Can one design poetry Can Can one one design design in poetry in in t h t e h e a r a c r h c I h t I e t c e t c u t r u e r e of of h h o o u u s s I I n n g g?? a brief a brief introduction introduction Louis Sauer Visiting Professor RMIT 26 July 2011 China Two Lions 1957 Cai Gui-Qang Louis Sauer Visiting Professor RMIT 26 July 2011
Architectural poetry... is a form of building art in which architecture is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning. LS edit Wikipedia
If not poetry, how about architectural music?
Architectural music is an art form whose medium is a building s solids, voids and texture. Common elements are rhythm and its associated concepts tempo, meter, and articulation LS edit Wikipedia
. Architectural building ELEMENTS consist of the spatial elements : - solids - shapes - voids - textures - colors - space
The architectural element of S P A C E may have 2 or 3 dimensions. It refers to the distances, areas, volumes between, around or within the components of a piece. Wikipedia
. There are two types of s p a c e, positive and negative. Wikipedia
Positive space refers to the space of a form representing the subject matter. Negative space refers to the space around and between the subject matter. Wikipedia
Casa das Histórias Paula Rego, Cascais, Portugal, Eduardo Souto de Moura, Architect. House for Elderly People, Alcacer do Sal, Portugal, Aires Mateus Arquitectos solid & void spaces photography by Fernando Guerra on Dezeen
textures & colors
textures, colours, solids & voids Washington D.C. Suman Sorg, Architect
- Solids - Shapes - Textures - Colors - Space are arranged in geometric patterns and rhythms to express a feeling, an idea, concept, a belief.
ideas & beliefs become styles I ll just talk briefly about a few. Minimalism Shared architectural Timeline
The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of architectural poetry and musical styles vary according to culture and social context. LS edit Wikipedia
Here are two 20 th century architects known for their art of architectural poetry who created houses with similar planes projecting into space.
Modern Minimalist Farnsworth House 1946-51 Fox River, Illinois Mies van der Rohe, Architect These designs have a similar quality of planes projecting into space but their meanings are very different Prairie Style The Robie House 1908-09 Chicago, Illinois Frank Lloyd Wright, Architect
Prairie Style The Robie House, Chicago Illinois Frank Lloyd Wright, Architect To Wright, all is specific. The home is caught between the earth and the sky. The earth represents life s mortality and the sky represents the unknown forever. The roof appears a captured horizon to harbor the space below, anchored by solids, a specific place It protects life from the unknowable infinity.
1946-51 Farnsworth House Plano, Illinois Mies van der Rohe, Architect In contrast to Wright, Mies believes everything is universal. The roof and floor planes extend into the landscape. Mies believes the outside has the same meaning as the inside that all physical and non-physical forms are spiritually joined in absolute truth. Perceived difference is ephemeral. All places are the same.
Mies truth - during the early 20 th century group of leading artists and architects, such as Modrian, von Doesburg, Rietveld and Mies, held strong beliefs in the spiritual beliefs of Theosophy. Theosophy presents a world view that emphasizes the unity and interconnectedness of all life, the basic oneness of all species on earth and of all peoples. Adyar Bookshop
The unity of interiors and exteriors Mies s belief is clear in his plan for his 1924 Brick Country House.-
Brick Country House 1924 Mies van der Rohe
Mies and Wright are an example of how different beliefs can exist in the same century. They give different meanings to similar forms.
Another example of how architectural form conveys meaning, is how a culture differentiates the front of buildings from the backs of buildings. Backs and fronts have strongly different social meanings.
Fronts are pubic, formal and designed for a ordered beauty rather than utility Backs are utilitarian, private, functionally contingent and display a lack of organizational cohesion The Royal Crescent, 1767-74 Bath England, John Wood the Younger, Architect
The Royal Crescent, Bath, England, John Wood the Younger, Architect These front facades display a high degree of repetitive organizational formality. They could have been designed only in a culture whose values were strongly accepted by both of the residents and their government
In contrast to the architectural differences of the front and back another culture believed all sides of a building should display a common aesthetic the same appearance. In the neo-classical architectural culture, all utilitarian and/or private functions were minimalized except the entry and its steps so that all sides could be a public front.
Neoclassical 1 st Floor Plan Villa Rotunda 1567 Vicenza, Italy Andréa Palladio, Architect With all sides of the building presenting a symmetrical front to the outside, this diminishes the importance of any private functions. Public life is more important than private life.
The Entry Facade The Other Facades Villa Rotunda 1567 Vicenza, Italy Andréa Palladio, Architect
20 th Century Suburban USA Ranch Style In startling contrast, the facade design of the suburban house clearly expresses utility and function. One can easily read (understand) the place for the car, the entrance, the living room and a bath room. This culture believes that private life is more important than the public life.
Again a contrast, in 16 th century Amsterdam..
16 th Century Canal Houses in Amsterdam All individual buildings belong to a family of facade designs. These buildings show facades within an overall design discipline but with individual variations. Once again, we understand this was a culture where the public had a stronger authority over private life but, it is clear that individual families strived for a unique identity within the community..
The design variations at the street and cornice levels, in an otherwise almost identical fenestration, indicate that the building owners desire individual recognition by the community.
Vernacular architecture is a term used to categorize methods of construction which use locally available resources and traditions to address local needs and circumstances. Wikipedia
Contemporary Vernacular AC du Grand Large-Neptune 2010 Dunkirk, France Nicolas Michelin & Associates Architects
Designed for change Transformed by the residents Before the owners moved in After 0wnership Modern transformed by Vernacular Low-income Social Housing Quinta Monroy 2003 Iquique, Chile Elemental Architects
Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features. Wikipedia
Konstruktion 1927 Hannes Meyer Light and Space, Laszlo Moholy Nagy Contra Construction Project 1923, Von Doesburg Arithmetic Composition, 1930, van Doesburg De Stijl & Bauhaus artists are a major source of reference for minimalistic work. They expanded the ideas that could be expressed by using basic elements such as lines and planes organized in very particular manners. Wikipedia
Minimalism Points 2006 Robert Ryman
Minimalism Free Ride 2007 Tony Smith
Minimalism The Center Court, Salk Research Center, Palo Alto California, Louis Kahn, Architect
Minimalism Front Facade Azuma House, Osaka, Tadao Ando, Architect
Courtyard
3.2 x 12.8 m 65 m2 Azuma House, Tadao Ando, Architect
Minimalism Cherokee Lofts 2007 Los Angeles, Pugh & Scarpa Architects
Minimalism Moriyama House Tokyo, Ryue Nishizawa, Architect
Minimalism Villers Road 2008 London England Peter Barber, Architect
In contrast
Nude Number 2 1912 Marcel Duchamp Futurism, Italy
Russian Constructivism Komposition 8 1923 Wassily Kandinsky
Deconstruction, USA Ray and Maria Stata Center MIT, Cambridge USA 2004 Frank Gehry, Architect
What happened? new values a new way of understanding life. a new style
The Deconstruction Style a mystery - form contradicts function. is the expression of the uncanny. the need for an architecture of "discomfort and the unbalancing of expectations" Tschumi 1977
Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center, Las Vegas USA, Frank Gehry, Architect The Deconstruction style is linked to Postmodernism which in turn is linked to nonsense Nonsense is an early 20th Century literary technique, which employs enlightening witticisms to convey a sense of wistful romantic nostalgia and pizza within 20 minutes or your money back that's got to be your stupidest idea ever. Wikapedia
People s attitudes, orientations, and underlying assumptions shape the built environment from Ideas and Beliefs in Architecture and Industrial design Invar Holm (2006) Oslo School of Architecture and Design
Here are some examples of my work
Yellow Field 1958 oil on cardboard Louis Sauer
The Garden of Louis Sauer Architect 2005 89A Lawson Avenue, Frankston South, Australia
2nd Street Townhouses 1969 Society Hill, Philadelphia Louis Sauer, architect
The Frankel Houses 1967 Margate NJ Louis Sauer Architect
Kitchen Lounge 1967 The Lenard Frankel House Margate, New Jersey Louis Sauer Architect
1967 The Lenard Frankel House Margate, New Jersey Louis Sauer Architect
Interior The Buten House Philadelphia 1962 Louis Sauer Architect
Courtyard Facade The Buten House, Philadelphia 1962 Louis Sauer Architect
Interiors Hamilton House 1963 New Hope, PA Louis Sauer, Architect
Courtyard McClennen House 1965 127 Pine Street, Society Hill Philadelphia Louis Sauer, Architect
Courtyard Living Room McClennen House, 1965 127 Pine Street, Society Hill Philadelphia, Louis Sauer, Architect
Lounge from the Study McClennen House 1965 127 Pine Street, Society Hill Philadelphia Louis Sauer, Architect