Three- Dimensional Art Sculpture Architecture Craft & Design

Architecture Chapter 10 Understanding Art

The mother art is architecture. Without an architecture of our own, we have no soul of our own civilization. –Frank Lloyd Wright

Introduction 1.What is architecture? 2.Why is architecture important to us? 3.Why does architecture, of all the arts, have the greatest impact on our lives? 4.Why does architecture determine the quality of the environments in which we work, play, live, meditate, and rest?

Architecture The art and science of designing buildings, bridges, and other structures to meet our personal and communal needs It is also a vehicle for artistic expression in three-dimensions The architect mediates between the client and the selected site

Architectural Materials Stone Wood Cast Iron Construction Steel Cage Reinforced Concrete Steel Cable Shell

- Stone Discuss the properties of stone Stone as a symbol of strength and permanence Stone expresses warmth Refer to Figure Discuss kivas - Discuss adobe structures

Post-and-Lintel Construction

See Stonehenge (ch. 12)

Dry Masonry

Stone as a favored material

See The Parthenon (ch. 13)

Arches Arches span distances They support other structures, such as roofs They serve as actual and symbolic gateways, as in the Arch of Triumph in Paris, France

Rounded and Pointed Arches

Parts of an Arch Voussoirs Centering scaffold Keystone Compressive strength The Pont du Gard (ch. 13)

Vaults An extended arch Barrel vault Groin vault Ribbed vault Buttressing Bay Webbing

Vaults See the Ottonian St. Michael’s at Hildesheim (ch. 14) See the Romanesque St. Sernin (ch. 14)

Clerestory

Stone as an elegant Gothic structural element - lacy buttressing and ample fenestration - see Laon Cathedral, Cathedral of Notre-Dame, and Chartres Cathedral (ch. 14)

Domes Domes are hemispherical forms They are rounded when viewed from underneath They are extensions of the principle of the arch They are capable of enclosing a vast amount of space

Domes See Stupa of Sanchi (ch. 17)

Pendentives are used to support a huge dome

Other Uses of Stone in Construction Stone is rarely used today as a structural material Expensive to quarry and transport Stone veneers Decorative stone used on façades Stone slabs for entry halls, patios, and gardens

- Wood Wood is attractive and versatile It is an abundant and renewable It is light and can be worked onsite with portable hand tools A variety of colors and grains It can be weathered or painted It can be used on the façade or as a structural material

- Wood Wood also has drawbacks: - It can warp, crack, rot, and is highly flammable and prone to insect infestation Modern chemicals can treat and strengthen wood Plywood and siding

Post-and-Beam Construction Similar to post-and-lintel construction Vertical and horizontal timbers are cut and pieced together with wooden pegs The beams allow for windows, doors, and interior supports Supports another story or roofs

Trusses Lengths of wood, iron, or steel Pieced together in a triangular shape Trusses span large distances The strength of trusses Trusses as design and engineering elements

Balloon Framing An American construction building technique A product of the Industrial Revolution (early 20 th century) Mass production and assembly of materials Sidings, such as shingle, clapboard, veneers, and newer aluminum siding

Roofing Materials for Balloon Framing Construction Asphalt Cedar shingle Tile Slate

- Cast-Iron Architecture Was also a product of the 19 th century’s Industrial Revolution Changed the realm of architecture Was a welcome alternative to stone and wood Allowed for the erection of taller buildings with thinner walls Has great strength but is heavy

Steel-Cage Architecture Very strong metal with some carbon and other metals Harder than cast iron and very expensive; however, less of the material needs to be used Skeletal forms of steel result in “steel cages” Façades and inner walls are hung from the skeleton; thus, its mass

Less is more. –Ludwig Miës van der Rohe

- Reinforced Concrete Architecture A 19 th -century building material also called ferroconcrete Steel rods and/or steel mesh are inserted into wet concrete Steel is inserted at points of greatest stress before hardening It can span greater distances and support greater weights

- Reinforced Concrete Architecture Le Corbusier’s Chapel of Notre- Dame-du-Haut Ronchamp (1950–54) Frank Lloyd Wright’s Kaufmann House (“Fallingwater”) Bear Run, PA (1936) Moshe Safdie’s Habitat Expo 67, Montreal (1967)

- Steel-Cable Architecture Asian wood and rope suspension bridges for thousands of years Brooklyn Bridge used steel cables to span NY’s East River (1833) Parallel wires share the stress Very flexible and the road below can sway during changing weather and traffic conditions Note: Twin Towers in Fig

- Steel-Cable Architecture Guy Nordenson and Henry N. Cobb’s schematic drawing for the World Trade Center (2003) David Childs in collaboration with David Libeskind Freedom Tower (2003)

“A Closer Look” Tribute in Light In Lights at Ground Zero, Steps toward illumination March – April 2002

- Shell Architecture Modern materials and engineering methods now enclose spaces with inexpensive shell structures Shells are capable of spanning greater spaces Constructed from reinforced concrete, wood, steel, paper, etc. Concept as old as the tent or new as a geodesic dome

- New Materials, New Visions in Architecture New idea in architecture: “If you can think it, we can build it” Global architects now adopt high-tech metals and methods Different visions concerning assembling designs and buildings Unorthodox building materials

- New Materials, New Visions in Architecture Frank Gehry’s Ray and Maria Stata Center for Computer, Information and Intelligence Science, MIT, Cambridge, MA Peter Testa and Devyn Weisner, Testa Architecture and Design’s Carbon Tower Shigeru Ban’s Nomadic Museum

Architectural Art Tour Chicago The Monadnock Building The Tribune Tower The Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park Robie House

Discussion Questions: Why is architecture so important to us as humans? What are the materials used in building construction? What are some of the building techniques used in architecture? Why is architecture an artform and a science (engineering)?