Foundation summary

Foundation Unit Summary 

            I think that the foundation unit is the most important unit with many basic principles of design. But what comes to my mind as most memorable is commodity, firmness, and delight. This was one of the very first things that we learned about, and it makes plenty of sense as to why we did. It was taught, commodity being the functionality of a design or space, firmness being the structure or how well it is built, and delight being its attributes such as rhythm and proportion or how we see the structure. I think that these are the most important concepts to any design, because we all should keep these in mind when we are constructing an idea or design. And I think that the history that we got from Roth and Blakemore backs up the idea of commodity, firmness, and delight. We learned for the most part that all of the designers before us, such as the Romans, Greeks, and Egyptians, all applied these principles to their design for the most part.

            I think that another key principle is Story. Because everything has a story behind it, weather it is process or inspiration. In my studio class we are doing a project called Found in Translation, and we are making pathways and portals all derived from a single story. So the story is hidden in the details. Looking back at ancient Egypt we find that stories are carved into the walls of the structures as of in modern times the stories have been abstracted within the design or they are not present at all in the structure. The structures of ancient Rome have kind of took away the written words and let the structures meanings be lost in translation or have a double meaning. For instance the meanings behind the columns representing the the importance of the king, who would have thought that they would be referencing the male reproductive organ.

            Also another important term is scale, because scale is shown through every architectural structure. If you take a look back on ancient architecture of Egypt, Greece, and Rome, you will see that scale plays a substantial role in their structures. For instance the pyramids of Giza exemplifies various use of scales, starting with the smaller pyramids spanning to the larger structures. The Parthenon is another great example of scale, because one cant help but to notice that the large structure stands out over all of the other structures in the acropolis. Thus allowing the scale to tie in to hierarchy, because it is the main focal point of the acropolis. Looking at ancient Rome you will notice that the Coliseum is a magnificently large structure not only compared to the rest of ancient Rome, but also compared to many structures to this day.

            I am in a sense satisfied with the structure of the foundations unit, thus being because we would learn a term and then the term and meaning would be reinforced through the reading and the material. But also rather than shoving the information down your throat, the course gives you all of the facts and allows you to do some research on your own, and establish your own opinion concerning the architecture and the theory, which reinforces the structures.