Architecture Criticism

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nyanrzv97

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Visit an architecturally significant work in the Tampa Bay area. It may be a historic or contemporary building, or an urban space. Write a one - page criticism of the building/space. Include a photograph/drawing/diagram on the back of the page for reference. This assignment is to be "typed" (word-processed); The purpose of this assignment is to encourage observation and critical thought. Hint - Don't start your criticism by saying "The building I chose to visit was.......". Example is attached.

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It was just me and the building I went to see. No one else was around. I was at Florida Southern College in Lakeland standing in front of the Annie Pfeiffer Chapel Frank Lloyd Wright had designed in the late thirties. He later designed a small wedding chapel adjacent to it. Wright designed two other buildings besides the chapels, and also a fountain, all of which are interwoven with an architecturally complimenting breezeway. The more I looked at the chapel, the more I noticed it resemblance to Falling Water. Having designed the chapel not long after Falling Water, its no surprise the two look similar. The beige color of the concrete, the deep red of the steel, and the unnatural cantilevers in the two buildings mimic one another exactly. There are some obvious differences though. The chapel has almost perfect symmetry, differing only at the base, near the entrances on either side. On one side a cascading set of low pitched stairs, painted red. On the other, a low wall in the native beige that nestles an alcove. The thing that differs the most is the large center of the chapel, comprised of geometrically shaped poured concrete, topped with a steel framework of a gabled roof. Besides being a Wright building, this feature alone makes it undoubtedly unique. Being the only one on a deserted campus limits the amount of access one has to the inside of any buildings there, but I found something else to fill the void left by not being able to enjoy the interiors, an interesting story. As I was admiring the detail of the odd sized, custom cast concrete blocks speckled with tiny cubes of colored glass I noticed an old man doing the same. Come to find out he wasn't admiring, but rather reminiscing. He told me that he had helped build the chapel, and had met Wright himself. The man told me about Wright's drawings being on a three foot grid system marked only with exterior dimensions. He told me of the custom cast, nine inch by thirty-six inch concrete blocks, which he claimed were the work of only six men. He also claimed they too built and poured the forms of the breezeways' intricate columns. He told me about the thousands of hand placed glass pieces in all of the blocks and smirked when he told me how long it took to get them all in place. He explained the purpose of the four inch rise and twelve inch run of all the steps. He spoke about almost every intricate detail . When I asked about the center, he told me Wright designed it to look like a bowtie. He explained to me that, to Wright, the bowtie represented music, because when Wright would go listen to music he would dress for the occasion wearing a suit and bowtie. In fact, I was told if one was to go anywhere like that with Mr. Wright, they too were to have on a bowtie. The old man explained that Wright was a very straight forward, sophisticated man; a perfectionist He had things his way, the right way, or not at all. Whether or not the olds man's enjoyable and interesting stories were true, I had no doubt that Wright was straight forward and sophisticated; and if his work, especially the Annie Pfeiffer Chapel, speaks anything for who he was as a man, it says nothing less than perfection. After experiencing the building and hearing those wondrous tales of its birth, from someone who had claimed to be a part of it, I left there feeling as though I had taken a little piece of it with me.
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Anonymous
I was struggling with this subject, and this helped me a ton!

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