Category: Architecture

The term ‘Moors’ referred to Islamic peoples from North Africa who were typically of Arabic or Berber lineage, they were diverse in skin colors and languages and kept migrating to Europe, Asia, and Africa. This made them do not belong to any particular country or group.

In 711 AD, Moors people swept in from Africa and conquered the Iberian Peninsula or so-called Medieval Iberia, while the rest of the Western Roman Empire was falling under the Dark Ages. There was an aggression in European art, architecture, and overall quality of life when most of its population was illiterate. They ruled Spain for five centuries, inspiring a Europe-wide crusade among Christians to reconquer the land. The entrance of the Moors retained the developments of the Roman empire from amended cities that they conquered and built upon them through trade, education, and warfare. There were some new crops, ideas, and innovations were brought by the Moors to Europe. Even the three Abrahamic religions coexisted in relative harmony. Christians and Jews were allowed to practice their belief under the Islamic kingdom. Generally, they put dramatic effect on bringing Europe, especially Spain out of its dark ages and directly influenced the continent for cultural, transitions, and technological breakthroughs.

In the 8th century, the Moors created a state reigned over the region called Andalusia, which has major historical provinces as Sevilla, Còrdoba and Granada. They left the most distinct mark on the architecture, since it is the most recognizable heritage among other Moorish art forms. Some of them include Alhambra castle, La Mezquita, and Alcazar castle. Major characteristics can be noticed from figures of horseshoe arches, cupolas, slender pillars, well ventilated and spacious rooms, and fortified exterior. The uniqueness derived from the combination between Islamic and Christian decorations around the interior and exterior. Mozarabic and Mudèjar are the terms that distinguish between the art style of Christian under Muslim rule, and any art forms made by Muslim under Christian rule.

The architecture of Alcazar palace was originally built in the 10th Century, but the modern construction began in the 1400s when it started combining between Renaissance and Mudèjar decoration. The king hired Muslim workers to give Moorish elegance. There are stylized Arabic script, a standard feature of mosques, created a visual chant of Quranic verses. But the décor is Christian, where there are animal figures, building figures, and kings’ figures that wouldn’t be found in Muslim ornamentation that forbids images. The garden also reflects a mix of cultures with the intimate geometric Moorish gardens leading to the later much more expensive backyard of Spanish kings.

Alhambra was built in the 1300s. It is one of the most stunning Moorish architecture ever survived during the Spaniard reconquest. The palace’s parts that remain intact out of several ruined halls and gates are The Court of Myrtles, the Palace of The Lions, and the tropical residence called Mirador de Daraxa. The Myrtle’s Court is a pool that leads to the great hall of ambassadors that was used for important meetings. The hall utilizes sunlight to invoke a dramatic feeling of power. Its ceiling is covered by interlaced patterns that represent the seven heavens. Palace of the Lions was a relaxation hall with a naturalistic style that was dominated by Christian influence. Its court is surrounded by galleries of columns that are similar to cloisters found in Christian churches. Twelve lions’ sculptures spout water into four streams that represent four rivers of paradise. There are several rooms around the court called the Hall of Mocarabes, the Hall of Mucarnas, the Hall of the Kings, and Hall of the Two Sisters, and the Hall of the Abencerrajes. Each of them had a different service during the reign. Mirador de Daraxa’s residence was built up on the hill and is placed in the northern part of the Lions’ palace, where sunlight penetrates through stained glass ceilings. It was used as a summer residence that is surrounded by tropical a garden called The Partal. Notably, there are fountains and a portico of five arches overlooking a reflective pool. Many characteristics of the halls and courts reflect religious law in Islam, from Quranic calligraphy, infinite geometric patterns that evoke God’s infinite power, and biomorphic patterns that define the order of nature.

The Moors ruled stretched as far as France, but slowly they were pushed back and expelled from Sevilla in 1248 and pushed entirely out of Western Europe by 1492. Since then, Moorish arts were no longer to be produced after Granada, the last Moorish empire in Spain was invaded by the Roman empire. However, Sharīfian dynasties in Morocco continued the tradition from the 16th century ahead by enhancing the artistic ornamentation of Moorish arts in the 14th century.

In the present day, historical palaces and fortresses built by the Moors are still being preserved as touristic sites. Some notable artists and architects from the 18th to 19th Century adopted the style inspired by Moorish architecture. The ultimate balance between math and arts inspired famous Dutch artist M.C. Esher to explore tessellations. He sketched and studied the polygonal walls of Alhambra back in the 1920s. Modern classical architect, Antoni Gaudi also took inspiration from Moorish ornamentation to be applied to his work El Capricho. The summer villa puts a decorated minaret made of bricks on the entrance. The use of ceramic pillars emphasizes the characteristics of the Mudéjar architecture style.

The American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) is a student run architecture organization whose goal is to give leadership skills, additional architecture education, training, and to encourage the youth of the 21st century to pursue a career in architecture. The AIAS can be considered a discourse community based on John Swale’s ‘The Concept of a Discourse Community’. This community uses different mechanisms for communication among its members (Swales 221). They have what they call ‘chapters’, which are mini AIAS groups separated by region. They each have their own different meetings and events, but they all have ‘lines of communication back to base’ (Swales 221) which would be to other AIAS regions across the world, or to the headquarters in Washington D.C. Because of the close connection I have with the AIAS and because of the work they do outside of their community, I will be able to thoroughly observe and analyze the behavior, communication, and connections made through this community.

Methodology

My methodology consists of information pulled from an interview and an AIAS meeting observation. The beginning of the process of collecting my methodology came from the AIAS lecture. The members of this group meet every Wednesday at 7:30 in the Park Avenue Building, room 122. During this lecture we had the pleasure of having special guest Kathy Velikov, a licensed architect who spoke to us about her work in architecture and ecology. During the lecture I took notes on the RVTR, a professional architecture practice that she is a founding partner of.

The RVTR “operates across scales to position design as an active agent in continually evolving ecologies” (rvtr.com). The projects of the RVTR focus on incorporating urbanist styles and high-performance designs into regional areas. Velikov has many projects that can be found on the RVTR website, and all the projects shown helped the people at the AIAS lecture, including

myself, explore different sections of architecture and helped us understand how much work goes into these projects. I also took notes on what I observed around the room as well. I noticed that everyone was very interested in what she had to say, many people asked questions about her work and its relation to the environment it was in. Communication was a very strong aspect of the lecture, and people were not afraid to voice their concerns, opinions, ideas, or general comments to Velikov herself, and to other members around them. Before the lecture began, I managed to speak with one of the members about conducting an email interview after the lecture was over.

My interviewee was Robert Toot, a graduate student of The Department of Architecture and Environmental Design, and the previous president of the BGSU’s AIAS organization, who has been part of the AIAS since February of 2016. He joined the AIAS because “it offered a substantial amount of professional development and also fostered many of my closest friendships” (Toot). Along with asking him about how he got involved, I asked about different roles played in the group, communication strategies, language/lexis, and goals of the community among other things.

Goals

The goals if this discourse community align with John Swale’s interpretation of the goals any discourse community should have. This particular discourse community, “has a broadly agreed set of common public goals” (Swales 220). Some of the goals the AIAS has, are giving its members professional experiences in architecture, to guide its members down the path to be a successful architect, and to help people feel like they belong to a purpose greater than themselves while making lifelong friendships along the way. In order to achieve these goals, the student body has taken to doing fun get-togethers, events, and activities to get people to join and to show the importance of the AIAS. One event that the AIAS holds to bring in new members and convince other members to stay, is a BBQ at the beginning of fall, where they sign people up for the organization and provide free food, live music, and games. Another larger event is the annual Architecture Career Fair. During the fair, the student body brings architectural firms from different places and give the students an opportunity to present themselves as potential employees (Toot). The fair is always a success and many people end up with positions at the firms. This fair has given the AIAS as huge boost in members has pushed the group to reaching their goals.

Intercommunication

Intercommunication in this community is one of the strongest aspects they have. Their most prominent way of communication is through the meetings, lectures, and AIAS events. For all three of these, email is the source of where members get information about upcoming events and topics of these activities. During meetings and lectures, communication consists of a head speaker going through what is on the schedule, talking about current architecture news and

projects. Students take notes, ask questions and make comments about whatever topic they are discussing. During events such as competitions, communication consists of members creating, presenting, and talking about their project and the parti of said project. Communication is a major part of architecture. When explaining the design and parti (big idea) of a building you must be able to thoroughly explain why you design the building the way you did and how it fits in whatever context it is in. These AIAS competitions are great practice and exposure for its contestants to what project meetings will really be like. Another form of communication is through social media. The AIAS is on all major social media platforms and that is another way people can stay in touch with each other and stay up to date on upcoming events.

Genre

The piece of genre I analyzed was the AIAS website. The members of this group use the website to connect with others around the world, find dates and information about upcoming competitions and events, purchase AIAS merchandise, and other things. The very first thing I noticed when going on their website, was how colorful and chaotic the layout was. There are multiple sections and each section has different colors and shapes to them. For example, the very first section you see the ‘Welcome to AIAS’ banner and to the right of it are four colorful and offset rectangles. But then in the section below consist of six uniform circles with completely different colors from the first section. The final sections combine the shapes, and uniformity. It consists of a total of 21 uniform also just as colorful rectangles. This piece of genre is made the way it is, to show the abstract and creative way architects have to think, create and present their architecture to their preferred audience. In this case, the preferred audience would be young architects in the making wanting to catch a glimpse of the chaotic, bright and abstract world of architecture.

The second, and more miniscule thing I noticed on the homepage, is in the top right corner, there is a link that leads to the AIAS merchandise page titled ‘Swag’. This caught my eye because ‘swag’ is not a word that is used regularly in 2018 like it was ten years ago. I believe the creators of this website used this word to appeal to the youth in this community. I am not sure if it was intended to be humorous, but it is nonetheless. Everything on the website is formal and professional, then the use of a slang word for the merchandise title page, although a small part of the entirety of the website, adds a fun, humorous, youthful, and almost childish mood to it.

Language/Lexis

Language/lexis is a big part of differentiating and identifying a specific discourse community, and the people in it. While interviewing Robert, I asked what language/lexis is used in this discourse community to enhance communication and understanding between members? He stated that “BGSU is a very diverse campus. Part of entering such a community involves staying true to your inherent language/lexis. Establishing a universal/dialect/lexis/language/syntax devalues one’s own diversity and excludes non conformists. Communication and understanding comes from with empathizing with people from many cultures. This is something that takes time, experience, and an open mind” (Toot). Individuality and diversity are very important in this community, and although certain universal architectural words will need to be used, the AIAS does not want that to discourage its members from using language/lexis that they feel most comfortable with and will help them strive in the field of architecture. When members feel comfortable using their language/lexis, they will feel comfortable when speaking to others and have an open mind to the members who use a different language/lexis than them.

Conclusion

During my journey of researching the AIAS, I have come to realize that this community has really helped me understand John Swale’s characteristics of a discourse community, it also helped me understand the relationships people have with this group and others in it. The AIAS is an incredible organization and researching it has helped me answer the research questions I started with. The biggest thing I learned from this is that the members of the AIAS value communication, friendship, individuality, and diversity very much. Setting goals and having strong values has really set this community apart from the rest. The current members of this community have set high standards for how the AIAS will be viewed by future generations and how people will interact with each other within this community in the future.

Works Cited

1. Toot, Robert. “Re: AIAS.” Received by Se’Maj Holiday, 8 Oct. 2018.
2. Swales, John. “The Concept of Discourse Communities.” Writing about Writing. Ed. Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin, 2011. 215-228.
3. The American Institute of Architecture Students. Dupont Creative, 2018, http://www.aias.org/. 11 Oct. 2018.
4. rvtr. Monograph, 2017, http://www.rvtr.com/. 11 Oct. 2018.

Industrialization has had a profound impact on the world we live in and has positively contributed to the development of architecture since its start in the 17th century. Many consider the invention of the steam engine by James Watt in 1769 to have marked the beginning of the Industrial Revolution as he greatly improved their efficiency and made their usage more widespread. The steam engine provided Britain with an industrial power as factories, fabrics and railroads could be anywhere. Before the industrialization era, many architects claimed fine workmanship to be the most important thing throughout architecture. This essay will first state which architects embraced the industrialization and new technology and who rejected it, then the essay will examine the way industrialization affected the heavy industry and therefore positively contributed to the development of architecture by using prominent buildings as examples. Finally, a counterargument will be made and the negative impacts of industrialization on the development of architecture will be discussed.

Many architects acknowledged the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, some embraced the new technology, and some rejected it. Frank Lloyd Wright is one of the architects that embraced technology and appreciated its positive contributions towards the development of architecture. This is shown as he said: “Wright embraced new materials and technology, viewing the machine not as a threat to the architect’s creativity but rather as a tool to assist him in his task of creating harmonious, integrated and original works” (Wright, 1908, cited in Sykes, 2007, p.95). Wright’s architecture is example of his acceptance of industrialization as he uses bold lines and less ornamentation in his buildings. In addition, Le Corbusier also embraced new technology: “He welcomed the development of new materials in the laboratory, where they could be tested and proved prior to practical adoption and regretted that all traditional materials and construction methods could not be replaced” (Hearn, 1996, cited in Smith, 2012, p.100). This portrays Le Corbusier’s embracement of new technology and the machinery that was created during the Industrial Revolution, as he wants to replace every single one of the traditional materials and constructions methods and instead use the new technology. Although two major architects embraced technology, John Ruskin is one of the few that rejected it. Hearn stated: “Ruskin generally disapproved of machine production of building elements, favoring the minute variations introduced by the human hand”. This view clearly shows that Ruskin is ignorant to the impact the modern machinery would have post industrialization and all throughout it.

One of the ways in which industrialization has positively contributed to the development of architecture was through the evolution of the heavy industry. This created a lot of new building equipment and materials, such as cast iron, steel, and glass and assisted both architects and engineers in devising and constructing structures that were until then, unimaginable in function, form, and size. The new materials were used by architects in conjunction with the machinery made through heavy industry to create buildings, such as the Crystal Palace (1850) and the Rand McNally (1890).

During the Industrial Revolution, the heavy industry made a multitude of machines that in turn progressively made factory jobs less physically demanding than in previous years. Although the evolution of the heavy industry mass produced many building components faster than man could do by hand, the quality of the materials was not improved as architects hoped. As a result of the mass production, details in components had to be simplified for the machinery to make it and therefore turned out less ornamented than the product made by hand. Ornamentation, in turn became less likeable in architecture, as Loos (1908, cited in Sykes 2007, p.105) said: “Ornament means wasted labor and therefore wasted health. That was always the case”.

The high production of iron and glass during the industrial period was shown to have a profound influence on British architecture. This is shown through the creation of the glass and cast-iron structure, the Crystal Palace by Joseph Paxton (1851). The Crystal Palace, like Gothic Revival and the Arts and Crafts Movement, was seen to be a new type of design for that period and had many breakthroughs regarding construction and overall design. This project is deemed to be a direct result of the great technological advancements in relation to materials and machinery that were made through the heavy industry, during the Industrial Revolution. The structure itself was made off site and then put together on site (Merin, 2013). The use of pre-made materials and the new machinery allowed a fast-paced build time and a lower cost overall. Prior to industrialization, this fast-paced building would have been unimaginable but due to the evolution of the heavy industry, something this large scale was made possible.

The Crystal Palace was a step forward from traditional architecture and highlights how industrialization has positively contributed to the development of architecture. In addition to being an example of a new style of architecture, the structural system of the building can still be seen in buildings today. After the demolition of the Crystal Palace due to a fire in 1936, newer architects and designers acknowledged the problems that caused it and knew to avoid them via experimentation. This building, even after its demolition, positively contributed to architecture as it encouraged people to begin thinking about distinctive design, shapes and forms in regards to architectural construction (‘Impact of the Industrial Revolution on British Architecture’, 2018). The evolution of low-cost structures stemmed from this building and designers began to experiment with materials other than brick and stone. The effectiveness of industrialization is proudly shown through the Crystal Palace as it was a fast-paced build, lightweight in construction, an innovative design and the structural techniques paved the way for the development of architecture, post industrialization.

Prior to industrialization, building materials were restricted to a few man-made materials, along with those available in nature: timber, stone, lime, mortar, concrete. Therefore, structure was limited by the capabilities of natural materials; the Industrial Revolution changed this situation drastically. During the beginning of the industrialization period, worldwide production of iron soared from 825,000 tons to 40 million tons, almost 50 times as much and it was available in 3 different forms: cast iron, wrought iron and the strongest, steel. “Steel is considered as one of the most innovative construction developments in history, allowing architects to create structures with heights, flexibility and freedom never seen before” (Walsh, 2020).

The first ever all-steel framed building was the Rand McNally in Chicago, it was erected in 1890, designed by Burnham and Root. “This revolutionary building featured more than 3,700 tons of steel. The material was used in the form of beams, channels, rails, angles, and the newly introduced Z-bar steel columns” (Finnigan et al., n.d., p.115). The use of steel in this building meant that as the height of the building increased, the increase in base support of it would be a lot lower than what would be required for masonry walls. As a result of this, the intrusion of the structures usable interior space was significantly reduced. This revolutionary building that shows how industrialization positively contributed to the development of architecture as steel steadily rose to prominence after this building was created. It became the go to material for architects and due to industrialization steel began to allow architects to imagine buildings that previously would have been impossible. The Rand McNally Building portrayed a brand-new era of efficiency in building systems and the construction of them, therefore showing how industrialization positively contributed to the development of architecture. However, the labor hours associated with the extra making of these pieces of steel used in the construction of the building drove up the overall cost of the buildings making.

Although industrialization has positively contributed to the development of architecture, it has also had negative impacts. Due to the increase in industrial workers, a common feature in industrial towns and cities was the construction of very poorly built and low-cost housing, which was intended for the working-class people. The wealthy factory owners built inexpensive homes for their workers but also used the homes as a way to make more profit. These homes were commonly called back-to-back terraces due to the fact that they were built side-by-side and connected to each other; the only part of the house that was not connected to another was the front. Made with the cheapest material possible and they lacked the basic features every house need, such as windows and proper ventilation. Most of the homes that were live din by these working-class people were also built without running water or basic sanitation. Because of all this, many of the people were unable to properly bather and therefore were very unhygienic.

Overall, industrialization has positively contributed to the development of architecture as shown through the impact it had on well renowned architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier. Additionally, industrialization has been shown to positively affect the evolution of the heavy industry and assist in the mass production of materials such as cast iron, glass, and steel. The production of these materials positively contributed to the development of architecture through the iron and glass building, the Crystal Palace by Joseph Paxton, and the steel Rand McNally, designed by Burnham and Root. Although there are some negative impacts of industrialization that affected architecture, overall, industrialization has positively contributed to the development of architecture.

The term “Architectural ethnography” consists of two words “architectural” and “ethnography”. In the dictionary, the noun “architecture” is defined as “a physical enclosure that protects and supports human life and activities”, while “ethnography” is about the “representation of a society and culture of a specific ethnic group based on fieldwork”. Powell further explained “ethnography” in his article Viewing Places: Students as Visual Ethnographers as “a process of inquiry that involves the description and interpretation of the cultural and social practice of people, “the written representation of culture” that emerges from a lengthy period of in-depth study, and often, residence in, a particular setting.”

Architecture ethnography, defined by Monoyo Kaijima, is about the traditional ethnography study with an add-on layer of drawings that are of, for, among, and around architecture. The drawings are not typical architectural drawings, instead, always from the perspective of the people who use and transform the buildings. In 2017,

This new methodology is extended from many ethnographic studies carried on in Japan in the 20th century when the country was under rapid urbanization and modernization with the fear of the gradual extinction of the old livelihoods. From the end of the 1990s, Kajima started a series of research regarding individuals about buildings and cities, using a similar ethnographical approach. Eventually, she defined her way of working (which is investigating architecture and human life by talking with people and later interpreting this fragmented information into drawings) as “Architectural Ethnography” during the survey of the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami. In 2017, an exhibition named as “Architectural Ethnography: Atelier Bow-Wow” was hosted at Graduate School of Design, Harvard University.

As outlined above, architecture ethnography is a combination of ethnography study with drawings as a way of expression.

An example of an ethnographic study on the topic related to my graduation studio could be Alazar Ejigu’s research on condominium housing in Addis Ababa. In 2019, he conducted a four-month participant observation of condominium living, at different times of the day, and in different representative locations. To document his findings, he often would take short notes several times during the daytime, and write down detailed diaries in the evening. It had proved that this way of working brought the fragmented information together and then naturally revealed the form behind it. Thus, most of the analysis was already made during the field study. There are a few strategies he made to improve his ethnographic study. First, he moved into the condominium unit with his family, which reduced the suspicions of the residents. Then he put himself in a position of “passive observation”, by sitting for hours in the common yard. He was gradually recognized and trusted.

An example of drawings in the field of architectural ethnography could be the book series: A Little Bit of Beijing, by Tongji University, which is the illustration of research on three characteristic places in the city. There are four types of drawings involved correlating with a larger and a smaller scale. The urban surroundings are first shown in a panoramic axonometric drawing, functioning as a 3d map. Then, a specific location will be elaborated by architectural sketches (are defined as axonometric drawings of a single building in this context), comics (inspired by the American artist Chris Ware), and full-page illustrations (in a way of artistic reprocessing of the scene atmosphere). Photographs are also interspersed in the book.