Arth206 Field Project

ARTH206 HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE FIELD PROJECT

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THIS PROJECT IS DUE ON OR BEFORE MONDAY, APRIL 22.Early papers will be given beneficial consideration.

Late papers will be penalized and must be submitted no later than Monday, April 29.________________________________________________________________________

INSTRUCTION:

The following questions are "field" exercises that require the direct viewing and photographing of buildings of different types rather than library research. You will be doing “visual research”. Any book or internet research should be for learning definitions and background information, but not to find examples of architecture to discuss in your answers. Instead, you are encouraged to look around this region, your own neighborhood, and especially Boston, Cambridge, Quincy, Easton, Worcester, or Providence where excellent examples can be easily found for answering some of the project questions. If you’re traveling this semester, some of your examples may be from out-of-state.

Your examples must be chosen from buildings viewed this semester. No more than two examples may be chosen from buildings on campus and in the town of Bridgewater. Your answers will be evaluated based on your thoughtful and original choice of examples.

For each building you discuss: 1. Identify its name and location, as in the following examples:

-- Thomas Crane Library, Washington St., Quincy-- Second Parish Church, Main St., Hingham-- Private residence (grey stucco house with white trim), 92 Bieber Lane, Whitman -- Boston City Hall, Government Center, Boston

2. Provide hard-copy photographs of each example. In addition to an overall view of the building, it will be helpful to include photos showing the details or other views of the building about which you are writing. (These will not be judged on their artistic qualities, though they should clearly depict the features you are discussing.) Your photographs may be integrated into your answers or presented printed or mounted on 8-1/2 x 11 inch pages at the end, referenced by number to the answers they illustrate.

AN IMPORTANT NOTE ON PHOTOGRAPHS: Your essays and illustrations must make clear that you have viewed the buildings first-hand; this will be a major factor in your grade. The internet offers considerable sources for images, including views that you would find very difficult to take (aerial or interior shots, for example). Where the photographs are not your own, you must identify if you got them from the internet or another source. But some views of each building must be clearly your own.

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FORMAT:

Double-space text in 12-point type. Submit in hard copy. As with all college writing projects, your essays must follow correct rules of grammar, spelling and format. Papers must be stapled or paper-clipped in the upper left corner and submitted WITHOUT a binder or cover. Your photographs may be incorporated into your text, or placed at the end with reference numbers. There is no set length for the paper.

CRITERIA USED IN GRADING THIS FIELD PROJECT

Selection of strong examples of architectural interest and design, for all questions except the first.

Unquestionable evidence of first-hand study of all examples discussed. Thorough answers to every component part of each set of questions. Extensive and accurate use of terminology. Good visual description and documentation of each example and the

features discussed. Answers which show interest, involvement and insight.

ANSWER THE VERY FIRST QUESTION AND ANY TWO THAT FOLLOW

I. BUILDINGS OF YOUR LIFE (required)

Reflect on the three buildings that are among the most important in your life, ones in which you regularly spend time more than most others, whether currently or in the past—though you must be able to view and study them this semester. These probably include places where you live, learn, worship, work, hang out with friends, etc. Perhaps you’ve never considered them from the point of architectural design, but each was built according to a design, and the original may have been altered or changed over time. Some might seem very ordinary, others more impressive.

Your essay can merge the following question components together in any sequence.

IDENTIFICATION: Identify each building and give its location.

SETTING: For each describe the immediate surrounding space. Is there a yard or garden, a parking lot, a street frontage, etc. Does the setting effectively serve the building’s function and design?

PLAN: For each, roughly describe the plan (the overall horizontal layout and interior spaces), as evident in a visual view of the exterior and your personal experience of the interior.

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DESCRIPTION OF EXTERIOR: Describe the elevation (vertical design) of its major exterior sides. How many stories? Then describe its exterior features—materials and colors, window arrangements and framing, roof slopes and materials, entrance locations and design, etc.

CHANGES OVER TIME: Does the building show evidence of having been expanded or altered significantly in the years since it was built? This might involve additions, new materials for exterior walls, a reconfiguring of interior spaces, etc.

EXPERIENCE OF INTERIOR: Describe those spaces that you occupy or have occupied the most. Do these function well in architectural terms, meaning adequate space and light, pleasant environment, serving functionality, etc.

WHAT WORKS: What are the aspects of each building’s architectural design, spaces or features that you think serve you best? Which might be the strongest in architectural terms?

WHAT YOU WOULD CHANGE: Now that you have been studying architecture, what changes to each building do you think would make it more appealing visually, and serve its functions better?

Select Any Two of the Following Sets of Questions:

II. TERMINOLOGY

Find examples of EIGHT of the following architectural features. For each:-- Identify the building (the same building might offer examples of several features, which is fine).-- Describe where the feature is used in the building, and what significance it may have in the design, use, construction and/or symbolism of the building.

ashlar masonry (stone) clerestory above a side aislerusticated masonry (stone) dome with drumcolumns built of stone drums cantilevera building with triglyphs and metopes engaged columncolumns that are monolithic (not wood) a building with nave and apsea Palladian window (or Serliana) a centralized planbuttresses and/or flying buttresses a colonnade of six columns or moreEgyptian inspired architecture a building on a podium

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III. THREE EXAMPLES OF THE TEMPLE FAÇADE

The Classical temple facade, whether Greek or Roman, has served to influence American architecture throughout all periods of its history. Moreover, the form of the temple facade has been applied to all types of buildings, including residential, ecclesiastical, commercial, governmental, and other kinds of public buildings.

Find the use of the temple facade on three buildings having different functions,

meaning residential, governmental, religious, commercial, etc. Be sure each example incorporates the following features:

--Correct column capitals in the Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Composite (a mix of Ionic and Corinthian), or Tuscan Order.

-- An entablature with architrave, frieze and cornice (DO NOT IGNORE THIS COMPONENT IN YOUR ANSWER).-- A pediment.

For each:

a. Identify the building and its location.

b. Give the name of the Classical Order used in the column capital. Does the rest of the column (shaft and base) and the entablature above correctly follow the Order in the Greek and Roman manner? (Refer to the handout on column orders or other sources to be sure.) Discuss all features with correct terminology.

c. How is the temple facade applied to the building? Does it project from the center? Does it form a structure that extends the full height of the building? Does the temple form remain integrated with the wall of the building, with the roof gable forming the pediment below which are pilasters or engaged columns? There are many possibilities.

d. Does the use of the temple facade serve a purpose either in functional or symbolic terms? In other words, why do you think that the architect chose to relate this building to the architecture of the classical past?

NOTE: In answering this section, consider the associations that the Greek and Roman Orders have with buildings and cultures of the past. Classical Greece gave emphasis to the dignity and rational nature of man, developing areas of philosophy, literature, science, mathematics and the arts. Athens was known for introducing the concept of democracy, Rome for republican and imperial government and its set of laws. The Greek and Roman Orders also are associated with architecture of later periods, such as the Renaissance or the Baroque, which used similar features in some of their grandest buildings. In considering the intentions of the architect and client, and the response the

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building provokes from you the viewer, are certain associations with the past important for each of the three buildings you have chosen?

IV. THE ARCH AND VAULT

A, Choosing a religious building, library, government or other public building, identify one work of architecture that you have been able to view on the interior as well as the exterior , and which uses forms of the arch and vault both on the interior and exterior. Note: your study of the “interior” must include more than an exterior porch or minor interior entryway or hall. It must include at least two of the major spaces in the building in addition to any subordinate spaces. Be very thorough in your discussion of the interior.

B.. Which of the following arch-related structures does the building use? Explain where and how each is used.

Round arch; pointed arch; barrel vault; groin vault; dome; half-dome; ribs; pendentives

C. Describe the arches and vaults: Are they rounded or pointed (ogival)? Do they rest on columns, piers or walls? Are the voussoirs evident or concealed?

D.. Does the building's form and architectural features seem to refer most to Classical (Roman, Renaissance, etc.), Medieval (Byzantine, Romanesque, Gothic), or strictly modern types of architecture ? Explain why, making reference to examples we have studied, if possible, or skim through the images in your text for comparable examples.

E.. Discuss how, in your opinion, the architect has succeeded or failed to create a unified relationship between the exterior of the building and the interior through the use of the arches and other architectural features, through the handling of the building materials, and through the clarity or complexity of the form and its details. Does the overall form and arrangement of parts (windows, doors, roof lines, moldings, etc.) on the exterior of the building give a clear impression of the arrangement of spaces and parts on the interior? Give thorough consideration to all components of this answer.

V. MASS AND SPACE

An architect may choose building materials and use them in such a way that they stress a sense of solidity and strength to the walls, and express a quality of heavy mass to the structure as a whole. On the other hand, an architect may select other kinds of materials and integrate them into a design that denies as much as possible any sense of solid wall, and emphasizes lightness and space instead. This will be especially true when the walls provide little or no structural support, and/or if the upper stories appear lifted up or extended out from the lower one(s).

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A. Identify two buildings that use materials to express a heavy, solid wall. Describe the materials and explain how they are treated to add to this effect. How do other elements of eacj building's design, such as windows, doorways, cornices, etc., contribute to the sense of wall structure and the heavy mass of the building as a whole?

B. Now select and describe two buildings that are just the opposite in effect, explaining how the materials and the building's design deny mass and solidity. Compare the same elements of the building's design which you discussed above. Be sure to identify this building as well.

VI. SKYSCRAPER COMPARISON

Select and identify two skyscrapers that show very different approaches to design. These differing approaches may have to do with overall form, materials used, and/or decorative features. For our purposes, “skyscraper” can be a building of 15 stories or more. Neither the John Hancock Tower nor the Prudential Building in Boston may be used as an example. YOU MUST DESCRIBE EACH BUILDING FROM BOTTOM TO TOP.

a. Discuss and compare the overall form or "massing" of the building. For example, are the upper floors set back from the lower ones, or do they all cover the same area? Is the plan rectilinear, trapezoidal, or irregular? Is the roof flat, gabled or arched?

b. In addition to window glass, what materials are used to cover the exterior walls?

c. Describe and compare the fenestration, meaning the form of the windows and their arrangement. Does this vary from floor to floor, and/or from one side of the building to the other? Are there decorative features on the walls?

d. What different or similar wall treatment distinguishes the ground level of each building and marks the major entrance(s)?

e. Is each skyscraper totally modern, or does it have a traditional look that makes reference to previous architectural styles? What earlier styles might it relate to?

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Arth206 Field Project