Having learned so much about architecture in this past semester and a half one of the most important things that I’ve learned is how people interact with a space. Early architects created a very successful way of leading people through a space by dividing it into a porch, court, and a hearth. Porch, the entrance to a space, is meant to purify a person for entrance. The porch leads to the court, which is a place for all people to gather. The court then leads to the hearth, which is only meant for specific people.
The division of space is not only meant to lead people through, but also acts as a division of wealth or power. People of the lowest class cannot enter into more than the porch. The general public may enter to the court, and only specific people may enter to the hearth. Some good examples of the porch, court, and hearth design are the Salisbury Cathedral in Italy and the Duomo. At both Cathedrals you are purified for entrance through the large archways. Then you are lead through the space to see the court, or main gathering space of the cathedral. Most anyone is allowed to enter the court, but when you progress through the space to the chapel, this section is only allowed for specific people.
In an analysis between these two buildings some things that i noticed was that they both used arches in their design. In both cathedrals you are forced to enter through an archway into a building filled with many arch formed windows. The Duomo had more circular aspects than the Salisbury cathedral. For example some windows in the Duomo are circular and it has a dome with an oculus. Both cathedrals use color in interesting and affective, but different ways. The salisbury cathedral has very intricate stained glass windows, it has painted statues and most importantly it has gorgeous tiled ceilings. The Duomo also incorporates tiles into its ocular domes and ceilings. But it also uses colored tile in on the walls too. The use of these colored tiles is extremely welcoming. It changes the visual and emotional experience of being in the cathedral very drastically.
The image below is of one of the ocular domes in the Duomo of Florence, Italy.
(Image taken from http://www.geneburch.com/gallery/d/1368-3/Florence_Duomo.jpg) 
This porch, court, and hearth design is a form of architectural composition. Composition can be defined as “the way in which a whole is made up.” These architects have composed these spaces very carefully to move people in the correct direction through the space. But what is it that actually makes us move through a space? Another aspect of design that we’ve experimented with the past few weeks has been the fact that there are many parts, or details that make up a single space. These details stand out from the overall design and work together to unify the space. These details attract people walking through a space and lead them in the correct pattern. We move from detail to detail.
The details leave impressions. Good details leave big impressions. Some first impressions have to do with the exterior of the building. One way to leave a lasting impression is to make the outside columns extravagant. The order of columns plays a very large role, in roman and greek cultures.
In our drawing class this week we were assigned another area to focus on for our Curry building project. We were asked to go back to the building and notice the details that are unique to that building. I did multiple drawings of multiple details, and for one of my details I did the bridge connecting the Curry building to the building next to it. This is a detail completely unique to the curry building.
In order to convey architectural designs such as these an architect must create diagrams. Throughout the semester I’ve learned that it not only helps the clients understand the designer’s ideas, but it helps the designers themselves to develop their ideas. It helps them to see what may or may not work, what they like and what they don’t like. For example this semester we worked on a project called “Pat’s Chair” and for this project I had a very specific design in mind, but when I tried to construct a smaller scale version of it I had to change certain things to make it more functional or more visually appealing. A lot of the time a designer will have to create multiple models to realize how he wants the design to look, while still making it functional and good looking.
This image below is a photograph of a model of a wall i made. By making this model, or diagram, i was able to understand the way that a wall functions. I learned what needs to happen for a wall to serve it's purpose. Meaning, i learned exactly how precise the measurement and angles at which the wood is cut has to be; I learned the way the wood needs to be put together for it to function well, and i learned what it looks like.
Winding up the third quarter of my freshman year of college i can honestly say that i have never been so motivated and mentally stimulated. I go home three nights out of the week feeling like my brain is completely fried but i love it. I'm pushing myself hard and learning so much. This week focused on the details that we notice in a building. We were asked to think about how and why they stand out, and what purpose they serve. This too has helped me to look at a space with a more critical and knowing eye.
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