Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Peter Zumthor Questions
1. How does Peter Zumthor talk about the "Magic of the Real" and explain how this compares, in terms of the subtleties, to Michael Benedikt's "Architecture for Reality"?
Zumthor brings up the subject of “Magic of the Real” by questioning can you design experience in architecture, such as a Sunday afternoon spent enjoy friends’ company at a coffee shop. In a similar way Benedikt’s “Architecture of Reality” calls for a direct esthetic experience, which is architecture that not only encloses some form of space, but has its own presence, importance and emptiness. Both Zumthor and Benedikt believe that architecture needs to become a part of our lives through our interactions. For example Zumthor talks about the unique sound we attribute to spaces; we are familiar with the sounds because we have experienced them. Likewise Benedikt talks of the drawing effect certain rooms and spaces have; we are attracted to them for we feel a need to fill them, like the draw of a fire place. These places are real because they are experienced and thus interwoven in the lives of its inhabitants. They are not simple in existence.
2. Material Compatibility, Temperature of a Space and Levels of Intimacy are some conditions that both Peter Zumthor, in “Atmospheres”, and Richard Serra, in “Weight and Measure”, make a point of articulating when consider space. Where in their explanation of these overlapping conditions are they similar and where do they differ?
In “Weight and Measure” Serra talks about the need to work in full scale on site to help him feel the experience instead of assume a relationship. In the same way, Zumthor recognizes the usefulness of working on site in his section titled Material Compatibility—it wasn’t until he physically placed the cedar and concrete together that he realized they worked. Similarly, both Serra and Zumthor address unique qualities every member brings to a project. For example, Serra talks about the way using an octagon would create a pedestal condition in the galleries, or the way a circle would read more as a contextual condition than a space. These shapes had their own underlying implicities. In the same way, Zumthor brings up the fact that every material has its own temperature. Steel, for example, is cold, while a wooden deck would provide a relief from the present temperature. (It would be warm if cold and cool if hot.) These explanations differ only in the fact that one deals with special elements and form and the other with materials.
3. Zumthor looks towards experiential conditions when creating architecture, what are other methods architects use when generating architecture and what is the corresponding building?
One other methods of investigating architecture is a proportion, such as in classical architecture the Greek Orders were based on the proportions of the human male, female mother, and female virgin. Another investigation is the relationship between digital and physical, like Val Noges Feather Projects. Also there is an algorithmic approach to architecture, such as Tom Wiscombe’s Houlaing Architecture. Next, there is also a programmatic study of architecture—OMA’s Seattle Public Library, for example. Lastly, there is a purely formal architectural approach as well. For example, the rectangular forms that create series of roofed garden terraces by the Danish firm BIG.
4. To me, beauty in architecture is the revelation of craftsmanship, thought, time spent and a resulting natural appeal natural appeal. Nature naturally does this; it takes 9 months to create a baby. Trees grow slowly and sturdily. Things that grow fast are generally ugly, like fruit flies for example. In the man-made world a good examples is the gargoyle in Gothic architecture. Gargoyles are ugly creatures, but the skill of the sculptor and the thought and planning invested into the placement, and features create a natural appeal. In the same way, a complex line drawing with a strict system and a careful drafter will naturally carry a beauty because of the thought and time spent to generate clarity and cleanliness. With this definition, the simple as well as the complex, the monochrome as well as polychrome, the man made as well as the natural made.
Zumthor brings up the subject of “Magic of the Real” by questioning can you design experience in architecture, such as a Sunday afternoon spent enjoy friends’ company at a coffee shop. In a similar way Benedikt’s “Architecture of Reality” calls for a direct esthetic experience, which is architecture that not only encloses some form of space, but has its own presence, importance and emptiness. Both Zumthor and Benedikt believe that architecture needs to become a part of our lives through our interactions. For example Zumthor talks about the unique sound we attribute to spaces; we are familiar with the sounds because we have experienced them. Likewise Benedikt talks of the drawing effect certain rooms and spaces have; we are attracted to them for we feel a need to fill them, like the draw of a fire place. These places are real because they are experienced and thus interwoven in the lives of its inhabitants. They are not simple in existence.
2. Material Compatibility, Temperature of a Space and Levels of Intimacy are some conditions that both Peter Zumthor, in “Atmospheres”, and Richard Serra, in “Weight and Measure”, make a point of articulating when consider space. Where in their explanation of these overlapping conditions are they similar and where do they differ?
In “Weight and Measure” Serra talks about the need to work in full scale on site to help him feel the experience instead of assume a relationship. In the same way, Zumthor recognizes the usefulness of working on site in his section titled Material Compatibility—it wasn’t until he physically placed the cedar and concrete together that he realized they worked. Similarly, both Serra and Zumthor address unique qualities every member brings to a project. For example, Serra talks about the way using an octagon would create a pedestal condition in the galleries, or the way a circle would read more as a contextual condition than a space. These shapes had their own underlying implicities. In the same way, Zumthor brings up the fact that every material has its own temperature. Steel, for example, is cold, while a wooden deck would provide a relief from the present temperature. (It would be warm if cold and cool if hot.) These explanations differ only in the fact that one deals with special elements and form and the other with materials.
3. Zumthor looks towards experiential conditions when creating architecture, what are other methods architects use when generating architecture and what is the corresponding building?
One other methods of investigating architecture is a proportion, such as in classical architecture the Greek Orders were based on the proportions of the human male, female mother, and female virgin. Another investigation is the relationship between digital and physical, like Val Noges Feather Projects. Also there is an algorithmic approach to architecture, such as Tom Wiscombe’s Houlaing Architecture. Next, there is also a programmatic study of architecture—OMA’s Seattle Public Library, for example. Lastly, there is a purely formal architectural approach as well. For example, the rectangular forms that create series of roofed garden terraces by the Danish firm BIG.
4. To me, beauty in architecture is the revelation of craftsmanship, thought, time spent and a resulting natural appeal natural appeal. Nature naturally does this; it takes 9 months to create a baby. Trees grow slowly and sturdily. Things that grow fast are generally ugly, like fruit flies for example. In the man-made world a good examples is the gargoyle in Gothic architecture. Gargoyles are ugly creatures, but the skill of the sculptor and the thought and planning invested into the placement, and features create a natural appeal. In the same way, a complex line drawing with a strict system and a careful drafter will naturally carry a beauty because of the thought and time spent to generate clarity and cleanliness. With this definition, the simple as well as the complex, the monochrome as well as polychrome, the man made as well as the natural made.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Weight and Measure Responses
1. What were Richard Serra's goals for the installation?
Richard Serra wanted to redirect the way people experience the Duveen Galleries. He wanted to put an end to the forcible direction the place imposed. To do this, he wanted to create a space that was to be purely experienced and not seen as an object.
2. Define the field Serra is referring to when he states that his sculptural elements need to create "enough tension within the field to hold the experience of presence in the place". How do you define "experience of presence"?
The field Serra refers to is the visual field. He wanted to use the height of the ceiling, having one level higher than the other, so they appeared level in perspective. This would cause the tension because normally in a corridor a ceiling would approach a vantage point with the floor and walls. The experience of presence is the experience of the subtleties and elements of a space, but not the conscious awareness of them. Serra wanted you to fell the presence of the space by being in it not by being so aware of the elements of the space you see the space as an object. This is why he dismissed his octagon idea.
3. How do the columns, pedestal condition, octagonal space and vertical axis challenge Serra?
The columns cause you to acknowledge the vertical scale of the room when Serra wanted you to experience the directionality and linearity of the central axis. The octagon space create too much of a focal point and a pedestal condition. It too gives too much emphasis to the vertical axis and becomes too objective and sculptural. Serra wanted this space to be just that, purely space stripped of its objectivity.
4. What is effective in terms of the shape, scale and number of the two square elements in the Duveen Galleries?
All of them shape, scale and number help prevent the space from becoming an object. A rectangle is used because it is read well and the parallel conditions help reinforce the horizontal axis. The scale was chose to be large enough to avoid the “furniture scale” that might trigger a symbolic relationship. And only two rectangles were chosen to be used because more than two sets up a series causing repetition and duplication, which leads to the spaces becoming a series of objects.
5. Describe the differences and similarities between Barnett Newman's and Richard Serra's work.
Both Newman’s paintings and Serra’s sculptures deal with the experience of the participator. While one is experience on a two dimensional canvass as you “scan the field” the other surrounds you and is experienced as you walk through the space. However, where Serra’s sculptures strives to prevent objectiveness in his work, as in the “Torqued Ellipse VI” in the Guggenheim in Spain, Newman’s sculptures become very objective, like his “Broken Obilisk.
Richard Serra wanted to redirect the way people experience the Duveen Galleries. He wanted to put an end to the forcible direction the place imposed. To do this, he wanted to create a space that was to be purely experienced and not seen as an object.
2. Define the field Serra is referring to when he states that his sculptural elements need to create "enough tension within the field to hold the experience of presence in the place". How do you define "experience of presence"?
The field Serra refers to is the visual field. He wanted to use the height of the ceiling, having one level higher than the other, so they appeared level in perspective. This would cause the tension because normally in a corridor a ceiling would approach a vantage point with the floor and walls. The experience of presence is the experience of the subtleties and elements of a space, but not the conscious awareness of them. Serra wanted you to fell the presence of the space by being in it not by being so aware of the elements of the space you see the space as an object. This is why he dismissed his octagon idea.
3. How do the columns, pedestal condition, octagonal space and vertical axis challenge Serra?
The columns cause you to acknowledge the vertical scale of the room when Serra wanted you to experience the directionality and linearity of the central axis. The octagon space create too much of a focal point and a pedestal condition. It too gives too much emphasis to the vertical axis and becomes too objective and sculptural. Serra wanted this space to be just that, purely space stripped of its objectivity.
4. What is effective in terms of the shape, scale and number of the two square elements in the Duveen Galleries?
All of them shape, scale and number help prevent the space from becoming an object. A rectangle is used because it is read well and the parallel conditions help reinforce the horizontal axis. The scale was chose to be large enough to avoid the “furniture scale” that might trigger a symbolic relationship. And only two rectangles were chosen to be used because more than two sets up a series causing repetition and duplication, which leads to the spaces becoming a series of objects.
5. Describe the differences and similarities between Barnett Newman's and Richard Serra's work.
Both Newman’s paintings and Serra’s sculptures deal with the experience of the participator. While one is experience on a two dimensional canvass as you “scan the field” the other surrounds you and is experienced as you walk through the space. However, where Serra’s sculptures strives to prevent objectiveness in his work, as in the “Torqued Ellipse VI” in the Guggenheim in Spain, Newman’s sculptures become very objective, like his “Broken Obilisk.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Book Sections
Theme: Rooms that Define/ Spaces that Lead Up into Light
Composistion: Boarders that Control/ Walls that layer/ Pockets that Offer Choice and Change
Composistion: Boarders that Control/ Walls that layer/ Pockets that Offer Choice and Change
Friday, October 1, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
Seminar Responses
Field Conditions
from Points + Lines by Stan Allen
1. In Lubbock one of the most prominent field conditions is the grid system layout of the roads. This orthogonal approach to travel flow uses a labeling system of numbers and letters to essentially map out an indefinite space. All streets running east to west are a number, and the number increases by one with each following northern street. All streets running north to south are given a letter or a name. They are in alphabetical order from starting from A and moving west to Z. Another field condition would be the grading of the roads; there is a constituent degree for water runoff.
2. The geometric relationships of classical architecture differ in many ways from the algebraic combination of the Cordoba Mosque. First the geometric relations utilized a hierarchal system in which the individual relationship of parts helped give unity to the whole, such as Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water. The algebraic combination of the Cordoba Mosque however multiplies a single unit to create the mosque. The layout of the Mosque is very precise and numerically calculated. In other words, the geometric relationships are constant—like a triangle always has three angle that add up to 180 degrees—while the algebraic relationships introduce a variable to a single unit.
3. On the campus of Texas Tech, there many examples of field conditions. The pavings that direct pedestrian traffic make up a field condition; each individual path combines with another to form a system that consistently leads to doors, and maintains a certain spacing for traffic. The football stadium is also a field condition. The seats are consistently spaced to provide a line of vision of the focal point, the field, for all spectators. In addition, the entrances are a field condition related by the paths and isles between seating and entrances. This relationship facilitates movement to the seating.
4. The figure-ground relationship demonstrates a level of information laid over another. For example Giam Battistanolli’s plan of Rome shows a direct relationship between Rome’s buildings and streets. The field condition introduces a new level of information or variable component showed in a diagram. For example, stop signs mark intersections to notify traffic to stop. A radial diagram of a city from all stop signs would be a field condition showing the distances between intersections.
For an Architecture of Reality
By Michael Benedikt
1. Benedikt begins by describing different degrees of reality to set up his definition of an architecture of reality: “architecture to be itself without being about anything else.” He is arguing against the post-modern era which used architecture as a medium of communication the way an author uses figurative language and rhetorical strategies. At the same time he warns against abstaining from inauthentic external décor or alluding forms simply to make a statement against them.
2. Benedikt gives examples of degrees of reality as an architecture of dreams, jokes, illusion, and enactments. For instance architecture of dreams would be the buildings like the castle at Disneyland. An architecture of illusion would be the Greek entasis technique of bowing the columns of the ancient temples to counter the effect of perspective and make them appear perfectly strait. An example of architecture of jokes would be Villa dell Ava’s random angled posts; they are meant to imitate the raising of the structure off the ground, like Corbusier’s Villa Savoy, but they are clearly placed to show they carry little to no load.
3. Symbolism is abundant in our environment from Catholic Churches, to legislative buildings, even college campuses. Here at Texas Tech the campus buildings aim to resemble a Spanish architectural style to demonstrate the history of the area, invoke a sense of tradition. Almost all athletic arenas are descendants of the Roman Coliseum with a field, court, or some area surrounded by a vertical array of seats. This installs a sense of competition, “battling” as a spectacle and form of entertainment in an attempt to gain glory. Legislative buildings are often built in classical architectural style associated with the democracy of ancient Greece.
As for non-symbolic places, areas or spaces of strict utilitarian uses are very non-symbolic. For example a parking lot is strictly a plane marked incrementally to park a vehicle. Sewers are spaces used to transport waste, and they convey little to nothing. The space under power lines is just space without any hidden message.
4. In the city of Lubbock there are many example of post-modern architecture. The Texas Tech library is a great example; the façades are meant to look like books turned and their sides. The English philosophy building is meant to mimic the brick structure of the administration building. Architecture of reality consists of buildings like the Texas Tech Administration building. It’s significant to most of the Tech students. Its materials are used purposefully. It does not attempt to hide or fade away. And its walk ways draw pedestrians to it especially on hot days. The Texas Tech rec center demonstrates an architecture of reality as well. Inside the steel trusses of the roof are shown instead of hidden, demonstrating an honest use of materials. It is a place of relaxation in a campus full of stressful students. It is not at lost space at the corner of Urbanovsky but remains strong, while at the same time it does not force its interaction into the students’ lives but becomes a part of the nature of the park, offering an indoor exercise are but respecting the outdoor exercise area as well. It is what it is: a recreation center.
5. Presence is a very important architectural aspect. In a sense a building requires presence for it encloses a space, fills a void. Without presence, a building fails to be a positive feature of the environment because it looks like it does not belong or have purpose. The Jones AT&T stadium has presence. It stands proud at the corner of campus. It does not push other buildings aside but remains rooted showing free way drivers not only its presence but the presence of Texas Tech. The Texas Tech Architecture building is a prime example of presence. Though many criticize it for being ironically bland, it remains unapologetically erect, and carries out its duty: providing students with the means, space, and facilities to learn about architecture.
Significance, in my opinion, is one of the most important qualities of a building. Buildings are an expensive use of resources, and made impact the environment. Therefore, to justly change the environment, for better or worse, and use a large amount of resources, a building needs to be purposeful, useful and truly important to those using it and affected by it. For example, the dairy barn on campus is an epitome of a significant building because its original use was to house livestock the students used to pay for tuition. Today it is no longer used, yet still stands because it is significant to student by providing them with a sense of tradition and pride. St. Elizabeth’s University Catholic Parish is also a great example of significance. The parish originally was a small church, and was very important to its parishioners. It was their place of worship and praise. Now a much larger church has been built to accommodate the ever growing body of people, and the old church is still very much used. The small church is used daily for mass, adoration, small worship events and more. It helps conserve resources the larger church would waste and is still as important to the St. Elizabeth parishioners as it was in the past. At the same time the large church draws significance as a place of weddings, funerals, Sunday mass and more.
How materials are used is also an important part of architecture. Benedikt argues that architecture of reality requires an authentic use of materials. For example, load bearing brick structures work only in compression, so for window in a brick wall an arch or lintel is required to keep the top of the window from collapsing. Benedikt would suggest showing the lintel or utilizing the bricks to create on arch. Authenticity certainly does give architecture a more natural, real, and honest feel. For instance, compare the English Philosophy building and the Foreign Language building of Texas Tech. The English Philosophy building attempts to mimic the brick structure of the Administration building. However, it is very apparent the bricks are simply veneer. First, one can tell because the bricks go all the way to the ground. Second, the bricks are in a pre-fabricated pattern and are simple put in place; the seams are very visible. The Foreign Language building has brick veneer as well, but unlike the English Philosophy building the brick are raised up enough to reveal its concrete foundation.
Lastly Benedikt discusses two types of emptiness. The first type of emptiness refers to nature as a model of architectural theory. Architecture should be empty of any ulterior motives, and like nature, be both “arbitrary and inevitable.” For example the choice to build Texas Tech in the Lubbock region in 1923 was somewhat arbitrary. It could have been built any were in west Texas. It was built here, and inevitable the town as well as the campus started to grow and today it is a place with presence and significance. It accommodates the student life style and provides an academic atmosphere. The second type of emptiness is Benidikt defines as “the space between stepping stones…the draw of a fireplace.” He talks about an emptiness that contains a gravitation to fill it. This is an important and hard to reach quality of architecture. Playgrounds draw children to them, and adults remember the playground of their childhood. The rec center contains large emptiness’s for people to fill—courts, gyms, pools. The shade of a tree creates an empty space with its overarching branches. Buildings with emptiness are buildings that have an innate purpose and timelessness.
from Points + Lines by Stan Allen
1. In Lubbock one of the most prominent field conditions is the grid system layout of the roads. This orthogonal approach to travel flow uses a labeling system of numbers and letters to essentially map out an indefinite space. All streets running east to west are a number, and the number increases by one with each following northern street. All streets running north to south are given a letter or a name. They are in alphabetical order from starting from A and moving west to Z. Another field condition would be the grading of the roads; there is a constituent degree for water runoff.
2. The geometric relationships of classical architecture differ in many ways from the algebraic combination of the Cordoba Mosque. First the geometric relations utilized a hierarchal system in which the individual relationship of parts helped give unity to the whole, such as Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water. The algebraic combination of the Cordoba Mosque however multiplies a single unit to create the mosque. The layout of the Mosque is very precise and numerically calculated. In other words, the geometric relationships are constant—like a triangle always has three angle that add up to 180 degrees—while the algebraic relationships introduce a variable to a single unit.
3. On the campus of Texas Tech, there many examples of field conditions. The pavings that direct pedestrian traffic make up a field condition; each individual path combines with another to form a system that consistently leads to doors, and maintains a certain spacing for traffic. The football stadium is also a field condition. The seats are consistently spaced to provide a line of vision of the focal point, the field, for all spectators. In addition, the entrances are a field condition related by the paths and isles between seating and entrances. This relationship facilitates movement to the seating.
4. The figure-ground relationship demonstrates a level of information laid over another. For example Giam Battistanolli’s plan of Rome shows a direct relationship between Rome’s buildings and streets. The field condition introduces a new level of information or variable component showed in a diagram. For example, stop signs mark intersections to notify traffic to stop. A radial diagram of a city from all stop signs would be a field condition showing the distances between intersections.
For an Architecture of Reality
By Michael Benedikt
1. Benedikt begins by describing different degrees of reality to set up his definition of an architecture of reality: “architecture to be itself without being about anything else.” He is arguing against the post-modern era which used architecture as a medium of communication the way an author uses figurative language and rhetorical strategies. At the same time he warns against abstaining from inauthentic external décor or alluding forms simply to make a statement against them.
2. Benedikt gives examples of degrees of reality as an architecture of dreams, jokes, illusion, and enactments. For instance architecture of dreams would be the buildings like the castle at Disneyland. An architecture of illusion would be the Greek entasis technique of bowing the columns of the ancient temples to counter the effect of perspective and make them appear perfectly strait. An example of architecture of jokes would be Villa dell Ava’s random angled posts; they are meant to imitate the raising of the structure off the ground, like Corbusier’s Villa Savoy, but they are clearly placed to show they carry little to no load.
3. Symbolism is abundant in our environment from Catholic Churches, to legislative buildings, even college campuses. Here at Texas Tech the campus buildings aim to resemble a Spanish architectural style to demonstrate the history of the area, invoke a sense of tradition. Almost all athletic arenas are descendants of the Roman Coliseum with a field, court, or some area surrounded by a vertical array of seats. This installs a sense of competition, “battling” as a spectacle and form of entertainment in an attempt to gain glory. Legislative buildings are often built in classical architectural style associated with the democracy of ancient Greece.
As for non-symbolic places, areas or spaces of strict utilitarian uses are very non-symbolic. For example a parking lot is strictly a plane marked incrementally to park a vehicle. Sewers are spaces used to transport waste, and they convey little to nothing. The space under power lines is just space without any hidden message.
4. In the city of Lubbock there are many example of post-modern architecture. The Texas Tech library is a great example; the façades are meant to look like books turned and their sides. The English philosophy building is meant to mimic the brick structure of the administration building. Architecture of reality consists of buildings like the Texas Tech Administration building. It’s significant to most of the Tech students. Its materials are used purposefully. It does not attempt to hide or fade away. And its walk ways draw pedestrians to it especially on hot days. The Texas Tech rec center demonstrates an architecture of reality as well. Inside the steel trusses of the roof are shown instead of hidden, demonstrating an honest use of materials. It is a place of relaxation in a campus full of stressful students. It is not at lost space at the corner of Urbanovsky but remains strong, while at the same time it does not force its interaction into the students’ lives but becomes a part of the nature of the park, offering an indoor exercise are but respecting the outdoor exercise area as well. It is what it is: a recreation center.
5. Presence is a very important architectural aspect. In a sense a building requires presence for it encloses a space, fills a void. Without presence, a building fails to be a positive feature of the environment because it looks like it does not belong or have purpose. The Jones AT&T stadium has presence. It stands proud at the corner of campus. It does not push other buildings aside but remains rooted showing free way drivers not only its presence but the presence of Texas Tech. The Texas Tech Architecture building is a prime example of presence. Though many criticize it for being ironically bland, it remains unapologetically erect, and carries out its duty: providing students with the means, space, and facilities to learn about architecture.
Significance, in my opinion, is one of the most important qualities of a building. Buildings are an expensive use of resources, and made impact the environment. Therefore, to justly change the environment, for better or worse, and use a large amount of resources, a building needs to be purposeful, useful and truly important to those using it and affected by it. For example, the dairy barn on campus is an epitome of a significant building because its original use was to house livestock the students used to pay for tuition. Today it is no longer used, yet still stands because it is significant to student by providing them with a sense of tradition and pride. St. Elizabeth’s University Catholic Parish is also a great example of significance. The parish originally was a small church, and was very important to its parishioners. It was their place of worship and praise. Now a much larger church has been built to accommodate the ever growing body of people, and the old church is still very much used. The small church is used daily for mass, adoration, small worship events and more. It helps conserve resources the larger church would waste and is still as important to the St. Elizabeth parishioners as it was in the past. At the same time the large church draws significance as a place of weddings, funerals, Sunday mass and more.
How materials are used is also an important part of architecture. Benedikt argues that architecture of reality requires an authentic use of materials. For example, load bearing brick structures work only in compression, so for window in a brick wall an arch or lintel is required to keep the top of the window from collapsing. Benedikt would suggest showing the lintel or utilizing the bricks to create on arch. Authenticity certainly does give architecture a more natural, real, and honest feel. For instance, compare the English Philosophy building and the Foreign Language building of Texas Tech. The English Philosophy building attempts to mimic the brick structure of the Administration building. However, it is very apparent the bricks are simply veneer. First, one can tell because the bricks go all the way to the ground. Second, the bricks are in a pre-fabricated pattern and are simple put in place; the seams are very visible. The Foreign Language building has brick veneer as well, but unlike the English Philosophy building the brick are raised up enough to reveal its concrete foundation.
Lastly Benedikt discusses two types of emptiness. The first type of emptiness refers to nature as a model of architectural theory. Architecture should be empty of any ulterior motives, and like nature, be both “arbitrary and inevitable.” For example the choice to build Texas Tech in the Lubbock region in 1923 was somewhat arbitrary. It could have been built any were in west Texas. It was built here, and inevitable the town as well as the campus started to grow and today it is a place with presence and significance. It accommodates the student life style and provides an academic atmosphere. The second type of emptiness is Benidikt defines as “the space between stepping stones…the draw of a fireplace.” He talks about an emptiness that contains a gravitation to fill it. This is an important and hard to reach quality of architecture. Playgrounds draw children to them, and adults remember the playground of their childhood. The rec center contains large emptiness’s for people to fill—courts, gyms, pools. The shade of a tree creates an empty space with its overarching branches. Buildings with emptiness are buildings that have an innate purpose and timelessness.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
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