Point Explorations

What is the ideal city? Man has been reinventing this idea even before the first temples went up in Egypt and ever since. In the Painting 'Ideal City', the artist has included in his view of the ideal city, an open courtyard, ships for commerce, three story buildings, columns and arches, all of which are still fundamental to building practices today. However this version of the ideal city is missing people, leaving it empty and cold. Ideas and labor come from man, everything must be done with people in mind.

During the machine age, art and industry collided to create the Bauhaus. The main goal behind the Bauhaus was to combine crafts and the fine arts. Several disciplines were combined to be taught under one roof. Not only was the Bauhaus a place for learning, it was also a way of building. This way of building took into account all aspects of a buildings use and comfort for those occupying it. It was a school of building to include a total work of art. It too had an ideal for perfect building. The Bauhaus style was void of ornament and instead preferred to allow the materials to speak for themselves. The function comes first and the form follows.The style of Bauhaus has been influential throughout the century. The idea of building is putting elements together to make a whole and setting standards. Shortly after, the modern movement began. In our quest for the perfect artistic expression, some fundamental considerations were missed.

Although Mies van der Rohe had many successes, some of his failures were due to the fact that he didn't consider people in his some of his designs. Just like the 'Ideal City' painting is free of people, Mies van der Rohe forgot to consider them in some of his projects. Two of these designs include the Farnsworth house and the Lake Shore Apartments in Chicago. Both of these residential places were ideal, however one very important aspect not taken into account was the indoor climate. The Farnsworth house is a minimalist construction made with glass walls that don't offer much insulation from the heat of the sun. The same on all four sides, the Lake Shore apartments does not consider that one side is exposed to the sun more throughout the day and may need different treatment.

In the explorations unit, we looked at some new styles, some with the same basic ideas from years ago. In modern society, commerce and transportation are two of the main factors dictating the way and what we build, from skyscrapers to massive winding freeways. Another reason we build is self-expression in the form of art. Even though society has changed, some of the same principles still apply today. As a consumer society, commerce and the flow of goods is an important consideration in any city today.

Today we still build with some of the same main ideas from the painting. Every major city has ports for shipping, three story buildings have turned into skyscrapers, and city parks for gathering. But the ideal city is always changing because our ideas and way of life is always changing. This is also the reason way no single style period lasts forever. There is no perfect ideal and there is always room for growth.

Assignment 8.0

The students at UNCG put together a gala to raise money for the primary school being built in Ghana. Here are some pictures of students hard at work and some of the items up for bid.

Here is final counterpoint for iar222. The final unit was about the machine, my chosen scale was artifact. The form was paragraph. I chose to write about the Postal Savings bank of Vienna, and the heating system there.

Reading Comprehension 7

At the Weatherspoon Museum, I analyed an abstract work of art by Al Held. He, along with George K. Morris, use tight compositions to balance curvelinear and rectaliner forms. The word abstract also means to take away from, this is true of architecture taking elements of art during the modern movement.

In the painting ‘Giza Gate’ by Al Held, there is a relationship in contrasts similar to that comparing the past to the present in design. The dramatic contrast of black and white was the first thing that caught my eye. The severity of this contrast works equally well with the contrasting shapes. The circles and squares are opposites but they compliment each other. The sharp contrasts cause your attention to go back and forth between them. The shapes in this painting also take the form of architectural lines and space.

In the same collection was the piece Steinway Ghosts by Claribel Cone. This piece has a much less rigid composition than Giza Gate and most off the elements of the painting are free form. It is about as opposite of Giza Gate as it can get. It is full of color compared to Giza Gate, which is black and white. Steinway Ghosts was inspired from a piece of music and has many levels.

In the explorations unit we covered the arts and crafts, and art deco movements. Both of these design styles relate to and draw inspiration from art and hand craft techniques. We explored the intersection of art and architecture. We have always thought of architecture as art, now we see a direct influence in modern times. During the modern movement, many buildings are made in an artistic style as sculpture. Architects and designers incorporate new methods and experiment with new techniques. The modern movement not only incorporated new styles, it also drew upon inspiration from the past. As the modern movement took off, many women found careers as interior decorators. A prominent woman in the field at this time was Betty Joel, “her interiors reflect the geometrical inspiration of Art Deco mingled with the smoothness and glamour of the moderne” (Massey pg. 130). Many buildings have elements to them that are proportional as a work of art meaning they are small enough to fit into the overall composition while adding visual interest.