MICRO : MACRO [week six : the opus project]

Composition. A composition is a collective whole. It is the act of putting things together. Constructing and forming. This past week was filled with compositions in all of my classes. I find that any drawing is a composition and in Suzanne's class we had to create a series of drawings of an assigned building. From that we also had to form detailed plans of that building. In my mythology class, I used composition in putting information together. Though I did not construct anything, I formed a series of events that allow me to have a better understanding of the culture and religion. The above picture is the graphic I composed for my Portal project in studio.

Porch, Court, Hearth. In architecture, a porch surrounds the building and is the opening to everything. It forms a connection to every part of the space. The court is the next part of a building. It is an open area and acts as a gathering and meeting spot. It allows people to come together. The hearth, which is usually in the center if a home, also acts as a gathering spot. It is the heart of a home and family. All of these parts form the whole of a home. "The sequencing of rooms followed the norm in which a tripartite arrangement begins with the reception spaces and is followed by the great hall or living room and private section" (Blakemore 6).  In this quote you see the were the three words relate to the structure of the home. The porch, or reception space, is the area surrounding the home. The Court, or Great Hall, invites people in. The hearth, or living room and private sections, are the heart of the home. The above picture is a plan view of an Egyptian home.

Diagram. A diagram is a picture that allows to see the intent of a space or thing. Diagrams, like the drafts I made in Stole's drafting class, allow you to see the intent of a building. Diagrams can also be a collective group of picture that allow you to see the intent and vision of a designer. In studio, I had to create a diagram that showed a connection between a precedent building and a portal that a group of people and myself created. "When applied to contextual analysis, a diagramming process can act as the key informant at the very outset of design" (Lockard, 29). The above picture is a diagram copied from a handout that Suzanne gave to us by Lockard.

Impressions. An idea, feeling, or opinion about something formed without conscious thought. An impression is the what you walk away with after seeing something. An example would be the Gothic Cathedral or Egyptian temple. Both spaces consume you and make you feel as if you are being swallowed in by all of the architecture. "Like mid-twentieth century modernist architects, medieval master masons sought to dematerialize structure, to make the church an analogue of the ethereal heavenly city" (Roth 336). This quote informs us that the architects of many churches and cathedrals wanted to leave an impression of one walking through heaven. The above picture is "supposed" to represent a church reaching into and becoming apart of the heavens.

Detail. A detail is a close up picture of a specific part of a building, it is an individual feature, fact, or item. With Suzanne's project, we were assigned a building and then from that had to draw a series of pictures and the from that we had to create a detailed drawing of a site specific feature. "Your purpose is to make your audience see what you saw, hear what you heard, feel what you felt. Relevant detail, couched in concrete, colorful language, is the best way to recreate the incident as it happened and to picture it for the audience" (Dale Carnegie). The above picture is a detail I drew for Suzanne's class. It is a detailed drawing of the pond outside of the Elliot University Center.

The more I relate these Opus projects to my everyday life, I find that every topic relates back to parts and whole. To me it definitely relates to Micro : Macro. Micro meaning the small parts and macro meaning the bigger picture. A porch, court, and hearth are the parts of home. They leave a warm and inviting impression on all people and allow you to find little details in hidden corners. Finally, with that detail you are able to create compositions in the form of diagrams. Every "micro" part leads to a "macro" whole.