TEATRE NACIONAL DE CATALUNYA, and BIBLIOTECA NACIONAL DE CATALUNYA

Site: TEATRE NACIONAL DE CATALUNYA, and BIBLIOTECA NACIONAL DE CATALUNYA

Assignment: SPATIAL VOIDS, SPATIAL OBJECTS

You will perform a comparative analysis of the spatial conditions of the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya and the Biblioteca Nacional de Catalunya. Your analysis will explore the additive and subtractive process of forming space.

Using axonometric, create a diagrammatical abstraction of the following systems:

Day One [Teatre Nacional de Catalunya]: spatial objects (addative process)
Day Two {Biblioteca de Catalunya}: spatial voids (subtravctive process)

Your comparative analysis of the architecture should link back to your understanding of the inverse relationship between the urban pavillion and courtyard forms.

FOSSAR de la PEDRERA

Site: FOSSAR DE LA PEDRERA Beth Gali and Marius Quintana

The Fossar of the stone quarry (Beth Galí & Màrius Quintana, 1983-86) was originally the quarry (pedrera in Catalan) used as a cemetery or dumping ground during the Civil War for individuals executed in the Castell de Montjuïc during 1939 and 1940.

In the 1980, during one of the urban regeneration initiatives of the city, the abandoned quarry was inaugurated as a monument to memorialize those who fell fighting for the freedom of Catalonia.

Assignment: PLACE AND SPACE

Place theory looks at the idea of the role of historic, cultural, social and political values in design. Under this theory, the architecture or urban design is underpinned by memory, emotion and phenomena.

Sketch a plan and section showing the relationship of the quarry space to the street and terrain. Indicate in your drawings the zones of sacred space, profane space and the transition space between.

Please analyses how the architect layers in historic, cultural and political values in the design and preservation of the quarry?

PARC DEL LABERINT d'HORTA AND PARC GUELL

Site: PARC DEL LABERINT d'HORTA and PARC GUELL

Assignment: FOREGROUND, BACKGROUND, MIDDLE GROUND

You will examine the city from the top down.

From the Parc del Laberint d'Horta and ParcGuell there are spectacular views over the parc itself, the western hills and the city. Frame views with these different horizons in mind. Try to locate some of the areas from previous assignments and lectures.

In your framed view you should introduce depth through the consideration of foreground, background, and middleground
The view depicted should be separated into 3 spatial layers.

In your second sketch, at the same or different site, reverse your 3 three spatial layers so that background moves to foreground and foreground receddes to the background.

fore·ground (fôr ground , f r -)
n.
1. The part of a scene or picture that is nearest to and in front of the viewer.

back·ground (b k ground )
n.
1. The ground or scenery located behind something.
2. The part of a pictorial representation that appears to be in the distance and that provides relief for the principal objects in the foreground.
b. The general scene or surface against which designs, patterns, or figures are represented or viewed

middle ground
n.
1. A view midway between extremes

THE METEROLOGY CENTER

Site: THE METEOROLOGY CENTER, Paseo Maritim, Alvaro Siza

Assignment: NARRATIVE AND COMPOSITION

James Joyce, the 20th century writer is celebrated for is ability to present a story rich in complexity. In his novel Dubliner, Joyce constructs his characters through the presentation of multiple perspectives. These fragmented views collectivelly assemble a narrative that allows for a broad understanding of the social and political contexts of the city

In sketching architecture, we are presented with the same challenge of how to represent a subject in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Each architectural building or site has the ability to be viewed through a infinite number of lenses. In addition, each scholar brings to the subject elements of perception, approach and point-of-view.

Point-of-view and composition become critical in establishing the narative of your subject. We can take clues from our literary example offered by Joyce in that the attempt to capture the entire building in one sketch is often less successful that the narrative that is constructed by the collection of multiple drawings.

You will explore composition and narrative through a series of sketching explorations at the Meteorology Center.

com·po·si·tion
1.
a. The combining of distinct parts or elements to form a whole.
b. The manner in which such parts are combined or related.
2. Arrangement of artistic parts so as to form a unified whole.

nar·ra·tive
1. A narrated account; a story.
2. The art, technique, or process of narrating.
adj. 1. Consisting of or characterized by the telling of a story.

PLAZA DE LA VIRREINA

Site: PLAZA DE LA VIRREINA, Village of Gracia

Assignment: PROPORTIONS, RATIOS, GEOMETRIES

"For the human body is so designed by nature that the face, from the chin to the top of the forehead and the lowest roots of the hair, is a tenth part of the whole height; the open hand from the wrist to the tip of the middle finger is just the same; the head from the chin to the crown is an eighth, and with the neck and shoulder from the top of the breast to the lowest roots of the hair is a sixth; from the middle of the breast to the summit of the crown is a fourth. If we take the height of the face itself, the distance from the bottom of the chin to the under side of the nostrils is one third of it; the nose from the under side of the nostrils to a line between the eyebrows is the same; from there to the lowest roots of the hair is also a third, comprising the forehead. The length of the foot is one sixth of the height of the body; of the forearm, one fourth; and the breadth of the breast is also one fourth."
excerpt from the Ten Books of Architecture by Vitruvius

Begin by drawing a diagramatic plan AND section OR axon of the plaza. In your sketch, indicate the location of the church. Please render accurately the width and height of the spatial volume of the plaza and its opening and passages.

Sketch, in more detail, the facade of the church. Your drawing should reveal underlying proportional systems and or geometries. Using your overall proportions as the fundamental element of measurement, locate the fenestartions, ornamentation and architectural elements and details.

pro·por·tion (pr -pôr sh n, -p r -)
n.

1. A part considered in relation to the whole.
2. A relationship between things or parts of things with respect to comparative magnitude, quantity, or degree:.
3. A relationship between quantities such that if one varies then another varies in a manner dependent on the first: 4. Agreeable or harmonious relation of parts within a whole; balance or symmetry.