F()uNDaTi0nS

(The Roman Colosseum shows all three building forms: Stacking,Horizontal Lines + Circles)

When I sat back and actually took the time to reflect on the concepts of this unit, I wanted to clearly define the word foundation. Foundation is defined as an establishment with provisions for the future, or the basis on which something stands or is supported.

  We find among some of the first and earlier settlements, the building foundation types of stacking, circles and horizontal lines across the earths surface.  We find these techniques in early settlements such as China, Mesopotamia and The Ohio Valley and even though these settlements are spread across the earth’s surface they all built with the intent of protection, sacredness, and permanence.

Overall this unit focuses and is based on the Idea of Archetype, Prototype + Hybrid. In a way these three are the past, present and future of architecture.

I understand Archetype as the basis or the original form of which we copy or we build from. Every thing in this world that is created has an archetype, a basis in which we build from. In my opinion, Egypt is the metaphorical empire for this word. Much of the building types from earlier settlements are seen in Egyptian architecture, such as stacking but, as they built they created a permanence and prototype for architecture all around the world.

Egyptian architecture had a very focused emphasis on the afterlife and power, showing many signs of masculinity within their monuments.

Egyptian Architecture speaks in the way that it was intended to speak... it tells a story.  This is shown through the juxtaposition between domestic structures and final resting places in a way where it speaks in terms of temporary and permanence. Their religious beliefs, views on life and social structure are retold not only by the pictorials on the surviving monuments but are retold by the monuments themselves. 

A prototype serves for the purpose of a form, which is a basis for later stages or changes.  The Grecian Empire was known as the present, the center of the world… the prototype. They took architecture to the next stage of foundations, adding the building blocks to the structure of architecture, as we know it today.

They focused on working with nature just as the Egyptians did but instead of building with symmetry and balance, they focused more on asymmetric forms, keeping the nature around them untouched. Their structures were built for Greek Gods + Goddesses rather than everyday people, paying homage and continuously trying to create the ideal form. Their architecture showed social structure and dominance between masculinity and femininity but in the aspects that all Gods + Goddesses were the ultimate beings. They built in the form of stacking in a way that the layers of a temple where shown in importance through stacking.  Their ideas and monuments formed from order, repetition, contrast, emphasis and religion… striving to create the most aesthetically ideal forms. 

Hybrid is the word used to describe several components that make up the same or similar results, a mixed origin, composition or it is also known as an offspring. Rome is the perfect example of a Hybrid. It was the future… building, Recreating and inventing new things from the past cultures that they emulated.  They moved on from the building techniques of the founding empires and created forms that show the measure of man and what he is capable of doing in terms of greatness. The Romans are most notorious for showing structure in the form of Masculinity with in their structures, using power as an indicator of direction.  They focused on reality rather than the ideal and created an empire, which depicts their interpretation of the world, continuously moving forward taking elements of the past forward with them.  From the discovery of opius cementicium and the creation of the arch, the Romans showed the ancient world that they knew the rules, they knew how to break them and they weren’t afraid to create their own.

Everyday we’re looking back, continuously building from these foundations, changing them, re-creating and forming our own. As we move forward in the design of architecture we adapt new styles and create new forms but one thing that will always remain constant is the repeating elements within our architecture that are seen from our foundations showing the constant developing on previous development. 




http://www.journeyonearth.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Colosseum-2.jpg