[Re]Actions...Opus 9

The 18th and 19th century was a time period of Enlightenment and people really started to study and think differently about the world. Philosophes had new ideas about society and government and there were new scientific and technological developments. Any sort of change that happens in a given society affects the design and architecture of that society as well. We have been studying these changes and new innovations in history class.

Rotation

An example of using rotation in design would be how Thomas Jefferson designed his home at Monticello. He needed a large amount of slave labor to sustain his home, but he didn't want there presence to be overwhelming. This is why he rotated the slaves quarters to the back of Monticello, comprised of two underground wings. That way when looking at monticello from the front or back all you see is the main house.

I took this photo from the side of Monticello showing where the service activity occurred.

Movement

These are some sketches I did of my studio project, which I wanted to convey a sense of movement.
Showing movement in drawings is important because it gives a sense of life to the image. Movement also refers to a physical act, which is something we consider whenever we design something at a human scale. This was the case when Washington DC was being planned in 1792. The idea was to create the city right between the North and the South, as a place to move through easily. It was designed in a grid pattern with cross diagonal boulevards, as this is a sensible way to control circulation.

Reflection

Reflection is about looking at what has come before and looking back on it. This is a theme we have seen many times so far in the history of architecture and it was no different during this time period. "By the beginning of the 19th century, architects were turning increasingly to specific source models, in a wide variety of historical styles, resulting in revivals of Greek and Roman Classicism, medieval and Gothic architecture, as well as Egyptian and even more exotic re-creations" (Roth pg. 461). For example, the Americans were establishing their new country and needed a style to build in. They chose to go back to the Greek style which came before the Roman. Roman structures were found all over Europe, which is what America was trying to disassociate from. The Greek style represented a more pure building form that better represented America.

Source

For studio this week, we were to design an artifact that used light and relied on natural light. That mean that whatever we created had to harness the natural light source that is available and use it in an intersting way. These are some of my sketch drawings:

My idea was to play with the light shining through cutouts and creating a pattern of light. Taking advantage of the natural light that is available to the world is something that is integral to design and architecture.

In history, we have been learning about how the industrial revolution had a huge impact on the architecture at this time period. New technologies such as glass and iron opened new possiblities for structures. Specifically, glass provided the opportunity to create huge glass buildings that let the sun pour inside. Some examples of this were greenhouses and the Crystal Palace in London:


source

Illumination


In drawing class, we often learn techniques to show light sources in our drawings and how to illuminate drawings. These are some furniture renderings that I did:


We started learning the techniques to use markers and create successful drawings with them. To do this you have to use light and shadow to add depth to the objects. Leaving white spots gives the illusion of light shining directly on the furniture, while using grays to create shadows shows that that spot is not lit.

The word illumination also brings up the idea of shedding light on something new and looking at it in another perspective. In the 18th century, an architect named Ledoux had ideas for normal, industrial buildings that were much more creative and engaging than the ones that were typical at the time. Viewers of a house he wanted to design for a river surveyor noticed how "the boldness of this new architecture is contrasted to the old mills and their water wheels visible in the shadows in the foreground" (Roth pg. 450). He wanted to show that it wasn't just churches that called for interesting architecture and design.