end). These two rooms open through central doors to an enclosed garden on the south side of the building. A door from the playroom opens into the courtyard on the east end of the site. On the second floor are the entry hall at the top of the central stairway, the living room (west end) and the dining room (east end). An inglenook originally separated the entry hallway from the living room. The living and dining rooms flow into one another along the south side of the building and open through a series of twelve French doors containing art glass panels to an exterior balcony running the length of the south side of the building that overlooks the enclosed garden. The west end of the living room contains the “prow” with art glass windows and two art glass doors that open onto the west porch beneath the cantilevered roof. Wright intended that the users of the building move freely from the interior space to the exterior space. The rectangle on the northeast portion of the site, called "the minor vessel," contains the more functional and service-related rooms of the house. On the first floor is the main door and entrance hall (west end) from which a stairway leads to the second floor living and dining rooms. A half bath is located on the north side of the entrance hall. Further east are a coat closet and back stairway, the boiler room, laundry room, and coal storage room, followed by a small workshop, half bath, and a three-car garage. The western most bay of the garage originally contained a mechanic’s pit, and the eastern most bay contained equipment to wash and clean automobiles. On the second floor of the minor vessel is a guest bedroom above the entrance hall and an adjoining full bath. East of the back stairway are the kitchen and butler’s pantry, and the servants’ sitting room. Two bedrooms and a full bathroom above the garage complete the quarters for the live-in servants. The third floor overlaps the major and minor vessels in the center of the building. Wright referred to the third floor as the “belvedere,” the “place in command of beautiful views.” The
south side of the third floor contains the master bedroom, dressing area, a full bathroom, and, through a small closet, a balcony facing west. Two additional bedrooms and a full bathroom are located on the north side of this floor. All of the windows on this level contain art glass panels. The entire building is approximately 9,062 square feet (841.9 m 2). The chimney mass containing four fireplaces—one in the billards room, playroom, living room and master bedroom—and the main stairway from the entrance hall to the second floor living and dining rooms rise through the center of the house, from which the rest of the building radiates. The chimney mass is constructed of the same brick and limestone as the exterior. The front door and main entrance is partially hidden on the northwest side of the building beneath an overhanging balcony in order to create a sense of privacy and protection for the family. The entrance hall itself is low-ceilinged and dark, but the stairs to the second floor create a sense of anticipation as the visitor moves upward. Once upstairs, the light filled living and dining rooms create a sharp contrast to the dark entrance hall making the living and dining rooms seem even more special. These two rooms are separated by the central chimney mass, but the spaces are connected along their south sides, and the chimney mass has an opening above the fireplace through which the rooms are visually connected. These features unite the two spaces, creating an openness of plan which, for Wright, was a metaphor for the openness of American political and social life. As with all Prairie houses, Wright designed the light fixtures for the Robie House. Throughout the house, wall sconces can be found in the shape of a hemispherical shade suspended beneath a square bronze fixture. On the second floor living and dining rooms, spherical globes within wooden squares are integrated into the ceiling trim, further tying the two spaces together visually. Soffit lighting running the length of the north and south sides of the living and dining rooms, as well as soffit lighting in the prows of the living and dining rooms, are covered with Wright-designed wooden grilles. Because these lights are all independently operable, different effects can be created within these spaces. Finally, a Wright-designed table lamp with an art glass shade stood on a Wright-designed library table in the living room. The steel beams in the ceilings and f loors carrying most of the building's weight to piers at the east and west ends. As a result, the exterior walls have little structural function, and thus are filled with doors and windows containing art glass panels. The house contains 174 art glass window and door panels in 29 different designs. Although Wright occasionally designed art glass using stylized forms from nature, the designs of the Robie House art glass are simply abstract geometric forms. The steel structure also eliminates the need for internal structural columns and walls, accenting the open plan Wright favored. Wright also designed the furniture, carpets, and textiles for most Prairie houses. However, Wright-designed furniture in the Robie House was only constructed for the entrance hall, the living and dining rooms, guest bedroom, and one bed for the third-floor bedrooms. Robie’s financial situation following his father’s death may be the explanation for why the entire house was not furnished with furniture of Wright’s designs. Most of the original furniture is currently in the collection of the Smart Museum of Artat the University of Chicago although only the dining room table and chairs are on display. [31] One of the most striking pieces of the furniture designed by Wright for the Robie House is a sofa with extended armrests, echoing the cantilevers of the exterior roof of the building, which effectively create side tables on each side of the sofa.[32] The Wright-designed sofa has been on loan since 1982 from the Smart Museum to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and is on display as part of the furnishings in the reconstructed living room of the Francis W. Little House (1915) located in the museum. Architectural significance Interior window detail (1963) The Robie House was one of the last houses Wright designed in his Oak Park, Illinois home and studio and also one of the last of his Prairie School houses. [34] According to the Historical American Buildings Survey, the city of Chicago's Commission on Chicago Architectural Landmarks stated: "The bold interplay of horizontal planes about the chimney mass, and the structurally expressive piers and windows, established a new form of domestic design."[34] Because the house's components are so well designed and coordinated, it is considered to be a quintessential example of Wright's Prairie School architecture and the "measuring stick" against which all other Prairie School buildings are compared.
The house and the Robie name were immortalized in Ernst Wasmuth's famous 1910 publication "Ausgefuhrte Bauten und Entwurfe von Frank Lloyd Wright" (a.k.a. "The Wasmuth Portfolio").[35] This publication featured most of Wright's designs, including those unbuilt, during his Oak Park years and brought them to the attention of European architects of 1920s, especially students of the Bauhaus school in Germany and the De Stijl school in Holland. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe among other great 20th Century architects, claimed Wright was a major influence on their careers. The architectural significance of the Robie House was probably best stated in a 1957 article in House and Home magazine: During the decades of eclecticism's triumph there were also many innovators--less heralded than the fashionable practitioners, but exerting more lasting influence. Of these innovators, none could rival Frank Lloyd Wright. By any standard his Robie house was the House of the 1900s--indeed the House of the Century. Above all else, the Robie house is a magnificent work of art. But, in addition, the house introduced so many concepts in planning and construction that its full influence cannot be measured accurately for many years to come. Without this house, much of modern architecture as we know it today, might not exist.[36] In 1956, The Archectural Record selected the Robie House as "one of the seven most notable residences ever built in America."[37] In 2008, the U.S. National Park Servicesubmitted the Robie house, along with nine other Frank Lloyd Wright properties, to a tentative list for World Heritage Status.[38] The 10 sites have been submitted as one entire site. [39] The January 22, 2008, press release from the National Park Service website announcing the nominations states that "[t]he preparation of a Tentative List is a necessary first step in the process of nominating a site to the World Heritage List."
2.)Space/Outdoor Space (Piazza di San Marco, Venice) 3.)Duality of Space a.)Interwoven spaces vs. static spaces (German Pavillion by van der Rohe, 1929 and Fahnestock House by Charles Platt, 1909-24) b.)Directional Space vs. non-directional space (German Pavillion and Salisbury Cathedral, England, Gothic Period, 1220) c.)Positive Space vs. Negative Space (Pantheon and Cave, Karlii, Incia 100 CE) 4.)Personal Space D.)Vitruvian Triad #3-Beauty II (Delight): “Seeing Architecture” (involves subjective responses) 1.)Visual Perception: -Gestalt Psychology—How the mind interprets forms and patterns presented to it. -Visual Preferences: proximity, repetition, simplest and largest figure, figure/ground relationship notes: Gestalt psychology or gestaltism (German: Gestalt - "essence or shape of an entity's complete form") of the Berlin School is a theory of md brain positing that the operational principle of the brain is holistic, parallel, and analog, with self-organizing tendencies. The Gestalt effect refers to the form-generating capability of our senses, particularly with respect to the visual recognition of figures and whole forms instead of just a collection of
simple lines and curves. In psychology, gestaltism is often opposed to structuralism and Wundt. The phrase "The whole is greater than the sum of the parts" is often used when explaining Gestalt theory
Example: Invariance Invariance is the property of perception whereby simple geometrical objects are recognized independent of rotation, translation, and scale; as well as several other variations such as elastic deformations, different lighting, and different component features. For example, the objects in A in the figure are all immediately recognized as the same basic shape, which are immediately distinguishable from the forms in B. They are even recognized despite perspective and elastic deformations as in C, and when depicted using different graphic elements as in D. Computational theories of vision, such as those by David Marr , have had more success in explaining how objects are classified. Emergence, reification, multistability, and invariance are not necessarily separable modules to be modeled individually, but they could be different aspects of a single unified dynamic mechanism
Multistability the Necker Cube and the Rubin vase, two examples of multistability
Multistability (or multistable perception) is the tendency of ambiguous perceptual experiences to pop back and forth unstably between two or more alternative interpretations. This is seen for example in the Necker cube, and in Rubin's Figure/Vase illusion shown here. Other examples include the 'three-pronged widget' and artist M. C. Escher's artwork and the appearance of flashing marquee lights moving first one direction and then suddenly the other. Again, Gestalt does not explain how images appear multistable, only that they do.
2.)Proportion: The mind seeks out mathematical and geometrical relationships or proportions in patterns. (Unite d’Habitation by Le Corbusier, 1946-52) 3.)Scale: How large a building is relative to the size of the average human being. (St. Peter’s Rome, 1549-64) 4.)Rhythm: The means of attaining ordered variety in architecture—the alternation between incident and interval, between solids and voids. (Palazzo de Te by Romano, 1527-34) 5.) Texture: a.) Optical Texture-refers to visual pattern on the large scale (Palazzo Medici by Micheloozo, 1444-60) -ashlar masonry
-rusticated masonry b.) Tactile Texture-refers to what can be physically felt with the hand 6.) Light and Color: a.) Light: The most powerful element in our perception of architecture (Cornaro Chapel by Bernini, 1647 and Notre Dame du Haut) b.) Color: The powerful evoker of moods and physiological responses -Warm colors vs. Cool Colors (San Vitale, Byzantine and Santo Spirito by Brunelleschi, 1436) 7.) Ornament: -absence of ornament and its importance -economic and social value of ornament -utilitarian ornament -didactic ornament
More readings: http://the-lying-truth-of-arthictecture.blogspot.com/
