Voices

Ever walk under a giant archway like the Saint Louis and feel so small? Have you ever climbed a tower and just look out to the city before you? The moments that you feel when you’re in, around, on top of, beside, or even beneath, are the feelings and sensations architects try to capture. I recently took a trip to High Point and stood next to this gigantic furniture store in the shape of a boat. I honestly felt like I was going to be crushed if I stood any closer. Suzanne Cabrera also said her visit to the Eiffel Tower made her feel at home and had a sense of belonging due to the shops and elevators and venues around. Different buildings give off different emotions and moments. The
Cologne Cathedral in Germany gives off this overhanging, super, and gothic tone. It achieves this by its verticality and strict straight lines.




The way I see presence is a type of person the building gives off. For example, in a church the presence of God worshippers should be present. I feel it’s a demographic that the building aims for. Like a school is designed for students; a grand auditorium is designed for performances; a temple is created to worship gods like the Pantheon and Athena. Presence could also be the emotions felt within a building. So the buildings presence coincides with the moments you feel upon architecture.

The United States Metric Association states “the French originated the metric system of measurement (now called the International System of Units and Abbreviated SI) (Lamar.Colostate.Edu). A metric system is a universal system that is used to measure distances. The most common type of metric system is inches, feet, yards, meters, and miles. In science however, scientists prefer the meter metric system. The reason being is that it’s a set system of 10’s. A millimeter is 1/1000 of a meter. A centimeter is 1/100 of a meter and so on.



A duality in something is to be capable of doing multiple and dynamic goals. For example, the Eiffel tower in Paris captures the environment by using it as a telecommunications tower and providing a beautiful and stunning lookout tower that symbolizes the city beneath it. It shows duality in the idea of commodity and delight. Most dual pieces of architecture provide a delightful aspect to it and a function. The Louvre is a high style pyramid made of glass that also doubles as a museum to visitors and tourists.

Last semester we were told to find a precedent for our “12 Twigs” project. A precedent is essentially a physical piece or work that provides inspiration, insight, and reason for decisions made upon the current idea. My precedent for the “12 Twigs” project was the Twin Towers in New York City. The story behind the Twin Towers is passionate, dangerous, and moving. These were the words that elevated my twelve twig projects. In architecture, precedents can also be forms previous to the current. For example, the Greek idea of a porch, court, and hearth were soon integrated into gothic churches generations later. The Pantheon, the temple of Athena, was one of the first to emulate the porch, court, and hearth template and became a precedent to the religious churches and worshipping temples.








Metric
http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger/origin.html