READING COMPREHENSION 4

ELEMENTS:
Line: a single mark of progression.
Space: the parts between two or more planes.
Form: the shape or flow of a plane.

PRINCIPLES:
Repetition: the repeat of two or more parts.
Contrast: two or more opposing factors.
Emphasis: the importance placed on a certain subject.
Harmony: the perfect balance of a collection.
Balance: equality in weight between parts.
Proportion: relationship of the parts.
Unity: prominent factor; idea of a whole
I believe that everything started at one place that spread out over time and modified as necessary. Design reflects and represents how they lived and what they thought. According to “Understanding Architecture” Roth says “The idea was created, through deliberate and rational design, a new social order and with it a new, purer, morefunctionally and structurally expressive architecture.”

In the artifact, the furniture is showing design elements such as space, shape and line very well. They expressed geometric form that repeats certain patterns by using balance or harmony. These artifacts made from different places and used by different people. However, all different shapes, patterns or decorations support only one element, the most important thing, function.

In space, four spaces were designed for residential part such as entertaining, social meeting or service area. Those spaces were designed in different periods that have their own style. These spaces describe the social level through architectural method and requirement. Therefore, the principles and design elements are different in each space. Each room describes repetition, balance, proportion and unity.

In building, the most common element is residential structure. Each building is a unit of the whole, that is copied it many times. On the exterior of each building shows repetition and symmetry. There is also an emphasis on geometric shapes that build the past and reinvented harmony within these building styles.




(2)
England
17th century, European colonists settled on the eastern coast of America and traded with England current fashions and supplies. Local craftsmen, who are often recent immigrants, are familiar with the latest trends in interiors and furnishings. The earliest houses were smaller and functional with little embellishment due to limited supplies. Most structures share such medieval characteristics as steeply pitched gable roofs, casement windows, and framed construction due to the knowledge they already acquired. Early Southern homes were made of wood, timer frames, and are unpainted. The earliest furniture designed in colonial America was very crude but people become more accustomed to that what was available to them. These furniture styles then changed but held common techniques.

Gateleg table: repetition of ornamental motifs and geometric shape.

Spain
Spain settled in Florida and dominated the Southeast territory of America. Casas and smaller common homes in the Southeast emphasize protection from harsh, arid and hostile climate. This climate is similar to Spain’s homeland so the techniques applied were already accustomed to their styles. Spanish followed more sophisticated construction methods using barrel and groin vaults with domes. Their furniture style influenced from Spanish Renaissance and Baroque techniques were more individual and collective compared to the rest of Europe. Spanish influences were decorative but with America’s local climate, materials and labor force limited decoration. Therefore, the furniture produced were more vernacular, provincial, and crude compared to original Spanish styles. With this, Spanish American aesthetics were more simple in form and decoration. For example, Spindles are carved and often flat instead of rounded or decoration is painted on or shallowly carved.

Fraileurs: repeated motif, balance and proportional element

France
French sent armies and administrators to the New World to establish and maintain the absolutist policies of the Crown. They dominate Louisiana around New Orleans at the end, and their style adapted to the local climate and structure. Most buildings constructed were of stone and clapboards naturally. Their style is more vernacular and distinctive in the regional area of America. Steeply pitched roofs, half-timber construction, and square shapes are common French characteristics. The furniture produced is influenced by Louis xiii, xiv, and xv style. The Amoire, borrowed heavy styles from France that has a simple cornice, double doors and a plain facade with no ornamentation. Curves are evident throughout the design, often seen in the apron and legs.

Armoirs: repetition, functionality and symmetry

Germany/ Holland
German style influence European classicism of the Renaissance or Baroque. They bring native medieval buildings and furnishing to America. They used local woods such as walnut, pine or popular and painted with bright colors. Common decorations are applied through moldings, carvings, and inlays and later, graining. The Dutch people that settled in New York and New Jersey reflected medieval traditions instead of the classical Renaissance. Their building style features decorative brickwork that may contain multiple stories. Some parts of the building, low and proportion, are made of stone, wood or mixture that is more common than brick. Their furniture may be brought from home or imported to reproduces Dutch prototypes.

Shrank: Hierarchy, balance and geometric shape

(3)

I decided to choose one big square form because as people know, Palladian architecture featured large halls at its center of the building. Other spaces expanded out from that central point similar to the song and how multiple instruments strung out from one beginning. The space is symmetrical to show the strong structure of the piece and its harmony throughout the song.

(4)
The Baroque played a role in the demand for architecture. These features of baroque were more accessible to human emotions that were expressed in fashion and design. Most human activity were based on sense, dynamics, and ornament especially for the art field such as sculpture, painting, music, fashion and architecture. In architecture these emotions are expressed through the overuse of extra ornaments, dramatic use of light, and strong contrast. The external façade was often characterized by a dramatic central projection. Gathering places such as churches or theaters showed the peek of art and design during the baroque period. Roth says “Architecture has become but one constituent part in what is best expressed by German term Gesamt-kunstwerk, “a total work of art.”