// The Age of Enlightenment//

          The Age of Enlightenment was named during the period where architecture had been pursued and studied. Architects, scientists and archeologists started to travel the globe, seeking for the truth and went back to many places to explore and learn about the past, discovering pieces of remaining architectures in which it is called the Grand Tour. The objective of this journey was to search for the true essence of architecture, find and capture the qualities appeared in classical architecture that were believed to be the most ‘true’ and ‘pure’. The Grand Tourists were primarily interested in visiting those cities considered the major centers of culture at the time such as Rome, Venice and even Egypt.

          As they travelled the tourists studied, because of the physical limitations in collecting evidences as buildings cannot simply be put into a pouch, they were documented and reconstructed as Follies, drawing and making notes. They also collected cultural artifacts. when Returned home, the grand tourists wanted their homes to reflect the finest they had seen, and to provide an appropriate setting for their acquisitions. 

          Arc de Triomphe in Paris was built for honoring for the french soldier in French revolutionary and Napoleonic war around in 1810 and celebrating the Liberation of France, and also a reflection of classical architecture which was in the Neoclassical version of ancient Roman architecture surrounding by the classical look relief sculpture on the facade of the arch of the monument. The great arcades are decorated with allegorical figures representing characters in Roman mythology.

// BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE//

          Baroque Architecture was a movement that starts with Michelangelo during the time of the renaissance and the way baroque architecture work is that they work with geometrical form and tries to break the rules of the renaissance about the rule of proportion and greatly emphasizes the means of architecture in the expressive way. It is for reformation and attempt to gather followers in a nonverbal method against the corrupted system from before.

          The Church of the Gesu in Rome by Giacomo Vignola which the facade was use ornamental and playful with dimensionality. Its use of double pilasters and the layers of pediment creating depths to the architecture. With the inside plan, it is visible that the nave was extended further and transcept was shortened, mainly to provide better acoustic so that the prayers are heard. Its use of bending and deflecting of pure forms defined through Renaissance’s values were turned into oval shape. The church was resembles a lot to Leon Battista Alberti’s S. Andrea at Mantua. However, It is also considerated as both-and in terms of Robert Venturi such that it takes contradictions together as one whole.

          This can be see in Oratorio dei Fillippini by Borromini using both convex and concave to produce what is called dialectic, and also the pediment translated from classicals was adapted with both curves and straight lines as a mistinligne curve. With this, it suggested the comparison between Renaissance and Baroque Architecture and Modernism and Post Modernism. Baroque Architecture which is messy vitality through ornamentations and play of the classical rules. While Post Modernism is complex through celebration of individuals’ thoughts. It is comparable such that humanity is not seen as perfection but seen through the difference of perception.

// THE STORY OF RENAISSANCE PERIOD//

           Architecture in the age of Renaissance uses the idea and reference based on the proportion of the human body and the perfect symmetry of the design. The idea of human proportion came from the belief of God where the figure of Himself was kind of similar to the human. The concept was generated to the Vitruvius man, the typology of the human scale which in Italian renaissance, circle and square came from how the body moves in proportion by using the navel as the center. Most of the famous architects use the theory to apply in their work include the work of Donate Bramante, one of the architecture at that period that use this concept in his design, such as Santa Maria Presso San Satiro. Because of its limited space in the site and the his solution was to use the perspective painting painted on the vault, adding the depth to two-dimensional wall to three-dimensional outlook and illusion of an artificial space.

         This idea of human proportion was being repeat again by Le Corbusier, within his design he based on proportion of his modulor man. His design was design from considering from the small part basically on the proportion of modulor man to space or volume then moving to the bigger part which is his overall building or urban for example villa savoye, unite d’habitation and radiant city was based on proportion element.

          This idea of using perspective to view the architecture as an human base proportion and symmetry can be found in Greek, which was the Parthenon in the Acropolis. The columns were consider as an various of human types and adding 2-inch wider in the two columns at the ending was made for the perfect symmetry in the viewer perspective when the The sun shines through the architecture and the David sculpture from the Michelangelo’s work which build for the viewers look from the worm’s perspective that will make it in the correct proportion.

// REM KOOLHASS’S JUNKSPACE//

// The Architecture of Deconstruction//

After the Modern architecture time, the idea of Post Modernism returns to the architecture through the “ornament and reference’ idea, using the elements in the past architecture era which is ornamental recalled it again in this period. It contains more than one idea in one context which we called “both and” architecture, was stated by Robert Venturi, an early Post Modernist that views modernism as a reference to functionalism and ulitarianism, meaning modernism itself cannot completely cut itself from the outside context or the connection because it was refers or represent to other.  

          Venturi tries to point out the limitations of modernism through his architecture such as “The Guild House”. He designed for both the Bourgeois and the non Bourgeois making his architecture a multivalent one. One of the elements is his huge sign in front of the building, where its size depict the connection with the Bourgeois which at the same time the sign is what you see everyday which is also for the non bourgeois defying the idea of modernism.

          Deconstructivism, or Deconstruction is a development idea which disjoint and disaddemble the architecture, is an approach to building design that attempts to view architecture in bits and pieces. The basic elements of architecture are dismantled. Deconstructivist buildings may seem to have no visual logic. They may appear to be made up of unrelated, disharmonious abstract forms.

          Frank Gehry is one of an example of constructivist. His Bungalow at where he deconstruct it and had the materials changed. Replacing the previous material with the junkyard materials. Elements such as the roof was changed to glass material allowing the user to see through the icon of the architecture portraying the transformation of the modernist language.

// LESS IS MORE OR LESS IS BORED//

          Postmodernism began as an international style and movement since late 1970s, it was heralded by the return of wit, ornament and reference by replaced the functional and formalized shapes and spaces of the modernist style with the diverse aesthetics, ornamentation, color back to architecture, adopted form, no materials were off limits, and no design was too outlandish. and new ways of viewing familiar styles and space abound. Perhaps most obviously, architects rediscovered the expressive and symbolic value of architectural elements and forms that had evolved through centuries of building which had been abandoned by the modern style.

          Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, modernism architect adopted the motto “Less is more” in describing his aesthetic for extreme simplicity in the Modern Architecture movement. Modern Architecture is also known for its minimalism; buildings were functional and economical rather than comfortable and beautifully decorated. Starkness won out over ornamentation.

          The most conceptual modernist building is Philip Johnson’s aptly named Glass House. it is best described as practical and made of transparent glass, Johnson’s house was constructed on a privately owned 47 acre plot of land, so privacy topic wasn’t an issue. The house is really a glass box. It is perfectly symmetrical with black steel pillars supporting the glass walls. It contains a living area, a sleeping area, cabinets for storage, and a central brick cylinder for the bathroom. The lucidity and minimalism add volume to the structure. The building appear weightless. Above all, this building is honest in its intentions. No tricks. No gimmicks. It’s all out there for us to see, and once we get past the idea that this house makes secrets hard to keep, it is actually pretty liberating.

          Robert Venturi, post-modernism architect by contrast, said “Less is a bore”. Venturi desired and sought to bring back ornamental and decorative elements to architecture. The decorative elements in buildings provide both needed and necessary variety.

          Venturi’s statement Influenced early large-scale examples of postmodern architecture, Philip Johnson’s Sony building (in that time was originally AT&T Building) in New York City, which borrows elements and references from the past and reintroduces color and symbolism to architecture. its spectacular arched in the entrance way, measuring about seven stories in height. With these ornamental additions, the building challenged archtectural modernism’s demand for stark functionalism and purely efficient design. The effect the building had on the public at large has been described as legitimizing the postmodern architecture movement on the world stage.

// the changed After the World War I//

          After the World War I, many of the architects started to build a completely new style of architecture which is more appropriate and relevant to the post-war social and economic status. After the war over, Germany needed architecture, a new architecture that is conceived in spatial terms. The approach of the modernist architectural ideal is to reduce buildings to its pure forms. “voice to the spirit of a new era  . This concept was carried out with the realization of the free plan and the Floating room.

          Mies van der rohe, like many architect, sought to establish a new architectural style that could represent modern times. He created an influential twentieth century architectural style, stated with extreme clarity and simplicity. His mature buildings made use of modern materials such as industrial steel and plate glass to define interior spaces. He strives towards an architecture with a minimal framework of structural order balanced against the implied freedom of free-flowing open space. He called his buildings “skin and bones” architecture. 

          The architect wanted this building to become “an ideal zone of tranquillity” for the weary visitor, who should be invited into the pavilion on the way to the next attraction. Since the pavilion lacked a real exhibition space, the building itself was to become the exhibit. The visitors were not meant to be led in a straight line through the building, but to take continuous turnabouts. The walls not only created space, but also directed visitor’s movements. This was achieved by wall surfaces being displaced against each other, running past each other, and creating a space that became narrower or wider. Even though it is visually simple floorplan, its complexity comes from the strategic layout of walls. Unforced direction of visitor’s movements throughout the space happens naturally without clear knowledge of the visitor. Walls are not there as bare structural support but rather spatial dividers and “directors” of the space. The same features of minimalism and spectacular can be applied to the prestigious furniture specifically designed for the building, among which the iconic Barcelona chair.The selected material was glass, travertine, marble, onyx and steel were his only few choices. As far as colors selection, Van Der Rohe let the natural materials speak for themselves.

// WHY MODERNISM?//

          In the late 19th centuries after a while from the end of World war II and avant-garde of modernism period, because there are the ending parts back then so there had to be the new beginning of something such as the change of architecture. From the rich ornament architecture that decorating all the way both interior and exterior to the non-ornament architecture which emphasis on pure geometry form, using materials from factory and each individual space has it own benefits which called that period, Modernism. It’s not only describe only the style but thought, character, practice, cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements.

          Why architecture changed so suddenly? Because architecture is not only an art that impressed people in each period and just happened from imagination but also had a role to concerned about the topics in that time and represented the history and followed the demand of the audiences, community and situation. Modernism, which had been a minority taste before the war, came to define the 1920s. It appeared in Europe in such critical movement and came to be seen as the source of logic and stability, while the basic primitive sexual and unconscious drives, along with the seemingly counter-intuitive workings of the new machine age, were taken as the basic emotional substance. From the situation that lack of money in the European countries, the architecture which was one of the important four of human needs still had the important role but in the budget. Limited materials, space, elements of the construction need to be concerned that might cause the architecture in that time had a huge crisis.

          From Villa Savoye and Domino house to Unite d’habitation by Le Corbusier, difference in scale and number of the habitants but same in the fundamental purpose. The Villa Savoye and Domino house are for the nuclear family which was named as a machine to living in which the open plan respond to the need of the economic of the middle class family in that time. Every detail of the elements inside the architecture was adapted from Le modular theory which relate to the human proportion that given full advantage to the users. The Unite d’habitation was the large building for the community which had the limited area so the architecture is not flat anymore but extended in the vertical shape that given more space for more numbers of the users and also followed the 5points of architecture which created by Le Corbusier himself.

// FUNCTINALISM//

          During the translation period in the early year of 20th century, from classical to modern architecture, one of the main factor that influenced the change is functionalism. The important principle in that time has been changed to architect should design a building based on the purpose of that building. This statement is less self-evident than it first appears, and is a matter of confusion and controversy within the profession, particularly in regard to modern architecture. In particular Austus Welby Puginwrote that “there should be no features about a building which are not necessary for convenience, construction, or propriety” and “all ornament should consist of enrichment of the essential construction of the building”. and also the famous one ”Form ever follows function.” by Louis Sulivan.

          The Villa Mulleris located in Prague, Czech Republic designed in 1930 by architect Adolf Loos knows as an landmark of early modernist architecture, the Villa Müller embodies Loos’ ideas of economy and functionality. The spatial design, known as Raumplan, is evident in the multi-level parts of individual rooms, indicating their function and symbolic importance. Raumplan is exhibited in the interior as well as the exterior. “My architecture is not conceived in plans, but in spaces (cubes). I do not design floor plans, facades, sections. I design spaces. For me, there is no ground floor, first floor, etc…For me, there are only contiguous, continual spaces, rooms, anterooms, terraces, etc. Storeys merge and spaces relate to each other.” a conversation by Adolf Loos. For the exterior, architect designed a white, cubic facade. He also wanted to distinguish between the outside, where the view could be seen by the public eye, and the inside, the private spaces of those who lived there. Consequently, the interior is lavishly decorated with comfortable furniture and marble, wood, and silk surfaces.

// CHINA PAVILION AT SHANGHAI EXPO 2010//

          China pavilion came with the theme of Chinese wisdom in urban development from ancient to modern times in traditional Dougong Style which date back in 2000 years ago which emphasis on the distinctive roof feature wooden brackets fixed layer upon layer between the top of a column and a crossbeam. This unique structural component of interlocking wooden brackets is one of the most important elements in traditional Chinese architecture which can be found through the country in Chinese temples and royal palaces. Dougong province was widely used in the Spring and Autumn Period. The color itself is use to represent power by the red. Not only that but red is also use in almost all ceremony which is believe to bring luck and prosperity. The orientation of the building is strongly axial where they pay lots of important to Feng Sui just like all building throughout Chinese history. The position and direction that spread out in every direction and grow up to the top like to visualize the viewers of the outstanding, powerful of the country and going to be the great.

// LIGHT AS A TOOL.//

          One of the important factor that every human have been depends on in order to be able to live is light and it has been seen using light in architecture throughout the time. One of the most significant features of light is related to the spiritual realm of religion, representation of live and darkness as representation of death. The Egyptian belief of afterlife of their nobles is associated with light and how the pointed shape of pyramids suggests the path to heaven above. In Greeks and Roman we can see that the temples such as the Pantheon and the Parthenon use this idea of light as the connection between Earth and heaven. In Byzantine, for example the Hagia Sophia, we can see that they use this to represent the teaching by light shining down on the alter. In the Gothic period the vaulting was used a lot as the structural support, e.g. the rib vaulting which carries better load than the round arch of the Roman architecture leading to lighter and larger volume architecture as there is no need for thick walls and thick columns. Mostly volume and scale also play along with light. Scale and volume are often large but in a vertical way where it represent the infinite. So we can say that light and volume are use as a tool for representing and reminding people of believe. With the evolution of the architecture we can see that people was trying to bring in more light to the structure depicting their religions and beliefs. Architecture is like the representative of civilization, knowledge and believe in the period of times and places.

// ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE//

          For this UCLA university in the United States was influenced by the architectural design from the Roman empire’s architecture because in the past the United States used to be the new country so they were affected by the nearby architecture such as an Romanesque architecture.

          While middle ages architecture, most of them are occurred from the combination of Roman Empire or Byzantine Empire. The architecture that had been designed are mostly about churches, temples, or public areas which unlike the residents. These churches and temples pass over to the United States.

// SYMMETRY IN ARCHITECTURE//

         Islamic architecture that always has been the first picked was Taj Mahal, the interpretation of symbolism of the mausoleum and the urban situation of the monument in the city of Agra. A white dome marble of high foundation, combination of hexagons and a balance image like a reflection from mirror create a perfect symmetry both in horizontal view and vertical view in term of pond reflection in the North entrance. The loftiness of the dome will until the day of resurrection remain a memorial to the sky reaching ambition of His Majesty, the Sahib Qiran-Thani and its strength will present the firmness of the intention of its builder. The intention of creating the long lasting beauty through the well-design form can be seen as heavenly architecture from the symmetry, very big plan with long garden in front of front facade create an very beautiful picture and nicer when looked from the palace at red fort which the very perfect symmetry cannot be seen in the place that is not a human creation.

          In other cultures and mythologies are also use the same method of creating heavenly architecture through the symmetry like the Chinese architecture that the symmetry and sky reaching became an important features from the palace complexes to humble farmhouses. Egypt and Greek architecture also.

// BEYOND DESIGN//

          Park51 is a planned 13-story Muslim community center to be located two blocks from the World Trade Center site  in Lower Manhattan. The majority of the center will be open to the general public and its proponents have said the center will promote interfaith dialogue. But It will temporary contain a Muslim prayer space that has controversially been referred to as the Ground Zero mosque and serve as a victory memorial to Islam. At first the name of the building was Córdoba which meant to invoke 8th–11th century Córdoba, Spain, which they called a model of peaceful coexistence between Muslims, Christians and Jews. The building has become an icon for its political significance rather than its great accomplishments or offenses of architecture. Some commentator declared the design “enlightened” in both literal and metaphoric terms. The exterior itself reveals an unexpectedly futuristic structure that is being described as a honeycomb or starlike design focused on utilizing natural light like cut-stone Mashrabiya sunscreens so prevalent in traditional Mughal buildings and modern design but after observers pointed out that many of the shapes appear to resemble the Jewish symbol of the Star of David abstraction. The beyond design most likely refer to religion and point out that this Islamic community center is a mosque, a move that the media has been quick to make, brings immediately to mind certain visual and aesthetic requirements of a mosque. The significance of mosque is Domes but it will be to obvious to build a different shape among the building boxes around the city so the planner use other significance to clarify the building secretly. To take offense at the fact that it appropriates today’s mainstream architectural language is to take offense at architecture and art itself. Appropriation is the way things work!

          The Shanghai world financial center is the post modern high-rise building in Shanghai, China which abstractly used light and the main natural source of light-the Sun as a tools to create a symbol. The design of the building is an aperture at the peak. The original design specified a circular aperture to reduce the stresses of wind pressure, as well as serve as a association with the design. Since “Chinese mythology represents the earth with a square and the sky with a circle”. It also resembled a Chinese moon gate due to its circular form in Chinese architecture. However, this initial design began facing protests from some Chinese, including the mayor of Shanghai, who considered it too similar to the rising sun design of the Japanese flag. The building itself used 11years to complete construction due to the protest but the function inside did not involve directly to Japan so it was the different between Islamic community center in Park51 and The Shanghai world financial center.

          Polish pavilion at Expo 2010 in Shanghai, the building’s exterior facade is derived from Polish cultural motif folk-art paper cur-outs, a transcription of an elementary aesthetic code into the contemporary language of architectural décor. Because of the abundance of visual experience, with the pictorial language of communication reigning supreme by given the nature of the exposition, the exhibition facility has to denote, by its aesthetic distinctiveness, the country of origin, by the strength of its stylistic connotations, recognizable and memorable cultural ideogram. The pattern made eye-catching exterior both in daylight as well as a mesmerizing experience at night with the multi-colored light seeping through the patterns. And reversely, that it should provide inside visitors with comparable experience by shaping the outer skin patterning in such a way that the sun rays shining through, by light and shade, the space under the vault. This pavilion is similar with the Islamic community center by using the pattern as an exterior which can be catch by the viewer and also helping the light to get through the interior space. The design of the patterns are also have something left behind but the one at the Park51 has adapted to be more abstract.

// THE COMPLEXITY OF BYZANTINE ARCHIECTURE//

          Hagia Sophia was a greatest and largest surviving cathedral for thousand years, formerly it was a basilica later a mosque and at the back then it was a Greek cathedral but when it was converted to Roman cathedral under Latin empire. It was named as church of the holy wisdom of god in Greek period, famous in particular for its massive dome and considered as Byzantine architecture and is said to have changed the history of architecture. So this architecture was influenced by the significant elements in each periods. The top part of exterior is a semi-dome constructing by the arches that was the innovation of Greek and Roman, the rich interior with mosaics and marble pillars decorating with all gold color and Muslim alphabets from instruction of belief occurred the mix-up by Islamic period and using more light in term of materials, volume and allow the natural light to get through inside the space are the new creation own by the Byzantine period.