Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Connections between axis and hierarchy


In class on Friday, we looked at examples throughout the campus of how buildings are designed on an axis, and how the interiors of these buildings have their own axis. The colosseum in Rome was in a way an axis for the city. It was the main focus where many events were held and people gathered. The building itself has an axis from front to back where people can look over from the second floor and watch performances below.



This same idea of axis is repeat
ed in the structural aspects of the buildings as well. The colosseum is a circular building, so it has an emphasized center point. The arches of roman architecture are also a repetition of the circular shaped structures because of their symm
etry and rounded top. The idea of an axis represents the main center path or focus. Another example of an axis, or an important focus of ancient rome is the aqueduct. The ability of transporting water into the city makes water a very important aspect of the civilization, so it becomes a main focus of the city. When we were walking around campus on Friday, we looked at interiors that focused on a strong center point, and we also talked about how certain buildings were the main focus of the campus because of their purpose.
UNCG was mainly a school of education and music, which is why these two buildings are the main focus of the most prominent axis on campus, similar to how water was a very important aspect to the ancient roman civilization, as well as the colosseum.




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