My Design Process

Although I have not struggled starting a project, I can’t really say that I have a specific design method. Every project has been very different from each other but have all been successful. I don’t believe that I design in a certain style yet, but most of my projects have organic forms or have one main focal point.

            In the beginning of the project, I would study the client, context, and culture – designing for what the city needs and wants. Then I will research some precedents to help develop a concept. After the research phase, I would sketch forms that are an abstract interpretation or literal depiction of the concept. This part is crucial because it is when I decide if my project is going to be a sculptural piece or not – which usually is. After the form is decided, I fit the functions/programs into their spaces. If the square footages for the programs won’t fit, a few minor changes to the form will occur.

            For materials, I mostly use glass, concrete, and wood. Many of my projects are earth tones with the only vibrant colors coming from vegetation -- which is strongly present in many of my designs. I enjoy playing with man and nature -- the relationship between hard and soft.

            After each semester has passed, an exit interview is done with our studio professor. Each of mine have said that my designs are strong because I am a sculptor. With that in mind, I don’t believe I have a specific style. I approach the projects as if it is artwork and mold it until the design is appealing to the eye and tells a story. Although being a sculptor ensures good designs, it can also be a bad thing. Buildings should be designed with function over form instead of the other way around. In most cases, my functions have been able to fit inside the form that I have developed first, but there have been a few times when programs had to be tweaked to fit the form that I grew to love.

            For my future designs, I hope to find a balance between form and function – developing the functions before the form so they may both fit perfectly. 

Estopinal Competition 2013

The Open Plan: Le Corbusier & Mies Van der Rohe

During the 20^th century, many architects were breaking away from traditional designs and construction methods. The most radical design element was the open plan, which is still a major theme in today's buildings. Two architects that were the first to establish this idea in their design principles were Le Corbusier and Mies Van der Rohe. Although they both practiced this idea around the same time, their different styles as an architect formulated two different approaches.

Le Corbusier (1887-1967), a French architect, designed with rationality and functionality. He sought out to liberate the individual and therefore, exercised the Modular system to utilize the human dimensions. Pairing the golden ratio to the Modular, his system focused on scale of architectural proportion. Inspired by many thinkers and architects, he saw that the world needed free plans and open forms, influencing him to formulate a new language of form. Utilizing the Domino Skeleton System, Le Corbusier created the Maison Domino (1914) as a serially reproducible unit. Incorporating pilotis as the structural system, introduced the idea of a free plan. Because non-load-bearing walls could be freely arranged as spatial dividers, more spatial designs were possible. This idea was revolutionary and became the foundation of Le Corbusier’s 5 points of architecture: 1) Columns. 2) Free plan. 3) Free facade. 4). Ribbon window. 5) Roof garden.

1.     Columns (pilotis)

            Elevating the mass off the ground

2.      Free plan (plan libre)

            Achieved through the separation of the load-bearing columns from the walls subdividing the 

            space

3.     The free façade (façade libre)

            The corollary of the free plan in the vertical plane

4.     Ribbon wind (fenetre de longerue)

            The long horizontal sliding window

5.     Roof garden (toit-jardin)

            Restoring supposedly, the area of ground covered by the house

Masion Domino (1914)

By eliminating the load-bearing walls and replacing them with columns, Le Corbusier opened up the interior and exterior, allowing new possibilities to be explored.

Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe (1886-1969), a German architect, was a constructivist abstraction designer, mainly focusing on planes and lines. Influenced by the Berlin Avant-garde, he had multiple ideas of architecture as well:

      1.     The enclosure of function in a generalized cubic container not      

      committed to any particular set of concrete functions (seen to be  related to neoclassicism).

      2.     The articulation of the buildings in response to the fluidity of life.

3.     Dematerialization of architectural elements.

4.     Plastic sensibility in window/brick compositions

5.     Elementalist design of the plan (similar to Destjil and Theo Van Doesburg)

6.     The Center is abolished

7.     The room as a plan organizer is dissolved.

8.     Plans are not organized by the taxonomy of functions but represent an instance of MVDR’s many possible compositions.

9.     Interplay between column and wall is a major theme.

Barcelona Pavillion (1929)

MVDR’s plans for the Barcelona Pavillion reveal that the column and walls establish an open plan. The center is abolished, space is defined, and independent walls, rather than enclosed rooms, organize the plan. His major intention was to dissociate the wall from its traditional dimensions, until the wall just signified a wall; not touching the roof or other walls, but simply standing as a visual divider to define a space. Similar to Le Corbusier, the wall was no longer needed as a structural element. Columns took their place, as the walls became more of a visual aspect. His plans were quite simple, designing the structure around the notion of “less is more”. With the dialogue between the columns and walls, MVDR’s open plan invited the “fluidity of life” into his buildings.

Sources:

Hartoonian, G. (1984). Journal of Architectural Education (1984-) Vol. 42, No. 2: MVDR The Genealogy of Column and Wall. 43-50. Blackwell Publishing. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1425090 .

Herz-Fischler, R. (1927). Le Corbusier’s “Regulating Lines” for the Villa at Garches (1927) and other Early Architectural Works. Ottawa: Carleton University.

Middleton, D. (N.A). Le Corbusier. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from Ball State University Blackboard website: https://blackboard.bsu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_106280_1%26url%3D

Middleton, D. (N.A). Mies Van der Rohe. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from Ball State University Blackboard website: https://blackboard.bsu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_106280_1%26url%3D

The Emergence of Modernism

            By the early 20^th century, there were many architectural movements that sought to be the defining ground for modern architecture. Starting back in 1880 with Arts and Crafts Movement and ending in 1936 with The Bauhaus, these early modern movements varied in main ideas, materials, and ornamentation. These movements however, would only influence the next movement into the emergence of modernism.

Figure 1

            The Arts and Crafts Movement (1880) was the first counter movement to break from industrialization by returning to the true value of handmade craftsmanship. The beauty was in the details, which were influenced by nature and religion, creating romantic decorative elements. The ideals were more traditional, primarily using wood and exposing the material’s true colors. Many of the buildings had steep roofs, fireplaces, and with well-defined rooms. The Arts and Crafts was about appreciating the artist’s work and therefore, the craftsman were valued and took pride and time with their creation.

Figure 2

            Following the Arts and Crafts, the Art Nouveau Movement (1890) was the first systematic attempt to replace the classical architecture and decorative arts. Although it valued craftsmanship and ornamentation, instead of disagreeing with industrialization like Arts and Crafts did, the movement accepted its’ methods in production. This allowed ornamentation to be mass-produced at an exponential rate. The ornamentation was out of iron metal, allowing the forms to be fluid and imitating nature’s true movements. Other characteristics of Art Nouveau were open communal spaces and single organic entity of spaces. But their main contribution to modernism will be mass production of ornamentation.

Figure 3

            The De Stjil Movement (1917-1931) believed that the total design environment could be only achieved by means of complete collaboration between artists and architects. This architecture movement was related to cubism and the abstraction in the arts as its’ influence comes from Piet Mondrian’s painting. The painting uses a grid to create harmony within itself and as a whole; and therefore, the plans and elevations were based off a grid. Primary bright colors were strategically placed, but the grid allowed the interior spaces to be simple and flexible. De Stjil however did eliminate natural objects and replaced them with machine made materials. Instead of decorative pieces, the volume and spaces were experienced by walls and planes. The wrapping of individual planes created the overall form and façade of the building. Instead of referring to natural objects, De Stjil focused on the solids and voids for inspiration, which will be their biggest contribution to modern architecture.

Figure 4

           Coincided with De Stijl Movement, the Expressionism Movement (1900) propagated an abstract art with which an entirely new environment could be created. Both De Stjil and Expressionism believed that a work of art had to express essential character of contemporary society as whole and testify to existence of communal art. Also the two movements believed that architects were capable of transcending level of mere construction and rational providence of engineer. The Expressionism Movement is taken by a group of designers from the Amsterdam School and Hendrik Pertus Berlage (1856- 1934). The group was driven by expressionistic individualism and regarded architecture as the superior to the other arts. Just like De Stjil, they sought for “a betterment society through contact with the arts which was considered food in its own right and could bestow goodness of anyone”. The school was built with handmade bricks and believed that machine were useless because it did not allow the artist to express their individuality. As buildings reveal a greater flexibility in their forms, ornamentation, materialism, and color differentiation plays an important role in the design. The plans were organized around the structure and the facades were severe with discrete ornamentation. It integrated steel material with traditional materials, especially brick.

Figure 5

          The Russian Constructivism/ Suprematism Movement (1920-30) was a representation of the superiority of the nation state. It was a revolutionary stance against the concepts of arts and architecture, replacing the individual’s identity with the utopian ideal of socialist commune state. There is no decoration and so, the individual’s identity was loss, rather it was expressed in favor of communal. The monumentality, propaganda, strong vertically, and huge masses would give the building a very dominate form. The materials that were used were glass, metal, and concrete. Because of the heavy political influence, the creativity and expression of architecture is lost.

Figure 6

          The Futurism Movement (1909-16) took off in Italy and embraced the use of machines and technology. The movement stood as an industrial monumentality with its powerful futuristic buildings and strong vertical spaces. The development of new technology played a role in the conception of architecture, abandoning of traditional architecture completely. Art and design was a strong integration of the total design with bold yet unappealing colors. The masses were large and consisted of heavily machined produced steel, glass, reinforced concrete, fibers, and other manufactured materials. The motif was a steamship and main idea behind was that everything had to be revolutionized; including the importance of the façade, which is diminished. Futurism was the new architecture for the new age.

Figure 7

           

           The Bauhaus School(1920-36) took a utopian stance on the building’s formation with high public exposure and social encounters through design. Influenced by Industrial America, the school expressed a new society through design by integrating art forms with architecture as its’ main goal. With very clean and simple forms, the organization and circulation of the plan was very functional. As holism for its concept, views to the sky were created. Transparency was also present across the interior and exterior with the use of curtain walls. The materials that were used were glass and concrete. Restraining from the use of colors, only primary hues were used to distinguish the program of functional spaces. The structure was designed and separated from the skin, and therefore given a visual importance. In this one building, the Bauhaus challenged the other movements and therefore, is perhaps the most influential style.

Sources:

Figure 1. 

https://blackboard.bsu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fweba

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Figure 2. 

https://blackboard.bsu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fweba

pps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_106280_1%26url%3D           

Figure 3. 

http://image.lang-8.com/w0_h0/6e2978c55e41da1281c320d33895d28ebbdd0799.jpg

Figure 4. 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3048/4562684308_ce00bab814.jpg

Figure 5. 

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n85/jarmo_k/bigbiggerbiggest.jpg

Figure 6. 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/17/Santelia01.jpg/220px-Santelia01.jpg

Figure 7. 

http://c1038.r38.cf3.rackcdn.com/group1/building2572/media/media_60759.jpg

Middleton, D. (N.A). Amsterdam School Destjil. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from Ball State University Blackboard website: https://blackboard.bsu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_106280_1%26url%3D

Middleton, D. (N.A). Arts & Crafts William Morris. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from Ball State University Blackboard website: https://blackboard.bsu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_106280_1%26url%3D

Middleton, D. (N.A). Art Nouveau. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from Ball State University

Blackboard website: https://blackboard.bsu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_106280_1%26url%3D

Middleton, D. (N.A). Summary on Movements 329. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from Ball

State University Blackboard website: https://blackboard.bsu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_group=courses&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Fcontent%2Ffile%3Fcmd%3Dview%26content_id%3D_2415469_1%26course_id%3D_106280_1%26framesetWrapped%3Dtrue

           

           

           

Art Nouveau: Victor Horta

           Victor Horta, (1861-1947) was a Belgian architect and designer who belonged in the Art Nouveau movement. He is described as the “key to European Art Nouveau architect”, and sometimes credited as the first to introduce the style of architecture from the decorative arts.

            The Art Nouveau movement began in Belgium in 1892 and spread throughout Europe. Inspired by the Arts and Crafts Movement, Art Nouveau was the first systematic attempt to replace the classical system of architecture and the decorative arts. Key influences were the English ‘free-style’ house, the use of iron, and Viollet le Duc’s theories: main ideas, spatial organization according to function, importance of materials, concept of organic form, and study of vernacular domestic architecture.

            After receiving a Beaux-Arts architectural training, Horta spent over ten years working with a neoclassical style, which was slightly modified by Viollet le Duc’s constructional rationalism. In 1893, he designed an original private house for Emile Tassel, professor of descriptive geometry. The Hotel Tassel was the first in a series of houses that he built for elite Belgian professionals, in which he combined Viollet le Duc’s principle of exposed metal structure with ornamental motifs derived from the French and English decorative arts.

            The Hotels Tassel, Solvay, and Van Eetvelde, which were designed between 1892 and 1895, present a clever range of solutions to typical narrow Brussels sites. All three plans were divided into three sections with a central section that contained a top-lit staircase. The staircase was a vital element to the buildings because it was the visual and social hub of the hotel. In the principle floor of each hotel, there was a suite of reception rooms and conservatories with spatial fluidity, accentuated by the glass and mirrors. In his memoirs, Horta described the Hotel Solvay as a “dwelling like any other… but with interior characterized by an exposed metal structure and series of glass screens fiving an extended perspective… for evening receptions”.

Hotel Tassel, 1892-3 | Plans

Hotel Tassel, 1892-3 | Staircase

            Horta’s most important public building was the Maison du Peuple in Brussels of 1896-9. Similar to the hotels, the Beaux- Arts symmetry of the plan vanishes between the asymmetrical programmatic elements. The façade, although it appears to be a smooth undulating skin, is in fact a classical composition arranged around a shallow exhedra (semicircular niche). Because of its continuous glazing and expansive brick surfaces, it had a shocking effect when it was first built.

Maison du Peuple,1896-9 | Plan

Maison du Peuple, 1896-9 | Façade

            Horta challenged the relationship of architecture, art, and nature. As a result, he developed a manner that “integrated geometrically derived ornamental forms based on nature with compositional traditions based on Italian Renaissance architecture”. Combing  new decorative principles into a clear architectural style, he created an analogy between metal structure and plant form. Initially, his designs were flamboyant in detail, but then gradually simplified over time. The style Horta produced was abstract and exotic, a combination of ideas.

Colquhoun, A. (2002). Art Nouveau. Modern Architecture. (pp. 20-22, 24). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Middleton, D. (N.A). Art Nouveau. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from Ball State University Blackboard website: https://blackboard.bsu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_106280_1%26url%3D

Viollet le Duc, Ruskin, and Semper

Eugene Viollet le Duc, John Ruskin, and Gottfried Semper were all influential figures with ideals that would lead to three different styles of modern architecture in the 19^th century. Even though these three designers were very different from each other, there were a few similarities in their philosophy in which set the foundation to the new architecture style.

Eugene Viollet le Duc, a great French theorist, approached architecture in a rational manner, believing that architecture had to do with the faculty of reasoning. His process of design was highly structured, ignoring the character of design as a motif. Although many artists fell in love with Gothic architecture for its’ intricate craftsmanship, Viollet le Duc admired Gothic for its’ logic of rational construction. It was intellectually satisfying and therefore, rational architecture. Thoroughly apprehensive of methods of construction and the use of materials, he introduced iron as a supporting system for the Gothic cathedrals, a very bold yet logical move. The mergence of rationality and materialistic led him to a general conception of architecture, followed by a process of arguments from the known problem to the unknown solution. This idea formed the foundation of modern architecture. Departure from traditional design methods was also present in his restorations. He believed that restoring “a building is not just to preserve it, to repair, and to remodel it, it is to re-instate it in a complete state such as it may never have been in at any given moment”. Even though he received some criticism for not being a faithful restorer, he received considerable recognition for his restoration work. Being an entirely forward-looking designer, Viollet le Duc was able develop the stepping-stone to modern architecture from the discoveries of his Gothic studies.

Contrary to Viollet le Duc’s philosophy, John Ruskin, a religious writer and speaker, approached architecture in a more emotional manner; with all feeling and no reasoning. The passion he possessed for both architecture and nature is what attracted him to Gothic architecture. Unlike Viollet le Duc who loved Gothic for its’ rationality, Ruskin admired Gothic “as alive with the life which the carver gives it who, loving his work, endows it with beauty”; the very ‘nature of Gothic’. His artistic vision and his hatred for machine would refrain him from consideration of a new style. The notion of introducing new materials, such as iron and glass, infuriated him because the building will then cease to be true to architecture. Being true to architecture was also a philosophy Ruskin carried to restoration. As a backward-looking designer, he believed that restoration “means the most total destruction which a building can suffer”. The life cycle and aging of the building is part of the architecture and therefore, should not be retouched. This belief would be Ruskin’s total significance in modern architecture and later have a significant influence on the distinction between conservation and restoration of old buildings.

Lastly, Gottfried Semper, a German architect whose approach is a combination of the two with the application of scientific methods. Semper sought for rational constructs that would explain forms and after studying the history of works of art, he formulated a theory of design called “practical design”. To reach his goal of establishing a classification of architectural style and form, Semper applied scientific methods of analysis that would explain different types of forms and then divide the form into four categories: hearth, substructure/ platform, the roof, and the enclosure. As architecture evolved, so did the categories; being read separately or together. To further understand the classification systems of artifact, Semper proposed a formula: U=C(x,y,z,t,v,w…). Where U is the result of function, C is the functional expression of the relationship between the coefficients, and the coefficients, in which are subdivided into three categories: materials and techniques, local and ethnological, and personal influences. Furthermore, his major thesis emerged when he realized that “architecture everywhere borrowed its types form pre-architectural conditions of human settlement”. He believed that style should be influenced by socio-political conditions, fulfilling the needs for that particular location, culture, and time. The theory of form relating to context and “The Four Elements of Architecture” would be Semper’s greatest architectural contribution to the modern world.

Pevsner, N. (1969). Ruskin and Viollet-le-Duc. Englishness and Frenchness in the Appreciation of Gothic Architecture. (pp. 9-42). London: Thames and Hudson.

Summerson, J. (1949). Viollet-le-Duc and the Rational Point of View. Heavenly Mansion. (pp. 140-159). New York: W.W. Norton.

Van Eck, Caroline. (2006). Nineteenth-Century Architecture and Theory: Gottfried Semper and the Problem of Historicism by Mari Hvattum. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 65, 136 -139. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/25068251.