2 R976 $\AN,,1976. Certified by... Don P -iosi' so aeprof or, Thesis Supervisor

Transcription

1 HOUSE DESIGN by JEFFREY OWEN BROSK B.A., B.S. UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA 1970 SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE AT THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY $\AN,,1976 Signature of Autho -... rtment of Architecture January 21, 1976 Certified by.... Don P -iosi' so aeprof or, Thesis Supervisor Accepted by. :.ichael Underhjll, Assistant Professor, Chairman, Departmental Committee e Copyright Jeffrey Owen Brosk D91 2 R976 L.ISR ARI z

2 ABSTRACT HOUSE DESIGN Jeffrey Owen Brosk Submitted to the Department of Architecture on January 21, 1976 in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture I have designed a house to demonstrate and explore the use of color as form in architecture. The main premise is that since color effects our perception of space both on a psychological and a physical level, it must be considered an important architectural element. Once one then accepts color as an integral part of the design process, its use requires a reevaluation of the massing and organization of forms. In the process of design, I have probed many divergent attitudes one could bring to this problem and the final design represents a solution at this time. However, the problem is large and the solution elusive, and I suspect many years from now I will still be looking. Therefore I view this thesis as a starting point, and not a termination. Thesis Supervisor: Title: Donald Preziosi Associate Professor of Architecture 2

3 Dedicated to my parents, Doris Annette Brosk and Bernard J. Brosk. 3

4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I want to express my deep appreciation to my advisors Donald Preziosi and Jerzy Soltan for their inciteful advice and criticism, and to express my gratitude to my thesis critics Wayne Andersen, Whitney Chadwick and Carl Nesjar. Finally, I would like to thank the Department of Architecture for providing such a full and flexible educational framework. 4

5 HOUSE DESIGN 5

6 Color is life; for a world without colors appears to us as dead... As flame begets light, so light engenders colors. Colors are the children of light, and light is their mother. Light, that first phenomenon of the world, reveals to us the spirit and living soul of the world through colors. The Art of Color, Johannes Itten 6

7 TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT DRAWINGS COLOR ELEVATIONS MODEL BIBLIOGRAPHY

8 STATEMENT For the sake of greater clarity and understanding of this body of work it is necessary to frame it in the larger context of my other work and thoughts. The basic premise of this work is that the essentials of painting, sculpture and architecture are the same. The numerous artificial boundaries set up by each particular discipline serve largely to the detriment of each. In this thesis I have tried to bring to bear all my previous work in painting, sculpture and architecture to begin a body of work that will incorporate and transcend them. In this design I have approached the use of color in seven major ways: 8

9 - to establish interconnectedness of interior and exterior; - to establish a dialogue with ground and sky; - to establish a dialetic of two and three dimensional space; - to delinate surface plan; - to break surface plan; - to delinate volumetric space; - to establish time-color-memory phenomena. Usage was the general organizing principle concerning the degree of color used in various sections of the house. Areas that would be occupied for short periods of time could work with a higher saturation of color than areas of the house that would be occupied for generally longer periods of time. However, this generalization must be modified by the exact nature of the 9

10 activity taking place. Therefore, while designing one must consistently be living in the house and tasting the different colors as he contemplates their use. However, in the end this project must be judged as you would any house design, because it is not meant to be a three dimensional color exercise, but a house in which people would live and love. Color must be just one more tool that an architect has at his command, and not the sole purpose of the building. However, this tool we call color must be carefully and thoughtfully used because there will always be the temptation to merely pour pretty colors on buildings. This temptation must be avoided because color has so much more potential if it is used as an integral part of the 10

11 design process, for then its use requires a reevaluation of the massing and organization of forms. 11

12 DRAWINGS 12

13 0 13

14 BROSK PLAN scale I - 0 B I 14

15 BROSK LIGHTING PLAN scale

16 BROSK SECTION A-A scale 01 16

17 K AF BROSK SECTION B-B scale

18 BROSK SECTION C-C scale

19 BROSK NORTHEAST ELEVATION scale 01 19

20 n K 0DWWD0 BROSK NORTHWEST ELEVATION scale 0? 1 20

21 p 4 ID ---- I -i BROSK SOUTHWEST ELEVATION scale 0 i 21

22 22

23 COLOR ELEVATIONS Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another purposely, to cause vibrations in the soul. Concerning the Spiritual in Art, W. Kandinsky 23

24 scale 24

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26 26

27 N- CN.

28 MODEL 28

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39 39

40 BIBLIOGRAPHY 40

41 BIBLIOGRAPHY Ardalan, Nadar and Bakhtian, Laleh, The Sense of Unity, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and Laden, Bachelard, Gaston, Poetics of Space, translated by Maria Jolas, Orion Press, New York, Gatz, Konrad and Achterberg, Gerhard, Colour and Architecture, Architectural Book Publishing Co., New York, Gombich, Hochberg and Black, Art, Perception and Reality, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Itten, Johannes, The Art of Color, translated by Ernst von Haagen, Von Nostrand Reinhold 41

42 Company, New York, Kardinsky, Wassily, Concerning the Spiritual in Art, George Wittenborn, Inc., New York, Klee, Paul, The Thinking Eye, George Wittenborn, Inc., New York,