Prairie Style:
The main focus for this whole video was the impact that Frank Lloyd Wright had on architecture with the invention of a prairie house. Lloyd is still considered a very famous man today based off of the fact that he built the first home based off of the harmony between client and architectural texture, inorder to give it a natural feeling. A few of the main concepts that were involved in all of Wright’s designs were:
· His style focused on making homes blend with living style instead of it being a box
· Designed single family homes with a determination of making them describe the time and landscape that they were being built in
· Always focused on how to re think organization of the house
· Planned houses to follow the sun around
· Never wanted house covered, but wanted some privacy
It was really interesting to see houses that Lloyd designed but also see ones that other architectures designed based off of his style. Architecture, The science of design:
Architecture can be considered a science for many reasons. One example is skyscrapers. skyscrapers are very tall and save space, but can potentially be very dangerous if not built right. Skyscrapers consist of two parts, super structure and underground substructure and each part requires different foundations. There are many techniques that can be done to support a sky scraper, like driving steel piles into ground, but all must be able to support dead weight and living weight. The reason that there has to be so much science behind each skyscraper that is built is due to one main problem, wind! All of these structures must be tested to make sure they are able to stand against environmental weather because wind is 4x more violent the higher you get. Scientist must figure out how high a building can go and how much each building is going to sway with the wind. They perform many tests (wind tunnel tests) because if poorly designed, sway can cause a lot of damage.
Cement is the go to material for creating skyscrapers. It supports and is accommodates for what architects need to do. Cortland cement is most popular and has many elements that make it up. Concrete is a very complex material and there are many things to consider when using it. For example, deal conditions for concrete are underwater! Concrete is always changing and always improving and with the help of scientists, our structures are becoming much more sturdy and safe.
Classical Architecture:
-Romans and Greek had a very strong influence on early architecture and provided many techniques and ideas for architecture now. They stressed the importance of having harmony, proportion, balance, and simplicity. The provided many styles that were very famous in the past and are still famous today. The Greek styles that created such an impact were the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian styles. Each of these styles really focused on columns. The styles that came from Rome are Tuscan and Composite and these focused on arches and domes.
Frank Gehry:
Architecture in the beginning started off as very cold and lifeless but Frank Gehry was out to change that. The whole concept behind this video was to mainly give examples as to how architecture can be unique and different. Gehry expresses how he likes all of his work to be unique and different and doesn’t focus on harmonizing it with the rest of its surroundings, but rather harmonizing it with people. He expresses his work as you either see it or you don’t, just like a painting. Gehry has a very strong love for motion and is a strong believer that the design speaks and tells a story alone. He expresses how technology has advanced over the years and with better technology comes better ideas! He is a very famous architecture and the video shows a lot of beautiful pieces that he has created.
2. How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?
- The videos related to the book because a lot of the same concepts were mentioned in many of the videos. They compared many of the same styles and discussed how architecture is really a true form of art and either you connect with it or you don’t. I like the book but I feel as if the videos do the architecture much more justice by giving different views on buildings and they expanded into a little more detail also.
3. What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of Architecture?
-I really enjoyed the films. I found them each to be so drastically different but also all connected and traced back to all the details of architecture. The book did a great job of introducing and giving brief details about some of the styles used in old and present architecture but watching a video on it just gives it much more depth. I am definitely a visual learner, and the book shows tons of great examples, but seeing examples on video are much nicer because it expands the views and understandings just that much more. They added a lot of depth to my understanding of Architecture because I really never knew how much science and testing was involved in architecture or the extent that each architecture puts into different buildings. It truly is an art and is very cool to think of it in this way now.
4. From the group of four that you had a choice: Why did you choose that film?
- I was not sure which movie to choose and so I had opened them all and read the description of each of them. Although I was not familiar with a lot of the names mentioned, the description about Frank Gehry really grabbed my attention. He is a phenomenal architect and has created many outstanding and unique buildings.
No comments:
Post a Comment