Summaries

“Deep Space, Thin Walls: Environmental and Material Precursors to the Postwar Skyscraper.” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians by Thomas Leslie, Saranya Panchaseelan, Shawn Barron, and Paolo Orlando

In the beginning, the buildings were designed to depend on natural ventilation and, to a large degree, on natural light such as the Empire State and the Rockefeller Center complex. Later on, the building concepts have become much more practicable. This is because of the great improvements in artificial lighting, the development of air conditioning making these buildings efficient, functional and effective. The glass skyscraper was a dream of architects through the early and mid-twentieth century. However, the concept of the glass box occurred decades after Mies van der Rohe’s seminal proposals in 1922.

The glass box was evolutionary; the form had its roots in technical advances that took place before the war. Five developments—air-conditioning, fluorescent lighting, automated plate-glass manufacture, double glazing, and heat-absorbent glass—together enabled the larger floor plates and thin, transparent skins that dominated commercial high-rises after midcentury. Such enthusiasm for new technologies-fluorescent lighting and air conditioning in particular-influenced a generation of solid curtain wall buildings, Pittsburgh’s Alcoa and Chicago’s Prudential in particular. This exponential growth made the process less time consuming and coherent.  Insulated window units and heat-absorbing glass emerged in the late 1940s and early 1950s that provided technical answers to the formula suggested by interior services the resulting glass skins emerged-some thirty years after Mies’ experiments formula suggested by interior services, and the resulting glass skins emerged-some thirty years after Mies’ experiments.

”The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered” by Louis Sullivan

The author argues that tall office buildings are a new type of architecture that solves a specific problem. He defines aspects of social demand, the growing population of the cities, newly available technology, such as high-speed elevators, new construction techniques, and architectural expression that contributed to the creation of modern tall office buildings. Sullivan takes an approach in the design of the skyscrapers from the perspective of a division of it into three main parts: the first and second story, the office-tiers, and the attic. Sullivan looks at the example of the three divisions of the classic column: base, shaft, and capital comparing it to the skyscraper’s vertical parts. He also looks at the examples of trinities in art, nature and greenery, a trinity of a time division during the day, and logical division of the beginning, middle, and the end. In this article, Sullivan comes to the realization of the importance of function in any design aspect by nature and as life and form create wholeness, the form of the building should follow its function. Form ever follows function, and this is the law. Where function does not change form does not change.

 “Space.” by Adrian Forty

When you first think about space, you think about enclosure. However, this article analyzes space in more depth. The development of architectural space originated in Germany in the nineteenth century. Raum signifies a room in German. There were two distinct traditions of thought. One, the attempt to create a theory of architecture out of philosophy, the other was concerned with a psychological approach to aesthetics. This concept of space was first connected with the development of modernism. What is more, it belongs to the specific historical circumstances of modernism, just as is the case with space’s partners-form and design.

In this article, the author argues that space is much more than volume and form, highlighting different perspectives from multiple authors. According to Kant, in a philosophical point of view, space is the property of the mind. It is a pure intuition, in which all objects must be determined’ and contains ‘prior to all experience, principles which determine the relations of these objects. Later on, in the 1870s, the philosopher Robert Vischer, who first saw the possibilities of empathy for architecture. His goal was to explain how people can go from not experiencing a sense of unity (connection) with a piece of artwork to experiencing it. Lastly, Lefebre believed that space is a social product and a process of social activity that is constantly changing and developing. Lefebvre makes clear, architecture is just one social practice among many, and in its space-regulating operations it serves not its own ends, but those of power in general.

Critical Response

I find it interesting how in this article space is related to empathy. Space is not only about enclosure, but it is more than that. Lipps is best known for his development of the theory of empathy; in this essay he argued that there were two kinds of seeing, optical, which was concerned with matter, and aesthetic, which was concerned with what was left after matter was removed. Lipps’s theory is quite distinct from Schmarsow’s, in that he has no conception of space as enclosure — rather his interest in space is as a way of visualizing the inner life of matter. This is a characteristic we can apply in architecture. We can decide the best solution for a design problem by making the designer and the user practically the same person. Empathy can be seen as the basis for human-centric design, being able to understand the psychological based response to architectural space. Designers can help customers to find their true needs by observing thoroughly upon customers behavior, activities, etc.

Interpretation

Sydney Opera House is a successful architecture because the architects have used space wisely. The space which includes concert halls, theatrical shows, cinema, ballets, and operas creates a remarkable experience for the visitors. The significance of this building is not only based on its unparalleled design and construction. But it is also based on the involvement of the users, making the design accessible for all. This aspect also showcases empathy  because through observation and goal, it allows us to understand and share the same feelings with others.

Take Away

• The history of the glass box shows that the skyscraper was a phenomenon deeply embedded in the technical, political, economic, and social networks of the time.
• Empathy can be seen as the basis for human-centric design in architecture.
• Space is a property of the mind