Opus 8 Grammar: Syntax

source
source

This week we focused on the beginning of the Renaissance and how architecture changed from the Gothic period. This time period is know as Baroque. The above images are sculptures of David created by two different artists, Michelangelo and Bernini. Both of these men were fundamental influences to this movement. Even though the sculptures are of the same subject, they have very different results. Michelangelo's is much more calm and rational, whereas Bernini breaks the rules and creates a much more emotional feeling. This thinking outside the box while also considering the classical details is what characterizes the Baroque style.



[re]visons"Renaissance architects of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries endeavored to create a new rational, mathematically describable forms based on what they understood of the Classical architecture of ancient Rome" (Roth pg. 397). Revising means going back to something you previously did and editing it. This concept can be applied to the Baroque period because the designers looked back to what came before them and added to it. They studied and understood what the rules were, which is what allowed them to consciously break them. An example of this revival style is the above drawing I did of the Tempietto at San Pietro. Bramante looks to the classical domes and columns of the past but says something different.

audience

When writing a story, the audience is who will be reading the story. When designing something, the audience is who will be using the space. Michelangelo designed this staircase as an entrance to a library. "In the center of the room, the staircase has three parallel flights (which one to choose?), which fan out toward the bottom, creating a perspective illusion of depth greater than there truly is," (Roth pg. 381). The drama of this space is created as a statement on what the stairs are really used for. They transport people from the street to another level where they will gain knowledge. It even looks like it is an exterior staircase, perhaps saying that you bring your outside experience into the space.

characterCharacter is the warmth and emotion that you feel from a space while being in it. It is the feeling the designer wanted you to experience. An example of this is the palace at Versailles, which has a rich ,grand, and bold character. This is especially evident when looking at the landscape more so than the building itself. The king wanted "a man-made landscape that stretched along the great east-west axis extending from the heart of the chateau nearly as far as the eye could see," (Roth pg. 420). This was to symbolize the absolute power and wealth of the king, who owns everything that you can see far into the distance.

transitionWhile working on my studio project, transition was an important characteristic that I noticed in my natural artifact. The drawings above show the transition of the leaves from the center to the outer edges. The segments move from small to large and the cutouts vary in size. I was very interested in studying the exact patterns and shapes to understand how the system of veins flows. Therefore, I could translate it's sense of transition into the object I make.

Transition was also important in the Renaissance, especially to create a sense of rationality. There were lots of projects to unify cities and facades. Bernini had the task of creating a more uniform plaza outside the Vatican. "Bernini's problem was that the existing buildings of the Vatican palace intruded from the north, making it impossible to create one large, simple geometric enclosure" (Roth pg. 409). This was an extremely busy space, especially when religious events drew lots of people to the plaza. To create a more aesthetically pleasing transition, they rebuilt the facades of the buildings going down the axis of the plaza. They were all designed the same so that they flowed together.

datum
The entire city of Rome was also rebuilt to create a better transition as you move through the city. "To get to these dispersed ancient basilicas from the Porta del Popolo was difficult and meant traversing large parts of the ruin strewn expanses of the ancient city. Sixtus V resolved to bring order out of this chaos" (Roth pg. 414). Rome was becoming a tourists destination, yet it was awkward to travel the city. The re-designers established new streets and boulevards that had a more regular, pattern. The major tourists attractions, such as the Colosseum, were connected to other attractions with a straight line. This fits with the definition of a datum, which is a position where measurements are taken from. We use datum lines to create a straight edge to line objects up. An example of this is the display boards from Suzanne's class. We tried to line up our pictures on a datum line to create a sense of order: