DESI GNTHESI S DEVI CES.TOLLBOXFORCI VI CNESS
ADORACI ONMARCO VI DAL
DESI GNTHESI S DEVI CES.TOOLBOXFORCI VI CNESS
ADORACI ONMARCO VI DAL
KI NGSTONUNI VERSI TY M. A.ARCHI TECTURE K1452287
“Many of my ex-pupils have become very dear friends. I never talk to them about architecture; we talk of big and little events, that is to say the roots from which architecture grows� Giovanni Michelucci
0. THE CONTENT
00. The content
CONTENT
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1. THESIS STATEMENT
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2. THE CONTEXT
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3. HOUSING AS CIVIC ARCHITECTURE. ARCHITECTURE FOR THE CITIZENS
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4. SPECIAL SPACES WITHIN THE FABRIC. DEVICES
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5.BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
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“My passion and great enjoyment for architecture, and the reason the older I get the more I enjoy it, is because I believe we - architects - can effect the quality of life of the people.� Richard Rogers
02. 01. THESIS STATEMENT
01. Thesis statement
THESIS STATEMENT
DEVICES, TOOL BOX OF CIVICNESS. The aim of this thesis is to study, investigate and test those elements that for its nature, character and applied correctly to a domestic building, make a contribution to the city and therefore, civic. What is civic? We understand the therm civic as related to the city. Definitions of the word civic: 1. Of or relating to a city; municipal. 2. Of or relating to citizenship; civil. Word reference Random House learner’s dictionary of American English ©2014
1. Of relating to a city, citizens or citizenship. Etymology: 16th century from Latin civicus: citizen. Collins concise English Dictionary © Harper Collins Publishers
1. Of or relating or belonging to a city. 2. Of or relating to or befitting citizens as individuals. 3. (Mankind): Human, mortal, personal, individual, national, public, social. English wordnet
Synonyms: Community, public, civil, municipal, common, political, local, urban, borough. Word reference. English Thesaurus © 2014
It seems that all definitions have in common one therm: city. Thus, is civic all that makes city? When we approach for first time the therm civic, it comes to our mind words like public, large scale, rich materials, presence. However, the city is not only formed by public buildings. How private buildings stand on to this therm? Housing belongs to the city. Therefore, is housing civic? Are all residential buildings civic? The answer to this questions will be responded through the arguments on this document. Based on these definitions, I understand an element civic when it contributes to enhance the city. This enhancement can be visual, aesthetic or when conceding a space with direct use for the citizens.
Fig 1. La citta analoga. Arduino Cantafora. Milan Triennale, 1973
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Devices, toolbox of civicness
This thesis has its origins in the unit thesis: Domestic building as civic architecture. We commonly identify civic buildings as public, religious or governmental buildings. Edifices that for its usually grandeur characteristics, make from the city a richer space. However, most of the streets in a city are formed by private housing. We inhabit buildings that are part of the streets, squares and the city itself, in the same way that the furniture and walls are part of our houses. “I have already observed elsewhere, that a House is a little City. We are therefore in the building of it, to have an eye almost to every thing that relates to the building of a city; that it be healthy, furnished with all Manner of Necessaries, not deficient in any of the conveniences that conduce to the repose, tranquillity or delicacy of life” Leon Battista Alberti.
How can domestic buildings contribute to the city? Can housing have a civic character? The focus project is based in the city of Florence, Italy. Florence it is been ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It is considered the birthplace of the Renascent. In this period was specially valuable and considered a great privilege the right of citizenship and one of the biggest virtues was that of good citizenship. “The construction of Renaissance Florence provided a model for the ideals of good citizenship and collective living, as illustrated in the cohesive design of the city and civic nature of individual buildings” Unit manual.
The responsible for building projects, whether public or private, were profoundly concerned with the impact that their buildings would have, not only on their family name but also on the image of the city. This buildings were not only religious or governmental but also residential as we can still appreciate nowadays in the “Palazzi” in the city. Due to its contribution to the city, the palazzi have been studied for years and they are still considered excellent examples of civic architecture.
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01. Thesis statement
During the 14th and 15th century were built a considerable amount of palazzos for the richest families in Florence like Palazzo Medici - Ricardi, Palazzo Rucellai, Palazzo Gondi, Palazzo Bardi alle Grazie, Palazzo Strozzi, Palazzo Guadagni, Palazzo Pandolfini, Palazzo Bartolini Salimbeni, Palazzo Niccolini, amongst others. The architects, well-known nowadays for their designs, like masters Alberti, Brunelleschi, Michelozzo or Sangallo, knew how to emphasize the grandiosity and power of the families by projecting it into marvellous housing - buildings. They not only satisfied the programme required to cover the necessities, but also contributed to enhance the city and its streets.
Fig. 2 13
Devices, toolbox of civicness
The palazzi are civic pieces of the city. No one who has seen them or study them would negate it. However, what makes of these buildings civic? A first brain-storm would say: scale, materiality, entrances, group. After an eye-critical walk across the streets of Florence, one can begin to recognize in the buildings certain common elements which are catalyst for civicness. These elements, directly or indirectly, contribute to create spaces for the well-use and rejoicing of the citizens. As Aristotle said: “A city is a place where men live a common life for a noble end. This is above all the end for all both in common and separately�.
I recognize civicness where there is an act of concession to the city. These acts can be direct, as for example spaces within the buildings that can be directly used by the public like loggias, colonnades, courtyards, benches; or indirect concessions which would be spaces or elements that cannot be used directly by the public, but have a direct visual relation that provides value and character to the streets, like upper loggias, ornamentation or elements in façades, rustication, etc.
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01. Thesis statement
Walking the city of Florence, I discovered special moments, elements or spaces that happened to have, from my point of view, a very strong civic character.
Fig. 3
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Devices, toolbox of civicness
Following this line of thinking, I will focus this thesis in all these elements that are special for its character and that can be used as tool for designing. From now on, I will call this special elements “Devices”. The word device has many definitions. One of them is: “A machine or tool used for a specific task; contrivance” It also means: “A plan, scheme, or procedure” WordReference Random House Learner’s Dictionary of American English. Or: “Any ornamental pattern or picture, as in embroidery” Collins Concise English Dictionary. Among others. Collins Concise English Dictionary.
After having a first approach of what I identify as civic, I focused on finding a common denominator for those civic spaces that are part of domestic architecture. I recognize my devices as: - Loggia - Colonnade - Bench - Courtyard - Altana - Gallery - Upper Loggia Once identified these Devices, they can be used as members of a formula or as ingredients in a recipe where, applied in the right quantities, can result in domestic building as civic architecture. I believe that these devices, utilized in the correct position, scale and proportion, are creators of civicness. Therefore, the tittle of this thesis: Devices, toolbox for civicness.
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01. Thesis statement
Fig. 4 17
“See where it lies before us in a sun-lighted valley, bright with the winding Arno, and shut in by swelling hills; its domes and towers and palaces, rising from the rich country in a glittering heap, and shining in the sun like gold� Charles Dickens. Florence. Pictures from Italy (1884)
02. 02 0 2. THE THE C TH CO CONTEXT ONT NTE EX X XT T
Devices, toolbox of civicness
2.1. FLORENCE The site where this thesis is developed is situated in the city of Florence, Italy. Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 380,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1,520,000 in the metropolitan area. Florence is famous for its history: a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time, it is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has been called “the Athens of the Middle Ages”.A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family, and numerous religious and republican revolutions. From 1865 to 1871 the city was the capital of the recently established Kingdom of Italy. The Historic Centre of Florence attracts millions of tourists each year. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. The city is noted for its culture, Renaissance art and architecture and monuments. The city also contains numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizzi Gallery and the Palazzo Pitti, and still exerts an influence in the fields of art, culture and politics.
2.1.1. ITS ORIGIN It is not very well known the real birth of the city due to the existence of many controversial references. Some texts says that the city was built by the Phoenicians in 1440 BC. Different texts claim that were the Etruscan who started the foundation of the city or the Siila Courts or Triumviri colony. A different source affirms that La Cittá Madre, the mother of Florence, was Fesulre, now Fiesole, an Etruscan settlement of the remotest antiquity, whose elevated terraces and walks are visible from most parts of the modern town. Florence was derivative from the very
2.1.2. ITS NAME Its denomination is has not less controversy that its origin. Some will say that the name comes from the Fiorino King who was killed by the Fiesolani, while others will say that comes from the word ‘Fiori’ (Flowers).
Florence. Italy Fig 2.
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02. The context
2.1.3. ITS DIVISIONS Florence within the second walls was divided by ‘Quartieri’ (quarter) which names where: ‘Porte del Duomo, di S. Maria, di S. Piero e S. Pancrazio. Afterwards, the city grows and in 1125 was divided in ‘Sestieri’ (Sixth) : d’ Oltrarno, di S. Piero Scheraggio , di Borgo SS. Apostoli , di S. Pancrazio, di Porta del Duomo, and di S. Piero. After the Athens Duke chase, in 1343, the city was divided again in quarters which were named after the churches: S. Spirito, S. Croce, S. Giovanni and S. M. Novella. This division had the aim to regulate and to separate the different jobs and to distribute the population. Years later the subdivisions would become ‘Terzieri’ until they become the districts that we know nowadays.
Current districts in Florence
Fig 3
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Devices, toolbox of civicness
2.1.4. HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT Florence has changed considerably since 59 BC, when a Small Roman settlement founded by Julius Caesar called Fiorentia was stablished in the proximities of the river Arno. Fiorentia contained similar Roman walls to that of the former Etruscan city of Fiesol that lay north of the site.
Fig 4 24
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Fig 5 26
02. The context
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2.2. PIAZZA DI CESTELLO The immediate context of the project is situated at the south of the river Arno, in Oltrarno district.
Fig 6
Fig 7
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Fig 8
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Fig 9. Digital model San Frediano in Cestello.
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Fig 11. Night view from Piazza Ognissanti
Fig 12. Night view from Ponte A. Vespucci
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Fig 13. Lugarno Amerigo Vespucci. Buildings have a more formal character at this side of the river. Live in the river Arno.
Fig 14. Lugarno Amerigo Vespucci seen from Piazza San Frediano.
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Fig. 15. Piazza. Current state
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02. The context
Fig 16. Granaio dell’Abbondanza. Photogrammetric view.
Fig 17. Granaio dell’Abbondanza. Elevation
The Piazza Piazza di Cestello, ordinarily known as “dell’ Ucello” Bird’s Piazza, is currently used as car parking. The north side of the piazza is flanked by the river Arno. At the east there is a military building “Caserma Cavalli”, known originally as former granary “Granaio dell’Abondanza”, built in 1665 by the architect Giovan Battista Foggini under order from Cosimo III de Medici. Nowadays still can be seen the Medici’s emblem in the facade.
Fig 18. Seminary. Photogrammetric view.
The eastern edge is occupied by San Frediano seminary. In 1783 the convent was closed and transformed in the Archiepiscopal Seminary, which is still active today. The south of the piazza is formed by Via di Cestello where small cafes, a hotel and a local theater take place and the church.
Fig 19. Seminary. Elevation
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02. The context
Fig 20. Photogrammetric view Via del Piaggione
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The Church The church stands on the place of the monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli, founded in 1450 and since 1628 owned by the Cistercense monks, who ordered in that year architect Gherardo Silvani to build the church. The original design saw the faรงade of the church on the southern side, towards Borgo San Frediano and the Oltrarno, but the Cistercense monks preferred the faรงade to be built on the northern side towards the Arno and the city, and commissioned Antonio Cerruti to build the church following these directions. The new construction begun in 1680 and ended in 1689, when Antonio Ferri completed the dome. The faรงade was never carryed out and remained uncompleted. The interior is the form of a Latin cross with side chapels bordered by elegant pilaster strips which carry the eye upwards to the domed cupola perforated with large windows. The church is a very characteristically Baroque structure. Clad with white plaster, combined with polychrome marble walls and the traditional mosaico fiorentino technique.
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Fig 21. Church San Frediano in Cestello. Front view
02. The context
Fig 22. San Frediano in Cestello church.
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The neighbourhood The area is characterized by being a busy and full of life part of the city. The streets and its buildings have a more informal character and a smaller scale than at the north of the Arno. The neighbourhood is a residential area formed mostly by residential blocks with different uses in ground floor. There are restaurants, shops, garages, workshops, etc. The northern edge of the site faces the river, and the street of Lugarno Amerigo Vespucci on the other side. The buildings along this street and generally at this side of the river have a more formal character, built on a grander scale to accommodate luxury hotels and residential apartments. The Piazza Ognissanti seems to mirror the piazza di Cestello, sitting directly opposite at the other side of the river.
Fig 23. Residential buildings in Via del Piaggione
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Fig 24, 25 and 26. Live in the neighbourhood.
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Fig 27. Local uses of Ground Floor
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Fig 28, 29 and Fig 30 Local shops and amenities
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Fig 31. Photometric view Lugarno Amerigo Vespucci
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Fig 32. Photometric view San Frediano in Cestello
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Fig 33. Photometric view San Frediano in Cestello. Thesis proposal
Fig 34. Night view San Frediano in Cestello. Thesis proposal
“I call architecture frozen music.� Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Fig 1
3. HOUSING AS CIVIC ARCHITECTURE. ARCHITECTURE FOR THE CITIZENS
03. HOUSING AS CIVIC ARCHITECTURE. Architecture for the citizens
DOMESTIC BUILDING AS CIVIC ARCHITECTURE The theme of this thesis is based in Unit 2 thesis: “Domestic buildings as civic architecture”. As already explained in the thesis statement, the Palazzi in Florence are an exceptional example of domestic buildings with a strong civic character. 3.1. DOMESTIC CIVIC BUILDINGS IN THE CITY OF FLORENCE. PALAZZI. READING THE CITY. PALAZZO DAVANZATI Palazzo Davanzati was erected in the second half of the 14th century by the Davizzi family, who were wealthy members of the wool guild.
Observing the facade, we can clearly recognize some of the devices previously identified. There is an upper loggia at the fourth floor, which provides a visual relation with the city; and a ground floor loggia (in this case closed by portones), which, with its tripartite form, has a direct relation with the ground floor and the citizens. In its origins, it was used to conduct family business. Although it is not absolutely clear from the outside, the plan reveals a explicit loggia between the building and the street. In ground floor, all the rooms of the building communicate on to hallways that open onto the central open-air courtyard, where a staircase gives access to the rest of floors through a gallery. The first, second and third storeys have the same layout in plan; great hall in front of the palazzo, dining room beyond, and bedrooms and bathrooms towards the back.
Fig 2. Palazzo Davanzati facade
Fig 3. Ground Floor Plan and Section Devices
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PALAZZO MEDICCI RICARDI Designed by Michelozzo and built between 1444 and 1460, palazzo Medici Ricardi is one of the first Renaissance palazzi.
The palazzo was conceived as a big cube with a central courtyard. The façades have strong rustication and become a large bench when encountering the floor. Although when it was built was situated at the suburbs of Florence, nowadays is situated in the heart of the city between two of the most important religious buildings in Florence: The Duomo Santa Maria del Fiore and the Basilica di San Lorenzo. Viewed from the Duomo, it is the tallest and most imposing building in the street, which confirms the relevance of the palazzo for the city, therefore its civic character.
Up: Fig. 4. Exterior Down: Fig 5. Interior courtyard
Fig 6. Ground Floor Plan and Section Devices
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PALAZZO RUCELLAI Designed by Rafael Alberti, the building was constructed for the Rucellai merchant family. The works started in 1446. The project consisted in a reorganisation of internal walls of 7 different adjacent houses which the Rucellai owned, all joint together behind a common facade. Behind the facade we still can see the upper loggia. The palazzo is organized interiorly around a courtyard. The loggia forms part of the palazzo although it is physically separated from the main building. The Rucellai family used it to hold events which engaged with the citizens, such as weddings or celebrations. The facade is a game of framed visuals that, together with the separated loggia, articulates and takes control of the urban space. The facade becomes a bench at ground oor level.
Fig 7. Palazzo Rucellai with its loggia.
Fig 8. Ground Floor Plan and Elevations Devices
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PALAZZO STROZZI Designed by Benedetto da Matano and built in 1589, this edifice is surrounded on all four sides by streets. It is a free-standing building, which is not common to others palazzi of the time. This introduced a new problem in Renaissance architecture, which, given the newly felt desire for internal symmetry of planning symmetry: how to integrate the cross-axis. The ground floor plan of Palazzo Strozzi is rigorously symmetrical on its two axes, organized around a courtyard.
The palazzo, granted by the Istituto Nazionale delle Assicurazioni to the Italian State in 1999, is now home to the Institute of Humanist Studies and to the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi. Today the palace is used for international expositions and its courtyard is open to the public, having three different entrances. The courtyard has a tripartite style from the time. Note the third storey with the upper loggia looking towards the courtyard. The facade, like in other examples of palazzi in Florence, finishes with a concession to the city as civic gesture: A public bench.
Fig 9. Exterior view
Fig 11. Ground Floor Plan and Section Devices
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Fig 10. Courtyard
03. HOUSING AS CIVIC ARCHITECTURE. Architecture for the citizens
PALAZZO GONDI Designed by Antonio da Sangallo in 1490, Palazzo Gondi stands virtuosly in the heart of Florence, neighbouring Palazzo Vecchio, with its main facade defining Piazza San Firenze.
Observing the facade we can instantly identify one of the devices described in the thesis statement: The altana. It is a scenographic terrace that allows a direct view of the cathedral and the rest of the city. The plan is organized around a small but rich courtyard. The courtyard is 2 x 3 bays, finished with sculptural decorations, a fountain and a exterior staircase. An upper loggia can be appreciate in the interior facade of the courtyard. Currently the Gondi family occupy the top floors of the building, the first floor (piano nobile) is reserved for events and grand ceremonies, while the ground floor spaces facing the street are occupied by an elegant coffee bar and a leather goods shop. This fact demonstrates how the uses of a building can change with the past of the years but the architecture remains.
Fig. 12. Exterior view.
Fig. 13. Courtyard.
Fig 14. Ground Floor Plan and Section Devices
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PALAZZO GUADAGNI Palazzo Guadagni was built in 1502 by Simone del Pollaiolo. Situated at the nord-west corner of Piazza Santo Spirito, the edifice was erected were the family owned a series of houses. The building had housed many different uses since it’s construction. From 1912-1964 The German Institue for Art History in Florence was housed on the first floor. In 1914 the ground floor became the first municpal library in Florence which is still in use. Most of the building is nowadays a hotel. The most featuring of the Palazzo Guadagni’s facade is its prominent upper loggia. A large terrace on the upper floor offers views towards the Piazza Santo Spirito and the Church of the same name designed by Brunelleschi. The upper loggia participates of the charming character of the piazza. In the interior, day light gets into the rooms throught a courtyard. The building sits on a prominent stone bench, sharing its fabric with the city.
Fig. 15. View from the upper loggia.
Fig. 16. Exterior in a market day. Fig. 17. Ground Floor Plan and Elevation Devices
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Fig. 18. Devices
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“Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness.” Frank Gehry
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03. HOUSING AS CIVIC ARCHITECTURE. Architecture for the citizens
3.2. DEVICES REFERENCES. READING ARCHITECTURE. Having studied the palazzi in Florence and identified this special elements that happen between their walls, one can start screening and observing that the use of this devices has been extended and re-used constantly through the history of architecture. Exits many examples in architecture were this elements have been used, conceding part of their own buildings to the public space, and therefore, making a civic contribution.
David Chipperfield’s architecture is one example were can be found a long list of these elements.
Fig. 19. Devices in Chipperfield’s work 69
Devices, toolbox of civicness
ALDO ROSSI Milan, 1931 - 1997. “Aldo Rossi was an Italian architect and designer who accomplished the unusual feat of achieving international recognition in four distinct areas: theory, drawing, architecture and product design”. Celant, Germano & Ghirardo, Diane (2008). Aldo Rossi: Drawings. Milan: Skira
He was the first italian architect to received the Pritzker price for architecture. Residential building in Whichen, 1968
Casa Aurora office block. The new GFT building in Turin, 1984
Expansion of the Ponte Sesto Cemetery in Rozzano, 1989
Proposal for the new Palazzo dei COngressi in Milan, 1950
Fig 20. Devices in Aldo Rossi’s work 70
03. HOUSING AS CIVIC ARCHITECTURE. Architecture for the citizens
National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1991
Building in Friedrichstrasse, Berlin 1990
Administrative complex and reconstruction of the old hospital in Hasselt, Belgium 1992
New italian embasy in Washington D.C. 1992
New Paganini Theather and Piazza Pilotta, in Parma 1964
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3.3. THE ART OF PROPORTION
“That the ancient Orders of Architecture have received their full share of attention from writers in all ages no one can doubt.” A.J. Brian in Architecture proportion illustrated
With this words, A.J. Brian starts his first chapter in Architecture proportion illustrated. Through the history of architecture, architects have learn that relations between the elements of their buildings (plans, elevations, sections, details) are important. An experienced eye could see at first sight a building (drawing, representation or reality) and easily say that something is wrong with it, in the specific case that the object is disproportionated. This is due to the fact that proportions, other than mathematics, are a visual science. It is something that we can perceive with our own eyes. It is tangible. “Architectural proportion is the relation one part or member of a building bears to others”A.J. Brian in Architecture proportion illustrated
Having a quick look to the history of architecture, Vitruvius, Roman architect who lived during the Ist B.C. already talked about proportion in his texts. In his book De Architectura said that “a structure must exhibit the three qualities of firmitas, utilitas, venustas” ,that is, it must be solid, useful, beautiful. In this last Triad, he talks about geometry and proportion, which was later inspiration to Lenardo Da Vinci to draw his Vitruvian man: a human body inscribed in a circle and a square. Vitruvius text was of deep influence, according to Petri Liukkomen: “this text influenced deeply from the Early Renaissance onwards artists, thinkers, and architects, among them Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472), Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), and Michelangelo (1475–1564).”
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Fig 21. Leonardo Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man.
Fig 22. Study of proportions. Basilica of Santo Spirito
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This Thesis document does no intend to make a profound study through all the history of proportions in architecture, this is not the aim of this text. This chapter wants to refer to the importance of knowledge in the subject in order to dispose of a powerful tool for designing.
...”we can grab a hold of the proportion that is one of the principal virtues of the beauty.”A. Gaudi, Reus manuscript, 1878
Many have been the architects that have studied the ancient proportions and have make use of them.
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, who was better known as Le Corbusier, was a SwissFrench architect. One of the pioneers of what is now called modern architecture. Le Corbusier explicitly used the golden ratio in his Modulor system for the scale of architectural proportion. He saw this system as continuation of the long tradition of Vitruvius, Leonardo da Vinci’s “Vitruvian Man”, the work of Leon Battista Alberti, and others who used the proportions of the human body to improve the appearance and function of architecture. In addition to the golden ratio, Le Corbusier based the system on human measurements, Fibonacci numbers, and the double unit.
Fig. 23. Le Corbusier ‘s Modulor.
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03. HOUSING AS CIVIC ARCHITECTURE. Architecture for the citizens
Fig. 24. Le Corbusier ‘s Modulor. Relation of human body with human activities.
“Modulation is a range of proportions that make the bad difficult and the good easy”
Albert Einstein
Rules and proportions should be a tool that help us to design and facilitate our decisions, not an impediment. We, architects, are the conductors and compositors of our work, therefore, after having a vast knowledge of these rules, we should be able to bend them to our own favour in order to achieve the best results. It is a clear example, when Michelangelo, with his perfect knowledge of the rules, he understood them and knew how to make them his own. That was the birth of the Baroque over the Renaissance.
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DEVICES. STUDY OF PROPORTIONS. It is important to know examples of the devices but also to understand how they work and their proportions.
Loggias and colonnades comparison study.
Fig. 25. Loggias and colonnades comparison study.
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Courtyards comparison study.
Fig. 26. Loggias and colonnades comparison study.
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Fig. 27. Section through courtyard. 80
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“Only the green does not comfort (...), the comfort comes from other things, it comes from the human contact, from living the same happenings, from participation.� Giovanni Michelucci
Fig.1
04. SPECIAL SPACES WITHIN THE FABRIC. DEVICES AS DESIGNING TOOL.
Fig.2. Devices at urban scale.
04. Special spaces within the fabric. Devices as designing tool
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MASSING STRATEGY The massing strategy takes as starting point a cube, which is situated in the site following the alienations of the adjacent streets and leaving a free space in front of the church for a piazza, like in many other piazzas in Florence presided by a church. The cube is sliced parallel to the seminary, to provide a more regular shaped square. The square also responds to the northern side of the river Arno, conversing with piazza di Ognissanti.
Fig.3. Massing strategy. Starting point.
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04. Special spaces within the fabric. Devices as designing tool
Fig. 4. Photogrammetric elevation Piazza Ognissanti
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Massing strategy: SUBTRACTION + INSERTION
Fig. 5. Massing strategy. Subtraction + insertion. 90
04. Special spaces within the fabric. Devices as designing tool
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04. Special spaces within the fabric. Devices as designing tool
Fig. 6. Massing strategy. Final stage
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Fig 7. Massing strategy in context. Devices as designing tool.
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Fig 8. Design theses project. Schematic views.
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04. Special spaces within the fabric. Devices as designing tool
Fig 9. View Piazza San Frediano
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GROUND FLOOR The contact with the ground floor is specially important in this design thesis. It is in ground floor, in direct contact with the public space where the building makes its bigger concession to the city, sharing its spaces and making them one with the city. In this plan we find the colonnade, directly related with the piazza and granted to the public space. The two corner loggias, which widen the corners of the streets and provide shelter to the entrances through the courtyard; Their are also a concession to the city. And finally the courtyard, which has a semi-public character and is the heart of the building. The courtyard remains open to the citizens during the day but it will be closed at night for semi-private use of the inhabitants.
Fig 10. Ground Floor plan. Direct contact with the public space. 100
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PIAZZA ELEVATION Directly related with the piazza, this side of the building offers in ground floor the colonnade space with its bench. Other devices are present: The upper loggia at the right, that provides a point of reference at the same time than interiorly gives to the inhabitant a marvellous view of the river Arno. And the bay window, in direct relation with San Frediano in Cestello church.
Fig 11. Piazza elevation
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FIRST FLOOR The first floor is principally residential. The flats are all double sided, facing the streets on one side and the courtyard on the interior side. The flats have access through two stair cores that are also open to the street and the courtyard, and through a gallery which is a space for encounters between neighbours. The stair cores have a large landing because they can have multiple uses. They are a common spaces that can be used as common dinning room for an occasion, play ground for kids when raining, etc.
Fig 12. First Floor plan. 104
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RIVER ELEVATION Is the face of the building towards the river Arno. The upper loggia presides the left up corner, while a triple order loggia stands trough all the levels at the right hand side. The loggia in ground floor marks the entrance to the building.
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Fig 13. River elevation
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SECOND FLOOR In this floor one of the one room flat disappears in order to locate the upper loggia that opens towards Via del Piaggione. This device communicates the courtyard - gallery with the picturesque Piaggione street.
Fig 14. Second floor plan. 108
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VIA DEL PIAGGIONE ELEVATION Is the face of the building towards Via del Piaggione. The Upper loggia relates with the terraces of the houses, while in ground floor the corner loggia widens the space between the building and the church, providing at the same time a public space where to sit or walk.
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Fig 15. Vial del Piaggione elevation
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THIRD FLOOR The upper loggia device becomes double height and appears another space that works as a balcony towards that first space.
Fig 16. Third floor plan. 112
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VIA DEL PIAGGIONE. WEST ELEVATION. This facade addresses the Granaio della abbondanza military building. It has a more sober character, where the devices are only present at the corner, in relation with the river .
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Fig 17. West elevation
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ROOF FLOOR
Fig 18. Roof plan. 116
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04.2. INDIVIDUAL CIVIC CHARACTER Devices can also have civic character by themselves individually. The space that they create within its architecture are made and designed for the citizens or its habitants. Project focus: This part of the document will focus on specific devices.
04.2.1. COLONNADE
Fig 19. Devices. Definition.
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Fig 20. Colonnade at urban scale.
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COLONNADE DESIGN STRATEGY A project is a continuity of decisions that have as consequence a final design. One of the design decisions for the colonnade was to sit the windows of the first floor directly on top of the colonnade, as Antonio da Sangallo or Brunelleschi do in Piazza Santa Maria Annunziata in Florence. In this way, the colonnade takes all the height of the ground floor. To keep the relation with the rest of the facade, I stablish that the wide of the cornice has to be the same than the distance between the windows. I also allow one portico per window, that is, if there are 9 windows on top of the colonnade, the colonnade will be formed by 9 bays. As conclusion from the Loggia proportion design, I decide to use the proportion x ; x + x/2 hole - height. The wide of the columns is a result of applying the formula to the design.
Fig 21. Colonnade design
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Fig 22. Colonnade Plan and elevation in context
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Section evolution Taking as initial proposal the direct extrusion of the plan and elevation, the result is a parallelepiped-like space with columns on one side. The section evolves under the idea of contrast between the front view and the interior view. The exterior responds to a more formal space (the piazza) and has a sober character, while the interior of the colonnade is conceived as a “special moment� (idea of device), where the porticoes frame the view and the inclining columns contribute to create a more informal space. This device plays with the idea of surprise when discovering the movement of the interior of the colonnade on the contrary that its external appearance.
Fig 23. Section evolution
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Fig 24. Reference project.
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Fig 25.
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Fig. 27. Schematic drawings colonnade.
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Fig. 30 Colonnade. 2 bay model made in plaster.
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Fig. 28. Colonnade interior view towards river.
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Fig. 29. Colonnade interior view towards church.
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Fig. 31 Colonnade. Interior view
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04.2. 2. COURTYARD The courtyard is the heart of the building, the lung that brings air and natural light into the building. I understand the courtyard as a space of relationship between neighbours. In order to strengthen this social aspect, I designed the flats having access through a gallery that is directly related to the courtyard. Italy is a country were the neighbours know each other and form part of a same community. I believe that the architectonic layout courtyard + gallery favours that relationship between its users, providing common areas at their free disposition.
Fig. 32. Devices definition.
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Fig. 33. The courtyard at urban scale.
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Fig. 34 Palazzo Strozzi. Entrances. Benedetto da Matano. 1589. Florence
Exists a direct relation between the public exterior and the courtyard. There is certain permeability during the day, when the courtyard can be access from the loggias, taking a semi-public character, like nowadays in Palazzo Strozzi, where the courtyard can be accessed by the citizens. The courtyard is also accessible through the stairs cores, that are the only entrance during the night, providing a save - enclosed semi-private character. 136
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Fig. 35. Ground floor plan. Courtyard entrances
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Fig. 36. Ground floor plan and section diagrams
Fig. 37. Courtyard plans.
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ENVIRONMENTAL REPERCUSSION. The stairs cores work as extension of the gallery and provide direct communication with the exterior of the building, facilitating this way the flow of air into the building and its constant renovation at the same time than the common space expands. The gallery also expands in the second and third floor, joining and giving access to another device, gaining again, air flow and new common areas.
Fig. 37. Courtyard plans. Wind flow.
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Fig. 38. Courtyard Section. Environmental strategy.
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The courtyard is the link that ties up the rest of devices. Therefore, the architectural language has to be the same in all the devices. Once established an architectural language for the colonnade, now the strategy is to apply that same concept to the rest of devices, in order to have architectural coherence.
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Fig 39. Section through the courtyard. Relation with other devices. Architectural coherence
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Fig 40. Courtyard view 144
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Fig 41. Courtyard view
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Fig 42. Courtyard life. 3D section.
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“All architecture is shelter, all great architecture is the design of space that contains, cuddles, exalts, or stimulates the persons in that space.” Philip Johnson
Fig 43. View from altana.
“Buildings should serve people, not the other way around”. John Portman
5. REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
Devices, toolbox of civicness
REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
References for images: 01. THESIS STATEMENT Fig 1. La citta analoga. Arduino Cantafora. Milan Triennale, 1973. La tendenza. Fig 2 - 4. The author. 02. THE CONTEXT Fig 1. Nuova guida ovvero Descrizione storico - artistica - critica della citta e contorni di Firenze. Federico Fantozi. Page 6 Fig 2,4,6,7,8. Google maps, 2015 Fig 3. www.trunoquias.webnode.es Fig 5. http://maps.comune.fi.it/mappestorichefirenze/ Fig 9, 20. Unit 2 manual. 2014 - 2015 Fig 16 - 18, 31,32. Group work Unit 2, site 1. The rest of images belong to the author. 03. HOUSING AS CIVIC ARCHITECTURE. ARCHITECTURE FOR THE CITIZENS. Fig 1. Pendrawings of Florence by Herbert Railton Fig 2. www.suggestkeyword.com Fig 3,6, 8, 11, 13, 14, Years 2&3 Cambridge students catalogue of Florentine Palazzi Fig 4. www.archhistdaily.wordpress.com Fig 5. www.wikipedia.org Fig 9. www.florence-on-line.com Fig 12. www.palazzogondi.it Fig 15. www.khi.fi.it Fig 19. www.davidchipperfield.co.uk Fig 20. Ferlanga, Alberto. Aldo Rossi. The life and Works of an Architect. Ed Koneman. 2001 Fig 21. Leonardo da Vinci. Photo from www.lucnix.be. 2007-09-08 .Image, work of Luc Viatour. Fig 22. Matthew Cohen. Ten Principles for the Study of Proportional Systems in the History of Architecture Matthew Cohen. Fig 23, 24. www.foundationlecorbusier.fr The rest of images belong to the author. 04. SPECIAL SPACES WITHIN THE FABRIC. “DEVICES” AS DESIGNING TOOL. Fig 4. Group work Unit 2, site 1. Fig 24. Unit 2 manual, 2015. Fig 25. www.parcguell.es Fig 26. Amedeo Belluzzi, Claudia conforti. Giovanni Michelucci. Catalogo delle opere. Ed Electa Fig 34. Years 2&3 Cambridge students catalogue of Florentine Palazzi The rest of images belong to the author.
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Bibliography: - Fantozi, Federico. Nuova guida ovvero Descrizione storico - artistica - critica della citta e contorni di Firenze.(1857) Edition Gius. Ducci. Lungo l’arno. - Unit 2 Manual 2014 - 2015. - Bacon, Edmun, (May 20, 1976)Design of Cities, Penguin Books; Revised edition - Zucconi, Guido, Florence an Architectural Guide (2007), Arsenale Editrice. - Adams, Laurie Schneider, Italian Renaissance Art,(2001) Westview Press - Burke, Peter, The Italian Renaissance: Culture and Society in Italy, Polity (1999) Press; 2nd Edition - Burckhardt, Jacob, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy, Penguin Classics; New edition (28 Jun. 1990) - Rosso, Giuseppe. L’ osservatore Fiorentino sugli edifizi della sua patria. (1797) Tomo quarto. Third edition. Presso Gaspero Ricci. Florence - Clay, R. Florence. (1857)Edited by the Society for promoting christian knowledge. London - Grazzini, Giuseppe. La metropolitana Fiorentina illustrata. (1820) Edition Giuseppe molini and co. Florence - Cocchi, Arnaldo. Le chiese di Firenze dal secolo IX al XX. (1903) Vol 1. Quartire di San Giovanni. Esablimento Pellas. FLorence - Richa, Giuseppe. Notizie istoriche delle chiese fiorentine divisse nei suoi quartieri. (1754) Pietro Gaetano Viviani. Firenze - Railton, Herbert.Pendrawings of Florence. J.H. Jansen. Cleveland. - Giovannetti, Bruno. Martuccio, Roberto. Architect’s guide to Florence. - Comune di Firenze.it - Ferlanga, ALberto. Aldo Rossi. The life and Works of an Architect. Ed Koneman. 2001 - Years 2&3 Cambridge students catalogue of Florentine Palazzi - A.J, Brian. Architectural proportion illustrated. (1880) AL Brancoft & Co printers. - Mc, Carter, Robert. Carlo Scarpa. Ed. Phaindon - Brunetti, Fabrizio. Giovanni Michelucci. (1987). Comune di poggibonsi assessorato alla cultura. - Letheia, a. Giovanni Michelucci (1891 - 1990) Il progetto continuo. Ed Alinea. - Sparpeti, Lido. L’umanismo di Michelucci. Pistoia (1992). Asociacione alla cultura del Comune di Pistoia. - A, Etlin, Richard. Modernism in Italian Architecture. (1890 - 1940) - Tafuris, Manfredo. Interpreting the Reinassance. Princes, Cities, Architects. (2006) Yale University Press in association with Harvard Graduate School of Design. - La Tendenza. Italian architectures (1965 - 1985) Ed Frederic Migayrou. - Gregotti, Vittorio. New directions in Italian Architecture.(1970) Littlehampton Book Services Ltd. - Beluzzi, Amedeo. Conforti, Claudia. Giovanni Michelucci. Catalogo delle opere. (1988) Electa. - Portoghesi, Paolo. Michelucci Mago. (1991) Editore Angelo ponte corboli. Firenze. - Riba Exhibition, Heinz Gallery. Giovanni Muzio, (1978) Ed. Modulo books. London. - G. Gambirasio. B. Minardi. Giovanni Muzio. Opere e Scritti. (1987) Ed. Franco Angeli. - Franco Taboada, Manuel. El Modulor de Le Corbusier (1943 - 54) ETSAV 1993 - Alsina Catala, Caludia. Gomez Serrano, Josep. Gaudi geometricamente. La gaceta de la RSME, vol. 5.3 (2002) Barcelona.
Electronic sources: - www.palazzogondi.it - www.palazzospinelli.org - www.david Chipperfield.co.uk . www.wikipedia.org - www.wikipedia.it - www.hhbr.co.uk - www.comunedifirenze.it - www.florence-on-line.com - www.lyncharchitects.com - www.fondationlecorbusier.fr
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