Action Verbs.. Opus 12

Speculate meaning to meditate on a subject or reflect was great for this week. Taken from the lecture I pondered this quote “a house is a machine for living-- it should be as practical as a typewriter, a telephone, an automobile” Corbusier. This machine for living Corbusier mentions is exactly what architecture evolved into. Architecture relating to commodity, firmness, and delight use to represent all three. However this evolution of design has me speculating if it fits all three. A great piece of architecture to speculate is the Barcelona Pavilion by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe 1929.The building became the artifact to view however being an art showcase. Reflection and thinness of planes runs throughout the design. This idea of floating and reflecting details flows in and out of the structure. Less is more according to Mies van der Rohe, however, the attention to details in the marble wall make up for this simple design. After the pin up I speculated the design of my building in comparison to the Chrysler Building. The completion dates aren’t far off and neither is the height of both the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building. Like the two major car manufactures Chrysler, and GM both had this concept of speed and racing towards the sky. The material use of steel and glass towering up above the skyline was impressive.

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Impose is always used in a negative context, however can mean differently. An idea can be imposed upon one another that can be innovative and create a new design. The Villa Savoye: Poissy: Corbusier for example imposes this idea of floating. The significance of color directed to specific spaces shape the building and impose this onto the reader. The curves direct the viewers eye. Another interesting fact is the car imposes the dimensions of the Villa which is shaped for perfect proximity of a human to car relationship, “At the Villa Savoye, the turning radius of an automobile determined the curvature of the glass wall on the ground floor“ ( Roth 532). This idea of imposing is related to my stairs. They guide the viewer to either follow them up to the second level or stay on the ground level. This choice and split in levels is imposed onto the structure.

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Energize to me means to come alive and enlighten spirits. I think the perfect example that relates to energy is the Twa terminal :Eero Saarinen. This representation of flight and taking off the ground is exactly how I perceive this building. Especially interacting with it in person. The fluttering of the roof gives the building life and enables the viewer to get excited to reach their destination and actually take flight. “Saarinen decided to make a building that would suggest the miracle of flight” (Roth 554).


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Shape guided me to the St. Louis Arch: Eero Saarinen. This beautiful arch rising from the ground is a moment of celebration of victory for the Louisiana Purchase. It’s materiality of stainless steel can last for decades maybe even thousands of years. This translated new form shapes beauty in St. Louis. “Saarinen was an architect who spared no effort searching for the unique form of each one of his commissions” (Roth 491). Unique is a great word for this stainless steel arch that clearly stands out from its’ surrounding architecture. Shapes have a great deal of importance to design. It can show strength and hierarchy like the arch, make a design more masculine or structural, or even give it a sensual appeal. For me curves and lines are always attractive in design. It helps me appreciate and understand a design. For example San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane. This beautiful piece of architecture represents shape so well with its delicate curves and alluring use of lines.

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The Dulles airport: Eero Saarinen is a great figure for the word stretch. The appearance of wings celebrating flight is inspirational. The huge sweeping sides like birds wings are stretching outwards and creating this curvature balance. It’s as if the wind carries the roof form preparing it for flight. Explaining the structure “between these two elevated parallel beams, cables were suspended. Concrete slabs were placed on the cables to create the roof deck” (Roth 47). In other words this concept of flight although carefree and balanced was hard to create. Relating back to my precedent analysis project this concept of stretch supports this idea. The Empire State Building to me stretches upwards towards the sky. Especially standing underneath it is almost impossible to see the top. This massive structure seems stretched for hundreds of feet towering above New York City.

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