Talia Cannistra | Assignment 5b

Talia Cannistra

ARCH 926: Thesis Prep I

Fall 2011

Assignment 5b

Keywords |

| interstitial spaces | transition | movement | reveal | discovery |

| journey | experience | progression | mystery |

Thesis Precis |

There is a great difference between a generic building and a piece of architecture. The experience, or impact that the piece has, is an important part of what helps the building transcend beyond being merely a shelter from the elements. Using simple sophistication a building can provide an emotional environment, create opportunities for discovery, and offer a memorable experience that has a lasting effect on the user. Great architecture does not need to be an ornate, intricate, collaboration of tectonic details to create a journey. It simply needs to allow for the user to discover and comprehend the moments that are provided. This thesis seeks to find what moments are necessary, and how they can be created in a minimalistic way, to offer a stimulating and extraordinary experience.

New Sources |

Abercrombie, Stanley. “Architecture as Art: an Esthetic Analysis.” Van Nostrand Reinhold. New York, 1984. 176pg.

Kristal, Marc. “Immaterial World: Transparency in Architecture.” Pub. Monacelli Press. New York, 2011. 214pg.

Macdonald, Christopher. “Eloquent Resistence.” The Canadian Architect. v.42 1997. p16-23.

Pawson, John. “Minimum.” Pub. Phaidon Press Limited. London, 1996. 258pg.

Pawson, John. “Themes and Projects.” Pub. Phaidon Press Limited. London, 2002. 120pg.

Vesely, Dalibor. “Surrealism and the Latent World of Creativity.” Art (Prague). v.59 no.3 (2011). p267-73.

Annotated Bibliography |

Pawson, John. “Minimum.” Pub. Phaidon Press Limited. London, 1996. 258pg.

This book explores the idea of 'minimum' as applied to architecture, art and design. It is about the quality that a building or object possesses when everything about it is reduced to its most basic form, fundamentally focusing on simplicity. This book is helpful in order to understand the ideas of minimalism and how to use it successfully within a design. There are examples given that illustrate exactly what simplicity means.

Blau, Eve. “Transparency and the Irreconcilable Contradictions of Modernity,” Praxis 9

This article asserts that transparency in architecture can be understood literally, through the use of particular materials, and phenomenally, by an ambiguous quality of spatial organization. This article is helpful to grasp the difference between the two types of transparency and to learn how to utilize the differences in designing. The author puts the information into terms that a student can understand.

Holl, Steven, Alberto Perez Gomez, and Juhani Pallasmaa. “Questions of Perception: Phenomenology of Architecture.” Pub. William Stout (2006). 155pg.

This book contains three separate essays from each authors’ point of view, that are thematically linked, and each one explains the role that human perception and phenomenological experience play in architecture. This is helpful to understand how perception is different in every aspect of life, including about the concept of perception itself. It allows the reader to get to know the minds of the authors and learn how their ideas can be further developed by these understandings.