Project Details

Project Summary

This project comprises of two parts: analysing modern american architecture through film, and analysing two precedents in modern american architecture through the lenses of each other.

Exploring through several modernist projects in the US made me wonder, how do all these acclaimed architects generate such different moods and experiences to each other? What are the fundamental elements in the architectural language to these architects harness and manipulate to create these unique enviroments? I decided to break down the 3 elements of architecture in particular: points, curves, and surfaces. Each of these are used to generate volumes, hence why I tried to analyse the 3 more derivative components seperately. I would then capture and analyse how all these elements interact with each other. For instance in the Salk Institute, Louis Kahn uses a focal point in the ocean to generate site lines within the project, creating an illusion that makes the ocean appear closer than it is. This effect would not have been possible if it were not for Kahn's understanding the relationship between points and lines.

The two projects analysed for the posters are Philip Johnson's Glass House and Mies Van Der Rohe's Farnsworth House. for the left poster, I displayed how Mies Van Der Rohe saw the Glass House, a house with over-complicated and messy corners, with a lack of attention to detail, and unnecessary visual obstructions. Conversely, on the right poster I showed how Philip Johnson saw the Farnsworth House through the lens of the Glass House. The primary objective was to bring the resident closer to the surrounding environment. He takes a more grounded approach, both figuratively and literally. He suggests that you are not simply living in your house, but you are also living with your context, in which becomes part of the house.

Film

Posters