Illuminate
Throughout the course of the week, several of these terms were mentioned and expounded upon in a way that helped me dive deeper into their meanings and understand more about them than I what I previously knew. I was able to associate illuminate most through Suzanne’s lessons with watercolor. Watercolor allows for some items to be highlighted more than others by adding a simple dash of color. It really makes them pop and seem more on display than its environment and/or neighboring objects. Another example discussed this week pertaining to illumination would be the Egyptians’ pyramids. Firstly, the Egyptians built their structures from light colored sandstone but placed a gold tip at the top of the pyramid, playing with color to illuminate that one aspect. Secondly, The Egyptians had a thorough and deep believe in the Sun God Ra, making their afterlife belief even more pronounced. The way in which they built their tombs and temples (pyramids), was designed around the thought that the soul of the deceased kings would be closer to Ra. “Each of the great masses is perfectly aligned toward the North Star and the perpendicular axis of the sun.” (Roth 196) Roth also shows how Spell 523 relates that “’Heaven hath strengthened for thee the rays of the sun in order that thou mayest lift thyself to heaven as the eye of Ra.’ In other words, the pyramid was the kind’s launching place, the mountain whose gilded summit would catch the first rays of the sun from which the soul of the pharaoh would rise to greet Ra in his eternal endeavor…” (Roth 201) This shows how the Egyptians buried their deceased pharaohs to be exalted even in their death and after life by illuminating their resting places.
Idiom
This week brought quite a bit of confusion and debate on the accurate definition or example of an idiom. One definition reads “an expression whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of its constituent elements, or from the general grammatical rules of language.” Some examples of simple phrases or clichés were tossed up for interpretation this week; phrases that involved things that could be in different ways or contain different meanings or uses. Instead of a literary idiom, I have chosen to illuminate and describe this term with a structure that has sparked much controversy over the last few hundred years. Stonehenge stands as a perfect example of such a thing that can be categorized as an idiom. There has been much debate over the essential use and intentions of Stonehenge. It has been suggested that it served as a way to monitor the sun that rose directly ahead during summer solstice. Another astronomical suggestion was that it “might have been used to mark phases and eclipses of the moon and other astronomical phenomena.” (173) Another suggestion of its intended use was for religion or some other ritual. “…the manifestation of a social covenant, a symbol of communal purpose.” It has been thought that the Stonehenge was used for a religious ritual pertaining to the dead – despite the fact that no bodies have been found anywhere near the area. These many different interpretations of the intended use of Stonehenge stands as an example of an idiom and how different things can be perceived in different ways for different people.
http://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2008/06/early-stonehenge-pilgrims-came-from.html
Material
The material utilized to create buildings and structures has a great impact on the overall composition of the entity. It affects the visual appeal, texture, “commodity, firmness, and Delight.” One example I’ve discovered from this week would be the early Mesopotamian civilization. Their architecture seems quite simple, but its actually one of the first versions of building techniques and materials that are repeated and used even in structures today. “An architecture of mud bricks reinforced with straw emerged. Coated with a hard plaster, this material was sufficiently durable in a climate with little rain and some of these structures have been in use for four thousand years.” (Roth 193) The Mesopotamian people were forced to advance in their architecture and use of the materials around them because they were limited in what they could use. They found ways to manipulate what may seem simple and trivial materials to construct a structure that actually satisfied the power of three (commodity, firmness, and delight) but that also has been able to be expounded upon and perfected to be used even today. Below is an image of the Ziggurat of Ur, providing an excellent example of their materials used.
http://www.dl.ket.org/humanities/arch/ur.htm
Commodity
As one of the three main components of design, commodity plays a large part in the process of creating a well-designed space or structure. It can be defined as something of use, advantage, or value. My personal thoughts on Commodity is a space that effectively utilizes the space in a way that maximizes its area and space, as well as utilizing as many parts of it as possible. One example from this week I found helpful when defining commodity was the Village at El Kahun in Egypt. Each residential home was connected to its neighbor, compacting the living area and utilizing less material, making it a sustainable design. In most cases, a residential structure shared a right, left, and back wall with it’s neighbors. “As a study of the Egyptian temple reveals, it is a linear, axial architecture, turned at right angles to the axis of the river. And those two axes of river and sun form the basis of the orthogonal grid of Egyptian fields and cities, exemplified by the city built by the Twelfth Dynasty pharaoh, Sesostris II…at what is now El Kahun…” (Roth 190) This quote describes the design and overall construction of the village of El Kahun. The image below also shows how each individual space is connected to its neighbors, making use of every bit of space whilst still maximizing its space.
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/towns.htm
Firmness
Firmness simply means, long lasting and securely fixed in place. A well designed structure considers what its future is to be like; whether it will be weathered a century later, what its condition will be, its future usage and changes, and simply whether it will be in existence in future years. The Egyptians considered firmness quite a bit in the pyramids at Giza. These three main structures have withstood the test of time and are still in good condition. The Egyptians also considered its intended use years later. Their strong belief in the afterlife contributed to this. They needed a structure to bury their dead that would allow all their possessions to be safe and secure for them until they returned in their after life.
Delight
Delight in terms of architecture satisfies the beauty needs and expectations of the eye. Not only does a well-designed structure satisfy both the needs of commodity and firmness, but it must also be visually appealing. It must be delightful to the eye and to its intended use. An example would be my version of “Pats Chair” in Stoel’s drafting class. I have attempted to design it to satisfy the three main points of a well-designed piece of architecture: commodity, firmness, and delight. It is firm, withstanding for its use (commodity), and is also visually appealing and delightful. We as designers must strive for such creations. To effectively create a place and enhance its function, sustainability, and aesthetics, we must consider commodity, firmness, and delight.
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