Research Paper Discussion

By Sean Williamson

The last blog of the semester! Time has flown by! Recently I have been working on a research paper for Dr. Davey’s ARC 532 class. This paper involved 20 pages of research of the city in Yucatan Mexico known as Chichén Itza. With all the time I spent working on this paper, I thought it would be worth discussing a little bit.

Within the northern region of the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico on a limestone plateau lies the relics of Chichén Itzá, once one of the Maya’s most powerful cities. The people responsible for the development of this 5 square mile city are the Mayans (Encyclopedia Britannica).

The Maya people were skilled farmers and developed a very sophisticated written language, with some historians thinking it may have been the first written language native to the Americas (History). A well-ordered social class system was also developed by the Maya’s with trade throughout a network of cities that went as far north as Central Mexico and as far south as Panama (History). They were also expert mathematicians, with their numbering system including the concept of zero, an idea unknown to the ancient Greeks (History). The Maya used their mathematical knowledge along with celestial observations to finesse a calendar created by the Olmecs (a culture from the Mexican Gulf Coast) and to create monuments to observe and commemorate movements of the sun, the moon, and Venus (History). Spectacular examples of these monuments can still be seen at Chichén Itzá.

Chichén Itzá's architecture includes pyramids, an astronomical observatory, platforms, wells, ball courts, plazas, and residential areas. Its mammoth Maya-Toltec style architecture was developed largely during the Terminal Classic, a period beginning around 800 A.D. and extending possibly as late as 1050 A.D. (Aveni, 2004). There are numerous structures at Chichén Itza that incorporate certain calendrical and astronomical principles into their architectural plans (Herrera, 2008). One example of the Maya’s incorporating astronomical principles into their architectural plans is the Pyramid of Kukulcan, which was recently voted as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World (Herrera, 2008). This mystery of the Mayan culture brings an estimated 1.2 million tourists to Chichén Itza each year (Cobos).

The city has been traditionally divided into two distinct parts and periods, even though there is some overlap both in time and design (Cartwright, M.). The earliest, to the south, is native Maya dating to the Epiclassic period (800-1000 AD) with buildings displaying both the distinct 'Puuc' architectural style and Maya hieroglyphs (Cartwright, M.). The plan is more spread out than the north part of the city and, constructed on a roughly north-south axis, may reflect the course of the Xtoloc Cenote water source. The second part of the city has been traditionally dated to 1000-1200 AD and is more mysterious, creating one of the most continuous debates in Mesoamerican archaeology (Cartwright, 2014). Built in the Florescent style and along a more ordered plan, it displays many hallmarks of the Toltec civilization, leading scholars to believe that they either conquered Chichén Itza as they expanded their empire from their capital Tula over 1,000 km away, or there was some sort of cultural and trade sharing between the two areas (Cartwright, 2014). Some architecture and relief sculptures found at both sites include warrior columns, quetzal-feathered rattlesnakes, the clothing of subjects, chacmools (sacrificial basins in the form of a reclining person), atlantides (support columns in the form of standing males), the representation of certain animals, a tzompantli (sacrificial skull rack), Tlaloc (the rain god) incense burners, and personal names represented by glyphs which are present at both sites but which are not Mayan (Cartwright, 2014).

Reference Page

Aveni, A., Milbrath, S., & Lope, P. (2004). Chichén Itzá's Legacy in the Astronomically Oriented Architecture of Mayapán. The President and Fellows of Harvard College

Cartwright, M. (2014). Chichén Itza. Retrieved April 23, 2015, from http://www.ancient.eu/Chichen_Itza/

Chichén Itzá. (2014). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica, from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/110599/Chichen-Itza

Cobos, R., & Moll, R. Ancient Climate and Archaeology: Uxmal, Chichén Itza, and Their Collapse at the End of ´ the Terminal Classic Period. 56-71.

Herrera, A. (2008). Chichén Itza. Oas.

History. Retrieved April 23, 2015, from http://www.exploratorium.edu/ancientobs/chichen/HTML/chichen.html

Mesoamerican Ballcourts

By Patrick Londrigan

The origins of the Mesoamerican ballgame appear in a post-Classic account that relates an ancient Quiche Maya creation myth. The ballgame in Popul Vuh is depicted in affiliation with a “cosmological narrative from Highland Guatemala […] revealing a number of the mythical underpinnings of the game. (Grimm, 2008, p. 46)  The game was played by roughly all adolescent and adult males, from the noblest of men down to the simple commoner.  It is understood that the game became popular because the provinces on the gulf coast would annual send 16,000 rubber balls as a royal tribute. (Scarborough, 1991, p. 9)

Any level surface might be used as a playing field, just like today.  Masonry courts were built only in the main towns or large neighborhoods.  These courts were often located in town near the market or civic-ceremonial complex.  Masonry courts were often constructed by the ruler, other members of the upper class, or high ranking servants for use first by the noble and second by the commoners. (Scarborough, 1991, p. 9)  It is said that nobles would have skilled “professional” players who were then pitted against each other for the nobles to view on a feast day.

Mesoamerican ballgames are played between two opposing teams, using a rubber ball, with anywhere from two to eleven players per team.  Ulama is the most common game and hitting the ball with the hips, buttocks, thighs or knees is how it is played.  Other versions of the game include handball which is played on a longer, more narrow courts with a thick glove; “bat ball” is played like handball but with bats that have an oblong trunk with a perpendicular handle; Purepecha trap ball which is played like modern day field hockey; and Purepecha fire trap ball wherein the ball is doused in oil and lit on fire. (Grimm, 2008, p. 48)  The main objective of the game is to get the ball from one end of the court to the other, though all of the games rules differ from region to region.  These games are comparable to modern day ballgames such as basketball, football, soccer, and hockey.  However, the game was not always used for sport, but also as a substitution for war and occasionally to mediate quarrels.

Ballcourts are generally in the shape of an “I.” The main court is at the center with two courts perpendicular at each end that forms the “I.”  Some courts will only have one court perpendicular on an end, creating a “T.”  The sizes of these courts vary but the average ballcourt is 37 meters long by 9 meters wide. (Grimm, 2008, p. 50)  All of these courts had benches flanking the central alley, the center court, and rings set in the upper part of the lateral wall. (Scarborough, 1991, p. 10)  That main alleyway would frequently have vertical or sloping sides often having three markers with one at each end zone and one at the center.  However, the shaft-tombs of Colima have revealed not all ballcourts are bound by architecture, many ballgame figurines have been found where no ballcourts have been discovered.  It is believed that the game in Colima was played on low-lying, open fields with sloped embankments 

for walls. (Grimm, 2008, p. 50)

Rappel à l’Ordre: The Case for the Tectonic - Kenneth Frampton Tectonics? A Case Study for Digital Free-Form Architecture - Wan-Ping Gao

By Robert Musial

Rappel à l’Ordre: The Case for the Tectonic by Kenneth Frampton was first published in 1990 while the Tectonics? A Case Study for Digital Free-Form Architecture by Wan-Ping Gao was published in 2004. Both of these articles are fairly new documents compare to other literature.  Frampton focuses on the origins and meanings of tectonics and mostly architecture from 19^th century. Wan-Ping Gao also focuses on the meaning of tectonics but, he explains architectural tectonics in the information age (present) and future. To continue, Frascari states, “Architecture is an art because it is interested not only in the original need for shelter but also putting together, spaces and material, in a meaningful manner” (Frampton, K. (2002). This shows that even in the past architects were thinking of how materials and spaces go together but without the aid of a computer the chances of making an error were high. On the other hand Wan-Ping Gao states that, “The traditional architecture, with its stagnant interpretation of structural joints and material, can never explain the surface characteristic and dynamic state of digitally spatial form. In a multi-dimensional digital environment, the physics of space, proportion, material quality, etc., do not depend on elements of the real world, such as those involving the use of material, construction, or structural standards” (Gao, W. P. 2004 p. 3-4). With the help of computers the architect’s is able to push the design to the next level. They are able to test different type of scenarios which allows them to push the envelope.  To conclude, this also allows for them to perfect the construction because they are able to use how material will be put together on the computer and be able to detail on how to construct them.

Frampton stresses the importance of a joint and break of it because it has the meaning of connection and gives attend all form of articulation (Frampton, K. 2002). This again stresses the importance of detail of every aspect of a building. With having the joints in irregular places it gives away from the architecture. In contrasts Wan-Ping Gao states, “Tectonics expresses the unique qualities of material and elements of architecture b means of a meaningfully designed structure. In the digital environment, free form the limits imposed on architecture in the real, a fixed object like joints become freer and more flexible.” (Gao, W. P. 2004 p. 6) This again emphasizes with computer designer are able explore different options which allows them to be more flexible with design and make a unique building. This also stresses how computer help the architect to have their project become more detail orientated.

When speaking about going the next step Frampton describe how new forms of tectonic buildings where expressed. For example, “We have the ethereal dematerialized aspiration of Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace, that which Le Corbusier once describe as the victory of light over gravity” stated Frampton (Frampton, K. 2002). This show that the past architects were able to go to the next level without the use of computer.  To also restate this show the progression of architecture and the never ending limits.  To continue, Wan-Ping Gao introduces an another statement to discussion, “Digital architecture emphasizes responsiveness to the appearance of spatial form and we could through the special features of digital free-form, conduct our studies” (Gao, W. P. 2004 p. 9). This adds another dimension to architecture and how designer are able to computers for architecture. With responsiveness result designer are more awarded about actual driving factors that could change the design of the building. Lastly, we can see how digital tectonics and traditional tectonics have already altered each and how computer are aiding us to the future (Gao, W. P. 2004 p. 14)

For the Future Student

By: Brittney Mount

Am I really done with school FOREVER in three months? I thought when I graduated with my bachelors degree I wasn't ready, and now here we are, three months from the rest of my life. What a blast I have had. I have to say my years here at Southern have been nothing short of interesting. As draining, physically and emotionally, as it has been if you sent me back four years I would do it all over again.

If you are a student looking for guidance on whether you want to start the road to becoming an architect I would like to give you just a few warnings based on real life experiences.

1.     Be aware, the road is long, you have four years of undergraduate school, two years of graduate school (15 months at SIUC), three years of interning, and six ARE exams ahead of you before you can even have the ability to call yourself an actual architect.

2.     Be aware, it will be extremely exhausting, you will literally forget what sleep is a few times. You will scream at your roommate for claiming they are tired because they only slept for five hours last night.. Because they couldn't stop watching a show on Netflix.. They don't know what tired is.

3.     Be aware, your studio desk will become your dinner table, your bed, basically your second home. Pick a window seat.

4.     Be aware, you'll know the janitorial staff by name, along with their family member’s names.

5.     Be aware, your peers are who you spend the most time with, learn to love them.

6.     Be aware, cutting yourself while making a model is not an excuse to not get it done.

However..

1.     Be aware, it will be over before you know it and you will miss it before it's even done.

2.     Be aware, you'll adjust and figure out that sleeping for four hours between all nighters will make you more productive. And your roommate will forgive you and buy you a pack of red bulls.

3.     Be aware, you'll find yourself going to studio even when you don't need to be there because that's where everyone else will more than likely be.

4.     Be aware, you'll look forward to catching up with them.

5.     Be aware, friends that are not in architecture will not be welcomed with open arms, and they will never understand the bond architecture students have.

6.     Be aware, cutting yourself while making a model will make for an interesting time lapse video..

My final words of wisdom, if it’s what you want to do, you will enjoy your decision to attend architecture school. 

The Last Blog

By Drew Baldwin

As the semester comes to a close and being as this is the last blog of the year, I feel it’s appropriate to do a wrap up of the year and a small look to the coming months. In a couple weeks, I will be participating in the graduation ceremony for the second time in a year, which seems crazy; however, this time there’s only 3 months of school left not 15. Coming into the first studio over the summer last year, I didn’t really know what to expect and within the first week we all got a pretty good idea of the pace of the summer studio and how much we would have to be working in a week. Luckily as the summer went on, though the pace didn’t change, we all became more accustomed to the work load and being able to get our work done without stressing too much.

                  Going from summer to fall seemed like a huge change, at least in pace. We went from having something do every day, 4 days a week in the summer, to 3 studios a week with extra days in between to work. Not to say that fall studio was easy, it was a challenge as well, but it was a different feel from the summer studio. With other classes in the schedule, it does help to have the occasional break from studio work, because after the summer, only having studio you can be a little worn out from doing it almost every day of the week. In all, I was pleased with both the summer and fall studios, and the products I produced in them.

                  Now to the spring semester. As we all know, spring means thesis here, though work doesn’t begin at the beginning of the spring semester but more at the beginning in the fall. Choosing a thesis was probably one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make, because I want to do something that will be a viable project to present during the summer, one that could help me find employment in the future, but most importantly be something I will actually be interested in working on. For most of the fall, I had no idea what I was going to do, but as it drew closer to January I really had to start narrowing down my choices until I finally decided on the Urban Farming Community in Detroit.

                  As the end of the semester, my thesis begins to start taking its final form to be presented in the next couple months. The focus now is just making final decisions and putting together a presentation. Though it’s getting close to the end, it’s becoming difficult to find new things to add and deciding whether or not to keep designing or leaving things as they are. As of now, I am pleased with where I am and look forward to the end of the semester as well as finishing my thesis all together over the summer. 

Last Blog

By Meghan Shanahan

Blog time and it is the last blog that we will be writing. I am not going to lie, I am glad that this is the last blog, writing blogs while trying to hurry so I turn it in on time, but also knowing that I have a big thesis presentation later in the day. It has also been nice seeing all the fun things that I was able to experience in my time that I have spent in Carbondale, and also the amazing things I got to experience generally while in graduate school.

Over the weekend I was able to experience something absolutely amazing and that was I was honored to be a bridesmaid in one of my best friends wedding. She married her soul mate and I was lucky enough to not only be there for them. The wedding was an absolute blast and I was so happy to have such an amazing time before crunch time started at school.

But back in Carbondale on Monday I was back to the grind, working on my thesis project and also working on my twenty-page research paper that is due for professor Davey’s history class.  While also counting down the days thinking man we are so close to the end. There are seventeen days till we walk for graduation and there is officially one hundred days till we have completed our master’s degree and officially will have an MArch! An extra bonus is that in one hundred days I will officially be moving back to Chicago!

Till then I have been working extremely hard on my research paper.  I am writing about the city of Teotihuacan, which is located in Mexico. The city is about 30 miles northeast of Mexico City and is a popular historical site to for visitors. The name “Teotihuacan” has many meanings, but all the meanings generally different variations of “place where gods were born.” In the city there is a main road that multiple architecture structures and monuments are located on. This road is called the Avenue of the Dead, it is the main connection for all of the circulations. On the most North edge of the city is the Pyramid of the Moon, which is the second largest pyramid in the city. The Pyramid of the Moon stands 140 feet tall and was used for different religious and cultural ceremonies, the same as the Pyramid of the Sun. The Pyramid of the Sun is the largest Pyramid, standing 216 feet tall and is the most significant piece of Teotihuacan, and you are still able to go and climb the pyramid to this day. It is a very interesting place to not only learn about, but to also go visit.

Well everyone this is the end of my blog, I hope you enjoyed my time with you writing blogs, and I wish you all the best. Meghan

Context as Important as the Building

By Patrick Londrigan

The influence of materials in design is a major part in today’s architecture.  Along with the topography and the context being other important areas.  These ideas are mentioned in the Six Points for an Architecture of Resistance and are the topic’s in which I searched to find a related article.  That article was The Influence of Building Materials on Architecture.  This article dates back to 1892 in London but does relate in ways I enjoy to the first article.

In the second article it talks mostly about the exterior building materials to be used in good design.  How stone is the best material to use, then follows wood, then after that brick.  Stone being the longest lasting and the best looking.  Brick not yet being as popular of a building material though the author was still trying to push for it to be used more.  He speaks of knowing your surroundings when designing a building.  For instance at the time a coal plant was being built and a factory was being built close by.  The designers of the factory decided to create the building partly with brick and partly with freestone dressing.  The aftermath was the freestone dressing becoming a dirty black and the whole result in whatever architectural design they were going for, being totally destroyed by the dirt.  Had the designers prepared and thought the design through further they could have planned for that.  Putting brick around the whole exterior so if the dirt did affect it, the whole building would be affected the same making the dirt less noticeable.

Another point, which I mentioned in my first writing, was working more with the topography and context of the site.  The idea of creating something that can only be seen in that area of the world.  Mentioned here in article two about how the buildings differ from out in the country to in the city.  To quote William Morris from the second article, “in passing through the country one sees many examples of thoroughly good ordinary country buildings, built of the mere country materials, very often of the mere stones out of the fields; and it is a very great pleasure to see the skill with which these buildings are constructed. They are very often not pointed at all, but you cannot help noticing the skill with which the mason has picked out his longs and his shorts, and put the thing together with really something, you may say, like rhythm and measurement (his traditional skill that was), and with the best possible results.”  This quote reiterates what I said in the first article write-up, using your topography and the context to your benefit, to create a memorable building.  The idea of using your context and materials on the site is something you never see in today’s architecture, but is something I find amazing and can truly be defined as architecture.

Relating this second article to the first in the Culture Versus Nature section.  Where as just as the farmer created his building from the site, Mario Botta say’s “building the site.” “It is possible to argue that in this last instance the specific culture of the region – that is to say, its history in both a geological and agricultural sense – becomes inscribed into the form and realization of the work.”  Using your topography and context helps you to create great architecture.  Not only that, when incorporating the use of correct materials you may also design a great building.  Both articles press to know your surroundings and to know the context of your site and you will create a great piece of architecture.

Citations:

Frampton, K. Towards a Critical Regionalism. Six Points for an Architecture of Resistance, 29.

Morris, W. The Influence of Building Materials on Architecture. Century Guild Hobby Horse, January 1892