Art and Architecture

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[Student notes]

Art and Architecture

Arts Teaching Kit for Senior Secondary Curriculum

Visual Arts

ContentsPreamble

Learning plan i

DisclaimerCreate Hong Kong of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region provides funding support to the project only, and does not otherwise take part in the project. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in these materials/events (or by members of the project team) do not reflect the views of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.© 2012 Hong Kong Institute of Architects

Lesson 1: Relationship between Art & Architecture

1.1 Introduction

1.2 The Essential Qualities of Art

1.3 The Essential Qualities of Architecture

Two-week Project: Site-specific Art

Summary, Key words and Further reading

Appendix: Architecture Inspired by Art

2.1 Case study 1 — Ronchamp Chapel

2.1.1 Site & Spatial Experience

2.1.2 Form

2.1.3 Material

2.1.4 Lighting

2.2 Case study 2 — De Stijl and the Schroder House

2.2.1 Form

2.2.2 Spatial Experience

2.3 Art Inspired by Architecture... or the Reverse?

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Arts | Art and Architecture

Topic 01Art and Architecture

Major teaching areas

Learning planLesson ContentsLesson 1

Relationship between art and architecture

• 1.1Whatisart?Whatisarchitecture?

• 1.2Discussthemeaningofart

• 1.3Discussthemeaningofarchitecture

• Discussthesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenthetwo

*Supplementary:

Architecture inspired by art

• 1.4Casestudy1:RonchampChapelbyLeCorbusier

• 1.5Casestudy2:DeStijlandtheSchröderHousebyGerritRietveld

• 1.6Examplesofbuildingsinspiredbyart

2-week project: Site-specific art

• Site-specificvisualartsmaking

Visual ArtsStrand 1 Visual Arts Appreciation and Criticism in Context

• Formal knowledge

• Types of image and image development strategies

• Modes of presentation

• Knowledge of history and ways of seeing

• Knowledge in context

Related teaching areasVisual Arts• Visual arts making

Learning objectives• To understand the close historical relationship between art and architecture

• To discuss the similarities and differences between art and architecture

• To appreciate how art and architecture inspire each other

• To understand how to produce artwork as a response to site

Interdisciplinary teaching areasDesign and Applied Technology• Strand 1 Design and Innovation

• Strand 3 Value and Impact

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1.1 Introduction — What is art? What is architecture?Look at the following photos and discuss what you think they depict - sculpture, installation, building, painting or visualisation of space/architectural drawing?

What are the criteria of your judgement?

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Lesson 1Art and Architecture

1. Shop façade in Central

2. ‘Three sets of tangented arcs in daylight and cool white (to Jenny and Ira Licht)’ by American artist Dan Flavin ©Artist Rights Society, courtesy of David Zwiner Gallery

3. Replica of ‘David’ by Michelangelo at Palazzo Vecchio, Florence

4. Ceramic figurines on the wall of Lo Pan Temple, Hong Kong

1 Both the shop façade and the installation by Dan Flavin were composed with curves made of neon lights. What is the primary difference between them?

2 Do you agree that a stand-alone sculpture such as the David should be considered as an artwork, while the ceramic figurines on a temple wall, despite their artistic value or level of craftsmanship, are just decorations on a building?

[Discussion]

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3 Referring to images 5-7, how would you describe the relationship between paintings, architecture and landscape design in traditional Chinese culture?

4 Both the Schröder House and Piet Mondrian’s paintings are examples from the same artist group called De Stijl. Would you consider the Schröder House, a functional yet highly stylized building, a piece of art?

[Discussion]

5. Landscape in the Style of Juran, Zhang Daqian, 1944

©Hong Kong Museum of Art

6. Miniature landscape in Suzhou Museum

7. Taihu rock in Baotu Spring Park, Jinan

8. Schröder House designed by Gerrit Rietveld, Utrecht

9. ‘Broadway Boogie Woogie’ by Piet Mondrian, 1942-43 ©2012 Mondrian/Holtzman Trust c/o HCR International USA

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5 After examining the above images, can you summarise how societies decide which items should fall into the category of art or architecture? What is your judgment based on?

[Discussion]

10. Valley Curtain by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Rifle, Colorado, 1970-72

Photo: Wolfgang Volz/laif/ImagineChina

11. ‘Cenotaph for Issac Newton’, designed by Étienne-Louis Boullée and never built, 1784

12. A red pumpkin by Yayoi Kusama, a giant sculpture which can be entered and which provides information to tourists on the art island of Naoshima, Japan

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1.2 The Essential Qualities of ArtVery often, we judge something as art or architecture by its functionality (architecture has a practical function while art does not) but after the previous discussion, it is clear that it is not always possible to draw a clear line between art and architecture. Throughout history, there have been various interpretations of art or architecture.

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Art ... a visual object or experience consciously created through an expression of skill or imagination...

The various visual arts exist within a continuum that ranges from purely aesthetic purposes at one end to purely utilitarian purposes at the other. Such a polarity of purpose is reflected in the commonly used terms artist and artisan, the latter understood as one who gives considerable attention to the utilitarian. This should by no means be taken as a rigid scheme, however. ...In cultures such as Africa and Oceania, a definition of art that encompasses this continuum has existed for centuries. In the West, however, by the mid-18th century the development of academies for painting and sculpture established a sense that these media were “art” and therefore separate from more utilitarian media. This separation of art forms continued among art institutions until the late 20th century, when such rigid distinctions began to be questioned.

— Encyclopaedia Britannica (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/630806/art)

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’Art is the expression or application of human creative

skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.

— Oxford Dictionary

‘’ There are three forms of visual art:

Painting is art to look at, sculpture is art you can walk around, and architecture is art you can walk through.

— Dan Rice, American entertainer

‘’

p A temporary exhibition pavilion built in bamboo and canvas, Hong Kong Kowloon Park, 2012

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In architecture as in all other operative arts, the end is to build well. Well building hath three conditions.

Commodity, Firmness, and Delight.— Henry Wotton

Firmitas, utilitas, venustas (Strength, usefulness, beauty)

— Vitruvius, de Architectura (Ten Books on Architecture)‘ ’

1.3 The essential qualities of architectureIs architecture really as simple as ‘art that you can walk through’ as stated by Dan Rice? In the contemporary world, artists and architects are no longer limited by the traditional materials or ways of expression. There are non-functional or virtual buildings, and there are also unconventional art pieces such as three-dimensional paintings or sound sculptures. To understand the primary similarities and differences between art and architecture, it is perhaps easiest for us to go back to a very basic interpretation.

Vitruvius, a Roman architect, wrote in his Ten Books of Architecture that a building should possess the qualities of ‘firmitas, utilitas, venustas’ which roughly translate as ‘firmness, usefulness and beauty’. Throughout history, different people have interpreted these Latin words in different ways:

‘comodità, perpetuità, bellezza (convenience, permanence, beauty)’ — Andrea Palladio, Italian architect

‘commodity, firmness, delight’ - Henry Wotton, The Elements of Architecture,1624

In modern English, Wotton’s words can be expressed as ‘usefulness, strength and beauty’.

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In the picture, a boy is enjoying himself in Casa Luis Barragan, Mexico, a building designed by Luis Barragan

Architecture is an art when one consciously or unconsciously creates aesthetic emotion in the atmosphere and when this environment produces well being.

— Luis Barragan

A well-designed and constructed building is not only useful. A pleasant architectural space can also bring joy to the people who use it.

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‘ ’Architecture is always dream and function, expression of a utopia and instrument of a convenience.

— Roland Barthes, The Eiffel Tower and Other Mythologies

The Eiffel Tower, designed by engineer Gustave Eiffel, met strong protests from artists and writers during its construction in 1887-1889; they believed it would destroy the harmonious city fabric of Paris. Despite the controversy, it was a huge engineering and architectural breakthrough, and a symbol of human ambition. ©Christopher Fisher

1 Have you ever experienced delight or joy in a particular building or space?

2 Vitrivius, Palladio and Wotton each put forward their own criteria for a good building. Do you think that delight or beauty is an important criterion of good architecture?

[Discussion]

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Students should appreciate and analyse a piece of architecture from various perspectives and should have gained a deeper understanding of the deep links between art and architecture.

Instructions:

• Students should work in pairs

• Each group should visit a building or a particular architectural space in Hong Kong. You are not limited to contemporary architecture. Any typology including traditional buildings can be chosen as long as they are open to the public. Study the following aspects of the chosen building:

• Form

• Spatial experience and site context

• Materials and details

• Lighting

• Scale

• Structural language

• Any other special properties such as symbolism, how people use the space and so on.

Outcome: each group is to produce a sculpture or a mixed media installation to be placed inside or outside the building. Depending on the intended size, students can choose to produce the artwork in 1:1 scale or instead produce a smaller model accompanied by a montage showing the intended effect. Should conditions allow, students may take photos of their works within their chosen building. The artwork should capture and express the essence of the building in relation to the above mentioned properties which students have already studied.

Documentation: the thinking process and the development of the artwork should be well-documented with sketches, photographs and texts. Each group should write a 150-word statement explaining the concept of the artwork.

Two-week Project: Site-specific Art

p ‘For Those in Peril on the Sea’ by British artist Hew Locke, installed at the nave of the Church of St Mary & St Eanswythe in Folkestone

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p ‘inForm’ by Chinese artist Li Jiwei, Beijing 798 Art Zone

u ‘Flight of Fancy’ by American artist Larry Kirkland, sculptures in Hong Kong Station

q ‘Feelings are Facts’ by Olafur Eliasson and architect Ma Yan-song at UCCA, Beijing 798 Art Zone

Local and foreign examples

p ‘Moving scenery’ by Hong Kong artist Lee Chin Fai, Warwick House, Island East

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Key wordsVitruviusCommodityFirmnessDelightChapel of Notre Dame du Haut (Ronchamp Chapel)Schröder HouseSite specific art

Summary

Further reading1. 林中偉、馮永基、源耀邦、陳翠兒、何永賢、黃斯齡、姚展鵬、黃輝、蔡錦龍、潘偉基、Jason

Yung、Stan Lai、陳麗喬、鄭炳鴻、蔡宏興《建築師的見觸思》，香港：經濟日報出版社 2002。

2. 張志玲《建築與藝術的對話》，台北：天下遠見出版股份有限公司 2005。

3. “architecture.” Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/32876/architecture>.

4. “Centraal Museum Utrecht.” Centraal Museum. <http://centraalmuseum.nl/en/>.

5. Plaff, Lilian, Vito Acconci, and Kenny Schachter. Art Becomes Architecture Becomes Art: A Conversation between Vito Acconci and Kenny Schachter. Wien: Springer, 2006.

1. There is no clear distinction between art and architecture, and they are interrelated in many ways.

2. Vitruvius proposed that the most essential qualities of architecture were: ‘firmitas, utilitas, venustas’ which roughly translate ‘firmness, use and beauty’ whereas Henry Wotton interpreted the three basic characters of good architecture as ‘commodity, firmness and delight’.

3. When appreciating a piece of architecture, we should pay attention to the following aspects: Site context Spatial experience Form Material Lighting Structural language

Organizer Sponsor Research Team

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It is very easy to find artistic elements in a building. For example, in both traditional western and eastern architecture, the different building parts such as the roof, columns and beams are heavily ornamented with painted reliefs and sculptures. On the other hand, there are also artworks which are inspired by architecture. Is it possible to appreciate architecture the same way we appreciate art?

Supplementary:Architecture Inspired by Art

p Visitors looking at the Little Mermaid sculpture from the curved ramps of the Danish Pavilion, Shanghai World Expo 2010

p ‘Cloud Gate’, a stainless steel sculpture by Anish Kapoor, in Chicago, USA

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Visual Arts Architecture

Material

Style

Structure

Style

Structure

Gallery / Site

ConceptConcept

Commissioner

Message

Viewer

Site

Medium

Spatial experience

Form Form

What other similarities can you think of?

Visual quality

Time Time

Function

Client

User

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2.1.1 Site & Spatial Experience• Can you describe the spatial journey? How do you approach the building?

• How did the architect ‘write’ this story with space? Why do you think Le Corbusier did not place the chapel right at the end of the road but chose to make visitors turn right, and walk further up the hill at the end of the main road?

p The long journey through the woods prepares visitors for the holy experience.

2.1 Case Study 1Chapel of Notre Dame du Haut (Ronchamp Chapel)

Architect: Le CorbusierYear of completion: 1954Location: Ronchamp, France

Ronchamp Chapel

Visitor centre & carpark Porter’s lodge

Pyramid (memorial)

Ronchamp Train Station

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The sweeping curve of the south wall directs visitors to the entrance on the east façade. The east façade is also an open-air altar.

Upon entering, one is immediately drawn to the impressive south wall adorned with irregular openings covered with stained glass in different colours. Like the exterior, the interior is modest, and the forms are simple, primitive and powerful.

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Plan of Ronchamp Champel©Helen Fan

1 Altar

2 Seating

3 South wall with irregular openings in stained glass

4 Main entrance to the chapel

5 Small prayer areas

6 Private

7 Floor pattern showing the central axis

8 Open-air altar

9 East entrance

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The dark interior, punched with stained glass windows, presents a great contrast to the pristine exterior. Besides the main altar, three smaller chapels are attached to the main worship space. Each altar is placed under a unique light tower, and they explain the existence of the three towers on the exterior.

1. Side chapel2. Light tower above the altar3. Exterior of light tower and gargoyle for draining rainwater4, Enamel painting on metal plate by Le Corbusier5. South elevation6. North elevation

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2.1.2 Form• The sketches by Le Corbusier hint that the architect could have been inspired by a dove’s wing, a boat or a pair of praying hands. How would you describe the form of the chapel? (Keywords: organic, sculptural, complex, curvilinear...)

• Does the shape remind you of anything? Do you see any symbolic meaning in the form?

• How does the form vary when viewed from different angles? Describe the different elevations of the building. How are they different? Do they give you different feelings?

• The building has a very complex shape. How are the various components (vertical and horizontal, planes, points and volumes) assembled to create a bigger form?

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p Untreated concrete with rough aggregates

p Grey concrete roof with the impression of form boards contrasts with white walls with grainy cement plaster.

p Plaster concrete painted in red

p Stained glass with Le Corbusier’s own writing and drawing

2.1.3 Material• What materials have been used in this building?

• Many western churches were built of stones and bricks, but Le Corbusier chose to use concrete, a modern material at the time of design. What are the differences between this concrete chapel and the stone or brick churches commonly found in Europe?

• Even though the building was mostly constructed of concrete and glass, we do not find it monotonous. Take a closer look at the building surfaces - how many types of surface treatment can you find?

2.1.4 Lighting• How is the building shaped by light?

• How is ‘drama’ created by light?(The contrast between the bright exterior space and the dark interior.)

• Compare the light in Ronchamp Chapel and that in a Gothic cathedral. What are the differences and similarities?

[Media Corner]Interactive Plan of Ronchamp Chapelh t tp : / /www. l ea r n . co lumb ia .edu/ha/r e la ted_s i tes / r onchamp_360/ index .h tm l

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p Contra-construction - Maison Particulière Theo van Doesburg and architect Cornelis Van Eesteren, 1923

‘‘De Stijl’, Dutch for “The Style”, was a periodical funded by Theo van Doesburg in 1917 that later became a platform for a group of artists to present their ideas and designs.

Other key members also included Piet Mondrian (painter) and Gerrit Rietveld (designer and architect).

Neoplasticism was Piet Mondrian’s own title and description of work in his writings from 1920 until his death in 1944.

De Stijl sought to express a new utopian ideal of spiritual harmony and order. Members, such as Theo van Doesburg and Gerrit Rietveld, attempted to apply De Stijl principles to architectural design and many De Stijl paintings were representations of interior spaces within houses.

p ’Composition with Red, Blue, Black, Yellow, and Gray’ Piet Mondrian, 1921 ©2012 Mondrian/Holtzman Trust c/o HCR International USA

De Stijl A comprehensive artist group

2.2 Case Study 2De Stijl (1917- 30s) and the Schröder House by Gerrit Rietveld (1924)

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p The ‘Dom-ino’ system designed by Le Corbusier. ©Helen Fan Note how building floors are supported by columns instead of walls. As walls are no longer load-bearing, they can be freely arranged and have irregular openings such as the ones in the Schröder House.

p Red Blue Chair by Gerrit Rietveld. The members of the wooden frame are in standard sizes of the time, revealing Rietveld’s wish for design to be easily mass produced.

Schröder House by Gerrit Rietveld Location: Utrecht, the Netherlands

2.2.1 Form• How would you describe the form of the building?

(Keywords: vertical and horizontal planes, interlocking, lines and planes, pure form and colours, context, abstraction)

• Can you describe the composition of the building façade? How is it different from the traditional houses nearby? (Free façade, floating and cantilevering elements, flat roof, non-standardized sizes of openings, use of colours)

• How is the building related to De Stijl/Neoplasticism? Has it applied any De Stijl principles? (Pure forms, planar elements, primary colours with black and white)

2.2.2 Spatial Experience• Similar to the exterior, the interior is composed

of interlocking horizontal and vertical planes, and all elements are painted in primary colours. What do you feel about the interior space? (Possible keywords: fluid, open, free plan, toy-like, plastic-like, modern, well-integrated, flexible etc.)

• How did Gerrit Rietveld create a fluid, flexible space? How did he combine functionality with aesthetics?

• What is the relationship between the interior and the exterior?

• What role did furniture play in the Schröder House?

[Media Corner]Gerrit Rietveld: The Architect and Designerh t tp : / /www.you tube . com/wa tch?v=qLHCYeswxu I

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p ‘Building cuts’ performed by Gordon Matta-Clark in the1970s © Artist Rights Society, courtesy of The Estate of Gordon Matta-Clark and David Zwirner, New York

q Mosaic ceiling of Park Guell, designed by Antoni Gaudi q Casa Mila, designed by Antoni Gaudi

u ‘Relativity’, lithograph print by M. C. Escher, 1953 © The M.C. Escher Company BV

2.3 Art Inspired by Architecture...or the Reverse?

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The mother art is architecture. Without an architecture of our own we have no soul of our own civilization.— Frank Lloyd Wright

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We have discussed the similarities and differences between art and architecture, and we have also taken a virtual tour of Le Corbusier’s Ronchamp Chapel and Gerrit Rietveld’s Schröder House. Let’s go back to our first questions...

1 Is architecture one of the various types of art?

2 Or is art instead one of the many elements of architecture?

3 Have you changed your mind about the nature of art and architecture?

[Discussion]

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Art and Architecture

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