How moments and atmosphere can affect design.

     As I read David Pye's "The nature of design", I had some side thoughts that were stimulated from some of his thoughts and writings on architecture and the influences of design. What interests me very much is the thought about how each moment in time and the atmosphere at that moment influences the design in which your brain outputs into your project.   If it is 6 am and I am sitting in my apartment, my thoughts and design will be very different from when its 4 pm and I am sitting in my studio at school or 10 pm sitting in a coffee shop, etc.  It is really cool, but simultaneously very supernatural that this fact can alter the potential of my design.  Going on in thought it almost seems like one should find a place suitable for the maximum potential of their design and where they should settle in to free themselves and get lost in the project at hand.  

     I also wonder if there is certain atmospheres that would enhance the quality of my work depending on my project.  What I mean by this is is if I am working on designing a pavilion in a park, would it be better for me to     escape to a park and work on the design or would I get better results from working in my studio at school.  What if I'm working on a new baseball park, would there be a best place that would allow me to lose myself in design and produce my best work?  I could sit and ponder on this forever and not ever understand it completely. 

     Pye says: "Architecture is differentiated from engineering and from nearly all other branches of design by the fact that the architect has to act as if no object in the result, except the earth itself, is given"  Going on the preceding paragraphs about how atmospheres and moments affect design, I realize that it is special because and engineer has a set problem and a set answer.  He does not have the freedom that an architect does.  He will never wonder how the atmosphere can change his problem because his problem is already set in stone.  

    One more quote that I wish to talk about is: "All  manner of different considerations will influence an architect's decisions about the shape of the spaces he is to enclose, but the chief of them will always be the probable activities of the people who will enjoy the weather in the space."  The architect's design definitely has direct influence on the manners and attitudes which people will have while in this space.  One of the greatest challenges is arranging space to accommodate the desired number of people and the attitudes they have once entering the space.  

     You may ask why this quote interests me and why I mentioned it in this blog.  The reason behind is connected to the reasoning behind this blog in general.  One thing I wonder is whether or not the moment in time, along with the atmosphere at that time, affects the desired result of the architect for his design.  Does the  atmosphere alter the mood of the architect which in turn alters the mood of the building that is designed?  What if the building has mixed emotions of design which is a direct reflection of the mixed feelings of the architect from mixed atmospheres? 

     Nothing I talked about can be completely grasped in my mind; however, I still talk about it and ponder on it endlessly.

"..betwixt the pencil and the stone."

A part of the second reading, Natalini's "La costruzione Building", uses the quote "Architecture is a lapse betwixt the pencil and the stone." I really like how Natalini puts this quote together and the explanation given.  Both the result of the pencil on paper and the building of stones can be considered architecture, but what architecture really is is the process of understanding during the lapse of the two.  The "lapse" that Natalini is referring to here is the one that occurs subconsciously after the design is put on paper.  After one reads this and lets it sink in, it makes perfect sense that Natalini can use this quote to describe architecture.  


A part of architecture is the understanding of the problem at hand.  As an architect we are trying to solve this problem, and the lapse that is given here is the time that is given from the idea to the building(pencil to stone).  This lapse gives us necessary time to process this problem and further our solution to this problem.   


After reading this section of Natalini's passage, I now see architecture as neither the result of the pencil dragged across the paper or the stacking of stones into a structure, but as the thought process between the two which is necessary for us, the architects(or students), to process this solution.  In addition to this realization, I also acquired the importance of this complete understanding of the architect's problem at hand and the responsibilities we have to solve it.  

Opportunity of the Architect

In conclusion to my first reading of the course, I have had some deep afterthoughts about what architecture is and what architects are for.  One thing that I have learned about the architect from Vitruvius is that: "the architect should be equipped with knowledge of many branches of study and varied kinds of learning, for it is by his judgement that all work done by the other arts is put to test".  An architect should also be well rounded with knowledge in rhetoric, drawing, geometry, history, philosophy, music, medicine, law, and also astronomy.  Knowing that an architect has the responsibility to be this well-rounded of an individual is something to be in awe over.  An architect is required to have knowledge in all of these areas to be successful in his position.

In contrast to this education being a requirement to an architect's profession, I see this as an opportunity to seize power through knowledge;  an opportunity that only a small percentage can manage to accomplish.  One thing that I love is opportunities.  Opportunities can open doors and allow someone to prove themselves.  As I think about this opportunity it excites me, but also worries me because I wonder how I will respond to this opportunity of becoming a part of a very rare and special breed known as an architect.