The beginning of any object, space, building, or place begins with an artifact. From there, it goes through a three step process to determine what that artifact is and what it might mean to another person. Those three steps include description, deduction, and speculation. Once all of those steps are completed, architecture can be analyzed.
These artifacts can be looked as expressive forms and represent a dialect between actions which decides if an object is meaningful or not.
An example of such an artifact includes Stonehenge which is one of five hundred circles actually still in tact around the world. A circle was chosen for this because it represents equality and shows that whatever may be in the middle might be of some importance.
The second example of these artifacts are the Pyramids which offer an infinite amount of visual artifacts through hieroglyphics. These were "instructions" left on papyrus or on an object itself by the Egyptians.
As a closing note, size does matter when it comes to certain architecture. This can be seen in the pyramids (and other architecture later on) because as something increases in size, power generally increases as well.
[Week Two]
Circles, groups, and stacks are a common design feature in early architecture, and are still used in this era. These three elements all represent a connection to some extent to natural elements of the earth. For example, groups can represent groves of trees, stacks can represent mountains, and circles can represent the sun and the moon.
These three elements' main principle was repetition. In architecture, and life in general, repetition leads to contrast and emphasis, unity and harmony, and balance and proportion.
All this led to the question of whether environments influence rituals or if rituals influenced environments. To figure this out in a real life scenario, we were given an assignment to find circles, groups, and stacks around campus and relate them to the rituals we experience.
This campus utilizes a lot of grouping in the exterior architecture of the building (columns). Stacks and circles are rarely used, but are still seen. Stacks are mainly used in the staircases that lead up to many of the buildings, and the circles can be seen in the pathway on College Ave. Another representation of circles can be found in the EUC in both the front and back entrance ways.
[Week Three]
The focus of discussion included principles and elements of design and how those are linked around the world in many ways. For instance, there was a common order (arrangement, type, and style) and proportion between many of the sites we visited. Specifically, the groves and stacks utilized in architecture in Greece served as an archetype for much of the western architecture.
The prototypes for much of the architecture would become more and more intricate as the years were added on in time. A great example of this would be the columns (doric, ionic, corinthian) because as the architects became more aware of different techniques, these columns would serve as archetypes for the next set to become more intricate. These archetypes went for everything, including the plan and layout of the many temples.
Continuing with that and moving away from Greece, we can compare and contrast the ideas with the Xi'an. The architecture here also emphasized columns and stacks in their designs. It differed from Greece because the columns here were more noticeable in the ancient army sculptures, and the stacks were more visible in the rest of the structures.
In both sites, columns represented contrast and emphasis, and unity and harmony. The stacks went on to represent balance and proportion. All of these elements were well thought out in all designs in the western architecture.
The more hidden elements were that each principle went on to signify strength and power in some shape or form. Both sites had temples and buildings that the sites were centered around to signify that strength and power.
We applied these elements and principles to our campus to see where they were more visible and how they were represented. UNCG offered a variety of all these principles in comparison to the other colleges surrounding it. Many buildings even take on the stacks and columns design to create a formal and strong look.
[Week Four]
"The end is to build well. Well building hate three conditions: firmness, commodity, and delight." (Sir Henry Wotton)
This quote sums up the discussion of the week. Those three conditions were applied to many of the sites we explored, including our very own lecture hall, the Colosseum, and the Pantheon. If each condition could be ranked a high enough score, it was decided that the structure must be a pretty good one.
Moving away from that, we discussed the many Roman building types that made up Rome. Each had it's own purpose in the city. A few of these examples include an aqueduct, arch, basilica, and and column.
The layout of many cities included a cross as the "main" way to get to things. If an aerial view was taken, this cross was very visible (it was awesome!). This axis also symbolizes a path that reminds a person where to walk. This design feature also divides a space up as much as it unifies it.
To apply this to everyday scenarios, we took a walk around campus and observed the commodity, firmness, and delight of multiple buildings (MHRA, Jackson Library, and the music building). Our campus utilizes delight in the vast majority of the buildings. Commodity and firmness also ranked a decent score, although it might be agreed that the firmness could be improved upon with some of the buildings.
Along with that, we observed the axes both on the interiors of buildings and exterior of the campus as a whole. College Ave (music building and Curry) represents the north and south running of the axis, and Jackson Library and the Stone building represent the east and west points. These were intentionally placed out because all of these points (minus the stone building) represent what our campus is all about.
