Macro to Micro

Composition:  A composition is putting together several parts to make one whole.  All throughout this semester we have been working on one project, called translation. We started out with a story, from the story we drew inspirations, from the inspirations we made an artifact, from the artifact we made a wall for the artifact, from the wall we drew abstractions of the wall and came up with new inspirations for a passageway, and from the passageway we created a portal.  In any cathedral, the porch, court, and hearth are the parts that make up the whole.  “Plato in Philebus- forms generated by straight lines and circles, as well as the solids created by these forms in three dimensions.”  (Roth, 358)  Vitruvius forms were derived from Plato, and all the lines, circles and solids make up a composition.

Here is a picture of the portal that my group and I made.  It represents the many pieces of cardboard that make up the whole composition.

Porch/Court/Hearth:  There are three pieces to the megaron:  the porch, the court, and the hearth.  A church is a great example of a porch, court, and hearth.  The porch is like the narthex because it is the entrance.  The porch is the transition from the entrance to the court.  The court is the main part of a place.  For example in a church it is where all the people sit, it is a gathering place.  The most important of the three is the hearth because it is in the center.  In a church it is the altar.  You can relate the three pieces to a modern-day home.  The porch is the front doorway, the court is the family room, and the hearth is the kitchen.  In Roth on page 370, the diagram at the bottom shows a perfect example of the right side being the porch, the middle being the court, and the end on the left being the hearth.

Here is a diagram that I drew to show the porch, court, and hearth in a small apartment style housing.

    Diagram:  A diagram is an illustrative drawing that represents anything.  There are several kinds of diagrams such as a bubble diagram, a matrix, analytical, a zoning diagram and more.  Diagrams can show different functions, contexts, exterior spaces, overall forms, landscaping, travel routes, etc.  Diagrams are used for anyone to be able to see them and immediately understand them without having to ask questions.  Plans are also considered diagrams.  Diagrams are symbols that represent something as the Duomo is a symbol to the city of Florence that says, “we can move beyond this” meaning that they can make something better.  On page 354 in Roth, the map of Renaissance Europe is a drawing diagram that shows the boundaries of Renaissance Europe.

This diagram is a context diagram for Suzanne's class that shows landscaping, topography, and surrounding buildings, streets and sidewalks for the MHRA building on campus.

Impression:  An impression is an imitation of something that makes a big effect.  When I am drawing I try to make the composition look great so that it leaves a good impression on whoever looks at my artwork.  For my group’s precedent analysis, each of us drew the Cologne cathedral.  We all focused on something different about the cathedral to leave an impression of feeling to what the cathedral is like.  I drew the basic outline of the cathedral with little detail so that I could leave the impression that the cathedral is big from far away.  Brunelleshci liked to make ordered space.  In Roth, it says, “…the columns are also as far from the rear as they are high, thus delineating cubes in space.”  Roth was trying to get the point across that the tall columns make the impression that the space gives a really big and open feeling. (Roth, 362)

This is a small thumbnail drawing of the Cologne cathedral in Germany.  It gives the impression of how big the cathedral actually is compared to the ground far away.

Detail: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe says, “God is in the details.”  You must look into the details to find new discoveries and creativity.  In Suzanne’s class we learned that by drawing small details of a building, you catch the essence of the building itself.  I feel that my small 3x3 detail drawing really caught the impression of the hand railings in the MHRA building on campus.  In the st. Sernin cathedral in Toulouse, France, the columns are very detailed making them have very delightful to look the eye.  “Leon Batttista Alberti… inserted in the text of Alberta’s letter is a sketch of this detail, showing Matteo de’ Pasti how to make the transition from the lower side aisles to the taller center nave.” (Roth, 368)  The detail on this page in Roth is an example of a small part that plays a part in making the whole.

This is my detail drawing for Suzanne's class.  It shows a close-up of the hand railing in the MHRA building.

Summary:  The porch, court, and hearth are details that make up the composition.  The composition can be represented in a diagram that give off an impression of what the composition is like with or without lots of details.  I learned that getting an overall impression of what a building is like is just as important as its details!  Macro and micro both matter!