Diao, Response 3

E. Conrad Diao

Arch 212 - Understanding Architecture

Response 3

11.23.2015

Lane Hall - South State Street

This detail is a load bearing arch over a window. The arch is a structural detail, expressing the weight of the wall above. Based on the proportions of the building as a whole, it seems probably that Lane Hall is a load bearing brick constructed building. However, looking underneath the arch, at the patterning of the brick detailing, and the thickness of the wall through the window, it becomes clear that the arch and the brick facade are indeed, false. In this way we can see a building expressing an age that it does not possess by appearing to have been built with methods of an older time. This detail is representative of the whole building, with its broad steps, accentuated molding, columns, and other dated aesthetic features of the building as a whole. This particular expression of tectonic, being an arch, is easily communicated and readily understood by passersby, almost as a false advertisement of age.

Response 3

This building is a home that students live in off of Washtenaw Ave. The detail above is one of the many details that overlay the brick. I think that the contrast in materials, (the details being in wood, overlaying the brick) complement one another to create a high-end appearance to the viewer. The shapes that the wood forms are strategically made in order to frame the house in a way that is tasteful, but not overwhelming. Frascari says in his article, "The Tell-The-Tale Detail," that "Details are much more than subordinate elements; they can be regarded as the minimal units of signification in the architectural production of meaning.” Without the brown wooden detail, this house would be completely different. The wood would no longer be the defining component of this house, because the house would appear significantly different. This detail helps give off a certain meaning to the viewer and if the detail was no longer present on the house, the meaning would also be different. The detail on this house is very important, it isn’t just for decoration. We often forget about details and just skip to what is the big picture. But what we forget is that the details aid in making the big picture.

Response 3

Name of building : Thompson Apartment

Location : 307 Thompson street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104

Type : Expressed

Scale: Sort of large formal joint…(?)

This detail between two brick walls is made of wood. The whole building is constructed with those brick walls. This is the front side of the building and on the opposite side; it has same structure with this wood detail. Materially it is incongruence because one is wood and the other is brick, but the pattern shows some kind of congruence because, even though wood detail is vertical, and the brick is horizontal, each wood sticks are regularly located, so it does not that seems to be awkward when we see the connections between two different materials.

This detail has the similar functions with the “Brick Weave House” by studio Gang Architects in Chicago on the lecture power point because the wood itself technically needed to support the whole forces coming from each walls balancing the holes and wood sticks, but also in the night, it works as a ornaments because the light inside the apartments comes through the holes and it make same effect like Brick Weave house.

The detail is designed for construing, which to construct a building that communicates with users. This picture is ‘façade’ which means that this wood detail is connected with the doors. Usually, the other apartment, this part is constructed with a large glass which let people see through the inside stairs, but this detail let people do so without establish glass with the holes. Plus, this detail is the hallway part, and the two brick wall is room part. That means this building is stretched in the backward from this façade. On the each side, there are windows of each room, but the problem is the gap between two buildings next to it is really small so it is hard to ventilate. Therefore, by making this detail with the holes, this whole building is able to ventilate from front to the back. So, this detail addressed practical and significant. However practical it is, the builders might not know there will be a nightclub building established right next to it. The sound wave from club is so easily come through these holes, and it is not good for the users to study inside the apartment. Furthermore, in this long, cold and snowy winter, setting aside its strong practical and ornamental points I am still curious the reason why this detail had to be one of the construction of this building…

Name of Building: College of Literature, Science and the Arts
Location: 500 State St, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Type: Sublimated
Scale: Component/element 

The detail that I chose for this assignment was the bas-relief on the LSA building. The College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA), known as the heart of the University of Michigan because of its indispensable roles in nearly all aspects of the University.

The limestone bas-relief of the façade is not only a decoration but also serve as a purpose to provide definition of the building. The baboons symbolizing Music and Science are just for fun. Through the smallest detail, the designers or architects are able to express their values and meaning thoroughly and consistently. According to Marco Frascari he explains that an “architectural element defined as detail is always a joint”, implying that a detail is a connection to different elements as part of the whole. In addition, detail is the art of jointing different materials, components and elements in a functional way. The bas-reliefs on the wall could be techné of logos, communications leading the audiences to understand of meaning as a whole. The bas-reliefs also provide visual enjoyment and excitement for people within the community.

Response 3

The Michigan Union building, 530 South State Street (Central Campus)

Expressive detail, component detail

In the article, Frascari discussed that details “can be regarded as the minimal units of signification in the architectural production of meanings.” I chose the molding in the archway above the door to the Michigan Union. The design itself is somewhat floral, and the vertical nature of the design propels it upward and gives a sense of growth. This detail is particularly significant because it can be found all over the building, a leitmotif in its recurring nature. The front of the building is tall and has a natural movement upward: the successive windows and breaks in the brick give it levels that are clearly defined from the outside. This floral mold pattern continues through even the “upper levels” of the façade of the building. In addition, this mold is present throughout the interior of the building as well, adorning columns and walls. The detail becomes important because of its repetition throughout the building. The placement of this detail inside the arch over the front door echoes the continuity. The key to this building comes through this motif, and it is as though the building is letting those who enter in on a secret. Noting that this is a student union building, it becomes even more significant because the repetition of this detail gives the building, literally, unity. Every room has a different purpose: there are ballrooms, meeting rooms, restaurants, offices, study halls—but each is drawn together by this detail.