PASSAGE:BOUNDARY::UNITY:SCALE

Scale.Unity.Section.Boundary.Vignette.

Scale

Scale correlates directly with size. It covers the magnitudes and dimensions of objects or people. People for example, come in a multitude of scales. Some are big, some are small,and then there are the tall ones and the short ones. However, people are not the only things that scale suggest. To the Greeks' scale displayed hierarchy, and really set the tone of their economic status. Why do you think they made their temples and structures so large? Their is only one main reason that I can think of, and that is because all of the temples were to honor an important God or Goddess. Their temples never honored an ordinary citizen. Therefore, the temples are big in scale to honor those in higher power, rather than typical citizens'. " To the east was the larger chamber, housing a huge standing figure of Athena, helmeted and carrying a spear and a shield; like the Zeus at Olympia, this too was of gold and ivory and was created by Phieidas." (Rothe, pg. 236) This quote really showcases how important the large scale was to the Greeks'. It emphasizes how the large statues are what the Parthenon was about. The temple had to be of large scale in order to best honor the Goddess of Wisdom, Athena. However, we can also you scale in our everyday basic aspects of design. In order, to best portray height and size to our client we use scale figures. These figures represent real people who are going to be inhabiting the space of which we design.  

Megaron

This is my unity project from studio. I used a variety of gestalt principles that create a system, and begins to flow together. Thus creating unity. 

Unity

Unity exists when harmony and agreement coexist. It also begins to form when an object in a process becomes pleasing a whole. Unity was used strenuously in Greek Architecture. When the Greeks' created the megaron, they created unity. The megaron is comprised of a hall, a porch, ad a store room. So you probably are asking, " How can the megaron exemplify unity when it is made of three parts?"My explanation is that these three parts all conjoin to form one main structure. All three of these components work together to serve the purpose of the temple. Unity is a system of parts that generates one main purpose, and in this case is to serve to Athena. The three compartments exemplify unity. " Still based on three components the long rectangular form included in the sequence included a porch, a storeroom, and a hall."( Blakemore, pg.31) Even Blakemore, suggests that all three of these parts form unity. 

Greek Columns-Section Views

This is a section view of  a piece of furniture that I designed. It shows the south and west view of my piece. This drawing allows views to better understand my piece.

Section

Sections are used to show how structures and objects are composed and then put together. They help us to better understand thickness and shapes of what we are designing. As up and coming designer I am going to be using section view drawings to fully express my concept and design to my client. The ancient Greeks used sections to compose their infamous columns. They placed each "section" of the column together to get a full solid structure. When we design structures they can only become firm if we have the correct understanding of what it is we are designing. " Opposite sides of the capital had pairs of volutes, which were deeply furrowed and ribbed; between each volute was an echinus molding carved with an egg and dart and a smaller band of bead molding comprised of a series of small half round sections.(Blakemore, pg. 29) 

This is a sketch drawing I did of the Temple of Amon: Karnack. This picture shows boundaries of hierarchy's. The statues in front of the temple it self suggest that you can only enter if you are of importance. Thus meaning you have to have a high place in society. 

This is the Parthenon. It showed major boundaries at one point by its greatness and travel up to it was only for certain people.

Boundaries

In design there are many boundaries. They can be vertical, horizontal, symbolic, temporary, or to show hierarchy throughout a civilization. The Greeks, used boundaries in many ways  throughout their architectural design. One prominent way that they set boundaries showed hierarchy. For example, the Parthenon, shows many boundaries. When entering into the Parthenon you first had to cross the porch otherwise the entry way or the passage to something greater than you currently are. Then you went through the courtyard to get to the hearth or the temple area of the Parthenon. However, not just any ordinary citizen could walk up to that high part of the structure. You had to be in high power to travel that far into the structure. Which is a boundary because if you are not of a certain status you are removed from stepping into the temple of the Parthenon. So in turn, the boundaries of the Parthenon that are allocated to people of a certain economic status are also symbolic of their place in society. However, boundaries can also be walls. They created boundaries within a buildings that could be vertical or horizontal. These wall boundaries could create more specialized and intimate spaces that were to be used for different purposes. " Pilasters occasionally marked the boundary of windows and, alternatively were used to separate windows." ( Blakemore, pg. 42) This is another example of how versatile Greek architecture truly was, and also depicts how boundaries define space and structure. 

This is a vignette of a class I was in. I wanted this vignette to get a sense of place, which was a classroom. So I really wanted to show the darkness of the blackboard so that you know that is what it was. 

Within this view, I wanted to show the design aspect of the coffee shop. So I used bold colors and drew the novel posters to show the eclectic feel. 

This is another view from the coffee shop. However, I wanted to capture how solemn the girl was behind the counter. So I used watercolor in fairly monochromatic tones to display her emotion.

This is my iced caramel mochiato from Java City. It was so delicious after my workout that I really just wanted to highlight how great it was. That is why I used the bolder colors in the background to make the drink look so great. 

This is an example of a vignette I did in a coffee shop. I wanted to focus on the guy and the couch because they both appeared to be really bold. With the vignette it really helped to used watercolor to highlight and set the mood of the coffee shop.

Vignettes

Vignettes are images that capture a moment. They are not complete images of a space; however, rather they focus more on showcasing a certain part of a space. More or less, they become a snapshot of a space. They also can evoke a certain mood, have a set tone, and appeal to our senses. All throughout my experiences of drawing vignettes, I realized how they could be serviceable in a design career.  Since a vignette is a glimpse of a space,  you could to quickly show a client an idea for their space. This is very helpful because it will allow our client to visually understand the idea, which definitely sells a design to the client. The Greeks however, used the term vignette through their architecture. They had a variety of styles of architectural elements and buildings such as, ionic columns, doric, statues, porches, halls, courtyards, and temples. Although, it was with the temple that the Greeks encompassed all of their main architectural devices. They really captured the essence of Greek design when they designed their version of the temple, called the "Parthenon." "Greek architecture, perhaps best represented in the temple, is the embodiment in stone of the striving for the mean, that ideal balance between extremes." (Rothe, pg.242) For me this quote really sums up the importance of the temple, and it really is the main focus of the entire overview of Greek architecture.