#howdoiarchitecture

A tumblr run by two students of architecture in search of what is beautiful amid what is not. Opinions expressed here are shaped by formal architectural education, taught by some of the top scholars in the field.

[whatsbrokencanalwaysbefixed]

[cvilletocharlestown]

"Why the fuck did we ever try to betray the Greeks?" 

"Hell if I know. Hold on, your shoulder is dipping. Let me prop your capital up." 

"Thanks." 

"Friends forever?" 

"Forever. Literally." 

[howdoiarchitecture]

A London House documented by Shootfactory,

A perfect room; from the curtained vestibule, the moldings and medallions, and the Sonian vault. The wood in the flooring even marks a differentiation between spaces. 

[howdoiarchitecture]

Corner detail of the Church of San Barnaba, Venice 

Corners are always an important detail in architecture, and establishing a hierarchy for their construction is crucial. The engaged column to the far left indicates the main facade of the church. Following the return to the next pilaster establishes a layer behind the engaged columns, and deepens the facade. The next engaged column turns the corner into the final pilaster which leads you to the longitudinal side of the building. How do you architecture? 

[howdoiarchitecture]

“A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.”

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

[howdoiarchitecture]

"The Classic Spirit is the disinterested search for perfection; it is the love of clearness and reasonableness and self control; it is, above all, the love of permanence and of continuity... It strives for the essential rather than the accidental, the eternal rather than the momentary- And it loves to steep itself in tradition. It would have each new work connect itself in the mind of him who sees it with all the noble and lovely works of the past, bringing them to his memory and making their beauty and charm a part of the beauty and charm of the work before him. It does not deny originality and individuality-they are as welcome as inevitable. It does not consider tradition as immutable or set rigid bounds to invention. But it desires that each new presentation of truth and beauty shall show us the old truth and the old beauty, seen only from a different angle and colored by a different medium. It wishes to add link by link to the chain of tradition, but it does not wish to break the chain."

Kenyon Cox The Classical Point of View

[howdoiarchitecture]

Guastavino Tile in the Oyster Bar, Grand Central Station

Rafael Guastavino Moreno and his son, Rafael Guastavino Exposito created a tiling system of self-supporting architectural vaults in the late 1800's.  Vitruvius would be proud of their lasting work, exemplifying Venustas, Firmitas, and Utilitas.  Beauty, strangth, and utility.  How do you architecture?

[bluedollarbillzmusic]

[howdoiarchitecture]

Note how the corner conditions are handled.  One of the greatest challenges of an architect is how to handle corners.  How do you architecture?

[archimaps]

[howdoiarchitecture]

Elevation for the restored Château de Blicquy

[applewayfarers]

[howdoiarchitecture]

In what appears to be a simple cortile, we are given a prime example of the importance of creating a view and architecture that directs an individual's path of travel, creating a journey.  One's eye, at first glance, is focused on the archway ahead, or the destination.  The architecture has forced the eye to this destination.  Then, the garden intercepts the individual, forcing him or her to take 'the long way around.'  Architecture has added a mere seven seconds to one's arrival of the destination, but in that process a journey was had.  Good architecture creates a view, a destination, a journey.  How do you architecture?

[cvilletocharlestown]

Newell Post, William Gatewood House 

[cvilletocharlestown]

[aesthetic---pleasures]

[isthatsallfolks-blog]

Louvre façade, Paris