PARTS::WHOLE

In drafting we have been working with hierarchy through line weight. In studio it was one of our design words for our black and white projects. In History and Theory we dug deeper into the architectural meaning of the word hierarchy.

Hierarchy is part of why a lot of the structures were built at the scale that they are. Status and social status was portrayed through the hierarchy of many cultures architecture. We see this expression of hierarchy in the Coliseum with the many different tears that were for certain people.

Roth elaborate on page 218; “Set high on a limestone plateau rising from the plain of Argos and surrounded by massive cyclopean walls 20 feet thick, the city is approached by a ramp on the east side. Attackers would have been forced to approach along the eat will with their right side—the side not protected by a shield—exposed to bowmen on the parapets.” You knew that a structure served important citizens because of its grand stature and elaborated décor; although "The Romans gave far more attention to the interior than did the Greeks, whose architectural focus was the exterior.” (Blakemore 52)

Archetypes: Prototypes: Hybrids is an idea that is portrayed in many cultures, particularly from Greece to Rome. We have been focusing on this concept in Design History and Theory and have continuously refered to precedents to inspire us to design our own forms throughout studio hour.

"While several races were prominent among the settling peoples of the Italian peninsula, two in particular were instrumental in shaping the arts of the Romans, the Etruscans and the Greeks."(Blakemore 45). The Romans used Greek buildings as prototypes for their architectural development. For example, the Romans used the Greek orders [illustrated below] throughout their architecture. "The classical orders consists of the column with its base (generally), shaft, capital, and entablature (each with its constituents parts), and are classified by the capital as Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, or Composite. The simplest of the orders was the Doric." (Blakemore 28).

These orders are famously recognized within the Romans Coliseum. The Coliseum was a large theater used for public events. The Romans used three different orders to elaborately decorate the exterior façade of the structure. The Roman Coliseum is modeled after Greek theaters but this Amphitheater is considered a hybrid because of the Roman’s addition of tiered seats. "The Romans were experts in the manipulation of three dimensional space, this is noted particularly in public architecture" (Blakemore 51) The Pantheon would also be considered a hybrid structure because "The Pantheon was the culmination of important experiments that had been pursued for over two centuries".(Roth 259) The Pantheon is could be considered a prototype as well because of its use of the dome shape. The idea of archetype, prototype, and hybrid demonstrates the use of sources to create something new.

Our most recent Perception and Communication assignment is to find at least five sources of inspiration via fellow illustrators. We were then supposed to imitate their styles within our own work. In my first attempts at this project my outcome was somewhat of a hybrid. It was a collaboration of my personal style and my imitation of other styles. Earlier on we were also instructed to search fellow illustrators’ blogs for scale figures as yet another source of inspiration. Every time we call upon others work it is crucial that we thoroughly cite these sources.

Throughout this semester in Perception and Communication we learned about entourages. An entourage is a drawing that not only contains people but the surroundings and the environment that those people populate. An entourage allows the viewer to get a complete understanding of the environment. A good entourage drawing pulls the viewer in to become a part of the scene. As a part of this drawing assignment we were instructed to go to a coffee shop and record the atmosphere of the shop and people in it.

Since this assignment I have tried to capture these moments within various other spaces.

A recent assignment of capturing moments within an assigned building has let me further explore conveying an environment.

Reflecting back on this weeks words I find a strong tie throughout each. The most obvious connection is that between Archetypes, Prototype +Hybrid. There is a natural progression between the three. Throughout this progression a collaboration of ideas from earlier ages is presented in a new way through architecture. The earlier ages that the ideas originated from would be the source of the new hybrid. Many of these hybrids, prototypes, or archetypes are presented in the form of the classical orders. I think that people are naturally drawn to order therefore it is very important within a design. We also have been stressed how important it is to site your sources. This is especially important since recently we have been using other illustrators as a source for inspiration.