John Russell Pope designed the National Gallery of Art building, completed in 1941. Also architect for the National Archives and Jefferson Memorial, Pope was a student of the Beaux-Arts school in Paris, and followed the neoclassical styles of the time. Pope died as construction of the museum began.

The Gallery was the largest marble structure in the world at the time, using pink Tennessee marble. The central domed is based on the Pantheon. Long hallways with sculpture art are lit by skylights. A green conservatory room provides relaxing relief, along with garden areas outside carefully placed windows.

Sculpture art in the National Gallery 1
Sculpture art in the National Gallery 2
Impressionism art in the National Gallery 1
Impressionism art in the National Gallery 2
Impressionism art in the National Gallery 3
Italian Renaissance art in the National Gallery
Baroque/Rococo art in the National Gallery
German Baroque art in the National Gallery
Dutch Baroque art in the National Gallery
Romantic art in the National Gallery
Early American art in the National Gallery 1
Early American art in the National Gallery 2
Rembrandt art in the National Gallery

Lighting by Room Activity Types of Light Sources Determine Daylight Needs How to Use Windows Qualities of Light Creating a Lighting Scheme Controls

Space is defined by light. “Architecture is the masterly, correct and magnificent play of masses brought together in light. Our eyes are made to see forms in light,” said Corbusier. Simple design techniques can boost the effectiveness of a building, making it happier, healthier, and more productive.

Lighting by Room Activity

Determine the amount of light each room, and spaces within the rooms, need. This depends on the activities of the space and whether it is a private or public. Program the light levels as a list. For example:

More Light Less Light Lobby Bedroom Kitchen TV Room Office Garage Store Closet Classroom Bathroom

The Seattle Public Library carefully considers its lighting needs and uses light to establish characteristics for each space. The entire wall and ceiling of the vast reading room is a grid of windows, making it bright and public. Book shelves have more controlled task lights which are easily adjustable. Service and gallery rooms have little light, making them private and poignant.

^source

The Paris Opera House also uses dark space. The famous grand staircase is bright and public, but it gently transitions into a dark circulation hallway just outside the main auditorium, a dramatic procession for guests of the opera.

Arrangements of spaces should relate their lighting needs in order to establish a procession. This also helps the designer figure out how to relate private and public programs for their building. Public and private spaces are often grouped together but they can also be arranged to compliment each other. Make a general bubble diagram of lighting needs of spaces and how they relate to each other.


Types of Lighting Sources




Ambient- The most common light source, ambient lights are often hung or mounted to ceilings in light fixtures. In office ceilings they are recessed. They can also be mounted to walls and be portable fixtures.


Focal or task lighting concentrates on a certain space such as an office desk or painting on a wall. They can be easily turned on or off by an individual and don’t intrude too much on other spaces in the room.

Feature or architectural lighting illuminates the actual architecture of the room, such as a wall or ceiling. This is the most preferred lighting method because it creates an even, indirect lighting environmental and enlivens the architecture, drawing the occupants in. Interesting interior textures like brick or stone veneer make for good feature lighting.

Windows can achieve ambient, focal, or feature lighting. The sizing of the window and the depth of the frame around it can focus it or allow it to shine on architecture features.


Determine Daylight Needs

Buildings receive a considerable amount of light through windows. The average room requires a window that is half as tall as the room is long, and half as wide as the roof is wide. Use this as a rule of thumb. Make a list of rooms and spaces by how much daylight they need.

More Windows Less Windows Lobby Theater Office Closet Classroom Bathroom

Again, the program of activities comes into play. Private spaces should have less windows, or at least use translucent glass that isn’t transparent. Activities that demand all light be turned off, such as a theater, should have no windows. Other spaces like lobbies need more windows to help transition to the outside of the building.

There needs to be electric lights for activities that happen at night. So make sure that by day there are lights and daylight, and by night there are adequate lights for when the sun doesn't shine.

Light from windows save energy costs. But windows play a much larger role. The occupant is connected to his environment as daylight changes according to the time of day and season of the year. It influences the character of the space and relates it to the overall environment. Daylight is healthy.

How to Use Windows

Light, Air, Sound, Views- These are the four aspects in which windows transition spaces. Too many people only consider the daylight windows emit. But the views, the circulation of natural air, and the sound that transmit through are also important.

Windows should also be included in the air circulation plan and acoustic plan of the building. Images of the views from the window should be inserted in interior elevations to get a sense of how it connects these spaces.

Translucent glass can be used to repress a visual connection of spaces. Clerestory windows subtly provide light without offering views outside. Though less popular today, clerestories were a traditional method of bringing extra light into American and European homes.

In Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple stained glass windows are used to create a destination point. A dark, cramped hallway gives way to even smaller hallways behind the chapel room. Vertical strips of red window hint at the paradisiacal chapel. The ceiling of the chapel is a grid of cheery yellow and white skylights. Warm electric lights hang low to distinguish them from the skylight source. The vast space is awash with natural brightness.

Windows contribute to a change in light brightness, light color, and lighting type. Doorways should also be considered as a kind of window between rooms. Plan a program of where windows and needed, their size, and their type.


Qualities of Light

Indirect daylight reduces glare and heat gain. Direct sun should only be allowed in a window to heat up the space or as a special effect.

Exterior shades should be used to block sunlight. Horizontal shades on south (north) facing windows allow open views, and vertical shades are necessary on western and eastern facing windows as the sun moves lower in the sky. Trees and other features can be used to bring in indirect light.

Each kind of light bulb has a different color of light. The chemicals used to produce the light emit different shades of red, yellow, blue. High pressure sodium, for example, has much more yellow and orange than mercury vapor. Incandescents are preferred because of their warm rich colors, which is similar to sunlight. Even indirect light from the sky is an even, warm spectrum of colors.

Fluorescent lights are notoriously bland with strong green and blue hues, though they are very energy efficient. They also work by flashing on and off very quickly, which causes headaches and sore eyes.

LED lights are up and coming in popularity because of their energy efficiency, variety of color options, and long life.



It is important to seek a balance of colors for typical spaces in picking types of electric light and sizing. The color of light is a very subtle but powerful element in the mood of its occupants in a space. Consider the activity of a space for how color is balanced.

Factor in materials of the walls, floor, and ceiling for architectural lighting and light reflections. The private exhibition spaces of the Seattle Library have reflective walls and ceilings of bright red, which make the lighting stark red. The clash between this red and the yellow of the elevator give a stark transition as one steps out into the hallway.



Don’t imitate natural light sources! Most residential designers just throw a ceiling light in the middle of rooms. But they don’t consider what this does. The entire room effaces this fixture light a mini-sun, removing all consideration of other rooms or the outside. The room becomes its own little realm.

In some cases this has an interesting effect, like the chandelier in the middle of a dining room. But when it isn’t carefully considered it becomes a hindrance to the unification of a building.

Unity comes with a balance of lighting types, daylighting, colors, and brightness. Distinguish electric light from the sun by using creative lighting fixtures and placing them somewhere other than the ceiling.


Creating a Lighting Scheme

Use floor plans, section cuts, and elevations based on your program of light in spaces. Consider activities, furniture, and building materials to establish the balance you need. Consider how light relates spaces and how outside elements contribute.



Controls

Exterior shades are really nice when you can move them with the flick of a switch. Rollable shades can completely block or partly obscure windows. Louvers and twist and contort as desired, and controls can be programmable and automatic.

Dimmer switches are frequently used to give the occupant more options for light levels. It is also important to consider a variety of switches, such as lights that remain on during the day and lights that only switch on at night. In considering light switches, avoid panels of lights that take a long time to use but also try to provide more options.

One handy addition that really makes things convenient is a master switch at a main exit that turns everything on or off as the occupant is entering or leaving, like at the front door of a house. The wiring gets cumbersome but the owner sure appreciates it.

Also, consider wall sockets that should be relayed with switches so that table lamps can be easily turned on or off.

[Images by:

^^ *_*- flickr/cc license

Traditional Mythology Unites Technology Causes Dissonance Establishing Social Order Places To Gather & Celebrate Male/Female Reinforce The Roles Of Mother & Father Moral Reinforcement Aspiration

Architecture is not just an indicator of failing relationships between men and women. It is an active player. Modern design is devoid of romantic warmth and aspiration, important qualities in the built environment which must be implemented before it is too late.

Japan's population is expected to shrink by a third in the next 60 years. The nation's economy is on a downward spiral with fewer workers in the workforce. The older population is burdensome to the country and the national debt already twice its GDP. Young people are more miserable, more stressed, and lonelier.

Most first world countries are on this same road to implosion. It is not a question of more money being spent for romantic architecture. The architecture of many third world countries actually encourages romance more effectively than architecture of advanced countries. It is a question of bold humanism in our environment, a return to classic principles, principles which tend to rile the modern progressives in “advanced” societies.

Traditional Mythology Unites

The Japanese legend Princess Kaguya relates the human fallibilities that separate us from eternal bliss. A beautiful daughter of the moon descends to earth, and all the princes in the land seek to marry her. They must perform difficult tasks to convince her to leave her earthly parents. But they all prove too lazy, dishonest, timid, impatient, or cowardly. They each fail and the maiden returns to her home on the moon.

In each variation of the tale, humans are limited in their abilities and not sufficiently dedicated to their relationships. In Swan Lake the prince proves unable to see past corporeal beauty and appreciate deeper reality. In Völundr a human is brutally raped for pridefully thinking she could achieve a celestial relationship. The celestial relationships themselves eventually fail, as regularly as the waning of the moon. In Ōmi-no-kuni the marriage is only achieved through trickery and the ideal wife is destined to return back to her celestial sphere.

These ancient stories recognize human fallibilities which prevent people from achieving perfect relationships. They also relate the rise and fall of relationships to the revolutions of the planets. There is a time and place for happiness and sadness. The universe is in constant flux, and so are we.

Modern stories are not so pessimistic. But do modern media do us a disservice by glossing over harsh realities? Do we today think we can change our nature, change the nature of the universe?

Mythopoeia is all but absent from architecture. The statues of Greek gods and theatrical decoration in the Paris Opera House is considered kitsch and reminiscent. But mythopoetic architecture might just be the key to restoring sensible lessons about fitting into one’s surroundings.

“…For modern, scientific man the phenomenal world is primarily an “It”; for ancient- and also for primitive- man it is a “Thou.” The ancients… saw man always as part of society, and society as imbedded in nature and dependent upon cosmic forces. For them nature and man did not stand in opposition and did not, therefore, have to be apprehended by different modes of cognition… Natural phenomena were regularly conceived in terms of human experience and human experience was conceived in terms of cosmic events.” ^a

Architecture must not only reference ancient local traditional mythology appropriate to the architecture’s location, it must embody it. Students of architecture are taught to develop formulas for design. But then the designs become self-effacing, relying wholly upon the design team’s conceptual exercise instead of its social context.

Sensory language points to an interweb of relationships which predate modern society, which tie us all the way back to the universe. There is the stable and dominated, and then there is the chaotic and unknown. Architecture must acknowledge this unknown realm, the undiscovered, the hidden.

Too much of our built environment assumes that we know everything. We have all the solutions to life, all the answers. There is no need to talk about the outside world, to speak the words of our forefathers. If we do it is only post-modernist reminiscence, a cute reference to the way things were before we became civilized.

Mythopoeia will make architecture less prideful, less alienated, less boring.



This room in the Lang Club in Guangzhou makes reference to the Nan Yue kingdom. The red tone signifies passion and temporal strength. The central chandelier and wall art uses the flower to signify abundance and nobility.

Technology Causes Dissonance

Japan is the world leader in technology that replaces real relationships with cyber relationships. From 3D porn to robot girlfriends on Nintendo consuls, Japan is rapidly repudiating the opposite sex and turning toward unrealistic fantasy.

This is much like the 8th century Voyage of Bran, the tale of an Irishman who discovers the idealic Land of Women across the sea. As time goes by he and his men become homesick, but are devastated to learn that they can not go back to Ireland. Once they achieved what they once thought would be happiness there is no going back to true happiness at home. The technological escape afforded to modern man likewise takes them away from true happiness if it severs real relationships.

Technology is a curse given by Satan to Adam and Eve in his crusade to split them apart, according to the Jewish Book of Enoch- specifically, communication technology. Mankind was after all “not created with for such a purpose, to give confirmation to their good faith with pen and ink. "This went along with the other two curses: death and bitter/sweet, harsh realities that we must face as part of life.

Communicative technology destroys relationships. It was the letter from Friar Laurence that did in Romeo and Juliet, causing confusion because it didn’t get to Romeo quick enough. It was the confusion of language that prevented completion of the Tower of Babel. Technology that should by all means improve relationships ends up hurting them. Not because the technology itself is bad, but because mankind does not prove smart enough to use it responsibly.

Architecture goes together with the oldest of technologies. Vitruvius tells us it all goes back to the invention of fire. Fire helped man become sociable. We built a place for the fire. Expression became permanent in architecture, “syllables of stone.” The tangible medium of architecture helps temper technology. It pulls us back to reality, the physical materials and constant reminder of physical laws which govern our existence. The textureless screen of the mobile phone is no substitute for mankind’s expression of good faith with architecture. Buildings are containment for our artifice, an anchor of reality, a reminder that the relationship aided by the technology is what’s important and not the technology itself.

The relationship of Adam and Eve is traditionally symbolized by a canopy in Eden. God provided natural canopies from the trees for their protection, and then provided rich bridal structures for their marriage: "Every kind of precious stone was thy covering." (Ezekiel 28:13) The glory associated with the relationship was reflected in the house.

"The huppah is used in the wedding ceremony to create an elementary spatial distinction: The canopy symbolically marks and centers a place- the new household created by the marriage- and sets it off from the world around it. The four relatives or friends are the community; they hold up the structure but must stand outside. The marriage blessing that is prescribed by the Talmud makes it clear that this ceremony consecrates not only the couple under the canopy but renews the community, the life outside the canopy, as well."^b

The marriage is symbolized not by a painting, or a song, or poem, but by a physical structure. This unique medium architecture only can relate the human role in the relationship, community, and universe. But the huppah canopy is merely a representation of the glorious canopy which awaits in the afterlife. The otherworldly canopy in Eden is the goal, and each point in our earthly architectural language is a sequence and revelation to that destination point.

The physical house is critical to the continued existence of the family.

Establishing Social Order

There are universal icons that we all recognize, such as the welcome mat at the front door. These cues bring the architecture back to traditional culture, a universal framework, which in turn references the cosmic order. Today, fierce battles are being fought over culture. There are many struggles to dictate universal icons and the social order, but there seems to be very little effort to integrate with it. Our sense of entitlement to liberally dictate societal rules ends up destroying the framework.

"By acknowledging its place within the larger continuum of the sensuous, architecture gives voice to a suggestion that we can find our way back into a relationship with a presencing world by asserting kinship with nature rather than dominion over it. The first step toward recovering a reciprocative relationship with the world is to acknowledge it as a dynamic subject equal to ourselves."^c

Students of architecture should perhaps stop assuming they have all the answers and look back, as our ancestors did, at what has worked in the past, what works in nature and the cosmic order.

Most early cultures, perhaps all, saw male and female in the creation of the universe, usually explained as the male sky uniting with the female earth. Distinction between the sexes was the basis of early architecture. The Doric Order took its proportions from the man’s body and the Ionic Order took its proportions from the woman. Romantic relationships were literally written in the stone blocks in our buildings.

The separation of sexes was also inherent in spoken language, with each noun receiving a masculine or feminine quality. Feminists attack language itself because they see gender language as a threat to their freedom.

The push for gender neutrality is rapidly wiping an important part of humanity from the world’s languages. In English, the word "sex" itself has come to mean copulation, while up until just decades ago it referred to the distinction between male and female. Gender now refers to male and female, whereas just decades ago gender only applied to grammatics. This subtle but very important shift in our language has largely gone unnoticed. With male and female torn away from the meaning of words, gender now defines the difference between male and female, and sex is only about copulation. Therefore, copulation is viewed as the only difference between male and female, according to the semantics of today. All other distinction doesn’t matter. The same kind of crusade is fought by feminists in Japan. Likewise, all distinction of male and female is gone from architecture.

All in the name of equality.

Words can hurt, and single people in Japan are particularly sensitive to language that reminds them that they are single and alone.

But if everyone is so equal what is the point of male and female coming together in a relationship? Why should they interact at all? This revising of our language and architecture is part of a broader upheaval of social order. Never have rules been so grey and architecture so disjointed. Japanese women give up on the traditional path of marriage and motherhood because there is no reason for it in the society.

"Delaying or rejecting marriage may be an intentional act of resistance, a challenge to the belief that a woman’s happiness is only truly to be found in marriage and motherhood. But it may also be a pragmatic decision, made in light of the costs and compromises involved in marriage."^d

Architecture can establish societal rules that reinforce marriage and having children.

Places To Gather & Celebrate Male/Female

^source

Today, it is taboo to build venues for only men or women. Even restrooms have become ambiguous. Of course we should encourage the changing dynamic of female roles, such as including more women in the workplace and earning more income. But do we need to get rid of the separation of venues for men and women altogether?

Men need a place to gather with men. Women need a place to gather with women.

Ancient Romans had separate zones of their homes for men and women. There were parts of the house women weren’t allowed into and men weren’t allowed into. The typical complaint of the married man today is that he is shoved away into his man-cave and the woman rules the rest of the house. In Japan the problem might be the other way around. About half of men say the kitchen does not belong to women, as has always traditionally been believed. It doesn’t have to be the kitchen, but do women have a space only for women?

Both sides seek to dominate. The recalcitrant architecture in modern Japan seeks to dominate its environment instead of fitting in, and likewise men and women battle it out for dominance. In the end they feel like objects, not people, and out of synch with tradition and culture.

“But living back home in Japan reminds her out of synch she is with the traditional values many of her male counterparts still espouse… ‘Men never pour sake for me, and they look at me strange if I don’t pour sake for them… Personally, it makes me feel like an object. That’s the part of me that doesn’t feel connected to Japan.

Erina and her friends have many complaints about Japanese men. Kaori says, “They only want a woman they can dominate; that is why they are obsessed with schoolgirls.” Ritsuka tells us a story of another girlfriend whose boyfriend began to cry on the phone. Everyone squeals in disgust. No one wants a man who cries… They know something is missing, right from the very start.” ^e

Men and women need outlets for their emotions, places they won’t be ashamed to look weak. The boyfriend who cried likely was frustrated at not being able to communicate himself. He didn’t have a clique of male friends he could go to and who would understand him. The dominating males that Ritsuka complains about likely don’t know how to deal with sharing a space with women. They don’t know how to reconcile traditional roles with the modern context they are thrown into. They end up offending women and then feeling guilty about the traits that make them men. They became even more embarrassed when women sneer at them for crying.

The women also don’t know how to reconcile traditional roles with the modern context. They don’t want to be treated like lowly waitresses because it makes them feel unappreciated, yet they are disgusted by a man who cries. There is no reason why they should hold on to traditional female roles, no law, nothing written in the architecture, nothing in the media that tells them it is anything but a shameful second-class role. But they instinctively know deep inside that men have a certain role that makes them weak and unmanly for crying. Despite everything they are told they know that much.

Architecture and the language of our environment have a duty to establish social norms for male and female, and right now this duty is ignored. These social norms are constantly in flux and changes need to be allowed. Mythopoetic architecture integrates the permanent and rigid with the chaotic and ever-changing environment. Sensual devices, theatrical drama, procession, the revealed and hidden, and aspiration must all address this issue. Architecture itself must allow for complex social arrangements and not stringently place roles in a hierarchy that makes either side of higher or lower value.

Reinforce The Role of Mother & Father

Look at any Japanese animation and you will notice that the father missing. If he shows up at all he is usually goofy and the worst of role models. But as more women enter the workplace this should by all means give the men more time to be around their children. Right?

The role of the built environment in establishing societal roles becomes clear when it is tied back to parenthood and nature. No where is this achieved more clearly than in Egyptian architecture. Everywhere you look in ancient Egypt you see parenthood, whether it’s an explanation of kingship, of how the universe was made, or of how people will be reborn in the hereafter. Two objects copulate and a new object results. Every object in our universe is explained in terms of parent and child.

Plutarch considered quantum matter itself a product of mother and father, and used this to establish sacred geometry which pervades the cathedrals and classic architecture of Europe:

"Plato is wont to call what is spiritually intelligible the form and the pattern of the father; and the material he calls the mother, the nurse, and the seat and place of creation, while the fruit of both he calls the offspring and creation. One might suppose that the Egyptians liken the nature of the universe especially to this supremely beautiful of the triangles which Plato also in the Republic seems to have used in devising his wedding figure.

That triangle has a vertical of three units of length, a base of four, and a hypotenuse of five, which is equal, when squared, to the squares of the other two sides. The vertical should thus be likened to the male, the base to the female, and the hypotenuse to their offspring; and one should similarly view Osiris as the origin, Isis as the receptive element, and Horus as the perfect achievement. The number three is the first and perfect odd number; four is the square of the even number two; five is analogous partly to the father and partly to the mother, being made up of a triad and a dyad."^f

It is no wonder that parenthood is so little value and so little understood in Japan, as parenthood is apparently not such incorporated in their built environment. There is a noted “absence of a well defined center and the ambiguous special quality… are predicated on both the lack of a ruling order, and the layered, indefinite boundaries.” ^g Perhaps now is the time to pull parenthood out of the realm of the hidden and unrevealed.

Moral Reinforcement



Besides the typical masculine qualities that traditional Japanese fairy tales like Princess Kaguya seek to instill in boys, there is an important response included in The 81 Brothers.

The sons of a mighty prince sought to win the hand of a beautiful princess. On their way over to impress her they made the youngest brother carry bundles of wood for their camp fires. Along the way they found a rabbit that had its hair pulled out by crocodiles because he had tricked them. They all laughed and kicked around the rabbit, but the youngest brother had compassion and helped him recover. They all reached the princess and she chose the youngest brother for humbly carrying the bundles of wood and having compassion on the rabbit, which turned out to belong to her.

The younger brother exhibited strength by carrying the burdens of his kinsmen. The princess, though in the dominant role of the story, recognized his true strength by humbly taking on that burden.

The rabbit deserved what he got for tricking the crocodiles, but compassion for the sinner is shown to be the most important of all masculine traits. The rabbit, as a traditional sex symbol, is the relationship between male and female that is inherently flawed. There will always be trickery and hurt feelings, but it is precisely the ability to forgive and show compassion that makes it work. In fact, maybe we could achieve the kind of perfect relationship we had long given up on?

Humility and compassion are traits that are slipping away in architecture. A building that does not call attention to itself, that does not separate itself from its inferior neighbors, that engages in humanitarian causes such as environmental sustainability will instill responsibility and maturity in its occupants.

Aspiration




Kidosaki architects and Tadao Ando are noted designers that instill aspiration in others. Their exciting, gravity defying forms have an underappreciated affect on the people. Young Japanese have feelings of hopelessness for the future. How could they achieve what their parents achieved? How could they have a successful family?

The common Japanese word for father tousan literally means “bankrupt”. How is that for ironic?

Japan and the West are in cultural decline and we all know it. There is less excitement for the future, less confidence in our ability to create something we can pass on. Economically there is no way we can pay off the national debt, diminishing hope we could even recover from our recession. Spiritually less people have any belief at all. Architecture is just the right thing to turn this around. Nothing inspires awe like an edifice that connects a person to their culture, to the cosmos, and pushes concepts of what the future holds past the limit of what they ever thought possible. It inspires people to become active participants and build themselves.

This is the end goal of mythopoetic architecture, for each person to become an active participant and build a home for themselves. The home reflects an overarching edifice of the nation, of the world, and finally of the universe. It is the first and final destination point of every stroke.

Aspiration is not just about long cantilevers and tall skyscrapers. It is about stripping away man’s haughty desire for dominance, prideful departure from ancient realities, alienation from the environment and from each other, contempt for mystery, giving them direction, and finally convincing them they can achieve anything. It is the most important role of architecture.

Citations:

^The Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man, Henri Franfort, University of Chicago Press, 2013

^Dwelling, Seeing, and Designing: Toward a Phenomenological Ecology by David Seamon, SUNY Press, 1993, p. 93

^“Receptivity to the sensuous: Architecture as “wild being” by Rachel McAnn, in Architecture and Civilization, by Michael H. Mitias, Rodopi, 1999, p. 138

^ Part 2 of Single Women in Japan: ‘Loser Dogs’ Bit Back, by Laura Dales in PsychCentral by Bella Depaulo , 12/2013

^ Kickboxing Geishas: How modern Japanese women are changing their nation, by Veronica Chambers, Simon and Schuster, 2007, p. 109

^De Iside et Osiride, Plutarch, trans. By J. Gwyn Griffiths, Cardiff:University of Wales Press, 1970, ch. 56,373E-F, 374A,pp.205-258 & 509

^ The Place of No-Thingness: The Japanese house and the Oriental world views of the Japanese, by Botond Bognar, in Dwellings, Settlements, and Traditions: Cross Cultural Perspectives, ed. Jean Paul Boudier and Nezar Alsayyad, New York:Lanham, 1989, p. 196 [Photos:

^ photo by Commander, U.S. 7th Fleet, used under Creative Commons/Flickr license

RSP Architects designed the Lasalle campus in Singapore. A grid of six buildings are contained in a cube. A black exterior of horizontal stripes contains horizontal windows, with circulation paths immediately inside. This geological block ruptures to reveal an atrium. The walls of the atrium are glass and crystal shaped. Skybridges link each building and a massive canopy covers the entire edifice. The floor has greenery and synthetic grass, paradoxical in this earthy setting.

The buildings are seven floors high and offer galleries, theaters, a library, and learning space. Inspired by nature and designed around the needs of the campus, this impressive project was featured in the 2004 Venice Viennale. It was completed in 2007.

More Info, More Info

Long before Charles Darwin became the father of the evolution theory, a Roman named Marcus Vitruvius Pollio observed evolution in life forms and made scientific theories of the mankind's origins. Vitruvius recorded many scientific principles which were well known at his time, many that were lost in the dark ages such as rain cycles and the circumference of the earth. The origin of the humans is at the root of Vitruvius' writings,and it drives his principles of architectural design. These principles upon their rediscovery blossomed into every branch of modern art and design today.

Human origins in wild beasts Life began by chance Genetic Mutation, Variance of Species Racial supremacy Modern Theories of Evolution

Origin of Humans: Wild Beasts

"The men of old were born like the wild beasts, in woods, caves, and groves, and lived on savage fare."(I, 1, 1)

Vitruvius described our ancestors as no different than wild animals. Though he never explicitly states that humans developed from wild animals, he outlines a process of discoveries and anatomical changes that made humans "gifted beyond the other animals."

"As time went on, the thickly crowded trees in a certain place, tossed by storms and winds, and rubbing their branches against one another, caught fire, and so the inhabitants of the place were put to flight, being terrified by the furious flame. After it subsided, they drew near, and observing that they were very comfortable standing before the warm fire, they put on logs and, while thus keeping it alive, brought up other people to it, showing them by signs how much comfort they got from it.

In that gathering of men, at a time when utterance of sound was purely individual, from daily habits they fixed upon articulate words just as these had happened to come; then, from indicating by name things in common use, the result was that in this chance way they began to talk, and thus originated conversation with one another."(II, 1, 1)

We have seen this acted out National Geographic TV specials... though in today's version of events the trees didn't catch fire due to friction; lightening struck the African plains, and man domesticated the flame so they could warm themselves, cook food, and socialize. Social intercourse led to upright walking, which led to our ability to work with tools.

"...as they kept coming together in greater numbers into one place, finding themselves naturally gifted beyond the other animals in not being obliged to walk with faces to the ground, but upright and gazing upon the splendour of the starry firmament, and also in being able to do with ease whatever they chose with their hands and fingers, they began in that first assembly to construct shelters."(II, 1, 2)

Humans imitated nature in their constructions, each according to the context of their locations, for example people in rainy climates built sloped roofs while people in hot climates built thick walls of dried mud.

With these early beginnings accomplished, humans could take a dominant role over all the earth and develop a modern civilization.

"Furthermore, as men made progress by becoming daily more expert in building, and as their ingenuity was increased by their dexterity so that from habit they attained to considerable skill, their intelligence was enlarged by their industry until the more proficient adopted the trade of carpenters. From these early beginnings, and from the fact that nature had not only endowed the human race with senses like the rest of the animals, but had also equipped their minds with the powers of thought and understanding, thus putting all other animals under their sway, they next gradually advanced from the construction of buildings to the other arts and sciences, and so passed from a rude and barbarous mode of life to civilization and refinement."(II, 1, 6)

Notice that Vitruvius groups humans with "the rest of the animals." But it is the "higher ideas born of the multiplication of the arts" that leads them to take on the role of Nature themselves, by "developing the refinements of life" that "nature had been lavish in the bestowal of," and so they "embellished them with luxuries. (v. 7)"

"Africa was the mother and nurse of wild animals..."(VIII, 3, 24)

Africa is considered the origin of human life today.

Life Began By Chance

"For things are produced in accordance with the will of nature; not to suit man's pleasure, but as it were by a chance distribution."(II, 6, 5)

At first glance it would seem that the Vitrivian life's origins was ironically similar to today's proponents of intelligent design. He praises "divine intelligence" for bestowing the materials necessary for life and for designing the universe (see IX, 5, 4). He also describes nature as an "architect" which human architects follow in the footseps (see V, 4, 8).

But the universe came by chance. Divine intelligence is our ability to understand the mechanics of the universe (see IX, 1, 1), that we can "find out the operation of the sun in the universe," the "general assemblage of nature." Atlas holds up the firmament, assigned to that task because he gave humans knowledge of the universe. We can attain perfection, said Vitruvius, by simply learning those divine truths and follow them.

"For in all their works they proceeded on definite principles of fitness and in ways derived from the truth of Nature. Thus they reached perfection, approving only those things which, if challenged, can be explained on grounds of the truth."(IV, 2, 6)

The four elements are not atoms. Vitruvius differentiates what he calls elements and what we define elements today. He relates Democritus'"atoms, termed by our writers bodies that cannot be cut up or by some indivisibles."(II,2,1) But the "primordial elements are four in number: air, fire, earth, and water; and that it is from their coherence to one another under the moulding power of nature that the qualities of things are produced according to different classes."(VIII, intro)

Before Newton wrote his laws of thermodynamics or Karl Marx wrote "all the is solid melts into air," Vitruvius observed:

"...whatever is born of the air returns in the same way to the regions of the sky; nothing suffers annihilation, but at dissolution there is a change, and things fall back to the essential element in which they were before."(VIII, intro)

It is the chance distribution, the "moulding power of nature" that created the human body: "...nature has designed the human body so that its members are duly proportioned to the frame as a whole..."(III, 1, 4)

Furthermore, the first humans evolved by learning the mechanics of the universe:

"Thus, when our ancestors had seen that this was so, they took their models from nature, and by imitating them they were led on by divine facts, until they were perfected in their contrivances which are so servicable in our life."(X, 1, 4)

Genetic mutation, variance of species

"Euripides... Earth, he held, was impregnated by the rains of heaven and, thus conceiving, brought forth the young of mankind and of all the living creatures in the world."(VIII, intro)

The molding influences of nature that mashed together, as it were, the atoms of the universe created all animals, including humans. But they aren't all created the same, says Vitruvius, because different places have different contexts:

"Euripides seems to have remarked; for he says that places at a greater distance from the sun are in a violent heat, and that those which are nearer he keeps temperate."(XI, 1, 13)

Animals develop differently under different conditions. "This great variety in different things is a distribution due to nature..."(VIII,3,26) Vitruvius goes on to surpass Darwin in his explanation for how exactly this work; Vitruvius describes genetics. Everything has a module that maps out the design of the greater object. Design is "the selection of modules from the members of the work itself and, starting from these individual parts of members, constructing the whole work to correspond."(I, 2, 2)

"...Nature designed the human body..."(II, 1, 4) The design of the temple likewise depends on a module, the gene:

"The design of a temple depends on symmetry, the principles of which must be most carefully observed by the architect... a correspondence among the measures of the members of an entire work, and of the whole to a certain part selected as standard. From this result the principles of symmetry. Without symmetry and proportion there can be no principles in the design of any temple; that is, if there is no precise relation between its members, as in the case of those of a well shaped man... It was from the members of the body that they derived the fundamental ideas of the measures which are obviously necessary in all works..."(III, 1, 1 & 5)

The assemblage of an architectural edifice imitates the distribution of the species, each of which has a "a place, origin, and order of its own." (IV, 2, 2)

Racial Supremacy

"These diversities would not exist if the different properties of soils and their juices were not qualified by the power of the sun... For instance, there are in Boeotia the rivers... they are driven every day during that season to those rivers to drink, and the result is that, however white they may be, they beget in some places whity-brown lambs, in other places gray, and in others black as a raven."(VIII, 3, 13 & 14

Food and water alters genetic material, causing the skin becomes dark. And in humans?

"These variations in heat and the subsequent cooling off are harmful to the people living on such sites. The same conclusion may be reached in the case of inanimate things."(I, 4, 2)

It is hard to deny that these theories of evolution led to the worst of today's racist tenants. For evidence for his theory of human evolution Vitruvius points to "primitive" civilizations, much like how European conquistadors justified their genocidal invasions. Italy is superior because of its temperate climate and even receiving of sunlight, says Vitruvius. It's not too cold and not too warm and therefore produces superior life.

It is obvious that entire races of people are effected by the region's general climate, says Vitruvius, but the extreme influences of nature can be mitigated by architects. We can "amend by art what nature, if left to herself, would mar."(VI, 1, 2)

People in the south are weak but smart, while people north are manly but stupid, says Vitruvius. Naturally the Romans are the superior race.

"These effects are noticeable and discernible not only in things in nature, but they also are observable in the limbs and bodies of entire races. In places on which the sun throws out its heat in moderation, it keeps human bodies in their proper condition, and where its path is very close at hand, it parches them up, and burns out and takes away the proportion of moisture which they ought to possess. But, on the other hand, in the cold[171] regions that are far away from the south, the moisture is not drawn out by hot weather, but the atmosphere is full of dampness which diffuses moisture into the system, and makes the frame larger and the pitch of the voice deeper. This is also the reason why the races that are bred in the north are of vast height, and have fair complexions, straight red hair, grey eyes, and a great deal of blood, owing to the abundance of moisture and the coolness of the atmosphere.

On the contrary, those that are nearest to the southern half of the axis, and that lie directly under the sun's course, are of lower stature, with a swarthy complexion, hair curling, black eyes, strong legs, and but little blood on account of the force of the sun. Hence, too, this poverty of blood makes them over-timid to stand up against the sword, but great heat and fevers they can endure without timidity, because their frames are bred up in the raging heat. Hence, men that are born in the north are rendered over-timid and weak by fever, but their wealth of blood enables them to stand up against the sword without timidity...

Further, it is owing to the rarity of the atmosphere that southern nations, with their keen intelligence due to the heat, are very free and swift in the devising of schemes, while northern nations, being enveloped in a dense atmosphere, and chilled by moisture from the obstructing air, have but a sluggish intelligence. That this is so, we may see from the case of snakes. Their movements are most active in hot weather, when they have got rid of the chill due to moisture, whereas at the winter solstice, and in winter weather, they are chilled by the change of temperature, and rendered torpid and motionless. It is therefore no wonder that man's intelligence is made keener by warm air and duller by cold.

But although southern nations have the keenest wits, and are infinitely clever in forming schemes, yet the moment it comes to displaying valour, they succumb because all manliness of spirit is sucked out of them by the sun. On the other hand, men born in cold countries are indeed readier to meet the shock of arms with great courage and without timidity, but their wits are so slow that they will rush to the charge inconsiderately and inexpertly, thus defeating their own devices. Such being nature's arrangement of the universe, and all these nations being allotted temperaments which are lacking in due moderation, the truly perfect territory, situated under the middle of the heaven, and having on each side the entire extent of the world and its countries, is that which is occupied by the Roman people. In fact, the races of Italy are the most perfectly constituted in both respects—in bodily form and in mental activity to correspond to their valour."(VI, 1, 3-11)

Vitruvius'Ten Books On Architecture" was written shortly after the death of Christ and rediscovered in 1414. It took Europe out of the Dark Age along with the invention of the printing press . It advanced the studies of science, philosophy, and architecture. Virtually every important book written on architecture for the next thousands years was based on Vitruvius. It is no stretch to say the Aryan white supremacy that led to the Nazi extermination of primitive races, the destruction of large civilizations in the Americas, and the white power that persists today found its roots in the racism of this work.

Darwin changed this in the theory of evolution. He said there was no "perfect" species or race. Circumstances change and advanced species evolve according to the powers of chance.

But didn't Vitruvius also allow for progress? There could be continued innovation and refinement in architecture, he said. Modern architects took out rows of columns around the cella of the temple to make procession easier for the patrons. A statist would have abhored this but Vitrius cheered. The ability to innovate is the reason classes of architecture continue to multiply as society evolves.

"It is true that posterity, having made progress in refinement and delicacy of feeling, and finding pleasure in more slender proportions, has established seven diameters of the thickness as the height of the Doric column, and nine as that of the Ionic."(IV, 1, 8)

Modern Theories of Evolution

The Vitrivian theory of evolution changed as the works of Vitruvius spread through Europe. In 1548, Walther Rivius repeated the racist ideas in Vitruvius Teutsch:

"...they began to have human dwellings because the necessary uses of water and fire supposedly united and came together into a livable house... Because of inherent stupidity, these helpful human dwellings were not prevalent, as men have sought to climb up and to better themselves."

Until very recently, scientists pointed to "primitive" civilizations in Africa and Asia as scientific evidence of mankind's evolution, just as Vitruvius had done:

"That houses originated as I have written above, we can see for ourselves from the buildings that are to this day constructed of like materials by foreign tribes: for instance, in Gaul, Spain, Portugal, and Aquitaine... From such specimens we can draw our inferences with regard to the devices used in the buildings of antiquity, and conclude that they were similar."(II, 1, 4 & 6)

Modern art was not allowed to progress because artists were obsessed with imitating nature in a strict search for truth of realism, as Vitruvius instructed, and abhored nonrealistic art. Vitruvius scorned "fresco paintings of monstrosities, rather than truthful representations of definite things... Such things do not exist and cannot exist and never have existed. Hence, it is the new taste that has caused bad judges of poor art to prevail over true artistic excellence."(VII, 5, 3)

"The fact is that pictures which are unlike reality ought not to be approved... Therefore, if we give our approval to pictures of things which can have no reason for existence in actual fact, we shall be voluntarily associating ourselves with those communities which are believed to be unintelligent on account of just such defects."(VII, 5, 4-5)

Sounds much like Nazi talking points about "degenerate art."

Henry Wotton brought Vitruvius to England in 1624 with The Elements of Architecture. Coincidentally the British Empire immediately blossomed. He likewise urged caution about how we imitated "the great pattern of Nature" and specifically the human body as the ideal design.

"I must confess confess indeed there may be a lascivious and there may be a superstitious use, both of picture and of sculpture: To which possibility of misapplication, not only these semi-liberal arts are subject; but even the highest perfections and endowments of nature... what art can be more pernicious than even religion itself, if it self be converted to an instrument of art?

Wotton threw out aesthetics from the list of architectural values, searching for innovation from strict function and utility in architecture. But he still seeks a "moral architecture" that produces the "repairing of nature." He admits variation among living things and remarks, "we see that diversity doth destroy unity." Nature is "the simplest mother of Art."

Modern scientists took a religious interest in human evolution. Ernest Haeckl drew the famous "tree of life" model of humans and animal, derived from the ancient religious idea of the tree of life. He placed humans on the very top. Russell Wallace developed the theory of evolution concurrently with Darwin, but claimed a nontemporal origin for our designs. Charles Darwin ridiculed the ancient civilizations he studied, the "sacred books of the Hindoos or the beliefs of any barbarian."link.

Hopefully racial supremacy has diminished in popular culture today. But the idea that we become our own instruments of nature lives on. Global warming scientists today believe we are destroying our entire environment and are able to reverse that course, as nurses of our environment. Architecture is still the product of chance that distinguishes us as the "divine intelligence" over all other raw matter.

© Copyright 2010 Benjamin Blankenbehler, reproduction strictly prohibited

Jean Balladur designed the La Grande Motte commune on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea's Gulf of Aigues-Mortes. Completed in 1968, it is a homogenous campus of ziggurat style buildings for vacation living. Futuristic and modern for the 60s era, each living unit is given a balcony and the best views possible.

The site emphasizes environmentally friendly greenery and is mostly park, although a large swamp was drained to make this project and local mosquitoes eradicated. And the whole reason the site was developed was to promote tourism, to compete with Spain's recent boom in the tourist industry. So the emphasis on nature isn't exactly noble.

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Grant Associates and Gustafson Porter designed the Gardens by the Bay park in near the Marina Bay Sands resort in Singapore. The $1 Billion project is a symbol of Singapore's revitalization of nature in the midst of an economic boom. Human technology works as custodian to the operation of nature, assisting instead of dominating natural beauty and health. It was completed in 2012.

Wilkinson Eyre Architects designed the two conservatories with carbon neutral footprints. The Flower Dome has a cool Mediterranean climate, and is the world's largest columnless glasshouse. The Cloud Forest has a cool jungle climate and contains a large tropical waterfall. Glazing for these giant structures blocks two-thirds of the solar gain while allowing two-thirds of the sunlight to pass through, helping to keep the climates cool.

Rain water is collected from the conservatories and diverted to the Supertrees. These 160 ft artificial trees mimic real trees with solar panels and water collection. They also aid in the conservatories' intricate air circulation system. Natural air enters at the base of the conservatory and is dehumidified or vented out through the Supertrees. They generate electricity and heat/cool water for the entire complex. The shape of the conservatives help in the venting of air and management of solar gain.

The East Garden emphasizes views of the Marina Bay Sands shoreline, with water inlets around leaf-shaped plots of gardens. Prevailing winds rush through these pathways to cool the site. The South Garden is shaped like an orchid. Atelier Ten acted as environmental design consultants and Atelier One as structural engineers. The museum and visitor center were design by Design Studio.

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Clothing worn by priests in the ancient Hebrew temple was part of an over-all architecture that engaged strict functions.

Like clothing, architecture's most basic function is to serve as covering and shelter for the body, and clothing in the ancient temple further contributed to the holiness that was crucial to the sacred place. Clothing indicated the authority of the priest and contributed to his functional role.

Manifestation of Holiness Clothing Mirrors Temple Design Description of Priestly Garments Original Garments Given To Adam Other Ancient Cultures Need For Sacred Clothing

Manifestation of Holiness

“Holy” comes from the Old English hālig, which means “uninjured, sound, healthy, entire, complete.” The bible records that Moses declared “the world also shall be stable, that it be not moved” because of “the beauty of the holiness” of the Lord. (1 Chron. 16:29-30)

When his leadership was challenged, Moses declared that the Lord chooses who is righteous by establishing a closer proximity with that person: “Even to morrow the Lord will shew who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he hath chosen... the man whom the Lord doth chose, he shall be holy.”(Num16:5) Holiness is a state of stability and health, but also of nearness to God- literal physical nearness.

“Sacred” comes from the Latin word sacrum, which refers to anything that is set apart and in God's power. “It was generally conceived spatially, as referring to the area around a temple.” Sacredness then is the space between God and man. It is a form that is determined by the function of holiness.

To maintain a division from profane actions and purifying rituals, only certain people could enter the temple. Just before Moses received the ten tablets of commandments, Moses and the head priests were commanded to “worship at a distance.” Only Moses could approach the holy ground on the mountain. As worship progressed and more covenants were made and greater altars built, even still a cloud covered the mountain as Moses conversed with God, obscuring the place from the eyes of others.

Priests weren't allowed to even approach the temple without appropriate clothing on and proper grooming. The strictness of the clothing was required for the priests “that they bear not iniquity and die.” The clothing worn at the temple acted as a physical manifestation of the holiness required to make the temple sacred. It showed that they belonged there.

Nadab and Abihu were consumed with fire for attempting to offer burnt sacrifices without the priesthood authority (Lev. 10:12). Only certain people could perform the rituals, and only at certain times. Even putting on the clothes followed a strict etiquette. After being washed, the high priest was dressed in this order: tunic, robe, ephod, breastplate, girlde, mitre, crown. He then was anointed, and the other priests went through the same ritual.

Clothing Mirrors Temple Design

The appearance of the priests' clothing mirrored the temple. The design for the priestly vestige precisely outlined the temple design. The dimensions, colors, and elements were the same. It is also important to note that this clothing was created immediately after the construction of the temple. After the temple was anointed as a sacred place, the priests were immediately anointed in their vestige.

Much like the form of the temple indicates its functional role in the religion, government, and society, the clothes of the priests indicated their particular functional roles. They also were intended "for honor and beauty" of the place. Each priest had their clothing custom made to fit the proportions of their body. The clothing therefore was a vital link between each individual and the form of the temple.

When any clothing became so dirty that it couldn't be washed back to complete purity, the clothing was disposed of by shredding and burning with the candles of the temple's menorah. The exception to this method of disposal was the high priest's clothing which was hidden in a secret place never to be used again.

Description of Priestly Garments

Ephod - Scholars believe the ephod began as a simple linen cloth and turned into an extravagant device for ceremony. The first ephod in Moses' time may have been simple plain cloth. The ephod was a linen skirt that went up and over the shoulders like an apron, with open sides that were fastened with a girdle. Some scholars say the elaborate ephod of later times was designed to mirror the temple: It was woven of blue, purple, scarlet, and gold thread into fine linen. Gold rings on the shoulders attached straps which held the breastplate with gold chains. Two green heliodor or copper carbonate gems in gold settings on these shoulder straps had the names of each tribe of Israel inscribed on them, six on each stone. These were called “remembrance stones.” Breastplate - The Urim and Thummim was carried by the breastplate, so that it would be upon Aaron's heart. On the breastplate “of judgment” also were four rows of three stones, certain gems that also had the names of each tribe written on them. The colors of these stones coordinated with representative colors of each tribe. Two rings with blue linen attached the breastplate on the bottom to the girdle. It was also woven of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet into fine linen. These jewels had special significant by denoting the authority of the wearer, “for a memorial before the LORD continually,” that Aaron “shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart.” Robes - The robe was woven of seamless blue cloth. Pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet and gold bells alternate around the bottom hem of the robe. They presumably have symbolic significance- the pomegranate is the fruit of the land that God gave to the people (Deut. 8: 8). The bells ring with any movement to let everyone know the wearer's presence; thus it was a device to help Aaron “minister.” The sound of ringing bells was also a requirement for anyone who enters the temple, “that he die not.” Mitre - Though today the mitre in the orthodox Christian church is large and pointed, the Hebrews used a simple flat turban. The mitre evolved concurrently with the rooftop and window forms of cathedrals in the middle ages, becoming larger and more triangular as the roof of the cathedral became more pitched. Though mitres of recent orthodox churches are gold or white, the Hebrew mitre was blue. As a clear indication that the function of the wearer created the sacred space, a gold plaque on the mitre read: “Holy to the Lord.” Any iniquity committed in that space bore upon the wearer. A head-tire held the mitre on the head, a cord tight around the top of the head. The lower priests mitres were similar to the high priests' except they were easily placed on the head. Tunic - The tunic could be seen extending lower than the robe. It was checkered to match the gridded pattern of the breastplate. Girdle - The girdle around the waist completed the dress of the highest priest in the temple. The girdle was woven of sky-blue, dark-red and crimson dyed wools, and twisted linen. Josephus recorded that it was thin, very long, embroidered, and woven of colored wool and white linen. The girdles of the lower priests were probably simple plain white linen. The placement of the knot was in the front and the ends of the knot hung low, according to Josephus (Antiquities 3:7:2). Crown> - The gold plaque on the mitre is called a crown or diadem. A diadem is an “embroidered white silk ribbon, ending in a knot and two fringed strips often placed on the shoulders.” In early times it was worn about the shoulders or neck to denote rank or official and was often presented to winning athletes. The diadem is the first crown in history, dating back to Sumerian and Egyptian times. Josephus described three gold bands on a blue cap above the mitre, with finely woven linen on each band, an apparent predecessor to the kingly crown we think of today. Blue cords around the back of the head held the gold plaque in place. Trousers - Aaron's sons who worked in the temple wore trousers “to cover the flesh of their nakedness.” They were pure 6-ply white flax and simply woven. Other Lower Priest Clothing - Aaron's sons who worked in the temple wore tunics, girldes, and less formal head-coverings. Each article was pure white. On the day of atonement, the High Priest wore clothing similar to the ordinary priests. He wore two tunics (one in the morning and one in the evening), trousers “upon his flesh,” a girdle, and a mitre. But afterward these clothes were to never be worn again. The priest “shall take off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the holy place, and he shall leave them there.” They are all pure white simply-woven flax, unlike the usual colorful dress. Urim and Thummim - The Urim and Thummim, traditionally translated to mean “light and perfection,” was an oracle worn on the High Priest's breastplate through which he received answers from God. Some speculate that the secret name of God was written on paper and inserted next to the device and that is how it got its holiness in order to answer important questions. Others speculate that it was a device, or two, that was placed in a pocket and pulled out with an answer. Writing seems to be importantly involved. Some speculate that Urim and Thummim translates to “cursed or innocent” and that it was a tool of judgment. In 1 Samuel 14:41, Saul discovered the sinner in a group by continually splitting the group into subgroups while asking for “Urim” or “Thummim” which group contains the culprit. This suggests that the Urim and Thummim used cleromancy because this verse in the Septuagint version indicates the object was manipulated to divine the answer. Also, the next verse says they “cast lots.” Because all but two recorded uses of the device brought yes or no answers, some scholars believe it produced single words. Talmudic rabbis traditionally taught that light shined from the gems on the breastplate to create letters that spelled out an answer. Josephus said it shined brilliantly. Some even said the gems moved (See Yoma 73). The Urim and Thummim was believed to have been created by God and given to Moses. It was used for matters that concerned the entire congregation. Extensive research has determined that the Urim and Thummim had a significant role in ancient Israel for receiving revelation from God.

Original Garments Given To Adam

According to rabbinic literature, Adam's original body reached from earth to heaven, and was "of extreme beauty and sunlike brightness." His "skin was a bright garment." He didn't have robes of skin, but garments of light (Gen. R. xx.), which he needed in order to remain in the Garden of Eden.

The garment of light was lost upon Adam's fall and they sewed aprons with fig leaves when they discovered that they were naked. God created garments of skins for them. Some claim these garments were made during the sixth day of creation.

Mythological Judaism further claims that Adam reclaimed a garment of light when he repented of his sin, a garment which the Messiah also wears.

Patriarchal Authority

Adam's descendants handed down these garments of skin patriarchally, according to some Jewish literature. They were handed down to the eldest son, carried in Noah's ark, and eventually stolen by the evil king Nimrod. Before he was defeated, the garments caused people and animals to bow down to Nimrod. Jacob stole the garments of skin from Esau in order to get his father's blessing.

Clothing showed proof of leadership in ancient times. Joseph's multi-colored coat is another example of patriarchal blessing in the form of clothing. It is there for all to see, part of a person's image, and it is given to the wearer as a token of their authority. The clothes of the king was considered an honor given by the people, a glory given by God. The clothing of the temple priest therefore must indicate the glory and authority given by God and the people.

Other Ancient Cultures

The the Hebrew sacred temple clothing had influence from other cultures of that time, including Egypt and Assyria. Clothing specific to the Hebrews can be seen in later cultures, particularly in Crusaders and the early Christian church. There are startling similarities to sacred clothing in the Far East and Americas.

Idols and divination

Some scholars say that a new kind of graven image or idol had its origins in the ephod clothing. Gideon and Micah created a golden ephod that was worshiped by Israel (Judges 8:27). As an indicator of authority, the gold ephod of Micah was no longer worn on the body, but become an object unto itself like a statue. Micah's ephod was known as a Teraphim, or manifest object. Such an ephod became known as pesel or massekah, meaning “graven image” and “molten image.” As the ephod became used more and more as an object to be carried rather than worn, the word Ephod became known to mean idol.

People began to think the jewels on the ephod and breastplate themselves were the Urim and Thummim. Since it was regarded as an object of divination, the jewels began to be considered as giving the ability to tell the future.

Perhaps another clue to the function of the Urim and Thummim, later divinations involved looking into the gems. One would look into the jewels and derive an answer from how light would shine back. This practice spread to the pagan looking glass, mirror, crystal ball, or water basin. Cleromancy was often involved. Islamists combined it with the ancient practice of “pulling straws.” They would pull a barren arrow shaft from a container of shafts and read the answer written on it: yes, no, or blank. Pagans ritually divined from bones or sticks.

Egypt, Greece, Europe

The golden diadem can be traced back to Egypt. The diadem had a gold band around the head, with an insignia on the front and two strands hanging from the back. As part of this dressing, gold bands were worn about the shoulders or neck to denote rank or official. It can perhaps be seen in the most authoritative Greek alpha letter alpha Ω.

Rabbi Elieze claimed the priestly crown of the Hebrews was displayed in Rome after Israel was conquered by the Romans, which would explain how the temple crown came to be resembled by kingly crowns of Rome and Europe. The gold crown of Charlemagne derives from the ancient Hebrew mitre, and replaces the gold plate the gems of the breastplate.

The crown eventually became a metal hat, a combination of the diadem and mitre. Ancient Celts were perhaps the first to wear a gold plate as a crown, called a mime.

Religious clothing in ancient Egypt included an apron that resembled the ephod. Like many other cultures Egypts religious clothing was different for men and women. The men's ephod consisted of several colorful layers of phallic shaped aprons with a large knot for the girdle above. The female's consisted of a simple belt with a knotted girdle.

Tunics were worn beneath. The mitre was also different for the male and female, with a veil coming down over the sides of the female's.

Each wore a shawl over the shoulders, a sort of robe. A bowed knot bound it in front of the heart. This bears great similarity to the Japanese kimono in the Shinto culture. The Greek robe is well known as the one-shouldered toga. The robe also goes over only one shoulder in many Hindu and Shinto cases.

The crusading knights also adopted many elements of the Hebrew temple clothes. The graduation robes of today include many similarities, including the cut and tassles on the sleeves, and the tassle on the peculiar hat.

Shinto, Hinduism, Buddhism

The Zen Buddhist uses a rectangular apron that resembles the ephod. He also has a robe that goes over one shoulder. The Hindu priest uses the same kind of robe, a turban with an insignia on the front, and also a necklace much like the ancient Egyptian.

The Shinto priest in Japan distinguishes the male and female clothing like the Egyptians. Both wore baggy trousers with a tunic, robe, and sash on top. The female robe was sometimes pleated. Each wore an apron resembling the ephod.

The male mitre resembles the Egyptian with a rim on the bottom and an insignia in front. The female mitre is a simple band with a bow in the back, like the diadem. The female tunic extended from the back much like the wedding dresses we see today.

In the ancient Japanese shrine Ise-jingu and many other shrines all of the priests had white robes. Shinto priests had fringes on the ends of their sleeves much like the tassels in Hebrew robes.

The martial artist wears a headband with the name of his clan written on the front, and a knot in the back with two ends falling down. This is a perfect similarity to the diadem of the ancient Middle East.

Native America

Mayan priests are often portrayed in sculptures with long patterned robes with frills at the bottom. They also wore sandals and wrist-bands much like the Egyptian, Assyrian, and Hebrew priest. A thick necklace denotes authority. The hat bears striking resemblance to the Hebrew mitre. The Mayan priest had a long cord falling from the back of the head, like the diadem. Notice also in that link the frilled apron with the form of a branch on it.

The same ephod can be seen with the Aztecs. The priest in that photo holds a staff like the Egyptian priest often does. The priest on the left is all in white, with a sash, ephod, and robe. The priest on the right wears a hat with an insignia on the front, jeweled cord around the rim, and a pointy top much like the Egyptian hat.

The elaborate headpiece often has long coverings over the ears like the Eygptian diadem. This ear covering is seen throughout tribes in the United States. The stereotypical Native American headpiece is a crown of feathers, a different evolution than the gemmed crown of Europe.

The first Christian priest to come to America, Diego de Landa, wrote of the similarities. The priest wore a long, solemn robe, and children ready for ritual washing would have a white cloths placed on their heads. Women sometimes wore a robe of feathers. He includes this image to the right in Yucatán before and after the conquest of Tutul Xiu, ruler of Maya.

The man wears a hat almost exactly like the Egptian, Hebrew, or even Shinto mitre. He wears a necklace of authority, a sash, and wrist bands (and not much else.)

Landa describes a sash worn about the waste with a knot hanging in the front, which was skillfully embroidered. He describes"large square mantles, which they threw over the shoulders." Here is another image by Friar Landa that shows striking resemblances.

The triangular apron is much like the Egyptian priest. The cape is checkered like the Hebrew tunic, and is tied on the chest like the Egyptian shawl. He wears a thick multi-layered necklace like the Egyptians. He wears a head-piece and sandals. The form of dress is just too similar to ignore.

Need For Sacred Clothing

The function and form of early Hebrew temple clothing reveals a different understanding of the relationship between the human body and architecture, an understanding that spread throughout the world. The need to cover and shelter the body stemmed from the loss of glorious light in the body. The beautiful garment was aesthetic for the purpose of establishing authority among the people and gifts of God. The form of the clothing echoed the form of the building and connected it to the human body. In essence, the clothing fulfilled the functional requirements of the person to establish a space appropriate for all the people.



images: The following are public domain or used under Fair Use Copyright Rules (in order of appearance):

"Hebrew trumpet" from Filippo Bonanni: Gabinetto Armonico (1723)

"Benito Antiquitatum Iudicarum Libri IX. In quis, praeter Iudaeae, Hierosolymorum, & Templi Salomonis accuratam delineationem, praecipui sacri ac profani gentis ritus describuntur" from Arias Montanus (1593)

See also "Temptation of Adam and Eve, Expulsion from the garden" At Brarup church in Denmark (1500)

"images from Yucatán before and after the conquest" from Diego de Landa (1524-1579)

All other images copyright Architecture Revived

Cesar Pelli designed the Madison Museum of Art, completed in 2006. The front glass entrance relates to the capitol building just down the street. The grand glass staircase and floor to ceiling glazing opens up the museum to the public on State street and Henry street.

The visitor proceeds to less public gallery space, 51,500 square ft of galleries, lecture halls, and classrooms. Horizontal strips of glazing peek through the exterior facade. The staircase leads up 3 floors to a rooftop sculpture garden. This 7,100 square ft rooftop space gives the visitor a new perspective of viewing the city and relates the artistic creation of the museum back to the cultural context.

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WOHA architects designed the Park Royal on Pickering in Singapore, completed in 2013.

As the end point of the Hong Lim Park in the city's business district, this project carefully considers the relationship of human-built greenery and the city condition. In this and the Gardens by the Bay, Singapore has smartly decided not to try to recreate natural beauty but rather to mimic it. The man-made garden should admit that it is man-made after all. The Parkroyal emphasizes the verticality of the 12 story skyscraper with vast negative spaces and gaps between horizontal elements. Personal decks take on a curvacious topography and stack on each other with a subtle terracing, pushing the occupant out into the green garden. This man-made greenery shamelessy smashes into cold office building glazing.

Larger than life lanterns turn out to be more like hanging bird cages, asking the question who is animalistic and who is domesticated, animals or humans? Carefully considered details render an architecture that is clearly synthetic yet clearly based on nature. A balance of warm and cool materials, vast mirrors, and water features make it a comfortable experience.

The lost art of taking direction from cosmic scale is what makes this successful. Yet it isn't the cosmos that is being references, it is earth's nature. From the striated geometry of the Grand Canyon to the lofty heights of the rain forest, the achievements of mother nature are celebrated and brought down to a human scale. It is tamed and fitted into a city context and finally conformed to individual hotel rooms.

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Video: Architect's Lecture

Ancient Greek architects counteracted the deformity that comes with visual perspective. Objects appear smaller as they are farther away, and as Greek temples were "buildings in which merits and faults usually last forever"1 it was important that all parts be seen in their correct size. An ideal building would be seen as a whole object, with parts that fit perfectly. Unless it displays correct proportions, "there can be no principles in the design of any temple; that is, if there is no precise relation between its members."2 Greek and Roman builders sought to "counteract the ocular deception by an adjustment of proportions."3 Objects farther away were enlarged so that they matched the objects around them. Architects adjusted proportions so that the temple would appear correct when viewed a distance six times the height of a column. This precise viewing distance related the viewer to the architecture and made him part of it.

Tilt to Fix Perspective View Correctly From A Certain Distance Incline Columns Inward Curved Floor Column SpacingColumn Shafts Swell Out Column Spacing Golden Mean

Tilt to Fix Perspective

Roman architect Vitruvius said that all parts above the column of a Doric building should be tilted downward so that they would appear to be vertical when viewed from below. If viewed from afar, these tilted elements would appear flush.

"All the members which are to be above the capitals of the columns, that is, architraves, friezes, coronae, tympana, gables, and acroteria, should be inclined to the front a twelfth part of their own height, for the reason that when we stand in front of them, if two lines are drawn from the eye, one reaching to the bottom of the building and the other to the top, that which reaches to the top will be the longer. Hence, as the line of sight to the upper part is the longer, it makes that part look as if it were leaning back. But when the members are inclined to the front, as described above, they will seem to the beholder to be plumb and perpendicular."⁴

View Correctly From A Certain Distance

Why a tilt of 1/12? The roof eave overhang was usually about 1/12th the height of the column (for example, the Temple of Athena at Priene). This was deliberately the same proportion as the entablature tilt, so that it would relate each element of the entablature with the columns below.

If we form an equilateral triangle from the tilt of the columns and overhang, we discover that this plane appears flush to someone standing back six times the height of the columns. This point of the triangle will be at eye height, just the right point from which to view the building. To someone standing at this distance, the roof eave will appear the same distance away as the base of the column.

It also creates an angle of ten degrees. The numbers six and ten, Vitruvius said, are the best numbers to use because they are related to most other numbers.

The Parthenon has columns of 10.45m height and the overhang is less than 1m. It will therefore be viewed with perfect proportions at a distance of about 60m or 200ft.

This provided precise points on the surrounding topography that related to the building, engaged the landscape, and makes the viewer an active participant. An important function of these buildings was to relate of the human body with the temple, finding the "calculated proportions that could be applied to the human body and temples alike."⁶"Since nature has designed the human body so that its members are duly proportioned to the frame as a whole, it appears that the ancients had good reason for their rule, that in perfect buildings the different members must be in exact symmetrical relations to the whole general scheme."⁵

Temples don't just reference the viewer's body and the outlaying topography- it directly interacts with them, giving explanation for the design of the body and finding its place in the natural landscape.

Incline Columns Inward

The facade elements are tilted outward, but the columns are actually tilted inward. This emphasizes their ability to hold up the ceiling. Vertical columns under the heavy weight of the entablature appear like they are about to tip over toward the viewer, but an inward tilt to the columns make them look more stable when viewed from below. This gives "the whole building an appearance of greater strength."⁷

In this case Greek architects did not seek to counteract perspective distortion but to use it to their advantage. This "imposing effect of high relief" suggests structural stability, something more important than strict proportion. This inclination is very subtle; on the Parthenon the columns lean inward just 2 3/8 inches. The tilted axis of these columns converge 1 1/2 miles into the sky. ⁷

Curved Floor

The stylobate floor of the Parthenon is curved upward. A perfectly flat floor would appear to sag inward. The face of the earth is curved and the hill on which the Parthenon stands is curved, therefore viewers instinctively expect a slight curvature to all horizontal planes. Straight edges look off.

"This horizontal curvature actually begins not in the stylobate, but below the stylobate in the foundations. But the curvature is most noticeable in the stylobate, which directly receives the downward thrust of the column drums."⁸

The curve reaches 2 3/8 inches on the end facades and 4 5/16 inches on the long facades, a radius of 3 1/2 miles. ⁷

Column Spacing

In perspective, the distance between columns normally appear smaller as they proceed toward a vanishing point in the distance. But the Parthenon has more robust columns and greater spacing between them at the ends. When viewed from a distance the spacing and size appear equal.

Along with proportions, this also makes the structure appear more stable. "Hence in the Parthenon, the spacing between each corner column and the column next to it is less than the space between other columns, and this gives a feeling of extra support at points of extra stress."⁹

Column Shafts Swell Out

The shafts of the columns swell slightly outward. This counteracts a feeling of slenderness that results from visual perspective, much as with the case of the curved floor. A swollen column appears more robust and strong than a straight shaft.

Vitruvius prescribed different "proportionate enlargements" depending on the height of the columns. Taller columns require greater enlargement because perspective causes more distortion on them, he reasons. ¹⁰

Golden Mean



The Golden proportion relates parts of an object. It allows the brain to distinguish size and distances of objects in perspective and thus recognize them as parts of a whole body. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that Greeks and Romans use this proportion extensively.

The increase in distance between the columns follows the golden proportion, so that the gap between columns is proportionate to the width of the column shafts. This proportion of positive and negative space allows the viewer's brain to recognize the columns as part of the entire edifice, so that "the temple, viewed from a distance, compresses into an all but impenetrable volume that stands out in bold relief against its surroundings."¹¹

In the Parthenon, the stylobates and metopes follow the same golden proportions as the columns. This gives the collonade a golden proportion of 3 columns versus 4 columns and the entire width of the facade a golden proportion. Golden proportion also dictates the column height versus the entablature, the same relationship of elements behind the outward tilt of the facade. The elements within the entablature, which tilt outward 1/12th all have golden proportions amongst themselves.

The golden mean was utilized together with clever ocular corrections to give a sense of wholeness, relationship of parts. This scene of wholeness was achieved from certain views within the outlaying landscape, relating the viewer to the building and to the overall site. The viewer is thus engaged in the architecture.




Citations:

^Vitruvius, Ten Books on Architecture Book III, Chapter 1, v. 4, 1 A.D.

^Vitruvius, Ten Books on Architecture Book III, Chapter 1, v. 1, 1 A.D.

^Vitruvius, Ten Books on Architecture Book III, Chapter 3, v. 11, 1 A.D.

^Vitruvius, Ten Books on Architecture Book III, Chapter 5, v. 13, 1 A.D.

^Vitruvius, Ten Books on Architecture Book III, Chapter 1, v. 1, 4 A.D.

^Ian Jenkins, Greek Architecture and Its Sculpture, Harvard University Press, 2006, p. 27

^William Bell Dinsmoor, The Architecture of Ancient Greece, Biblo & Tannen Publishers, 1950, p. 165

^Vincent J. Bruno, The Parthenon, W. W. Norton & Company, 1974, p. 76

^Thomas Greer & Gavin Lewis, A Brief History of the Western World, Cengage Learning, 2004, p. 91

^see Vitruvius, Ten Books on Architecture Book III, Chapter 3, v. 12, 1 A.D. for exact proportions. Accompanying image by Fra Giocondo.

^Bernard Leupen, Design and Analysis, 010 Publishers, 1997, p. 103

Anttinen Oiva Architects designed the new academic library for the University of Helsinki in the city's downtown Kaisaniemenkatu. Completed in 2012, the library faces the busy street with a gridded facade which opens underneath wide arches. The grid of the city clashes with dynamic space conceptually and physically through-out the library. This wide arched front window opens up to a parabolic grand staircase. The integration of old and new architecture, static and dynamism, relates the varied spaces and points within the city.

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First, determine the directions: up, down, left, right. Draw a horizontal straight line to be your horizon line. It separates everything above the viewer's eye level with everything below. The cube will get smaller in the distance toward a point on the left and a point on the right. These are your vanishing points.



Now determine where the front-facing edge of the cube will go. Draw a line from each vanishing point so that they meet at a 90 degree angle at some point. If this meeting point is over to the right you will see the cube turned right and if it is more to the left you will see the cube turned left. Draw a vertical line from this meeting point. Somewhere on this line will be side G of your cube (see the example cube below).


Measure the distance from each perspective point to this distance point. Measure these same distances across the horizon lines. This lines determine your measuring points. The measuring points will figure out how far back you will need to go to get from the front face of the cube to the back face. That's later.


Pick a point along the vertical line. This will be the bottom front corner of the cube, corner 4. The higher up you go the higher the cube will appear. If it is below the horizon line you will be seeing the cube from above. If it is above the horizon line you will see the cube from below.

Draw lines from this corner to the vanishing point. Along these lines will be sides C and F. If you want your cube to be in the correct field of view, the angle between these lines should be greater than 120 degrees. Anything less than this distorts the cube and it won't look right.


From corner 4 draw a line up however tall you want the cube to be. The exact height of the cube depends on the viewer's distance from the cube. This is the final side G. Then draw horizontal lines of the same length on either side from corner 4.


From the ends of each of these lines you just drew, draw a line to the opposite measuring point. Where these lines intersect the vanishing line to corner 4, there will be corner 2 and corner 6. Connect these to corner 4 to draw side C and side F.


Draw lines from the top corner back to each vanishing point. Then draw vertical lines up from corner 2 and corner 6. Where these lines intersect will be corner 1 and corner 5. Connect these corners to draw sides A, B, D, and E. You are almost there!


Finally, draw lines from corner 1 and corner 5 back to the vanishing points. Where these lines intersect will be corner 3. Connect these corner to draw side H and side I.


You are finished!

Henry Wotton (1568 - 1639) did not intend The Elements of Architecture to be just another philosophical treatise for the architecture student. As the first Englishman to produce a serious work on the subject of architecture, Henry Wotton found himself in a unique and advantageous position to spread it beyond architects as he himself had not been trained as an architect. During his time in Florence, Transylvania, Poland, Germany, Rome, and later as an ambassador to the Venician Republic from 1604 to 1653, Wotton realized the incomparable advantage of including architecture in the common person's day to day lifestyle. He sought to educate the lay English public with a summary and categorization of true architecture principles. He wrote as a critic. The Elements of Architecture was a short, easy book that might be found in any person's sitting room. It expressed a new enthusiasm for the art of architecture in popular society.

Get Elements of Architecture by Henry Wotton

Wotton relied heavily on de Architectura by Marcus Vitruvious Pollio, as did every writer on architecture at the time. He also heavily referenced drawings by Andrea Palladio which Palladio had used for his fundamental work I Quattro Libri dell' Architecttura (The Four Books Of Architecture). Wotton acquired these drawings during his time in Italy. Wotton made a gift of them to rising architect Inigo Jones, who first started the trend of Palladian architecture just before the publication of Wotton's book.

Wotton thus gave power to common man, as in every great step forward in human technology from the printing press to the personal computer, not only by education of timeless principles but also through practical applications and recommendations for the English context. Thus began Neo-Classicism.

The writings of Wotton revered Vitruvius and the principles he laid out yet didn't hold them as the unbending truth. He rejected Vitruvius' reverence for the circle as the foundation of architectural form, as natural forms seemed to him to pragmatically spring from more useful origins. Wotton cared about function and less about prescribed form derived from rigid proportional principles. Indeed, Wotton totally changed the Vitruvian criteria of form, dismissing proportional order and composition.

This is expressed in Wotton's early assertion that “every part is to be determined by its use.” This swing toward utilitarianism and lead to Louis Sullivan to say “form follows function.” Eventually the emphasis on function would be so overplayed that modernists would be making up useless functions just for the sake of abolishing form. A healthy relationship of form and function would need to be sought out.

It is important to realize that it was under these conditions that classical Italian architecture began to prevail in England. The English society became Puritan under King James I, yet values were at the same time shifting away from puritan conservative principles. Wotton himself was far removed from dignity. He was famously involved in spying scandals and in thwarting assassination attempts, he was often heavily in debt, and his reputation was besmirched as a dishonest diplomatist for the king. He was hardly the image of a pure soul. Oscar Wilde's character named Henry Wotton in The Picture of Dorian Grey was a Hedonist, superciliously living by the mantra that only beauty and pleasure are worth pursuing.

This book's influence on England is profound. Wotton's new value for utility, scientific proof, and empirical experience came concurrently with the scientific advances of Francis Bacon. If the great realm of architecture were to be brought down to the every-man's level, it would certainly need to lose the mystery, the mystic in people's minds. It deals less with the spheres of the universe and more with the soil conditions prudent for a single-family home. Beauty didn't come from the names of great artists or styles, but from logical solutions to every day issues.

As Oscar Wilde wryly noted, however, this often gets taken too far. It could lead to loose morals, an over-emphasis on worldly pleasures, dehumanization, and self-defeating close-mindedness. The endeavors of the British Empire were great, and it is safe to say England wasn't always humanely-minded. The Italian villa became a popular style following Wotton's new architecture, but the villa in Wilde's story which started out as a pleasure palace ended as a prison.

With this new ability given to the larger populace to control their environment, with time-tested principles but also with pragmatic flexibility and in conjunction with civic and other scholarly studies, England quickly advanced.

In my own short experience, I have seen a unique enthusiasm for architecture in England. A map of total visits to my architecture website which documents many projects around the world reaveals two cities that are by far the most interested in architecture: London, and not far behind it, New York City.

The practice of writing about architecture for the common person continued throughout Europe and continued on in the Americas, a practice that has advanced architecture in ways that are not fully appreciated.


Excerpt from Introduction to The Elements of Architecture by Henry Wotton
Now Available here!


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The Life of Sir Henry Wotton by Izaak Walton

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^ HK.Colin- flickr/cc license 1 out of 5 stars 12.9 megapixals (44288x2848 pixels) 23.6x15.8mm CMOS censor 1280x720 movie capture (24 fps, mono sound) 30 to 1/4000 shutter speed 200-3200 range ISO 4 fps shooting speed 2.7" LCD monitor tils and swivels Size: 5"x4.1"x3.1" Image sensor cleaning 19 auto scene modes GPS unit optional

The entry-level Nikon D5000 is a low cost SLR that produces impressive photos. The most outstanding feature is the positionable LCD display. It rotates and swirls to enable difficult shots from positions that would otherwise make a preview impossible. The camera runs smoothly and quietly with a more streamlined method of producing image files. As of 2009 the D5000 camera was reportedly only compatible with Nikkor AF-S, Sigma HSM, and Tamron NII lenses because it requires lenses have built-in focusing motors. But even after getting the correct lenses we still experienced big problems. Soon after purchasing the camera its aperture control failed. Though this occurred during the warranty time period, Nikon refused to apply the warranty agreement and repair the defect free of charge, in our opinion. Nikon claimed the repair did not fall under the warranty agreement. It was not a difficult repair but it took time and effort to ship and arrange. And this wasn't the only failure of the camera. Soon after this, the auto-focus failed to operate correctly on any lens. Nikon boasts 11 auto-focus points but they suddenly became useless as each photo must be focused manually. This disturbing break-down in the camera is not mentioned in photography magazines, but many common users complain about focus issues. And again, Nikon charged us for the repair even though it was still in the warranty time period. The large CMOS censor means great photo creation. The image is large, the quality is impressive, and the price is tempting. However Nikon's behavior is not what we expected from such a big company. All these features don't help when the product breaks and the company refuses to applythe warranty agreement, in our opinion. There have been great advances in cheaper cameras that have brought them close to the quality of an SLR, so that might be a better option. And for any foray into advanced SLR photography we recommend avoiding Nikon. Go with Canon. (1 out of 5 based on 1 ratings. 1 reviews. Specs and info retrieved from bythom.com&dpreview.com)

Two-Point Perspective One-Point Perspective Turning An Object Twisting An Object Tilting An ObjectSubdividing Space Repeating Space Curves & Circles

Graphical perspective portrays depth and space correctly in art. There are many strategies for making objects in a drawing look close or far away. Big objects tend to be closer. Early artists used overlapping to suggest one object was closer than another. Closer objects also tend to have more tonal contrast than objects far away and less bright colors because of atmospheric perspective. Finally, objects that are lower down are often closer because of gravity. But these things alone don't make a convincing drawing. We must consider how objects look from certain viewing positions. Using geometrical rules we can show objects as they are naturally seen. First thing to understand is that the size an object is related to its distance.

As you get farther away from telephone poles, they get smaller and smaller. They disappear along a horizontal line in the distance. Things get smaller toward this line. This is called the horizon line and it is at the viewer's eye level.




To make things easier we only need to look at three directions toward which objects get smaller in the distance. An object vanishes toward some point on the left, some point on the right, and some point either up or down.

We all know a cube has rectangular sides. But viewed naturally the sides vanish toward a point at each three directions. This is called 3-point perspective. Two of these vanishing points are on the horizon line, on the left and on the right side of the viewer.



Two-point perspective is basically the same as three-point perspective except the up or down vanishing direction is ignored and vertical lines are used.

People often think of a line as a mark on a piece of paper, but this is incorrect. It will be much easier if you think of a line only as a measure of distance. To find vanishing points we only use straight lines. Any part of the object that gets smaller in that particular direction converges along straight lines toward that single vanishing point.

First, find the vanishing points. This is determined by the object's size and distance from the viewer. To draw a perfect cube we make use of measuring points. Measuring points on the horizon line, closer to the center, guide the rate of vanishing for all directions.

Or if you are viewing a scene like a building you can guess based on angles of lines where the vanishing points are. Look for things that are in alignment, such as stones in a building, how they all converge toward the same vanishing points.

This is not only true for a single object such as a building, but for groups of objects that align with each other.



But what about multiple objects that aren't in alignment?



If you take one of those vanishing points and put it very very far to the left or right you get one-point perspective.



This is because when you move the vanishing point outward the other vanishing point moves inward, all the way until it is at the center directly in front of you. And the third vanishing point moves out as well until you have vertical lines. Whenever you start moving vanishing points around all the other vanishing points move around too. It is important to understand what happens to the object when you do this.

If you move all the vanishing points out, this makes it look like you are far away from the object and looking at it zooming in. But if you move all the vanishing points inward this looks like you are close up to the object and looking at it with a fish-eye lens.

If you move both vanishing points in the same direction the object will turn.



In other words, the vanishing point of a turning object will slow down as it gets closer to the object. Turning is the most basic movement an object makes to change vanishing points.



Twisting is pretty simple. It is pretty much the same thing as if you are twisting your head and the object is staying stationary. The vanishing point, horizon line, and everything else simply twists with you.

The only complication is if the object that twists is not directly in front of you. Because then the object looks like it is turning as well. So you got to move the perspective points using the same rule for turning objects.

When something tips forward or backward the horizon line moves slightly up or down with it. The vanishing points move out and the upper vanishing point moves down. Unless the object is perfectly in the center you've got to consider some twist and turn as well.



Alright, so we know how moving objects changes the vanishing points and horizon line. Let's take a look at the object itself. We have the overall shape but how do we determine parts and pieces of the object itself, the bricks, windows, and doors of the building?

We can find the center of an object's face using simple diagonal lines.



Do this to break up the object into quadrants, then subdivide the quadrants, until you have a grid of spaces. Simply measure proportions on this grid to figure out where all the pieces of the object go.

Subdividing also helps us figure out how to double a length of space. For example, if you want to draw horizontal wood beams along a railroad track. Take a line from the diagonal to the middle of the side of the plane and continue it on.



This is all well and good for straight lengths, but what about curvy objects? Well that's where things get more complex. Linear perspective only deals with straight lines. So curves require some guesswork. This is a limitation that makes some of the best computer rendering software do some hard calculations.

First, draw a rectangle around the circle or curve. The edges of that circle must meet the square at the midway points. There is a tenancy to tilt the circle incorrectly if you don't consider these midway points.

To make the curve more accurate subdivide the square. Mark points where the curve intersects these subdividing lines and keep track of these points as you draw the same square in perspective.



There are several methods of subdividing the rectangle that will make this easier.

Principal among all well known and renowned Roman architects, artistic workers or builders: Marcus Vitruvius Pollio - Ten books of architecture and artistic construction. A key and introduction to all mathematic and mechanical art, and of all astute attempts or speculations of artistic works. Diligently and properly written for the population, from such high understanding and correct ground, with a full and certain foundation of all laudable art. So that every avid student of art may thus be instructed in architecture and artistic construction, and may easily learn and grasp a correct understanding of the mathematics and mechanical arts involved in architecture. All this adorned and declared with beautiful artistic figures and antiquities and with special commentary for a better understanding. For the first time translated and printed in German, for the advantageous benefit of all artistic handiwork, workmen, builders, vehicle and civil designers, well diggers, carpenters, painters, sculptures, goldsmiths, carpenters, and all those who use artistic titles and tools.

View original book, by Uni Heidelberg English translation pp.7-10

Through D. Gualtherium H. Rivium Medical & Mathematician

First to transfer this into the German language, as it is otherwise would not be understood with the other sources except through considerable effort.

Printed in Nürnberg: Johan Petreius, 1548

Printed in the same year and afterward with regal support of the king.

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Scholarly, foresighted, and wise gentlemen, mayors and counselors, the city of Nuremburg, my authoritative and favored gentlemen.

Scholarly, foresighted, and wise gentlemen, E.F.E.W., modest art and wisdom comes despite all dout. With such great diligence the ancients, our forefathers, founded and brought forth a high understanding of all art and meaningful inventions, which is to our temporal welfare and necessary for our physical preservation. And they took such care to freely and thoughtfully leave behind their helpful and useful inventions for us, their descendants.

These arts and various meaningful inventions remain as a leading testimony if considered in common and equally well, and they allow everyone some useful and advantageous opportunity for design. But we find that one art has a special purpose or higher goal than the others, giving it special consideration.

Quite a few helpful arts and meaningful inventions have risen to prominence, pleasing the eye and remaining until now in constant need. They have been very important in promoting friendlier, more pleasant, and greater social human interaction, or improving a city’s status and nature, and to get this with ease.

The greater portion is also honored and each are disassociated from that fruitful and useful half that they may daily bring, and then further and more considerably alone on account that they are quite fun and entertaining, deceptively charming and agreeable. And so we believe that each art is to be considered its own separate specialty.

Thus we pick for ourselves all art and meaningful inventions- not just what the ancients our forefathers would have goodwillingly shared, but also all that is modern and founded and produced day by day. With diligence we venture and attempt this discretionary partitioning or distinction, revivals, and requests. We find that there is no art that will bring to those who want or encounter it such great daily use and unbelievable advantage, such learning, practice, and need, as the excellent art of Architecture, which is justly seen as the most respectable, useful, crucial and most loved of all.

Yet this area is not commonly understood as having a need for architecture. According to the opinion and teaching of ancient and highly considered Vitruvian architecture, some work of stonemasons, bricklayers, etc. should be respectively considered as arts through architecture. Diligent and experienced architects use this work and help as a handy instrument or tool. If these other artistic creations, judiciaries, or benefits are equally precious and from good sturdy ground, a good understanding of the work, and through advanced beginnings, and if experienced through architecture, they may thereby reveal the fundamental issues of their own work. They may serve to complete all our temporal and physical endeavors, our important

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wants and needs, achieving them through an intelligent and good understanding of the ordering and building of the work.

There was also the thought and opinion held as true by ancient heathen philosophies regarding the diligent development of natural things, that human sexes began to live in dwellings and supposedly united and came together because of the most basic necessities of water or fire. We should be very careful that the art of architecture be the very first approach, beginning with this union of the first humans in a pleasant dwelling. Therefore we consider the needs and uses of the dwelling.

For whoever follows this admirable pursuit may not inadequately study any other art or clever invention. Even the first attempted and newly developed architecture gave us all kinds of results, not just screening and protecting us from foul weather, hail frost, wind, cold and rain, but also protecting us from various dangerous and malicious people, contrary and ferocious animals, and so forth. It gave protection, shelter, and shade from many dangers and calamities. It also preserved life and limb in various good times and men depended on it for help, because of their inherent stupidity, and the ancients used it to climb up and to better themselves.

Today we can still see that only these arts and various meaningful inventions are the most important and necessary means for receiving, establishing, and reaping in a peaceful, livable civilization of dwellings. We couldn’t use or even consider any other way because this art is inspired and given to us by the Lord God out of privileged approval, fatherly will and providence, to be useful to man as a shield and weapon.

We consider the means through which our human body prolongs its health and gains human strength to be the first and most important and highest expertise of our time. It becomes clear that the same greater portion began with this art. For still to be seen today are mighty and glorious constructs of antiquity, built with some bodily power and remarkable, unbelievable expense. For visual examples there are crumbling bath houses, gymnasiums, observatories, and theaters. The great aqueducts, or culverts, in particular stand as testimony to how various arts and forms can be wonderfully finalized and conquered through this art, and not only for bodily preservation and enhancement but also for thousands of other uses.

Today we have museums, recognizing that nothing on earth has flowered that was not from this art, including the human body, advancement, trade, like fruitful branches and twigs springing out of a cut root. This art has brought us important tools for basic work, such as agricultural equipment through which we harvest everything, along with all other instruments and vehicles of labor. They dig wells for sources of water, not only for one place but to be sent to other places through the depths of the earth to flow through the high mountain, digging through hard veins of stone, evening out the height and flatness and leading through great lengths and in great heights. They contain and dam up rivers, ponds, and seas. They drain marshes and intentionally divert strong current of water to lead into cities as they please, employing various methods. Ships are built as all the oceans can be traversed using ships, and the shores must therefore be provided with ports and shipyards. Bridges must be built over large and small rivers along with royal mills and various buildings having to do with water.

Whatever the purpose of the useful and noteworthy artistic work, each will be brought to completion with a fundamental and correct understanding of the art

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of architecture.

Part of the reason we establish holy buildings and great construction is for the preservation of the Christian religion, including churches, temples, holy houses, and whatever the local city policy and regiment concerns, holy palaces of judgment and city halls, armories, treasuries, hospitals, royal and kingly courts, and common and exclusive city dwellings. They are constructed with such great magnificence and glory, all founded by well ordered policies.

The most important construction, namely the city’s fortifications, castles, and keep, were also founded through this art, as well as city walls, city ports, gates, graveyards, fortresses, bastions, garrisons, posts, etc. all with their advantageous defenses. They were built with power and considerable effort for a freer and more secure city life, for business and trade, and for the needs of all man-made machinery. Their nature is unrivaled because of the artistic inventions of architecture, along with artillery hoists, vehicles, and many thousand, countless similar mechanical instruments, all of which have their origins in architecture. They would not remain if robbed of their universal as well as their individual foundation.

In order to humbly convince with true arguments and solid logic that this art of architecture together with all its parts is the most useful, necessary, and therefore the most beloved and enjoyable of all artistic and meaningful inventions, the principle through which every well ordered policy and city regiment at any point in time of peace or war may be noted as having affluence and virtue, as staying firm and full of security, calm, frugality, and having the highest expertise of common needs- that you may become even more modestly convinced with all the vast histories and particularly from the excellent examples from Archimedes and through other famous artistic architects-

To bring this to a fair conclusion, that this excellent art of architecture, and all that has been invented, brought forth, and developed, not only out of a high understanding, various experiences, meaningful attempts, and some practice, but also reinforced with writing, from that which they shared to us their descendants despite all doubt, which has been to such significant good and high merit for our common use, and is worthy of much praise and approval-

And that you may especially understand in this regard and give proper holy credit to all those who have been involved in the writings of architecture and passed on and shared their understandings, who have written about the oldest, highest esteemed, and most famous architect Vitruvius, and to pass on this same book which describes architecture with the utmost diligence and in a reasonable and handy order, that the entire art with all its parts may be laid out in a short summary, immaculately like looking at a mirror, with all arts and not as a costly and precious treasure, but as a correct, dependable foundation and all-encompassing groundwork for all the arts that go with architecture, to be highly received-

And as this issue was until now understood by many excellent, educated, and well known people of certain nations, so this book of Vitruvius is shared in the native, foreign and alien language, for their particular advantage and to direct their work and meaningful inventions, as well as their wisdom and scientific methods, though we speak German-

Therefore, these days this glorious artistic book of Vitruvius has been transferred to other foreign nations into various language, chiefly into Italian and then into Spanish and then the French language.

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But until now, like I said, save only for the foreign-speaking German readers who appreciated art, we have remained unacquainted, ignorant, or hidden from the greater portion because of a lack of translation or distribution of these glorious books, this precious treasure.

However today all art and meaningful inventions will be brought higher day by bay from this blessed, excellent, indebted German nation. And not only will all other nations consult us, but we may far outdo them with high reason and common and useful practice in all necessary labor and effort.

I have a great desire and good intention to be of common service, foremost for the meaningful art of math, as it relates to architecture, to serve as an occupation. I feel pleased to take upon myself this concentrated effort to share diverse architectural books of the highest quality to the best of my ability, and to transfer all artistic things into a common and plain German language using the press.

But whilst these books of Vitruvius describe and order with such great understanding and splendid prescience the right ability required for artistic and orderly construction, it also describes all other arts which may require mathematical art and mechanical inventions. It is a short summary, developed and composed for this purpose, that the diligent reader might explore the faithful instruction of these books.

These artistic things are somewhat hazy and difficult, not entirely understandable. This includes many things, but to give a particular example, the fortified construction and advanced machinery needed for weapons in Vitruvius’ time, as founded by the principle of architecture.

It includes many other things that have been made and developed as needed, which to the German reader are of utmost importance yet strange and unknown. They are barely touched upon in our German literature or pursued from a solid foundation. I am therefore at this time concerned about many professions related to mine, such as the distinguished art of medicine, that these professions look to certain practices and works from the superb examples of other excellent artists, including: Luca Pacioli, Caesaris Caesarini, Benadicti Iourj, Boni Mauri, Leonis Baptistae, Guilielmi Philandri, Sebastiano Serlio, Patri Nonij, Orontij Finei, Niccolo Tartaglia, and many others whose literature about architecture and closely related arts proved crucial in providing true precepts for my undertaking.

Their writings in foreign languages help lay out and declare these books of Vitruvius with special visual figures and with German commentary, and further involve related mathematical art and mechanical inventions and investigations, indeed all arts, so that those who understand and practice these arts might clearly and easily have the teachings and instruction of Vitruvius.

Those who need other useful and understandable instruction might achieve just what they need, as such short and varied arts shared and related to architecture may not have advanced. May all despite my weakness of person be spared work and pain through these efforts, and may I prove helpful and useful for common practices. And with the sharing of these ten books and with my diligent artistic expertise, I am furthermore moved and anxious that

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the Viruvian architecture and ordered figures and commentary or design in these ten books deal with the most useful and advantageous architecture, related mathematical art, meaningful mechanical inventions, and various useful practices. May these special books share the unpracticed and untaught reader the very best, clearest, and strongest foundation and introduction with these printed books of Vitruvius, and be shared with good will.

As the wise and versatile architect Vitruvius found it fit to give first attention in his esteemed books and writings to the almighty Caeser Julius, and then to Augustus, as an excellent and holy gift and to extend his gratitude, then so should all who have received so much dedicate under both these Roman Caesers’ holy names and hold up the book for publication with the praise they deserve. We should do this for those who transferred these holy books into some foreign languages and also documented and traded the arts related to architecture and so so still to this day.

We should further commend the opinions and high and great views of the mighty potentates with their applicable efforts and literary works, who have gracefully given aid for all diligent artistic expression to common use, as a strong protection and mighty shield. I do not hesitate to follow the auspicious examples of certain educated, sensible, visionary, and wise gentlemen, including E.F.E.W, who richly adorn and honor all famous and laudable arts with modest experience and with various holy gifts of God. They are the highest patrons, soft and fatherly possessors, providers, and protectors of all famous laudable arts, to translate and order commentary on Vitruvian architecture and give other important books that articulately deal with architecture related arts. Under the holy and well known name E.F.E.W. I have spread about and published for the many advantages and uses of all art enthusiasts.

For while E.F.E.W has a particularly friendly disposition and good intentions, he also strives to serve and stand for any common need and expertise of any client. E.F.E.W furthermore modestly displays an angelic, joyful and peaceful rule and gives rightly ordered Christian policies. And thus from all principles brings all artistic virtue, famous artistic and laudable things, to make any place a place of peace, and to make any and everyone of good report, so that there may be few injuries.

I don't doubt that it will fall on me to utilize E.F.E.W.'s effort through my literary work. I truly hope that all art enthusiasts will find this work under E.F.E.W.'s high reputation and glorious name pleasing and agreeable. As a volunteer, I will likewise greatly expend and let up no diligence to this end, that these and similar endeavors may be advantageous and helpful to all art-enthusiasts and common use. I will by day bring my highest power to goodwillingly honor and please E.F.E.W.

E.F.E.W. honors to God's holy name and the fatherland's common use and glory, and that is why the almighty God of all authoritative understanding and wisdom mandates E.F.E.W His shield and protection, the rule, patronage, and intervention.

Date in Wüzburg: 16. Feb. 1548.

E.F.E.W

Patron

Gualtherus H. Riuius Medicus & Mathematicus & c.

© This translation coyprighted Benjamin Blankenbehler

Continue to English translation pp.7-10

Peter Zumthor designed the spa in 1996 for the Therme Vals hotel. Down-slope from the original 1960s hotel, the roof of the spa serves as a grass lawn and swimming pool for the guests. This takes on a park atmosphere as the plantings are natural but arranged in rectangular synthetic forms.

Thin local quarzite stones make up the unique walls of the spa. They are stacked in a way that hints at natural geology and push the building back from dominating the site's beautiful scenery. The building has 15 units arranged on a grid, 5 meters tall and related to each other by cantilevered roofs.

Thin window reveals in the roof relate to the thin stone blocks, but they also outline the exterior form and give a heavy, cave-like feel inside. These high-contrast striations in the incoming light emphasize the building material's linear nature. The long horizontal lines emphasize the peaceful horizon of still water.

Circulation of the site is carefully considered within the straight paths. A procession of sensory stimulants suggest a timeless experience, ancient benefits to bathing. Views are allowed or blocked in careful consideration of this sensory experience. The most primal feelings are evoked as all nature is technologically stripped away to just rock, water, and light. Temperature also varies along these procession paths.

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Morphosis Architects designed the Perot Museum in Victory Park in Dallas Texas, completed in 2012. The city fragments as the visitor enters, with tree canopies and free form gardens bringing him back to nature. From this atrium the visitor enters the main building.

The main building is very similar to other Morphosis projects, a rectangular chunk with horizontal texture and long slivers of sparse windows. The stony veneer advertizes the museum's emphasis of nature, and the flowy curvature of stone hearkens to the geographical qualities of the region.

The visitor proceeds straight to the top and overlooks to city for a final reminder of what the built environment looks like, and then he delves down into the exhibits of nature that proceeded it.

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Frank Gehry designed the Beekman Tower at 8 Spruce Street in New York City. It is 76 floors tall and surrounded by famous skyscrapers like City Hall, Woolworth Building, and Mead & White Municipal Bldg. The steel structure is typical but it is covered with a signature Gehry reflective metal skin that wrinkles and textures to provide variety and interest.

The plan steps back as it rises, holding to conventional skyscraper design, but it does so carefully and seeks to maintain its bold statement. These folds also provide contrast of inside and outside with nooks and bays afforded by the walls. As Gehry's first residential tower project, the 8 Spruce Street skyscraper is also one of the skyscrapers to the wealthy that are popping up around Manhattan and cause a rift in social class, probably for the worse.

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