Erotic & Baroque Architecture

When we hear the word erotic, we used to think of the meaning of it in a sexual way but what about the word erotic in term of architecture. In my opinion, as I have been studying, erotic in architecture is a combination between two or more different things that ends up making new thing. it could be human, space, light or anything else.

    

    I have been studying about Baroque architecture and I found it has many very interesting things. For instant, the shape of the structure with many curves, mostly symmetrical structure, decorations with many ornaments and also beautiful paintings all over the place.

    Architecture from Baroque period is very interesting. They might took sometimes to understand but you will find out how beautiful they are after a little while. They usually have very great outside look which could persuade you to get a closer look or even to go inside the place. Most architecture of this period have a very beautiful way of how lights come inside the building, they could come from the top or the window dramatically.

    At last, I must say that baroque architecture is erotic because once you step inside the building and you take a little while try to understand and absorb those artworks until you basically participate with the combination between yourself and those artworks and this is finally how it is erotic for me.

Post Fordism

The word Post-Fordism is clearly originated from the word Fordism. Fordism is the period where everything is made from the factory, in another word is the period of mass production. This mass production is start from the Henry Ford who own the Ford car company. He produced the ford car that every car has the same shape. Since then the mass production started.

Nevertheless, Post-Fordism and Fordism is totally not the same. For the reason that people is not make from factory, so everyone has their own identity and has their own style. No one wanted to use the same thing as the others. So, The post-Fordism begins.

Post-Fordism is the factory made as same as the Fordism but is the way that it has it own identity and the system inside the random style. The design of the post-Fordism seem to has no repetition and because of the technology in this period allow the architect to have a crazier ideas and to build the building with the complex form.

The post Fordism create the different atmosphere to the area and it remain the identity of itself. In the fact that people wants to have something that represent themselves even the small thing like keychain of even the water glass , bags , telephone and almost everything that people want to present themselves differently. So for the house or the building is the same. No one wants to have exactly same house with the neighbor. Even though the house cost more or take longer time to construct, but I think it is worth it to remain your identity.

Post modernism

Post modernism is completely different from the modernism. For modernism, the main concept is starting from zero. But when the time pass, people were getting boring with the glass box and want something new and outstanding. The modernism use on the honest material but the post modernism uses the honest shape or symbol. For example the duck house , which is the house for duck and it is a duck-shape house. It clearly shows the purpose of the house through out the design. And in this period, the design is telling what’s the building is. The building in this period has sign in front and tell the people about the building itself. For example the Guild house,  the hotel design by Robert Venturi and has a huge sign in front to tell the people exactly what it is.

 For the post modernism is something that not surprise and lack of attraction in a way of telling the answer or spoil it to others people. The fact that it is weird and different make it look excited at the first sight, but it looks kind of boring and not classic in the second or third sight.

Modernism and Expressionism

Expressionism to me is like a next level for the modernism. It has something similar to the modernism but kind of add more sense of feeling and reason behind the design. Modernism is something nice and clean and also be as minimal as possible. Different from Expressionism which somehow the design can express the feeling of the building itself through the movement or the look. For me expressionism it is like an abstract art that make people wonder about the meaning behind, but the building function and design are related, so it express what it actually inspired from. For example the  TWA terminal in New york city, inspired from a bird. The building look like a bird wings that open wide and about to fly. This related to the concept of the airport which also the take off place for the airplane. The curve of the roof of the airport create source of a movement and show a moment of the bird that about to fly in the sky as well. Compare to the modernism which have only straight line or a box. This straight line cannot express something like expressionism did.

Personally I like expressionism more than the modernism because expressionism has more reason of design compare to the modernism which kind of boring and always a glass box. I like the expressionism because it kind of let me guess what it inspired from or what it transform from. And that it kind of a challenge to guess

Toward a New Architecture, by Le Corbusier & Play time, by Jacques Tati

According from the reading of Toward a New Architecture from Le Corbusier , the standard of the living place was created within the aesthetic and also functional. The standard that he created leads to the easier way of measuring and the simple way of the calculate these simple geometric structural forms. So, on this standard form of living, people seems to be more equally to each other and it is just like a new world with less complicated.

Furthermore in the Play time movie, this movie show the living of the same standard which everything in this world seem to have no different starting from the people’s out fit , the working space and lastly the living space. This leads to no envy and no jealousy to each other, because there is no need to be. Before I watched this movie, I used to think that the world with the no different would be so peaceful because it means that there are not going to be any thief because there have no reason to steal things when they are also have it. But my thought is kind of changed after seeing this movie. This world without different is totally boring. This world need to have some thing identical and iconic to give life more colorful, but to be different and standout need not only the creativity but it also require a willingness and the courage to get this such a thing done.

This movie of Tati will never ever come true because it is source of against the human nature. We as a human never stop developing thing, not only for the architecture but also every kind of study.

Mies van der Rohe and Ornamentation

 Mies van der Rohe is a master of the modern architecture. He likes simple, plain and makes everything minimal just like what he says “Less is more”.  Most of his building is as simple as a glass box and this is what makes him became famous. In his architectural work, he always uses an honest material, which means that you can see every single detail in his architecture.  He normally put in every piece of construction material together without any painted or covered on. The purpose of doing this is because he wants his building to be as a book, which people can come and learned from it. Mies’s building looked so stunning by itself, so there is no need for any ornament involved. The more decoration will take people’s attention away, which lead to the failure of the architecture. Beside this people will only care about the ornament and forget about the function of the building.

However, Mies seems not interested in any house decoration. But, in fact, he also uses it unclearly. The decoration is carefully camouflaged along with the building, so that the building still looks modern. In this case, I feel like Mies just had broken his own rule because the main thing about being a modernist is to make everything functional and turn back against every kind of the ornament. But maybe this is an exception for those rules, which the main purpose of the rule anti-decoration is that it will take the attention away. For Mies, his decoration is become one part of the architecture and it’s enhance the aesthetic of the building itself.

In the conclusion, the ornament is acceptable as long as it not takes attention away from the building. Otherwise the design of the building will not significant any more.

Ornament and Crime Response

From the ornament and crime by Adolf Loos, It is obvious that the author claimed for modern architecture. He said the ornament is a crime because it is obsolete and an old fashion which it is going to restrain the development of the new design.

From the story I agree that ornament is sometimes unnecessary and sometimes can distort the purpose of the architecture itself. On the other hand, these ornaments can give us a feeling of home. For me, the modern architecture itself cannot perfectly complete the ‘home’ feeling because it is too plane and too simple. And it will take just only awhile then the owner will get bored and start to find the ornament to add in.

However, it is something personally, no one can really judge what is necessary or unnecessary. It is the same like when the author said the front row culture develop man can eat a bland food all the time, which is completely not true. Some of that people might not eat it or prefer something better. Because we are human and it is a fact that we never satisfy with what we have, we want more and more. The more ornament in the house can show the owner’s wealth, this maybe another reason of the need of the decorations. Nevertheless, too much decoration will became a mess in the house and worse than that, it will consume the living space in the house.

In conclusion, I think the best way is to have balance between the ornaments and the architectural space to avoid too much decorations and too much plain.