Monday, March 28, 2011

RR 10 : 3/28/11

Factory Influence on the Industrial Revolution.

During the second decade of the 19th century, England's industrialization began to have global impacts.  New cities, designs, and architecture began to take shape.  During this Industrial Revolution, the most important changes to architectural landscape were the development of factories. 

In the beginning factories provided for local markets but as time went on they began selling goods nationally and internationally. Cotton and clothing factories were some of the largest factories. The earlier, smaller factories employed families, mainly child labor.  The larger factories were employed by young women who lived in boarding houses.  As time went on Labor laws for the children and women along with wage and work hour laws were passed making life a little better for factory workers. 

Jedediah Strutt's North Mill, Belper, Derbyshire, England

  • Early factories were located next to streams which were used to drive waterwheels that provided power throughout the factory by a system od shafts, gears, and beltings.
  • Factory buildings were uniform in design: rectangular blocks of unadorned brick or stone, wooden floors, and usually 4 to 6 stories high
  • The development of electrically powered machines brought more flexability to factory design and also allowed for factories to not be placed next to rivers which cut down on pollution


Arkwright's Mill at Cromford: The world's first successful large-scale cotton-spinning mill based on waterpower. 

During the same century, across the waters, factory design was also taking similar shape in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Francis Cabot Lowell designed the Suffolk Mill, borrowing British technology, to assemble the first successful cotton mill in the U.S. The factory building has similar structure and style as British facotries also employing mostly women. 



Information found in Ching textbook and Class notes.

BP 10: 3/28/11

When thinking about an object that has been influnced and changed over time I have chosen the American Flag.  The history of the American flag began on January 1, 1776 during the American Revloution.  Washington ordered the Grand Union flag to be raised which was 13 red and white stripes with the British Union Jack in the upper left, so the flag was still heavily influenced the colors and design of the British flag. 



In May of 1776 Betst Ross made a new version of the American Flag representing the revolution break away from British ties.  The flag still has the same colors as the British flag however it begin to evolve and break away to represent the new colonies and new America.  

In 1777 Congress passed the first flag act in order to establish a offical flag for the new nation.  It was to have thirteen stripes, and in the upper left union their be thirteen stars, white in a blue field representing a new Constellation.  This was the beginning of independent American flag.  From 1777 to 1960 the flag under went several changes as the United States began to evolve and change into what we have today as a nation and a flag.  Thirteen stripes representing the original colonies and 50 stars representing the 50 states.


Information was gathered from website: http://www.usa-flag-site.org/history.shtml



Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Theory Response: March 18

When thinking about designing a winter retreat for writers the article A Pattern Of Language was very helpful in supplying ideas for my design proposal.  I think it would be very important to have a small entry way which is on a secluded side of the house.  I think it is also important to have a large common area with several large windows facing the South so that natural light is a huge source of the lighting.  Also, if writers wish to gather and chat or write in this area, it is very welcoming and the sun will bring in warmth. I think it is also important to have a rather large porch facing south-west giving writers a place to gather outside and think as the days sun goes down.  The bedrooms should face South-east as to wake up with the sun and have some daily exposer to natural sunlight.  I think the pattern of a private house is very important so the common areas are in the front of the house and the bedrooms are located in the back of the house.  I would place the bathroom and kitchen in the middle of the house because they are mutual areas shared by all. I also see placing the building on a long east-west axis important to keep the heat in during the winter which makes the building more pleasant and cheaper to run.  I think having a looping area would be nice for the building so that as people pass from their rooms they pass into the common room and through the kitchen.  Although to make a realistic building many of the patterns I have chosen would have to be rearranged accordingly, I think that they are all important in designing of a winter retreat.

Theory Reading Response : Feb. 25

Sommer’s describes in his article that groups of any kind are people interacting and depending on the different types of groups, people interact differently.  When thinking about designing a dinning space one must first consider Sommer’s theories on social interaction and how people interact.  People tend to hold conversations within small groups.  For example, if one had a group of 50 people within a matter of minutes those 50 people would merge into several small groups.  This happens simply because it is easier to hold a conversation with 2 to 3 people rather than 50.  When thinking about this in a dinning setting, it would be best to have an arrangement of tables for 4 to 6 people.  One must also consider convince of conversation at tables.  Sommer’s tells us that most table conversations happen in a triangle form, meaning the people most likely to be carrying on a dinner conversation would be,  the person across from you or diagonal and the person beside you.  Tables for easier conversation would be round tables however, I find rectangular tables to be more tradition when you have a small party of people.  However if there is a large group of people it is easier to see and talk to everyone at a round table.  The focus on distance and intimacy are also important concerns when designing a dinning setting and table.  A table for a romantic dinner would be different than a table for a business meal.  Sommer’s article is really helpful when looking at how people to interact in different social setting and can be a very helpful article for designing any place for people to socialize.

Monday, March 21, 2011

RR 9 3/21/11

BP 9 3/21/11

When thinking about influences on colonial American, it is clear to see that many houses, expecially in the South, were greatly influenced by English styles.  For example, when comparing the Queen's house in Greenwich England to Dayton Hall in charelston, SC similarities are apparent.  The use of symmetry is carried on to the Dayton Hall along with the tall box shape of the building and relation to the landscape. The materials used in both buildings are brick. The usage of colums and a small porch entry way are also similarities in the two buildings.  The Queen's house was built in 1616 and the Dayton Hall was built from 1738-1742 so it is clear, the colonial style in England influence the building of Dayton Hall.

Illistration of Dayton Hall


 
Illustration of Queen's house


When thinking about American architecture that has expanded and influenced the world, skyscrapers is what comes to mind.  After the industrial revolution, as people began to expand into cities, buildings were built taller to accomadate for the usage of space.  Skyscrapers originated in Chicago and New York and can now be seen all over the world with the largest skyscraper being in Saudi Arabia.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Value Scale

We have studied value scales and practiced them over in graphite but for this specific value scale we also conducted them in pen and grey marker. We focuded on different tecniques such as shading, stippling, hatching, and random marking.  It was good practice getting us use to markers and pens and also a headway into rendering materials

Model of Dining Space


The following images are of my model.  I found making a model very helpful in laying out my space and figuring out the relationship of every detail in scale and oriantaion. 
Front view looking south into my space
West view. Here you can see my window walls represented
This is an arial view of my model showing the placement of my wooden beams

Dinning Space Drawings

This drawing consisted of my perspective of my dinning space and the materials I chose to use.  The materials I focused on were dark oak and glass from side glass walls to my wood floor and beamed roof.  I also chose to put a sea grass rug measuing 2ft from my walls to help draw the focus to the table.

In these set of drawings I showed my plan and exonometric views of my dinning space.

These drawings illustrate my section elevation which really shows my light fixture and my roof beams. Also I have a diagram showing the circulation withing my space and also the interation with social media.  My front, top, and side views of my table and sideboard really show the transition in my material.  My social media screens lie on glass connecting my two tables. To mimic this, my two sideboards has a 6in glass cut out on the front

Dinning Space Parti

When creating my parti, I focused on throwing together a cluster of different ideas that when combining them all I was able to design my final.

RR 8 : 3/14/11

Showing Authority

Ninomaru Palace in Nijo Castle was built arounf 1601 and located at the heart of Kyoto, Japan.  The specific function of this building was to coordinate general actions conducted throughout the city.  This was achieved through the design of "carefully orchestrated syncopation of waiting rooms and meeting halls" (488). 

  • As we see in this picture most of the woodwork was left unpainted on the outside of the palace. 
  • As you enter into the court the walls behind the gate that surround the palace step back which implies a hidden depth of the court.
  • The walls leading to the garden is angled creating a illusion fo a much larger space.
  • It is really interesting to see here how placement can make a space seem different in size.





  • In this plan of the Palace I have labeled the three main buildings of the palace.
  • The last 2 area of the building are meant for imformal audiences with the shotgun (head general) and also the royal residence.
  • A visitor to the palace would enter into the Tozamurai where they would wait with a nice open view of the garden.
  • In the Ohiroma room the vistor would walk down a long hallways which focuses on the head council by having a tall knotted branch of two pine trees which jump throught the back frame. This was symbolic of authority




  • This image is of the the Ohiroma room which is shaped like an "L" to build visual hierarchy by putting distance between himself and the visitors.
  • In the distance we see a gold painting marking authority
  • Directly behing the shotgun is a bonsi tree image rising vertically
  • When the back windowns are closed the light illuminated the shotgun
  • The whole area where the shotgun was seated was set up making his significance become immediately clear. This was through an elaborate door, on axis, to the shotguns left, raised roof, and screens that open allowing him to see the outside.http://natsukashii.wordpress.com/2005/07/13/nijo-castle/

BP 8 : 3/14/11


For my Nautilus shell I diagramed some of the key foundations of objects, buildings, spaces, and places as making up the inner chamber of the shell.  Within the compartments extending throughout the shell I used images from different areas to document these foundations.  It is really interesting to see here, architecture repeats itself throughout different regions in its own style.  The foundation values stay the same but depending on the region value, they are different.  We can look at architecture the same way, still with the key values making up the inner chambers of objects, buildings, spaces, and places.