Category: Short Writing Assignment (Page 2 of 14)

Describe the impact of studying New York City Architecture outside of the classroom.

Should more students get this opportunity?

I believe that studying the architecture in New York City was impactful in that it allowed us to experience the city structures with our own eyes instead of looking at a photograph of it inside the classroom. For me, it widened my experience  of observation when it seeing specific buildings up close, studying them, understanding their purpose, and interacting with them. A person can learn a lot from a building just by standing inside it, near it, or by looking at it from a far; you have a sense of perception and are able to interpret the structure for yourself. During this class, I felt like I could immerse myself into the spaces we visited. Despite the many inconveniences of convening to a selected building and all the possible circumstances that could happen due to delays and weather, this class was considerably enjoyable; an experience like no other.

I definitely think that students who want to see those city structures for themselves should have a class dedicated to doing just that. As mentioned before, a person can learn from a building just by interacting with it; they can notice the details, the materials, the craftsmanship: the attributes that make the building what it is. They can even sketch the buildings themselves and draw the details that pop out to them. I highly recommend the skill set of using a GPS on your phone and having a friend in the class who can help guide you should you get lost. Students who are interested in architecture should learn about architecture through this unique opportunity.

Short Writing Assignment Week 11: Lincoln Center relation to surrounding city

This short writing assignment will pertain to the public plaza of Lincoln Center and its relation to the city surrounding it. The Lincoln Center is of the Post Modernism movement; a style that takes classical architectural features from the ancient Greeks and Romans and changes it into a new style. These features may include piers, vaults, and stone masonry. The Lincoln Center became an urban space within a public space. This center changed how the citizens interacted with the public space. Because of the influence of the Lincoln Center on the citizens, buildings were built together, not scattered in multiple parts of the city. This was all a result of urban planning and renewal in the 1930s; where the federal government funded towards improving the urban planning of the city.

Short Writing Assignment Week 13: Michael Kimmelman critique of Hudson Yards and Battery Park City’s layout

This short writing assignment will pertain to the Hudson Yards critique by Michael Kimmelman and the layout of Battery Park City. In Michael Kimmelman’s critique on Hudson Yards, published on March 14th 2019, states the grandeur of Hudson Yards’ appearance, how expensive it’s construction was, and how this “office park” will affect the economy. The Hudson Yards can be see from the highline, near the Whitney Museum of American Art. It has 14 acres of public space, and is made up of multiple buildings: 10 Hudson Yards Tower, 15 Hudson Yards Tower, 30 Hudson Yards Tower, 35 Hudson Yards Tower, 50 Hudson Yards Tower, 55 Hudson Yards Tower, a shopping mall, The Shed, and the Vessel. The construction of the western side of the yards is yet to be completed. Kimmelman states that Hudson Yards lacks harmonization of its parts: the buildings together do not have a relation in size and in scale. Battery Park City is located along side the Hudson river. It is a neighborhood filled with apartments, restaurants, a memorial, and parks. It is lively with many activities and even has a harbor. I found its layout to be really interesting in that it had a unique movement of scenes with its diverse areas with each of their own purposes. I enjoyed the change in scenery as I went from the neighborhood, to the park, and then to the harbor.

Short Writing Assignment Week 14: MoMA garden and surrounding city structures

This short writing assignment will pertain to the MoMA garden and the city structures surrounding the garden. The Museum of Modern Art (or MoMA) has a garden will a glass curtain wall facade. This garden is spacious and has bodies of water as well. Looking around the garden, one can see various types of buildings with Post Modernism and Late Post Modernism styles, one of them being the AT&T Building designed by Philip Johnson. The AT&T Building was a Post Modernism style building with vertical and horizontal emphasis. I thought the garden was stunning in its appearance and was a space where one can see buildings of different times come together to make a timeline of building styles.

Let me start by saying that MoMA is Is an art exhibition itself. It’s a museum that embraces space versus human therefore every room in each of its passageways offers authenticity. Its circulation portrays art, because it not only has horizontal but vertical circulation as well therefore allowing the visitor to choose an make its own path. It also allows the visitor to soak in the view of motion.

Which leads me so the fact that the garden although being a private space belonging said the museum is the part of the museum that acts as a public space. although the day of my visit to MoMA I was unable to explore the garden due to the weather; I could have also envisioned the play of movement and the art of tranquility. The garden is a very modern one allowing you to taking views of the city and different perspectives of different buildings. it also serves as a place of reflection due to the small pond that’s it’s in it. I viewed upon as a mini version of a reflecting pool. I guess I embraced this belief by the colors and the presence of nature in the garden. The color of the structure mimics peace and somewhat invisibility yet knowing you’re not alone. MoMA does a great job with the interaction of interior to the exterior space. The garden is also a port of natural light into the museum and also allows visitors to see actions and reactions from inside out and from the outside in.

I like this class it is very benefit official to me because we went on trips weekly learning about the different types architectural building in New York City.

I greatly benefited from studying architecture outside of the classroom. The weekly class trip taught me about the different types architectural building in New York City. I believe more students should get the opportunity for studying building through observing them firsthand. Than in the classroom student are only able see and learn about building looking at 2-dimensional drawing. However, by partaking in the class trips student such as myself can see the buildings in 3 dimensions. I am able see how the different elements interact with the buildings.

The outdoor trips are more engaging than inside a classroom. The architectural structures that we learn about from the textbook become real when see it in person. Studying outside the classroom making me more engaged and motived to learn. I can explore building from different angles and see how the open space interacts with the environment. I was very motivated to attend class every week because I was going to a new location to learn new facts. Through the outdoor classes I was able to enjoy the fresh air and exercise while traveling to places all over NYC. Another benefit is the free places I get to learn from as a student.

Overall I am happy I took this class to learn more about the outdoors of New York City, instead of staying in a classroom.

As a former student who has nearly reached the end of this class. I can say this is one of those classes that offered a different experience to the student. It really embraced the resources to its best capacity. In this case the resource is the city being students of New York City. It’s an architectural advantage to be able to observe, and to comprehend structures that have been built in this city throughout different periods in time. It’s a unique experience being able to enter most of these buildings and rather than reading about them, rather than seeing a picture through the internet and rather than just seeing an elevational image of a structure; we are able to understand circulation and understand performance areas and the interpretation each architect or designer had for the space. One of the most important traits of this class I would say is the comprehension of being able to comprehend how a structure could fit in with its surrounding and how it could embrace its surrounding. Also, we did not only learn about structures but about street landscape and formation. I learned about what can be criticized as bad architecture despite it’s pleasing aesthetics.

So, should more students be able to get this opportunity? I say, “definitely!”. Being in the city with arguably the best skyline in the world is something to embrace, knowledge to pass on and responsibility of being a New York City architecture student. At the end of the day if your able to understand the drives and live up to the expectations of this city, you can make it anywhere else. Observing the mechanisms of how professors direct their classes to achieve success. This class definitely expressed passion,  and sacrifice but most importantly taught me the value “that whatever good things we build end up building us.”

This short writing is about postmodernism architecture and what it brings for its time. It focuses on one of the most iconic building in midtown Manhattan which is the Lipstick Building.

Post modernism is a concept, idea, or practice also can be related to simplicity. It’s a movement started in 1960’s as a response to formality and lack of variety of modern architecture. Rosalind Krauss, defined postmodernism as a break with the aesthetic field of modernism and a new concept of space and time. It began as an international style, the first examples started in the 1950’s and become more significant in the 1970’s and continues to influence present-day architecture. It can also be described as neo-electric because it brings back ornament to some design replacing the aggressively bland modern style. It is simply the rejection of strict rules that binds modernist style and seeks a different meaning, and expression or articulation in the use of building concept and forms. Many architects Help shape the postmodernism period for example Philip Johnson and John Burgee.

The lipstick building officially named “53rd at third” is New York’s most distinctive architecture; its shape and color are impossible to confuse with any other skyscraper. Glass was really important to philip johnson’s design and also to other architects in that period of time. The lipstick building is a graceful elliptical shape completely different from it surroundings. The building is the second post-modern contribution of the architect Philip Jonson on the Manhattan skyline, after the AT&T building he built two years earlier. That oval form also means that all the offices located in the perimeter of the plan are corner offices. The 138 meters high building consists of three oval cylinder placed on top of each other, from the top to the bottom Creating a spiral movement as it rises. According to Philip Johnson the continues columns going all around the perimeter of the building is a reminder of the Baroque period which make the form very fashionable. Its shape along with the fact that the building’s floor decreases as it gains height and the red tone granite that covers it have made the start of the name lipstick.

Inside the building there’s a large lobby of 9 meters high which appeared really hollow for an open space with a lot of Set backs. The reason why was because the elevators and emergency stairs are located at bottom of the building and not in the typical central position. Other than that the lobby as a huge post-modern hall, a series of kiosks and a cafeteria that has adopted the official name of lipstick Café. The rest of the building is used entirely to house offices of different companies.

I feel that it was a huge impact on me studying New York City architecture outside the classroom because it was helpful to see the building up close in person. Every class going outside meeting in front of the building we will talk about was good and interesting. For example foe being outside the class would have been better than meeting in class and just talking about the building and looking at images of them and talk about it, for me personally that would have been boring and I would have been distracted or not pay that much attention to the images. On the other hand, going to the building we are talking about, looking at it walking around it inside it and seeing how it looks on the block and how it relates to the site and the surrounding buildings was very helpful for me. I feel that future upcoming students that will take this class should have the opportunity to go and meet outside the classroom each week because it will be very helpful for the student. It will be easy to talk about the building, look at it and analyze it in person rather than looking at it via images from google or other websites. I also feel that it will be very helpful to compare buildings to each other in person rather than via images and drawings, I feel that in person you will look and see more details than images or drawings won’t show you and that will make it more interesting to look at and discuss about it. For me having this class meet outside the classroom each week was very helpful and beneficial for me I felt I learned better that way and it was very cool experience.

This short writing is about my visit to MoMa in Manhattan. It focuses on Yoshio Taniguchi’s redesign and the phenomenal experiences the museum itself offers the public and its surrounding.

Some people says that MoMa is Manhattan itself. Beside my visit to the museum I decided to read some article to learn more about the place, and most of the material that I explore really pivot on the fact that the museum was built around a beautiful sculpture garden. It is true that the garden give you a reflection of central park and the museum built around it represents the city with buildings of various function and purpose. Located in Midtown Manhattan it’s always been hard to see the Museum of Modern Art. Neither 53rd not 54th street is wide. It was redesign by a Japanese architect called Yoshio Taniguchi, and from my observation he really capture the essence of the city by recreating it through MoMa’s architecture. But I don’t think the garden itself is only the strength of the museum. The interior is quite amazing, it was design in such way to create a lot movement, and an exciting experience for the people. From what I saw the ground floor area is an expansive public gathering space, open to the public and spawning the entire street level of the Museum, including The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller sculpture Garden. It offers many ways to expand our understanding of the early development of modernism, and also exposed a vast constellation of creative architects and designers. The collection has been built on the recognition that architecture and design are allied and interdependent arts. The Museum exposed the architecture collection through models, drawing, and photographs, and includes the Mies Van der Rohe Archive. The exterior design really Screams simplicity and modesty with it’s granite and glass façade. Taniguchi did a great job by envisioned the garden as the Museum’s core, providing view from each of the surrounding buildings. The Museum is quite remarkable, Along 54th street the symmetrical Volumes are clothed in black granite, dark gray glass, and aluminum showing a connection to the site across.

This short writing is based on rather hudson yards is a great urban environment or not. It also answer the question of “Is this the neighborhood New york deserves?”

Hudson yards is the largest mixed-use private real estate venture right now. Its design which is a reminder of the Rockefeller Center contains millions of square feet of offices, stores, restaurant, and cultural attractions.The design also show that high-rise developments need large public plazas to avoid feeling oppressive. Hudson yards is basically built on a platform above railroad tracks. That also proved that its architects had nowhere to go but up. The shed is one of many attraction this place has
to offer with its art performance / exhibition venue and its retractable roof. Also the Vessel which is a mechanism composed of 154 stairways occupy precious space for the people. Somehow Hudson Yards follows the model of Rockefeller Center, with its prominent retail concourses. It was built by a private firm, the Related companies, with Stephen Ross in charge of the project.But to Michael Kimmelman Hudson yards is a perfect example of a skin-deep view of architecture as luxury branding. To him all the building standing on that area act like a logo for itself and presents no appearance of human scale. He wrote“With its focus on the buildings’ shiny envelopes, on the monotony of reflective blue glass and the sheen of polished wood, brass, leather, marble and stone, Hudson Yards glorifies a kind of surface spectacle as if the peak ambitions of city life were consuming luxury goods and enjoying a smooth, seductive, mindless materialism.”

Is this the neighborhood New york deserves?

No, The area may have beautiful monument that creates amazing experience for the people but lacking in so wrong way to show a great urban design. The area should be design to create more connection with people instead its focuses by showing of luxury as if the goal of city life were materialism.

The Museum of Modern Art has a beautiful interior design. The layout design of each floor of the museum is unique. Inside each room of the exhibit has an open creating an aesthetically please look for visitors. The Museum of Modern Art garden is spaced out creating a calm atmosphere for the spectators. The sculptures in the garden are arranged in different angles so visitors can see can enjoy its beauty from different perspectives. The green grass contributes to the tranquil feeling in the garden. Grand Central Station is an open space in New York that is visually pleasing to visitors. The interior design of the station includes massive columns and a mosaic ceiling that draws in a visitor’s eye. Grand central is spaced out evenly like the open space at the MoMA.

I think the Museum of Modern Art can improve its viewing experience for its members. The Museum of Modern Art should create rules that limit the number of people allowed in the exhibit at a specific time. For example, when I was viewing the photographs in the museum, I was not able to see all the images collectively. The crowed room blocked my view of the other photos. The attractiveness of the room can be improved with fewer people observing in the art exhibit

The United States of America’s existing culture is accepting of different gender identities. However, the Museum of Modern Art bathrooms does not reflect this ideology and bathrooms they are gender-specific. This creates a barrier for potential visitors to the Museum.

Museum of Modern Art has contributed to my knowledge of how different buildings are constructing to show art to the public