When I look at how design begins to shape our culture one piece at a time, I also wonder how the sheer presence of an object or even an idea can make so much difference in the world. I tend to look at the people and the situations around me, and I always notice some common ground. In architecture however, I feel that presence is taken to the next level. I feel that the presence of a structure, whether it be a building or some sort of sculpture, is often associated with how much significance it has in or to a specific society. For example, the Statue of Liberty is a huge monument which stands for freedom within this country. That alone signifies the importance of its presence. In my opinion every piece of architecture is designed to bring about some sort of presence, something that evokes a feeling within a person. That feeling can be both positive and or negative, as long as there is something felt. Architecture is not the only subject which can claim presence as its own. We can look at music, religion, and even science to find presence. For instance, if we look at the beginnings of the Christian religion we can tell that the faith was accepted by more people, the buildings of worship became more important. Thus giving us a good example of how significance within a community results in the importance of presence.
As Constantine became emperor he also brought with him the Christian faith. The Temple of Constantine which is shown above is just my interpretation of what it looked like. I would imagine that when it was first built, it was monstrous. Being that Christianity was so important now, the structures dedicated to it would have to have been something of equal significance. Although the people were now more in tune with how they practiced their faith, the physical perspective was not taken as seriously as in the past. I, however, would disagree completely. I believe that this was the beginning of architecture in its hybrid stage.
The something is done varies with every person. Most people want to take the easy way through any task, however some people out there actually want to invest their time in details and precision. Then there are those who rarely perfect both, those who can work at a fast pace and still be very aware of details which can sometimes make or brake a project. I can safely say that I am not one of these rarities. I like to follow a guide and know that what I am doing is on the right track. It doesn't matter if I am dealing with school or work, homework or any old paperwork, I like to always have a plan. This is when I can best describe precedents. At first I didn't relate it so closely to myself mainly because when I looked at the actual word, I for some reason thought of government and law. However, as I think about it, precedents are embedded in almost anything. If we make mistakes, we learn from them and try not to make the same ones. That is how we survive. If there was no change in the world we as a people would not get anywhere. Whether in design or science or even religion, we take on an idea and we practice it until we feel that it is satisfactory to our own preferences. If we look at the churches over our history, we can see that with each society there were changes that led to a new and effective product. The change would have not occurred without a trial and error at some point.
The Dome view on the left is roughly one dimensional. However if we observe domes in general, we can clearly find that precedents lay at the root of this idea. The dome would not be possible without the existence of the arch. However without the post and lintel system of the early Egyptians, even the arch would be somewhat impossible. Domes did not just come to exist out of nowhere, this type of architecture had to be developed somehow. Without the precedents of ancient architects, domes would cease to exist much less have a fraction of importance in design.
Historically, architecture, music, art, and design as a whole was and still is based on moments. Moments of comfort, moments or pleasure, moments of joy, and many others. It is all moments in general that make up why we live how we live and why we view things as differently as we do. If we look at architecture, every structure was build in a moment in time. Every one of those moments in turn takes a significant role in history so to define they way communities accepted changes.
Some designs were built for a certain moment to capture a feeling or maybe even a thought. For example, the design of the pendentive was incorporated so as to allow light into a space. This light, such as those from windows in churches or even oculars within domes, are designed to capture light at a specific moment and guide it in a certain direction. Sometimes this does not play out as well as it is planned, but even the intention of it sometimes matters more.Many times when I am asked to think critically about a design I often draw a blank. Usually I used to think that if I liked the way something looked then it was a good design. However much to my surprise, design works in a duality of ways. There are many parts that have to be taken into consideration before you can truly decide whether a certain design is good.
A system of duality can be described by the Mote and Bailey system. Having a shelter atop a hill which descends into a small valley-like ground. The two features work well together because the shelter serves as a level of royalty. This is a place where the overseer resides. However the upper level would be nothing without the small camp-like residence which sits just a few feet lower.
Measurements are taken very seriously among architecture. Almost everything that is created needs some sort of measurement system as a backbone. One unit of measure is metric. This unit is used worldwide, there are only a few countries that use the standard version. In any type of design measurements are crucial, without them we would not have the structures that we do today.
Reflection:
When I think about design and how it greatly involves the process of weaving things together. Looking back on the things that I have learned this week, I know that presence is very important in the idea of how architecture turns out. Precedents act as a blueprint as well as a guide to any kind of design. All the effort that is being out into design is basically for one purpose and that is to create special moments from the structure to the viewer. The duality is also something that u can relate to measurements because we currently have two units of measure: metric and standard.
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