Origins, background, history, foundations, roots. Everything and everyone is rooted into something, or has roots to the past. I myself am the daughter of Lorri and Pat Rhode, I’ve been influenced by them and I am tied to their roots as well. My life experiences, precedents, and my personal style are the roots to my design. Everyone has a different style because their inspiration is rooted in different things. Roots can also refer to how a design or type of architecture is started. Louis Sullivan states about the skyscraper that it is a “tall commercial building arose from the pressure of land prices, pressure of population…vertical transformation, masonry construction into metal frame, and ideas from spans in bridgework”.[1] The skyscraper has its origins in Chicago, and it is a symbol of the growing cities and reach upward in design. Advances in technology made the skyscraper possible as well as new materials. As the industrial revolution began space also became an issue, and another root to why the skyscraper arose, literally. Architecture began to take more vertical shapes as to save space and to keep the city compact. New advances in the design and architecture world are often the roots to new styles and building types, as seen by the skyscraper.
[COMPRESSION/RELEASE]
When I put together the two words compression and release I think of the creation and spreading of a design or style. Being a creative person means that you have the ability to compress all the ideas you have and create a final polished work, or in a sense release your ides from your mind to be visualized by others. The word pair can also describe the way that a style spreads from one place to the next. For example the Bauhaus style, also known as the international style was created in Germany in 1919. A leading creator Walter Gropius stated, “let us desire, conceive, and create the new structure of the future, which will embrace architecture and sculpture and painting in one unity”[2] Gropius worked to combine all the arts and produce a style that fused both art and technology as one. The Bauhaus school helped to compress all the arts in one building, and then release the style and their work to the world. The Bauhaus style started in Germany but it soon spread outward, such as its emergence in America as the International style. The style was thus compressed together, and then released to other countries.
[CONVERGENCE]
The coming together of many parts to create a unified whole is a convergence of pieces. In both design and architecture there must be a flowing together of ideas to create a unified finished piece. In studio we have been discussing the way that two light effects can come together to create a unified co-inhabitance. Such pairs are: light and dark, celebration and meditation, colored and un-colored, etc. I wanted to focus on light and the absence of such for mine. Convergence can also be the combining of past styles. Greek and Roman styles can be seen all throughout the 19th century in a combined and redone way. However, they still took what was already done and reused their ideas. The arts and crafts movement also demonstrates how ideas are converged in history but in a different way. The movement combined home-made goods with technology and the industrial revolution. “The twin forces of industrialization and urbanization dictated a new way of life for the population as a whole”[3], and the two converged to create a new style that unified them both. Design is about taking two different perspectives and meeting in the middle.
[MATERIALITY]
Materials have great effect on the final look and outcome of a piece of work. The materials you use can change the entire design and concept of a building. During the 19th century steel and glass were two of the most popular new materials used. They were inexpensive compared to other materials of the time and they could be widely used for many functions. A good example is the crystal palace built for the world expo in France. The whole structure was made of steel with glass windows all around. It changed the way that designers built, and led rise to other steel structures such as the skyscraper. In 19th century Chicago materials started to be used more for structure and less for decoration. Louis Sullivan says, “We have learned that ornament is mentally a luxury, not a necessity, for we have discerned”[4]. Sullivan saw that the two are different things and that materials were not always needed to just add more on to the building than necessary.
[CONCEPT]
The concept is the simple organizing idea in a design. Every piece should have one, and it should correlate throughout the whole thing. The concept is what its all about, and what it represents or tells about. Successful designs are ones in which portray their concept in their design, materials, etc. used and not by specifically stating it. An example in 19th century architecture is the Larkin building built by Frank Lloyd Wright. He wanted to keep all of the work down in the center atrium, so he kept it open and put everything else on the sides of the building. His focus was on the work down in the office building, and the large atrium to do so. On a more commercial scale, Wright’s homes also had a strong concept behind them. The Robie House, as well as others, focus on the horizontal and how it stretches the house out compared to the tall skyscrapers of the time. It is noted that, “at every point, the horizontal line is stretched and emphasized, internally as well as externally.”[5] Wright’s concepts for most of his houses were this horizontal line contrasted with a vertical fireplace.
[WRAP-UP]
A design is inspired by a concept. That concept is what unifies the entire piece together, or what converges all the smaller details into one style or design. The finished building has its roots in that concept and the precedents that inspired it. A concept internally compressed so that it can be externally released as a visual for others. Finally, this concept is put together and includes every piece of the building from the furnishings to the materials used.
[CITATIONS]
1-Louis Sullivan quote(told in class)
2-Roth pg.523
3-Blakemore pg. 7
4-Louis Sullivan quote(told in class)
5- Roth pg 497
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