Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Road Trip

ROAD TRIP

Congruence
I feel the word connection works better with this. In history class we must find connections among what happened in the past to where design is now. The history we learn can give a precedent to design ideas in the future. Thomas Jefferson used pantheon as a precedent for his design at Monticello. He also received inspiration from the domes in Rome to design his very own home. He looked to the past in order to move forward into the future.

Roots
Both Thomas Jefferson and Frank Lloyd Wright were looking to design something that defined American architecture. They both found these American roots in different ways. Thomas Jefferson went back to the Roman style of architecture but with his own unique changes to it. He received inspiration from the pantheon in Rome to build the pavilion at the University of Virginia with its U-shaped pavilion and the L-shaped Rotunda attached to it. He has the main building with arms stretching out in the land. It is as if the arms are attaching the pantheon looking building into the land like roots do a tree. The same holds true for his house Monticello. There is the main building with the arms stretching outwards. Frank Lloyd Wright, however, wanted to move away from anything that had been done before and, thus, came up with his own unique style that he felt we should go in American architecture. His design at Fallingwater has the house with cantilevered into the land. Instead of arms rooting itself into the ground his design is like the house is hovering over the water and the water is what is holding the building secure. Monticello and UVA was built onto the land, whereas Fallingwater was built into the land.

Concept
As designers we must all have a concept to start the design process. The Sculptured House by Charles Deaton, the concept he had for his house was “People aren’t people aren’t squares, so why should they live in squares?” He designed his own home first as a sculpture and then put in the floor plan. His work is livable art. I feel that his concept of creating a home that does not have any room with a straight wall fits humans more than the houses today. His work shows that form is important when designing. The Sculptured House also allows light to hit in the key areas of the house, where the panels of windows are and the less important features are in the back. This is just like art, the artist will highlight its most prominent features of a sculpture and hide the ones that are not.

Materiality
At Fallingwater and Monticello we learned about different materials the designers used and how they define the designs. At Fallingwater, the concrete slabs are cantilevered above the natural stone of the land. Frank Lloyd Wright wanted to create a space that was built into the land instead of a house that was simply built onto the land. His creation of stone and the natural elements that make up Fallingwater makes it seem like the water is rushing right underneath the house and the house is one with the natural materials. In studio we were to research three different materials and find out how they were used, the cost, and availability of the materials. The materials I had were silk, glass block, and rice paper. All of the materials I had known prior to the research, but I found out a lot of different design ideas from them. I learned how silk is made by insects and takes a long process to make. The knowledge we have about different materials helps decision making easier, if the resource information is already known.

Compression/Release
At Fallingwater, there is a lot of compression/release happening. The hallways are dark and narrow leading to the private areas of the house, and when a person finally gets to the bedroom they are let out into a very bright open room. This design innovation is used to distinguish different areas from one another. The dark hallways deter unwanted guests from the private areas, and the release in the open areas, makes the viewer feel more at ease in the space.

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