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 Art Appreciation 
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ARCHITECTURE

Examples

1  Chartres Cathedral, interior looking east and exterior looking east  - Spaces of a Medieval Church

2  A compound at Tongo, Ghana

3  Pyramid of the Sun, Teotihuacán, Mexico

4  New York City skyline

5  Joseph Paxton, Crystal Palace, London

6  Temple of Athena Nike, Acropolis, Athens

7   Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan, Wainwright Building, St. Louis

8   Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Farnsworth House, Plano, Illinois

9   Leonardo da Vinci, Proportions of the Human Figure (after Vitruvius)

10  Le Courbusier, modulor figure

11  H. H. Richardson, photo of exterior and plan of Stoughton House, Cambridge, Massachusetts

12  Henry Bacon, Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C.

13  John Russell Pope, Jefferson Memorial, Washington, D.C.

14  Cass Gilbert, Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C.

15  [Roman], aqueduct, Segovia, Spain

16  [Roman], Basilica of Constantine (photo and diagram), Rome

17  Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey

18  Steel Cage construction

19  Philip Johnson and John Burgee, Pennzoil Plaza, Houston

20  Eero Saarinen, Trans World Airlines Terminal Building, Kennedy Airport, New York

21  Frank Lloyd Wright, Johnson Wax tower, Racine, Wisconsin

22  Santiago Calatrava, Olympic Stadium in Athens

23  An urban environment, Tulsa

24  A suburban subdivision

25  ISeattle, Washington’s Westlake shopping center

26  Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Seaside, Florida

27  Anson Street after renovation. Charleston, South Carolina

28  South Street Seaport, New York

29  Auburn Avenue, Atlanta

I.    Architecture Definitions

  • A masonry roof constructed on the principle of the arch, that is, in essence, a continuous series of arches, one behind the other.

  • basilica

    • In Roman architecture, a rectangular public building, entered on one of the long sides. In Christian architecture, a church loosely based on the Roman design, but entered on one of the short ends, with an apse at the other end.

    • Hagia Sophia, exterior, interior  

    The Byzantine cathedral Hagia Sophia had towers called __________________________ after the Islamic conquest. 

  • cantilever

    • An architectural form that projects horizontally from its support, employed especially after the development of reinforced concrete construction techniques.

    Colonnade of Amenhotep III

  • colonnade

    • A row of columns set at regular intervals around the building and supporting the base of the roof.

  • column

    • A vertical architectural support, consisting of a shaft topped by a capital, and sometimes including a base.

    Art historians prefer the term ____________ to describe an upright beam.

  • entablature

    • The part of a building above the capitals of the columns and below the roof.

  • entasis

    • The slight swelling in a column design to make the column appear straight to the eye.

  • fluting

    • The shallow vertical grooves or channels on a column

  • flying buttress

    • On a Gothic church, an exterior arch that opposes the lateral thrust of an arch or vault, as in a barrel vault, arching inward toward the exterior wall from the top of an exterior column or pier.

A masonry strut that transmits part of the load of a vault to a buttress outside a building is called a(n):

  • groined vault

    • A masonry roof constructed on the arch principle and consisting of two barrel vaults intersecting at right angles to one another.

A curving triangular section beneath a dome that carries the weight from the circular base down to a square formed by the walls is called a ________.

  • platform

    • The base upon which a column rests.

  • pointed arch

    • An arch that is not semicircular but rather rises more steeply to a point at its top.

  • post-and-lintel

    • A system of building in which two posts support a crosspiece, or lintel, that spans the distance between them.

Another name for a stone beam is _________________________________.

  • revitalization

    • To impart new life or vigor to: plans to revitalize inner-city neighborhoods; or the coming again into activity and prominence.

  • rounded arch

    •  

  • shell system

    • In architecture, one of the two basic structural systems in which one basic material both provides the structural support and the outside covering of a building

  • skeleton-and-skin system

    • In architecture, one of the two basic structural systems, which consists of an interior frame, the skeleton, that supports the more fragile outer covering of the building, the skin.

  • suburb

  • A usually residential area or community outlying a city.

  • suburbs The usually residential region around a major city; the environs.

            This chapter opens with a vivid description of walking in the interior of Chartres Cathedral (1), allowing the terms described in the “Spaces of a Medieval Church” diagram to come to life.  The nave is the central vertical space in a church with aisles running along each side.  The sections of the nave separated by arches and vaults are called bays.  The transept runs perpendicular to the nave, forming a cross, and the crossing is where the nave and transept overlap.  Above the crossing is the choir where monks would sing.  To pass by the choir to the semispherical apse, or chapel, visitors could walk down the aisle to the semicircular ambulatory.  Light was allowed to filter through windows in the clerestory, or upper part of the nave.  To support the mass of the church and the use of windows, buttresses were constructed on the outside of the church.

  •  _______________________is the art and science of designing and constructing structures for practical, aesthetic and symbolic purposes.

  • __________ is the simplest stone building technique.

 The most common architectural form is:

_______________________were sheltered spaces that were made from huge boulders; they are some of the worlds oldest surviving structures.

II.    Traditional Materials and Construction Techniques

            A number of traditional construction techniques, such as the post-and-lintel system and the arch, as well as traditional materials, such as brick and wood, are still used today.

     A.  Solid Wall Construction

     

Solid wall construction, the oldest and most basic structural technique, uses the mass of the wall to support the roof and to hold the wall upright.  Materials such as brick, mud, stone, and cinder-blocks are often utilized to build this shell system of architecture.  To stretch across the solid wall construction, the truss, or triangular support beam, is added for strength.  Adding openings such as windows or doors to a solid wall construction robs the walls of strength. 

         

     B.  Post-and-Lintel System

Similar to the solid wall construction but not requiring thick heavy walls is the post-and-lintel or post-and-beam construction in which vertical posts hold horizontal lintels or beams.  The pressure of gravity and the weight of the lintel forces the lintel to be compressed, while at the same time adds tension, so a span too great or a material not well suited as a lintel (such as stone) will snap under pressure.

Another term for a load-bearing construction is “stacking and piling.” This is the simplest method and is suitable for brick, stone, and adobe (sun-dried brick). The construction starts thick at the bottom, getting thinner as the structure rises, and usually tapering inward near the highest point. It may then be topped by a lightweight roof, perhaps of thatch or wood. It is stable because the greatest weight is concentrated at the bottom. Load-bearing structures tend to have few and small openings (if any) in the walls, because openings detract from the structural integrity of the walls. 

The Great Friday Mosque at Djenne in Mali is constructed of adobe and coated with mud plaster. This sculptural building shows the tapering and small windows characteristic of this construction. The protruding wooden poles serve to anchor the scaffolding that is erected every few years for restoring the plaster. 

 

 

     C.  The Classical Orders

         

The Greeks liberally used the post-and-lintel system and stone in their architecture, and they developed three basic systems, known as orders, that are still used in today’s Western architecture.  The orders are Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian, and all have the same basic structure of a base, shaft, and capital in the post or column and an architrave and frieze in the lintel or entablature.  In the masculine Doric order, there is no base, the shaft is fluted with concave grooves, and the cushion-like capital supports the entablature, which has a repeating pattern of triglyphs (three vertical cuts) and a metope (square-like relief). In the feminine Ionic order, the base provides a transition for the taller, more slender vertical column, the capital has scroll-like volutes, and there is often a frieze that has a pattern of continuous relief sculpture rather than metopes and triglyphs.  The Corinthian order is similar to the Ionic but is larger and more elaborate, and has an acanthus leaf motif for its capital.  In early twentieth-century architecture and memorials in Washington, D.C., the orders are quite evident.  The Lincoln Memorial, designed by Henry Bacon (12), has a modified Doric order.  The Jefferson Memorial, designed by John Russell Pope (13), incorporates the Ionic order, reflecting the order used by Jefferson in his own architecture.  In Cass

Gilbert’s Supreme Court Building (14), the Corinthian order is evident.

     D.  Arches and Vaults

The arch, developed by the Romans, is more versatile and sound than the post-and-lintel system.  Arches are semicircular in shape, and the compression that is required for structural stability is perfect for the use of stone as its building material.  Arches are built over a wooden scaffolding, or centering, system, which is then taken down once the center stone, the keystone, is locked into place.  The Romans used the arch extensively in their architecture, as seen in the aqueduct in Segovia, Spain (15).  If the arch is extended, a barrel or tunnel vault is formed, illustrated in the three barrel vaults of the Basilica of Constantine.  If two barrel vaults intersect perpendicularly, a groin or cross vault is formed.  The height of an arch is determined by the radius of the semicircle between the posts.  Medieval architecture, more specifically Gothic architecture, uses the pointed arch instead so the arch’s height is not limited, and buttressing counteracts the lateral pressure.

 

Pont du Gard, Nimes, France

The ___________________________ called Pont Du Gard in France is an excellent example of functional engineering using the Roman arch.

  • arch (pointed and round)

    • A curved, often semicircular architectural form that spans an opening or space built of wedge-shaped blocks, called voussoirs, with a keystone centered at its top.

The sides of a triangle, once joined, cannot be forced out of shape. This principle accounts for the achitectural use of the ________.

     E.  Domes

A dome is an arch rotated 360 degrees on its axis.  Structurally, a dome is similar to the arch but is even more stable due to compression from all sides.  The dome can be seen in the architecture of the Romans such as the Pantheon (figures 15-18 and 15-19), the churches of the Renaissance, and in state capitol buildings in the U.S. today.  In order for a circular shaped dome to fit on an angular square base, pendentives, or triangular areas, need to be placed underneath the dome to transition to the quadrilateral base.  The Byzantine church Hagia Sophia (17), built by Anthemius of Tralles and Isadorus of Miletus, effectively uses pendentives.  The lower circumference of the dome is punctuated by a series of arched windows, making the dome appear to float above its squared base.

 The ________________________were the first people to use the arch regularly in construction.

 

VII.   Modern Architectural Techniques

            New technologies and materials, such as reinforced concrete and steel, developed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and allowed for buildings to be taller, stronger, wider, and lighter in weight.

     A.  Steel Cage and Curtain Wall Construction

 

Steel cage construction uses a skeletal system of steel girders to support the structure, as seen in the development of the Empire State Building (18).  The invention of the elevator combined with the used of steel cage construction made skyscrapers possible.  Since steel cage construction is structurally stable through its skeletal system, any material, such as brick, stone, glass, or plastic, can “hang” on the outside like a curtain, called curtain walls, seen on the Pennzoil Plaza (19).

     B.  Reinforced Concrete

Concrete has compressive strength but lacks tensile strength.  With the addition of steel rods embedded into the concrete, reinforced concrete has tensile strength and can be molded into any shape or form.  Eero Saarinen used reinforced concrete to provide stability and to express the feeling of flight in the Trans World Airlines Terminal Building (20).

              

  1. Louis Sullivan’’s Wainwright Building was the first ________________________ made possible by the invention of the elevator.

  2. Concrete that is strengthened by steel rods or mesh is:

  3. Le Corbusier’’s idea for solving urban crowding was to develop high rise buildings that are supported by:

  1.  _____________ is the construction technique that made it possible to rapidly build in America’’s Western frontier.

  2.  ________________________architecture rejected decorative ornamentation, stone and wood construction, resulting in a building that expressed its function.

  3. The architect that first coined the expression "less is more" was Mies V________________.

        

WOOD

 

 

       

     C.  Cantilevering

By using reinforced concrete, horizontal beams can extend past their vertical posts.  Frank Lloyd Wright used cantilevers in many of his buildings, as seen in the tree-like form of the Johnson Wax Tower (21).

     D.  Suspension

Originally made with rope, suspension bridges and roads in contemporary society use structurally sound, strong steel cables. The roof of Santiago Calatrava’s Olympic Stadium in Athens (22) uses suspension in its design.

       

E.     Computer-Aided Planning

Computer-aided technologies allow for architects to explore their imagination, make visionary studies, calculate laws of physics, test strength of building materials, apply local building codes, estimate costs, and test lighting and ventilation.  Changes can be made fairly easily, and the programs allow the client to visualize the completed building through an animated walk-through or aerial perspective.

VIII. Urban Environment

 

            An urban environment is the human-made landscape of city dwelling consisting of buildings, roads, open spaces, and other facilities.  In order to regulate and direct urban and suburban growth, communities are engaging in urban planning.

IX.    The Automobile in American Cities

            The automobile allowed for increased movement, so people have left the cities to live in suburbs with more land, while they commute to city jobs on overcrowded and congested highways.  At night and weekends, entertainment and shopping is largely available in suburban areas where open spaces have been paved over with parking lots and shopping malls.

X.      Suburban American Housing

            Homes built in the suburbs today are usually created not by architects but instead by builders who typically use pre-fabricated houses or build houses with balloon frame construction using two-by-fours covered with siding and drywall to quickly expand housing developments using.  An exception noted in the text to this suburban sprawl would be the development of Seaside, Florida (26), where the town is building like an old-fashioned small town radiating from the town center.

XI.    Historic Preservation

            Historic preservation of important homes and neighborhoods allows a region to find its roots through its building history.  Historic preservation and adaptive reuse of important structures gives failing towns and areas a chance for survival, ushering in a resurgence of community belonging and increasing tourism.  Examples of historic preservation include the renovated homes in Charleston, North Carolina (27), and the home of Martin Luther King, Jr., on Auburn Avenue, Atlanta (29).  An example of adaptive reuse would be New York City’s South Street Seaport (28), which was converted from the Fulton Fish Market and wharf. 

The Essential Art Form One of the basic human needs is shelter. Some theorists make distinctions between architecture and mere shelters. Are all buildings considered architecture?  Is architecture an art form?  When is it and when is it not? 

Can Architecture Feed the Soul? Zaha Hadid believes the main functions of architecture are to provide shelter and feed the soul.  How can architecture feed the soul?  To what extent?  Choose a building on campus that you think best exemplifies the notion of feeding the soul.  Why did you select that building?

 The Impact of Autos Chapter 14 identifies negative effects associated with the automobile on cities, such as suburban sprawl, traffic congestion, and parking lots.  Continue the discussion of the use of the automobile and its impact on cities, human interaction and moods, and the environment.

  Historic Significance Why is it important to save historic homes?  What impact does it have on the community? Are there any historic homes in the community where your college is located?  If available or possible, contact a member or director of your community preservation society to speak to your class about historic homes in the area.

 Vitruvian Man Vitruvius described the ideal proportions of man as follows:

“For if a man be placed flat on his back, with his hands and feet extended, and a pair of compasses centered at his navel, the fingers and toes of his two hands and feet will touch the circumference of a circle described therefrom.  And, just as the human body yields a circular outline, so too a square figure may be found from it.  For if we measure the distance from the soles of the feet to the top of the head, and then apply that measure to the outstretched arms, the breadth will be found to be the same as the height, as in the case of plane surfaces which are perfectly square.”

Leonardo da Vinci illustrated this with his drawing Proportions of the Human Figure (after Vitruvius).  In a small group, illustrate this description in a different way, through performance, sculpture, computer graphics, or whatever you can think of.  Document your results through photographs, drawings, or prints

Links

 

  • The Tenement Museum
    in New York City is an actual museum with an exceptional website. Located at #97 Orchard Street, the tenement was boarded up in 1935, and remained sealed until 1987. In 1994 work to bring the first three floors into compliance with New York City's building codes was completed, and the Museum opened to the public, conducting "The Spirits of 97 Orchard" tours of the unrestored residential apartments. This site features interactive tours of artifacts, and downloadable QuickTime® tours.

  • Token City
    The New York subway is the subject for a multimedia installation by visual artist Muriel Magenta and composer Michael Udow. Their vision transforms an everyday commute into an experience of images and sounds that simulates reality. The viewer is immersed in a situation where emotions and thoughts associated with the subway are implied and heightened: anonymity of the individual within a crowd, anticipation of the unknown, the passing of time, and longing to keep going. This is an exceptional cybertour through one part of New York's infrastructure. The project was curated by John D. Spiak at the Arizona State University Museum of Art. (Note: The QuickTime® Movie is 6.5 megs, so be prepared to wait a few minutes!)



Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Trinity Church, Henry Hobson Richardson
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