WELCOME to ARCH 1121

Congratulations! if you are reading this you have successfully found Open Lab and our class web site. Remember you must register as a member of Open Lab (follow the directions on the first page) and as a member of this class (see directions under help). You must be a participant in the class to post assignments and comments. If you have any problems or questions, contact the Open Lab staff. They are extremely responsive. Of course, you can also e-mail me (BMishara@citytech.cuny.edu).

We will be using this Open Lab site and a Blackboard site. This may be confusing, so let me try to explain. On this Open Lab site we will be writing about architecture, thinking and forming ideas, interacting with one another, and eventually posting final projects. This is an active site. On the other hand, the Blackboard site will be passive. I will post lectures and homework assignments for you to download. The two sites are necessary because there is not sufficient memory in Open Lab for all the graphics and images we architects love to use.

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City

Jesabel Nunez

Arch 1121

Professor Mishara

3/12/2015

 

A city is a large town that contains many buildings. Whether they are malls, movie theatres or office buildings, they’re full of constant movement and people. An example would be New York City. New York City consist of many tall buildings. It is full of restaurants, theatres, clothing stores etc. Every day it is visited by thousands of tourists and shoppers. It is a place of fun, where everything is walking distance and there is always traffic. Cities can also be very crowded, annoying and busy. Cities are very fast paced as well. There are people always walking fast and it is very easy to get lost considering the sidewalks are rarely empty. But a city wouldn’t be a city without its buildings.

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What is Architecture?

Jesabel Nunez

Arch 1121

Professor Mishara

2/6/2015

 

Architecture has various meanings and can be shown in a variety of ways. For starters, architecture means structure. Ever notice buildings, schools, churches etc.? Those are expressed architecture. An architect is a person who designs and plans. They begin with a drawing that contains density, depth and precision. As the architect progresses, the drawing begins to come to life. There are many ways an architect can bring their drawings to life. The first way being through technology. There are many different programs that are useful for bringing drawings to life, such as Auto-Cad and Rhino. These two programs add value and allows the architect to extrude their ideas and get a sense of how it would look when it actually comes to life. Architecture means to create a useful space that can be used by people. It doesn’t always have to be some form of building, architects can also design things like bridges, malls and the interior space. Architects have to limit to what they can create. Personally I have many reasons on why I want to become an architect. The idea of being able to draw something, make it come to life and express your creativity fascinates me. Like, how cool would it be to actually stroll through town with your friends or family and be able to point at something and say “hey I made that, I’m the reason that building is there”. One of my biggest goals when I become an architect is to actual make some buildings for the homeless, hungry or orphans. That way they too can enjoy and live in beautiful structures and have a sense of how nice it’ll be to live in a nice structure. Even though this major is A LOT of work, it all pays off in the end. One day I’ll design many buildings or bridges and structures and I’ll be happy to see other people enjoy it as much as I enjoyed designing it for them.

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What is Architecture?

Fernando Guillen

ARCH 1121              

February 10, 2015

Barbara Smith Mishara

 

                                                                                                                                                Architecture

                       

                         Architecture is defined by Dictionary.com as “the action or process of building; construction.” I define architecture as a way to express ideas and emotions into a structure. To me, architecture isn’t just about making structures to get paid or pass the class. Architecture is a method of gathering ones ideas and communicating them through the building of a structure. Since every person has unique thoughts and emotions, every architect can make their ideas known through their buildings. If every architect worked this way, every single building would be unique and better than they are today.

                        Last year, I was attending Flushing High School and the first thing I noticed about the school was its architecture. At that time I had ––no idea I would be studying architecture but I was still fascinated by the look of the building. The school had a gothic architecture and had gargoyles on almost every corner. That was probably the first time that I liked the structure of a building and began to like architecture. When the ­­­time came to choose a major, the choice couldn’t be clearer. At that time I realized how much I liked architecture and decided to study it.

                         I want to study architecture because now I liked it more than any other major. In the past four to five I was very artistic and enjoyed any form of art. I enjoyed listening to and playing music as well as drawing landscapes. I’ve been to Barcelona and saw the Sagrada Familia and that was the moment when I realized that I really enjoyed architecture. I’ve never seen a structure so big and beautiful and I began realizing that architecture wasn’t all about making buildings in form of boxes. Architecture was about exploring your ideas and expressing them through the form of a building.

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What is Architecture?

Architecture

Architecture is defined as “the art or practice of designing and constructing buildings”. For me architecture is expressing ones idea and trying to make something out of it. Architecture is more than just an art of designing and constructing buildings it’s more of a challenge to your mind and the way you see the world. Different people have different ideas, and that’s what makes architecture special. Utilizing all the different information from people to put it into one thing that can actually become a building or something else in the world it’s amazing.

When I was in high school I had an art class we use to draw many things but there was this one piece that we had to draw that really caught my attention, it was different from the architecture that I’m doing now but it somehow triggered that feeling of me wanting to come and study architecture. Of course that wasn’t the only thing that made me want to study architecture. The fact that I really like expressing my ideas in drawings is why I’m studying architecture. You could design a simple cube and make so many things out of it using different ideas and express your feelings too while the cube can serve for something.

There’s nothing more that I want to be but an architect. Being at City Tech studying architecture has opened my mind into having different perspective of the world that is around me. It’s just amazing when you go out there and see the skyscrapers you just think about the amount of time that was put into those buildings to make them look that amazing, and that’s just something that you can look at for hours and study the structure of it and all the parts that were put into them.

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Via Sacra

The Via Sacra was the main street that lead straight to the top of the Capitoline Hill, to some important religious sites, finally to the Colosseum. The road was part of the traditional route of the Roman Triumph  that began on the outskirts of the city and proceeded through the Roman Forum. A modern equivalent of the Via Sacra would be a shopping center. The reason for this is because it has main routes or “roads” if you will, leading to multiple places or stores.

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What is a city?

What is a city? In my opinion a city is a place where is urbanely developed. This includes that there are buildings, important or famous structures, people, food sources, and many more things. A city has to be adaptable to any person wanting to move or if already lives there. It is also important that a city is maintained properly so it remains a city and not a “dump”. A city is a touristy place, if it is well known like New York City. Having said that, a city and the people in the city have a big responsibility to keep the city’s name popular.

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Domus Augustana

The Domus Augustana was an enormous palace that was used for the Roman emperor’s private residence. A modern equivalent for this, would be the White House that is occupied by the president.

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the circus

The circus Maximus is an ancient Roman chariot racing stadium held for racing and sporting events. This would be compared to modern day stadiums where perhaps NASCAR or football events are held.

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I spy with my eyes a large location, a City

What makes a city is population and the money this population is able to bring in. Along with population and commerce, a city thrives on systems of operation. A sense of culture and belonging develop a city. According to Kevin Lynch a “city has five elements: paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks.” (Lynch, The Image of the City p. 99) These elements are what develop a city. To me a city is a large location. Inside of this large location are people who live, work, shop and travel. They travel through this location by means of streets, walkways and public transportation. The large location is separated and divided: uptown, mid-town, downtown and neighborhoods inside those. The large location has many edges that divide districts and run outside and around the large location. Inside the large location there are things people use a points of reference. i.e. buildings, signs, stores, nature. The large location also has must see locations and major ways to get in and out.

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Triumphal Arch – Rome

The great triumphal arches of Rome were a spectacle to see. They served as a monument with archways, carvings, dedications, reliefs, and a possible statue. They were structures with piers, arches, and flat entablatures. They would be large enough to cover the width of a road. They were made in remembrance of a great victory in respect to the generals and those who enabled this feat. Modern day examples of the triumphal arch are Grand Army Plaza and Washington Square Park in New York City.

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