San Francisco Field Trip 5/28/13

Today we went on our second trip to San Francisco. We visited many beautiful churches, schools, and historical landmarks. Besides ourselves, phones, and food we brought something new, our sketchpads. In which, we used in the past few days to make multiple drawings or short sketches of a hallway or staircase. We visited the "Painted Ladies" and I did a quick sketch mainly focusing on the left corner house, mainly because I thought it was the most appealing to me and I thought it was so beautiful in my eyes. I also thought it was interesting how these houses were used in multiple movies and photographed a lot.

Another beautiful landmark we visited was the Saint Mary's Cathedral. My first reaction was: Wow! It is huge and has a unique design. I loved the scale and futurist geometry to it. I learned that it seated 2,500 people. I found the inside more fascinating. The glass chandelier was a symbol of our prayers going to God and it also was beautiful with it being clear and having natural light make it shine. Also when you look up, you can see the colored light through the glass windows in a line going up. Another aspect I really enjoyed the piano playing. Mainly because enjoy playing and listening to the piano. It gave the church a soothing, peaceful vibe in the church. It felt peaceful and safe and sacred.

We also visited the Congregation Emanuel at SFU. I thought it had more aspects to it than the Cathedral. It was larger and had more artificial light rather than natural light. I liked the Cathedral more because I adored the simple beauty and natural lighting.

Memorial Day 2013

Memorial Day

Today is the day that we remember those that fought and died in war for our country. America in particular Washington D.C. has many memorial buildings for those brave soldiers. There is the WWII, Vietnam war, and Navy Seals memorial sites. The Vietnam Memorial is beautiful! It is a long V wall that gets short to tall to short. It has all the names of the soldiers that died from the war. It is a black marble wall and white engraved names. The WWII memorial is a huge circle of the names of all the countries across the world. Its shape and columns signify beauty and remembrance.




 

WWII







Mesopotamian Arch: Haiku

Haiku

 

  Mesopotamian Architecture

    It represents great authority and power

  through its' high temples and invented archs 

Egyptian Architecture

Egyptian Architecture.....

Is one of the oldest types of architecture. For example, the Great Step Pyramid of Dijoser, which dated back to 2700 B.C. So about five thousand years ago! It is the oldest pyramid that is still standing in the world. In Egyptian culture pyramids are made as tombs for kings. Pyramids are a mix of religion and superstition that make up the Egyptian culture.

Dating back to 1250 BC, in which the Great Temple of Ramses. It is carved from rock. And is built on a hug scale. The size is massive and the detailed carvings are magnificent. King Ramses had 100's of children and tons of wives. But one wife in particular Nefertari, was who he built another temple next to his. Egyptian culture has helped shape its culture and architecture. It has also inspired other nations and cultures around the world. Like the Louvre Museum, it has a glass pyramid in its courtyard. It descended from ancient Egyptian architecture. This is also shown in the Luxor Hotel of Las Vegas. It is a pyramid shaped hotel. Overall, Egyptian architecture is ancient, cultural, religious and inspirational. Egyptian culture is unique and opened the world to an entirely different type of architecture.

Column and Beam: Ideas that changed Architecture

Today we had presenters: my good friend Koby and Sergio. They presented about aspects or things
that changed Architecture. The two aspects included Columns and Beams. There were multiple
examples and facts I learned. Such as, their functions and significance. For beams, it is a sequence of
repetition. The repetition connects to stability. In which, beams are repeated in a pattern in order to provide a stable structure and beauty. Also, it is made with different materials to provide beauty to a structure. Like, wood, steel, stone, and many more.

Columns. When I hear columns I picture Roman architecture and huge stone, detailed columns. There is more to columns than its' beauty it provides, as you can see in Roman architecture. It's function is to connect a structure/building. For example, the picture below shows multiple columns connecting a structure. Am example, from Rafael was bridges. Whether it'll be the Golden Gate or Bay bridge just for example, it is built with columns and beams. The bridge is flexible and experiences a lot of wind, so flexibility equals stability. Because if it was stiff than it would collapse if experiencing wind and weather conditions.

 

 
 

Holy Ground:Short Project--->May 21,2013

Holy Grounds. What is it? I think it is similar or equal to a church or temple. It's somewhere where people worship and it is very sacred and quiet. Also, I believe it should look inviting and safe. So, for our short project we were suggested to design a church with couriers or anything else, that made it feel sacred and different. I liked the idea of using couriers as a gateway to the church. I drew a floor plant to show the multiple couriers to go through to get to the church. I designed multiple couriers because I wanted the person  walking through it to feel that the place was more sacred while going through the multiple couriers.  So, the basic shape of the couriers are  circular. When you enter the first courier  it is made entirely of glass. You can either go left or right  but you will have two openings of the second courier, which is made of white marble. Along the outside of the second courier is a wall of flowers-I am not sure which kind- but probably a mixture of roses and gardenias. As you enter the second courier you find the church. And in front of the church is a long, skinny water fountain that lightly flows. There also is one located in the back of the church. I think the glass being transparent makes it feel not that sacred as you enter the first courier. But, once you enter the marble courier and see the fountains, flowers, and church it develops a sense of peace and sacredness. All of these elements help me visualize and design a sacred, holy ground. 

 

These are the main components I want in my design: Water fountains, glass, marble, and flowers.