Weaving Architecture & Nature
Weaving Architecture & Nature
Jessie Tang
1000079
Class 3 2013
ABSTRACT
Landscape from its beginnings has a man-made connotation with associated cultural process values. The idea of having a landscape does not suggest anything natural at all. Yet there are instances of projects where the landscape itself suggests natural connotations as though there is no interface between nature
(site) and culture (architecture). In Chichu Art Museum, Tadao Ando made a radical decision to create an underground space to create minimal changes to the current natural environment, exposing only very basic geometries as the openings for the underground gallery. He transformed the site into a natural work of art, interfacing with the internal works of art. On the other hand, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater transforms the original site into a beautiful monumental landscape and brings nature into the house by using materials found on site, creating natural experiences through his architecture. Yet the ideas of the interface between Nature and architecture are translated very differently for the 2 projects. Ando’s idea of the interface was a stark exposed one while Wright’s was more clear and rational. This paper seeks to find out whether one of their interpretations questionable, or it is just harder to comprehend one than the other.
Keywords: Nature; Integration; Art; Landscape; Culture
1. INTRODUCTION
Figure 1. Illustration of the Phases of Museum Development
The concept of museums since the late 18th century evolved through 3 different phases (Figure 1). The first generation are mostly built by royalties as part of their collections, the second generation museums are more
1
particular in presenting artworks and collections in their raw form, where exhibition spaces are designed to segregate the works from any context using spaces that is pure and abstract. As art works progressed further, artists evolved to creating works that are more specific,
Jessie Tang
1000079
Class 3 2013
ABSTRACT
Landscape from its beginnings has a man-made connotation with associated cultural process values. The idea of having a landscape does not suggest anything natural at all. Yet there are instances of projects where the landscape itself suggests natural connotations as though there is no interface between nature
(site) and culture (architecture). In Chichu Art Museum, Tadao Ando made a radical decision to create an underground space to create minimal changes to the current natural environment, exposing only very basic geometries as the openings for the underground gallery. He transformed the site into a natural work of art, interfacing with the internal works of art. On the other hand, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater transforms the original site into a beautiful monumental landscape and brings nature into the house by using materials found on site, creating natural experiences through his architecture. Yet the ideas of the interface between Nature and architecture are translated very differently for the 2 projects. Ando’s idea of the interface was a stark exposed one while Wright’s was more clear and rational. This paper seeks to find out whether one of their interpretations questionable, or it is just harder to comprehend one than the other.
Keywords: Nature; Integration; Art; Landscape; Culture
1. INTRODUCTION
Figure 1. Illustration of the Phases of Museum Development
The concept of museums since the late 18th century evolved through 3 different phases (Figure 1). The first generation are mostly built by royalties as part of their collections, the second generation museums are more
1
particular in presenting artworks and collections in their raw form, where exhibition spaces are designed to segregate the works from any context using spaces that is pure and abstract. As art works progressed further, artists evolved to creating works that are more specific,
References: Andō, Tadao, Francesco Co, and Vittorio Gregotti. Tadao Ando: complete works. 1995. Reprint, London: Phaidon, 2005. Goldberger, Paul. "ARCHITECTURE VIEW; 'Laureate ' in a Land of Zen and Microchips." The New York Times, April 23, 1995 Hinman, Kristen. "America 's Greatest Work of Architecture." American History 46, no. 4 (October 2011): 3241. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed December 2, 2013). "How Fallingwater Is In Sync With Nature." Bukisa. http://www.bukisa.com/articles/358116_how-fallingwateris-in-sync-with-nature (accessed December 2, 2013). Jodidio, Philip, and Tadao Andō. Tadao Ando at Naoshima: art, architecture, nature. New York: Rizzoli, 2006. Pollock, Naomi R. 2005. "Tadao Ando buries his architecture at the at the CHICHU ART MUSEUM so only the voids emerge from the earth." Architectural Record 193, no Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed December 2, 2013). Sauer, C ‘The Morphology of Landscape’, 1925 p.25 in Carl Sauer (ed), University of California Publications in Geography (1919-1928); 2.2 (1929); 19-53. Fallingwater, Pa.?: Fallingwater, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy ;, 1996.