Materiality within architecture plays a focal role to communicating themes and functional properties of the design to those experiencing architecture. An architectural intent can be revealed through various methods, whether it is through materiality of spaces or the facade. The formal condition within the current design of the proposed Academy of Distilling Arts is a three-storey atrium in which the primary vertical circulation is located, making it the most activated space within the building. The atrium acts as a buffer zone, distinguishing the new form the old. The staircase being a central component, highlights the verticality in the atrium, further put in context through the materiality of the staircase and surrounding materiality of …show more content…
Asking the materials questions in fact allows you to resolve conflicts within the design. Meiss further identifies that the first use of brick is the wall , and accordingly, in my design brick conveys its history structurally through walls, narrating and expressing itself through its construction, details, texture and verticality. The existing brick façade flows into the interior, implementing a barrier between the existing spatial conditions and revitalized elements. The three-storey brick façade is replaced with glazing, introducing large amounts of natural light into the atrium. Similarly, the Highgate House by Carmody Groarke, utilizes brick as a predominant material creating a sculptural pattern . This project is not of new or old, it takes on a Georgian style approach, hence the use of brick as a traditional material and wood as a modern and comforting material for the house. The atrium allows for natural light through a floor to ceiling spanned window with a circular skylight centralized in the space . The use of existing brick in my design represents human history alongside speaking of what the brick conceptualizes. During the revitalization of the Distillery District, there were mainly brick construction; a period in architecture where brick was popular for many reasons such as …show more content…
However, a heavy material does not physically have to be light, rather visually appear light . For example, tin is relatively heavy, but when produced into a can it is visually and physically light. A similar approach can be taken with concrete through compression . Incorporating thin concrete panels with a white paint finish then presents the staircase as a light structure. The staircase within the atrium is constructed of a steel folded plate staircase structure, with concrete finishes and steel balusters connected to a transparent glass railing. The floor slab is also a polished gray concrete finishing. The primary intent behind the staircase was to achieve a floating structure symbolizing the circulation, from which they can visualize the old and new. Another approach to conveying the staircase as a floating structure would be to remove the concrete, sustaining the steel folded plate structure, representing a development of the new and improved technology against the traditional style. It can then evoke an expression of a floating and light-weight element contributing to the design of the atrium, similar to the Xintai Warehouse
Dell Upton is a historian and renowned professor of architecture and Urbanism at the University of California. He has published several books on architecture; one of them is “Architecture in the United States”, published in 1998. In this book, Upton analyzes the architecture of the United States in different aspects, such as nature, money and art, thus depicting the great variety in architectural forms, and how throughout the decades, different interests have lead communities to different ways of building, different purposes and materials, thus reflecting their way of thinking and their relationship with the environment. By exploring so many different architectural styles, Upton reveals the great diversity and richness that has always, and continues to characterize American architecture.
First and foremost are the architectural elements. These encompass the structural components that Chareau uses to emphasize the current site’s condition, the regularity of the grid used, the characteristics of the materials, the spatial alignment of the program, and so forth. The Maison de Verre would not have been designed the same way if it had been erected elsewhere. The same design principles would have been apparent, but there were extenuating circumstances that the client and the architect encountered at the site. The clients, Dr. and Mrs. Dalsace, inherited the building and the surrounding property from her father, and had the sole intention of tearing down the existing building and resurrecting a new, modern structure that would showcase Chareau’s furniture designs. (Vellay 63). The only thing stopping them was an elderly woman who lived on the second floor of the existing building who refused to leave her apartment (Frampto...
Do you have a living room, open floor plan, or carpet flooring? Most homes in America today have these basic essentials, and Frank Lloyd Wright can be credited for this. Frank Lloyd Wright is one of the most influential Architects in American history. These innovations in modern architecture may not have occurred without him. Wright developed the Prairie style of architecture in 1909. This style is distinguished by horizontal lines on the exterior, a low pitched hipped roof, long bands of windows, wide overhanging eaves, and brick courses or wood bands. Frank Lloyd Wright’s innovations in architecture positively influenced the way American homes were built, therefore affecting their lives. His concept of an open floor plan encouraged families and people inside their homes to interact and relax
Abstract: New forms in current world have been testimony to the contemporary style of postmodern architecture and are the strength of today’s generation for creating significant architectural standards. Post modernism has blurred the borders between contemporary and traditional construction classical concepts and simply in the field of art and literature. The architectural elements like domes, arches, and classical shapes have lost their identity but the post modernism tries to bridge between these historical forms and contemporary styles. The related architects not only struggled to achieve the image for the buildings but also rejected oversimplified diagrams for living. The post modernism here tries to achieve theoretical base for their designs that creates the excitement in the design program.
The Chinese-American architect Ieoh Ming Pei (I.M) is known as one of the greatest architects of the Twentieth Century. His long, brilliant career was highlighted by several internationally famous structures. While many of Pei’s buildings were generally accepted by the public, some of them precipitated fair amounts of controversy. The most notable of these controversial structures is his Glass Pyramid at the entrance of the Louvre in Paris. For these reasons, I.M. Pei seems to be an architect who exhibits interest in the avant-garde through both the creative design and aestheticism of his architecture.
Daniel H. Burnham was a very influential American architect in the late 1890’s and early 1900’s. He helped rebuild Chicago after the Great Fire, helped develop the modern skyscraper, and helped revolutionize urban planning. His plan to redesign Chicago still influences designs today of modern cities, and his “Flat Iron” building is still one of the most well-known buildings of the twentieth century.
In conclusion, the debate between aesthetics and functionalism has been around for a long time. It becomes clear however, through research, that the first thing architects consider is function, and then aesthetics. It is because of this approach that aesthetics becomes somewhat of a by-product of the whole design process. By looking at examples of various buildings, it is apparent that aesthetics is important to structure and in many instances has been successfully coupled with function. But in no circumstance should aesthetics take precedence over the function and practicality of a building. It seems more likely that a happy medium between function and aesthetics can be reached, on a project by project basis, and then applied to the design process of creating the building.
The essence of modern architecture lays in a remarkable strives to reconcile the core principles of architectural design with rapid technological advancement and the modernization of society. However, it took “the form of numerous movements, schools of design, and architectural styles, some in tension with one another, and often equally defying such classification, to establish modernism as a distinctive architectural movement” (Robinson and Foell). Although, the narrower concept of modernism in architecture is broadly characterized by simplification of form and subtraction of ornament from the structure and theme of the building, meaning that the result of design should derive directly from its purpose; the visual expression of the structure, particularly the visual importance of the horizontal and vertical lines typical for the International Style modernism, the use of industrially-produced materials and adaptation of the machine aesthetic, as well as the truth to materials concept, meaning that the true nat...
In the process of development of human society, architecture and culture are inseparable. Cuthbert (1985) indicates that architecture, with its unique art form, expresses the level of human culture in different historical stages, as well as the yearning towards the future. According to his article, it can be said that architecture has become one of the physical means for human to change the world and to conquer the nature. Consequently, architecture has been an important component of human civilization. Since 1980s when China started the opening and reforming policy, a variety of architectural ideas, schools and styles have sprung up. Accompanying with a momentum of...
Norman Foster is a British architect who was born in Manchester in 1935. He graduated from University School of Architecture (Manchester) in 1961 and won a scholarship to study Master’s Degree in Architecture at Yale University. Later in 1967 he teamed up with 4 other peers and established a practice called Foster + Partners which was founded in London and is now one of the most well-known international design practices.
Architecture is the concept of bringing structure, materiality, form and space together as a whole, provide people with enclosed atmosphere to experience. Considering this, it is important to identify that materiality and the purpose of details has been a key methodology to bringing architectural intentions into the design in an affective manner, more over producing an architectural expression. However, this position is rather declining in architecture, reducing tectonics and materiality to being secondary to form and space. With the start of modernism, the attempt to achieve minimalistic style has caused detailing to increasingly develop into a decorative aspect of a building, neglecting its individual contribution to architecture.
In the category of modern art, the field that I’m personally fascinated by is architecture. The reason I say this is that architecture is more than just a piece of art, but a masterpiece of the combination of intelligence, physics, and the work of the imagination. I just happened to be in luck when I visited the MOMA because the museum was currently exhibiting a special collection of archives and the designs of the architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The show displayed all the drafts of the most iconic buildings the Frank Lloyd Wright had designed in his career, and this made it very difficult for me to decide which piece I want to write about because every one were very intriguing.
In developing this contemporary and iconic building, the design focuses on practical attributes and optimises energy efficiency. The design strategy encapsulates four key aspects:
The book as a description of modern architecture, its styles and influence succeeds but falls short as a prescriptive methodology. His work is still recalled for the need by modernists to categorize everything into neat little boxes, not necessarily for the sake of uniformity, but for sake of some ambiguity. The ambiguity may be the triumph of this book as post modern architecture era is supposed to create more questions than the answers.
What makes modern architecture? Before answering this, one would need to understand what the term “modern” exactly describes. In architecture, modernism is the movement or transition from one period to another, and it is caused by cultural, territorial, and technological changes happening in the world. In Kenneth Frampton’s Modern Architecture: A Critical History, he details these three major societal changes that impact and create modern architecture.