Topic 7 poetics

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Topic 7:

Architecture & Culture 101/121 [1632v.6 / 12541v.3]

LECTURE SERIES

Introductory Lecture

Topic 1: SETTINGS

Topic 2: OPEN HOUSE

Topic 3: FIGURES

Topic 4: IMAGINING

Topic 5: RESTRAINT

Topic 6: TECTONICS

Topic 7: POETICS

Topic 8: COLLAGE

The Big Chart Briefing

Curtin University of Technology . Faculty of Built Environment, Art & Design (BEAD) . Department of Architecture & Interior Architecture Prepared by Khoa Do ©2006 [lecturer]

This text box will contain the ABSTRACT, KEYWORDS and OUTLINE of lecture.

ABSTRACT

‘Meaning and experience of aesthetic revelation’

KEYWORDS

Aesthetics, beauty, artistic, sublime

OUTLINE

poetics

3Curtin University of Technology . Department of Architecture & Interior Architecture . © 2005 . Prepared by Khoa Do [lecturer] Topic 7: POETICS slide

Vietnam Veterans MemorialLocationWashington D.C, USA

Architect / DesignerMaya Lin

Year1980-82

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, originally designed as a student project by Maya Lin at Yale University's School of Architecture in 1981, has become a profound symbol that has served to unify and reconcile a nation sorely divided by a foreign entanglement. Lin envisioned a black granite wall, in the shape of a V, on which the names of the American military dead and missing would be inscribed. Lin hoped that these names, seemingly infinite in number, would convey the sense of overwhelming numbers, while unifying these individuals into a whole.

DISCUSSION POINTS:

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Image 1: Looking along the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to the Washington Monument.

Source of text: www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm022.html

Source of images 1, 2 & 4: http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_Memorial

The “everyday” of Melbourne's immediate setting demanded a design that generates curiosity, play, excitement and place. A place to meet, a place celebrate, a place to voice, a place to rest and so on. Creating ‘places’ to accommodate for public activities.

Image 2: Touching the name of those lost.

Image 3: The granite wall bends, one half reaches towards the Washington Monument, the other the Lincoln Memorial.Source: www.thebody.com/bp/ aug01/images/vietnam.jpg

Image 4: Over 58,000 names are inscribed chronologically along the wall.

Image 5: The black granite, specifically imported from India for its reflective quality. Source: http://www.stark.k12.oh.us/Newsletter/current/news_amc_main.htm


Civil Rights MemorialLocationMontgomery, Alabama

Architect / DesignerMaya Lin

Year 1988-89

The memorial represents what Maya Lin describes as a ‘collective memory of history’. She sought a design which would not only honour the movement leaders, but would become a vehicle for education and reflection. The memorial include a black granite table engraved with the names of those who died during the civil rights movement as well as key events during the period. Over the table flows a thin sheet of water which glistens with light and reflects the image of the viewer.

DISCUSSION POINTS:

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Source of images 1 & 3: www.peacepagoda.org/photos3.htm

Source of image 2 & text: www.tolerance.org/memorial

Image 1: The names of those leaders and key events during the Civil Rights Movement are inscribed on the black granite table.

“No we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream” Martin Luther King

Image 2: The wall behind the fountain states the quote that sparked inspiration for the design of the memorial.

Image 3: The thin sheet water reflects the visitors image.

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Danish Jewish MuseumLocationCopenhagen, Denmark

Architect / DesignerDaniel Libeskind

Year 2004

The Danish Jewish Museum differs from all other European Jewish Museums because Danish Jews were, by and large, saved through the effort of their compatriots and neighbours during the tragic years of the Shoa. It is this deeply human response that differentiates the Danish Jewish community and is manifested in the form, structure and light of the new museum. Mitzvah is the guiding light of this project whose implications are materialized in the exhibitions of the new Danish Jewish Museum. The meaning of this Hebrew word as a deep response, commitment and precept represents both the Jewish experience in Denmark and the inspiration for the construction of this new space.

DISCUSSION POINTS:

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Source of images & text: www.daniel-libeskind.com

Curtin University of Technology . Department of Architecture & Interior Architecture . © 2005 . Prepared by Khoa Do [lecturer] Topic 7: POETICS slide

Image 1: Entrance to the Museum. Image 2: Housed within the once Royal Boathouse..

Image 3: A series of exhibition spaces.

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Imperial War MuseumLocationManchester, UK


Year1997-2002

The Imperial War Museum of the North deals with the conflicts that have shaped the Twentieth century and those which will continue to shape the future. The building brings together culture and regeneration, craft and design, in order to give the public a striking emblem which in an instant illuminates both tradition and the new.

DISCUSSION POINTS:

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Source of images 1, 3, 4 & text: http://www.daniel-libeskind.com/

Source of image 2: Libeskind, D 2004, p. ii.


Image 1: View of the museum from the opposite shore of the ship canal.

Image 3: Aerial view of the museum.

Image 2: Concept sketch.

Image 4: North view from Trafford Wharf Road.

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Image 1: Air shard viewing platform.

Image 4: An exhibition space.

Image 2: The main entrance.

Imperial War MuseumLocationManchester, UK


Year1997-2002

DISCUSSION POINTS:

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Source of images & text: http://www.daniel-libeskind.com/


Image 3: An exhibition space.

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BRASILIA LocationBrazil

Architect / DesignerOscar Niemeyer

Year1956-1985

Niemeyer’s powerful expressions of emotion, poetry, permanent beauty and the artists creative process, was to manifest itself in the new inland capital. Brasilia was intended to shift economic and demographic development away from the Atlantic coast, a chance to instil a change in mentality and a new sense of national identity. Although a failure as the capital, Brasilia has many innovative and compelling qualities; it is the purest and most refined vision of the modernist utopia to take actual form.

Alvorada Palace (1956-57)

The palace was the official residence of the president of the Republic and is one of Niemeyer’s most widely acclaimed work. Described as of synthesis of European grandeur and Brazilian grace, the palace was not just an important residence but a ‘true palace, imbued with the spirit of monumentality and nobility it called for’.

DISCUSSION POINTS:

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Source of images & text: Underwood, D 1994, p. 98-100, 104-106, 110, 112, 113.

Image 1: Alvorada Palace (Palace of the Dawn) 1956-58, gallery looking toward chapel.

Image 4: Alvorada Palace Chapel, 1957-58.

Image 3: Alvorada Palace, Chapel and Sculpture.

Image 2: Alvorada Palace, main facade

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BRASILIA

The Federal Supreme Court and Praca dos Tres Poderes (1958-60)

The Federal Supreme Court and the Planalto Palace are part of the larger urban ensemble of the Praca dos Tres Poderes (Plaza of the Three Powers). The plaza reveals Niemeyer’s efforts to integrate his architecture into a dynamic civic complex of great formal harmony and spatial monumentality. The plan of the plaza is roughly a triangle defined by the Congress complex, the Planalto Palace and the Supreme Court, which together symbolize the three branches of government power: legislative, executive and judicial.

DISCUSSION POINTS:

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Source of images & text: Underwood, D 1994, p. 111, 114, 116, 118, & 120.

Image 1: Federal Supreme Court, 1958-60, view with statue of Justice.

Image 2: Museum of the City of Brasilia.

Image 3: Plaza of the Three Powers 1958-60.

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BRASILIA

National Congress Complex, Senate and Chamber of Deputies (1958-60)

In the National Congress Complex, Niemeyer's purpose was to arrange plastic elements according to their various functions, giving them a sense of the relative importance required and treating them as a whole with pure and balanced forms. The form of the Senate cupola and its inversion in the Chamber of Deputies corresponds to the size and character of the two groups working inside: the Senate dome, of modest dimensions, is firmly planted in a way appropriate for a chamber of reflection; the Chamber of Deputies bowl structure, much larger and more revolutionary, resembles a spaceship ready for take-off, suggesting the legislative power of an assembly that is to propel Brazil into the future.

DISCUSSION POINTS:

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Source of images & text: Underwood, D 1994, p.123-125, 129-131.

Image 4: Chamber of Deputies and Senate.

Image 3: Senate and Chamber of Deputies.

Image 1: The Senate.

Image 2: The senate interior..


National AssemblyLocationBangladesh

Architect / DesignerLouis Kahn

Year1962 -1974

Clear in form and composition, powerful in scale and siting, this building is widely considered a masterpiece. Kahn drew upon and assimilated both the vernacular and monumental archetypes of the region, and abstracted and transformed, to a degree of utter purity, lasting architectural ideas from many eras and civilisations. The core of the composition is the assembly chamber, a 300-seat, 30-meters high, domed amphitheatre and the library. These spaces alternate among eight ‘light and air courts’ and a restaurant, as well as entrances to the garden and mosque.

DISCUSSION POINTS:

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Source of text: http://archnet.org/library/sites/onesite.tcl?site_id=134

Source of image 1 & 3: http://archnet.org/library/images/thumbnails.tcl?location_id=1525

Source of image 2 & 6: Gast, K.P 1998, p. 101 & 103.

Image 1: A man-made moat separates the National Assembly from other buildings in the complex.

Image 3: National Assembly entrance verandah as seen from West hostels.

Image 4: The exterior of the Capital complex. Source: http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/National_Assembly_in_Dacc.html

Image 6: Roof of the Assembly HallImage 5: Bridge from South Plaza to Prayer Hall. Source: Brownlee, D.B 1991, p. 241.

Image 2: Ground floor plan.


National AssemblyLocationBangladesh


Year1962 -1974

DISCUSSION POINTS:

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Source of images: http://archnet.org/library/images/thumbnails.tcl?collection_id=&location_id=1525&place_id=&start=10&limit=9

Image 1: Detail, roof of the Assembly Hall.

Image 5: Interior circulation ramp.

Image 4: Interior circulation space.

Image 3: Interior corridors surround the main hall. The geometry of the assembly is consistent with Kahn’s rationalistic design principles.

Image 2: Window detail in the Prayer Hall.

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Salk Institute for Biological StudiesLocationCalifornia, USA


Year1959-1966

The Salk Institute for Biological Studies sits high above the Pacific Ocean at La Jolla, Southern California. The project presented Kahn with the opportunity to design for a closed community, in this case scientists, involved in concentrated research. In formulating his response to both the programme and the site, Kahn drew inspiration from such traditional prototypes as monasteries and other forms of intellectual retreat. He distinguished between the large, free plan spaces of the laboratories and the rooms for private study, expressing these cell-like spaces as wooden panelled apertures set into otherwise bare concrete walls.

DISCUSSION POINTS:

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Source of images 1, 2, 3, 4 & text: Steele, J 1996, p. 55, 57, 60 & 70.

Source of image 5: Brownlee, D.B 1991, p. 181.


Image 1: The unobstructed view

through the institute is one of the most

memorable impressions that the laboratories convey.

Image 2: Paving and joint lines in the

concrete have considerable

importance in adding scale to what might

otherwise have been severe surfaces.

Image 3: The projecting studies like the

cloister of a monastery.

Image 4: Exterior view of the library.

Image 5: The Theodore Gildred Court at sunset.

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The Library at Philips Exeter AcademyLocationExeter, New Hampshire


Year1967-72

In the spirit of the grand, classical tradition of the focal organizing space, the reading room is a central hall encircled by balconies containing the stacks and study alcoves. It is a space diagonally overlooked through giant circular openings in the interior screen walls that define the central area. In keeping with the campus tradition, the exterior of the building is a repetition of brick piers, wider as they approach the ground where the book loads are greater, cut back at all four corners to subtly articulate the building's exterior square form.

DISCUSSION POINTS:

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Source of text: http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Exeter_Library.html

Source of images: Wiggens, G.E 1997, p. 24, 29, 30, 34 & 35.


Image 3: Site Plan. Source: Ando, T 1996, p.385.

Image 2: Interior view of office space. Image 3: Interior view of central atrium.

Image 4: The central atrium with lobby space below.

Image 5: A corner detail.

Image 1: Exterior window detail.


Prophet’s Mosque ExpansionLocationMadinah, Saudi Arabia

Architect / DesignerBodo Rasch

Year1985

As part of a much larger expansion to the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, 12 unique, ingeniously designed umbrellas provide shade to the more than 500,000 Muslims the mosque can hold at any one time. The mechanically operated umbrellas made of teflon, are affixed to 12 freestanding columns within the courtyard. The simplicity of materials and subtlety of detail allows the Umbrellas to compliment the existing mosque.

DISCUSSION POINTS:

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Source of images 1 & 3: http://www.anwary-islam.com/medina-pic/nabwi-pics_001.htm

Source of images 2, 4 & text: http://archnet.org/library/images/thumbnails.tcl?location_id=2951&image_id=43739

Image 1: The mechanically operated umbrellas opening over the Prophets Mosque courtyard.

Image 2: The Prophet’s Mosque, Medinah. Image 3: The Umbrellas fully opened Image 4: A detail of one umbrella.

16Curtin University of Technology . Department of Architecture & Interior Architecture . © 2005 . Prepared by Khoa do [lecturer] Topic 7: POETICS slide

Topic 7: POETICS

1. Reflect on topic covered in the lecture: quickly sum up/recap key issues discussed

2. Reader:

Nesbitt, K 1996, “Towards New Horizons in Architecture”, in Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture: An Anthology of Architectural Theory 1965-1995, Princeton Press, New York.

3. Site Visit: The site needs to be selected appropriately to the topic.

List of references:

Publications:

Brownlee, D.B & De Long, D.G 1991, Louis I. Kahn: In the Realm of Architecture, Rizzoli International Publications Inc, New York.

Gast, K.P 1998, Louis I. Kahn: The Idea of Order, Birkhauser Verlag, Switzerland.

Steele, J 1996, Salk Institute: Louis I Kahn, Phaidon Press Ltd, New York.

Underwood, D 1994, Oscar Niemeyer and the Architecture of Brazil, Rizzoli International Publications Inc, New York.

Libeskind, D 2004, Breaking Ground: Adventures in Life and Architecture, Riverhead Books, New York.

Websites:

Daniel Libeskind, Available [online]: http://www.daniel-libeskind.com/

Exeter Library, Available [online]: http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Exeter_Library.html

Global Aids: The Big Picture, Available [online]: www.thebody.com/bp/ aug01/images/vietnam.jpgHelping Students Understand the War in Vietnam, Available [online]: http://www.stark.k12.oh.us/Newsletter/current/news_amc_main.htm

Medinah Picture Gallery, Available [online]: http://www.anwary-islam.com/medina-pic/nabwi-pics_001.htm

Mosque of the Prophet: Courtyard Treatment, Available [online]: http://archnet.org/library/images/thumbnails.tcl?location_id=2951&image_id=43739

National Assembly Building, Available [online]: http://archnet.org/library/images/thumbnails.tcl?location_id=1525

National Assembly Building, Available [online]: http://archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.tcl?site_id=134

National Assembly in Dacca, Available [online]: http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/National_Assembly_in_Dacc.html

St John of the Divine, NY to Tuskegee, Alabama, Available [online]: www.peacepagoda.org/photos3.htm

Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Available [online]: www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm022.html

Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Available [online]: http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_Memorial

Civil Rights Memorial, Available [online]: www.tolerance.org/memorial

Travel

Topic 7 poetics