Everything has a composition. A composition is the careful arrangement of elements that are overall successful both ascetically and cohesively. "The sum of the parts is greater than the whole." -Gestalt theories. When creating a composition there are many things to consider. This week we had a powerpoint to present and I think we have gotten a lot of tips form past powerpoint on composition. From these tips I tried to make my powerpoint most effective by
-having the highest quality of photographs: from the composition of the photo to the changes made in photoshop
-having a clear and even datum line between various pictures
-having an effective background that only enhanced what I was presenting.
-portraying more graphics and very, very little text...very little.
I paid extreme attention to all details within my powerpoint and also thought about how it would show up on a larger screen. Just like whenever I am making a presentation that will be viewed in the crit room I think about how it will show up against the white walls. When drawing I think about the arrangement of my drawings and how they will look at a whole. The following is a process picture of a painting I am working on. I had to explore with positions of where to put each of the ducks as well as the more vertical elements such as the tree branches and the taller grasses because I knew that the next step of this painting or composition would be adding the subject to the foreground. Therefore I wanted the background to enhance the subject in the foreground and look good together not just as parts and pieces but as a whole composition.
I pay attention to all these small details because the composition of these element build the overall impression a piece of work gives off.
As the week progressed in perception and communication we have been working on our perspective drawings and emulating the drawing styles of other artists. This assignment a challange because it is difficult to capture the styles of the various artists I chose. One artists focused more on loose lines and heavy line weight, while the other was more about structure and used a lot of hatching. This assignment was just another example of how we as designers are ‘detail-people’. People hire us because we are the ones who address all the details that make a whole. Ludwig Mies vad der Rohe famously said, “God is in the details.”
The sketch above is both an example of detail as well as composition.
Attention to detail is not only portrayed through drawing but also through design as we’ve learned in Design History and Theory as well as Studio.
We have been studying early churches, cathedrals and castles and compared various elements of each. For example, Italian spaces were much more decorated than the French and Germans. Details are a way to create a lasting impression through design
The reason that people love design so much is because of the feeling that it evokes within. Whether people realize that they love design or not it is human nature that everyone has their own style and are drawn to certain things. Everything was designed in one way, shape or form and how that design settles with people is what impression they receive from it. The way that a structure is designed can completely altar you mood. The impression or feeling a nightclub gives off is very different from that of a church or court room. Both details from exterior and interiors determine an impression. The Greeks were much more concerned with their exteriors as opposed to their interiors.
The first picture is one that I took of the Biltmore. The second is one I took of a retreat cabin at a spa also located in Asheville, North Carolina. Although both do- or at one point did- house people they both give off very different impressions. The Biltmore gives off an grand impression of elaborate, unattainable wealth and grandeur. The second house makes you think of a cozy, inviting little cabin where you can sit on the porch under the house light on calm evenings.
Both early age structure and precendent day sructures a porch, hearth and court. The porch is usually near the entrance area of a structure. A court is the central part of a building; the heart of the building. The hearth are that was the central, key space within the entire structure.
In a modern home for example, the porch is in the front of the house before you enter the home; usually just big enough to have a few chairs. The court would be where guests walk to get further inside the home. Most importantly the hearth would be a space like your kitchen or perhaps your living room. It would be where people would flock to during a gathering. Frank Lloyd Wright believed very strongly about having all three of these aspects and he built all of his homes centered around the fireplace
“ The secular basilicas for hearing litigation had been entered from the middle of the long sides, In the new church basilicas, entry was from one end, where a vestibule, or narthex, was created, with an alter placed at the far end in the semi-circular apse. Outside, preceding the narthex, a large atrium forecourt ringed with colonnades…” [Roth 282]
When studying Gothic Cathedrals further, I saw a parallel between the porch, court and hearth we had seen within the megaron to that we see within cathedrals. The porch of a cathedral would be the large atrium outside the narthex that is ringed with colonnades. In this comparison the court of a cathedral would be the narthex, and the hearth would be the alter where worships and ceremonies are held. Before taking Patrick's class I was never drawn the Gothic cathedrals but after studying them more I find that the attention to detail, hierarchy, cohesiveness, and rhythm are fascinating.
I feel all of these words and most all opus words have strong ties to each-other. This week in Drawing we learned a new way to illustrate ties or commonalities. Sometimes a floor plan just doesn't cut it. For example "For buildings of a limited scale and simple function the floor plan can be adequately read. But when we take a building of the scale of a 1000-bed general hospital and draw the traditional black and white, mass-void floor plan it is incomprehensible." Kirbylock 25. Diagrams are a way of rendering things through symbols, lines, and colors. By simplifying, separating, and coding things through various diagrams something becomes much more visually literate. "The seeming order of the overall form belies the real chaos of the plan." Kirbylock 26. types of analytical diagrams would be bubble diagrams, matrix, or zoning diagrams. We were assigned to render our assigned building through these diagrams within the four following categories; function, circulation, context, and hierarchy or gesture. Color, pattern, annotations and a key are essential to a successful diagram.
The porch, court and hearth create seperate moments within a space. These terms carry through many years of design maintaining the same idea yet adjesting to modern civilization and new traditions. Moments are captured through the careful design and attention to details within a composition. The details of a composition are the parts that make up the whole. The impression that your design radiates is the whole; the bigger picture. Without these details your 'whole' would not be sucessful. As 'detail-people' we need to both pay attention to and illustrate the importance of details. An effective way of doing so is through various types of compositions of diagrams. You have to add details such as color, pattern and annotations within your composition of this diagram in order for it to be sucessful.
I reserve all rights to drawings, painting, and photographs
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment