Blog Post 8: Nautilus

A nautilus shell illustrates how we can link together design movements across time periods as an outward spiral of architectural development. In my nautilus shell, I began with the gothic movement via the Amiens Cathedral, moving to the renaissance with the Florence Cathedral, and ending in the Baroque movement through the Place de Vosges of Paris, France.

Gothic: 

The gothic movement had a rigid focus on religion, buildings were imposing and stretched vertically, there was not much color used in architecture, there was high detail and high emphasis on structure. We can see all of these influences in the Amiens Cathedral. 

Renaissance: 

The renaissance was all about creativity and moving away from strict religious elements of the gothic period. We see this with the use of color, like the terra cotta roof of the Florence Cathedral, and more fluid forms, like the domes of the cathedral. Height is emphasized by domes, but the building as a whole is not as vertical as the cathedral at Amiens.

Baroque:

The baroque movement is characterized by highly ornate architecture, influenced by both the high detail of the gothic movement and fluid artistic forms of the renaissance. The exception is that the lavish details emphasized the power of the king rather than the church. Architecture in this period stretched horizontally rather than vertically, as we can see in the Place de Vosges. Baroque design was influenced by the Enlightenment, using understandings of history, science, and rational thinking versus focusing on religion or art. 

Reading Response 8

Sources: 

Ching, A Global History of Architecture

http://catherinedelors.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Paris-Marais-Hotel-de-Sully-02.jpg

http://critikparis.unblog.fr/tag/bars

dailyphotoparis.blogspot.com

Reading Response 7

Source: Ching, A Global History of Architecture

Blog Post 7: Architecture of Happiness

The idea of an "architecture of happiness" suggests a design that effects the mood of those around or inside it, making people happy or calm. In terms of our class, architecture of happiness would have a high "delight" score.  However, happy spaces and places can be different for everyone, it all depends on what makes you as an individual feel happy.  Architecture of happiness can be achieved through design rules, like the great eastern and western design rule book we explored in class.

My idea of a happy space and a happy place in campus was the Meditation room in the EUC and the Elizabeth Herring Garden outside of the school of music.

I chose the Meditation Room because it makes me feel calm. This should be the sole purpose and function of the design of a room dedicated to relaxing, meditation, and prayer. The Meditation Room achieves this calming effect by minimalist design. The Meditation Room celebrates surface and materiality, which is in the design rulebook. The frosted glass dividers creates a calming effect, diffusing light while giving people privacy while they meditate. The carpet not only gives students a softer place to lay down but absorbs sounds, keeping the room quiet. This is contrasted by a large circle of wood floor in the center of the room, which shows importance, drawing you into the room and invites to meditate in the center of the room, giving someone plenty of space. It is also important for the meditation room to emphasize spirituality, another rule of design. Spirituality is most often thought to develop in someone through quiet time by oneself, and there are plenty of areas devoted to this in the room. The sand feature in the room is reminiscent of Japanese sand gardens and the spiritual rituals that are connected to them. 

I chose the Elizabeth Herring Garden because there is always something blooming there, and the sound of the fountain reminds me of spring, which makes me happy. The most obvious rule I see followed in the garden is the layering of groves and stacks. We see groves of trees and shrubs along the pathway, as seen in the second picture. There are several walls of stacked stone, most importantly around the fountain, which I must point out is a circle. The fountain serves as a place for people to gather and celebrate the season and nature around them. 

I included the poem below that can be found on a rock in the pathway of the garden. It describes the joy one feels in a garden, being close to nature and being "nearer God's heart"...

"The kiss of the sun for pardon,

The song of the birds for mirth,

One is nearer God's heart in a garden

Than anywhere else on earth."

Personal Space: The Behavioral Basis of Design

In Robert Sommer’s Personal Space: The Behavioral Basis of Design, he explains the psychology of group interactions that relates to seating arrangements. This relates back to the dining space in the way that I am designing: in the shape of the table, the distance between chairs, the type of interaction that will be taking place, etc. Sommer defines group as “a face to face aggregation of individuals who have some shared purpose of being together” and social influence as “the way the presence of one person affect[s] another”.  Both of these factors play into the experience that my dining space will be designed to facilitate.  The group will be dining face to face, both in person and on video chat, for Eradicating World Hunger Day.  The sense of a group sharing one common goal is what makes the dining experience especially intimate. Although intimacy as a dining experience is a goal, Sommer shows that enough personal space allotted for each person at a table is crucial in order for people to not feel uncomfortable.  This is not the same for humanity as a whole, but varies across cultures. The social media aspect of the dining table via a screen will ease this culture gap. Sommer also shows that people respond differently to square or rectangular tables than round tables. It is shown that in rectangular tables like the one I have chosen, conversing was best done across from another person. This will benefit the purposes of my dining experience because the video chat screen will be directly across from the person who is having the conversation. 

Dining Space: Plan, Axon, and Sketch Model

Plan View at 1/4"= 1'0" Scale

Axon at 1/4"=1'0" Scale

Sketch model of my table, with the mirror paper representing the screen that will rise out of the table base

beginning of the room model

Dining Space: Parti

For my parti, I used my precedents to explain my intentions for how I am going to apply those ideas in my space. I used examples of the warm and cool lights in the dining seating with a picture of ghost chairs that have some tint of color. I wanted to apply lighting to these transparent chairs to create a color effect that corresponds with the seasons. Below I showed how I intended to use the lighted crystal curtain inspiration to choose a chandelier that looks like water droplets. I also wanted to use colored lighting in the chandelier to mimic what will be happening on the chairs. On the lower left corner I included a picture of a modern glass top table and drew a screen on top to show how I intend to bring social media into the space. On the top corner, I found inspiration for a minimal modern sideboard, but for my space I wanted to apply this idea to something built-in.