Patchwork 3 †Analysis and Comparison of Both Pre-Existing

The Musee du tailfin and its gain, and St Pauls duomo with the nearby 30 St bloody shame ax were the chosen topics by two members of our group. All of these mental synthesiss are iconic expression at bottom their cities, and all were knowing and create with vastly different conditions and maps in mind. In this essay we entrust compare and contrast the different buildings in a manner that result help us understand the juxtaposition of old and youthful buildings.We leave behind besides investigate what made the contemporary buildings in question give status from controversial to widely accepted as unique and superb pieces of computer architecture. After considering the different context of use(s) and direction(s) of the building we will present our informed in the flesh(predicate) opinions based upon our query, to reach a conclusion in accordance with the research question. Before we undertake an analysis we will quickly summarise what has been afore utter(prenomi nal) in Patchworks 1 & 2. The two buildings that one of the members of the group researched were the Musee du Louvre and the Pyramide du Louvre.The Musee as it stands now, was intentional by Pierre Lescot for the King of France (at the time Francis I), however the fleshed and context of the building was radical and completely surface of context with the western europiuman style of its time (THOMPSON, metempsychosis Paris architecture & crop 1475-1600, p183). The style of architecture that the Louvre is of metempsychosis origin, the architect Pierre Lescot was said to have never visited Italy, and studied Italian Renaissance architecture except from third parties.Meaning his point of reference was only that of textbooks, sketches and some other architects (HANSER, architecture of France, 2006, p116). however this does non mean he didnt manage to create a Renaissance style building, the design and style of the Louvre is typical of the Renaissance, with the over-ornamenta tion and relief, and not plain surfaces. These are examples of typical French Renaissance over-decoration (MOORE, Character of Renaissance Architecture, 1905, p200). In patchwork 2 the focus was on the Pyramide du Louvre (a. k. a.The Louvre Pyramid), the design of which was done by I M Pei (as part of a commission by the president Francois Mitterrand). The need for a reception/ pleasant area for the museum was urgent, moreover space was scarce. Pei constructed an head to go underground, topped with a pyramid made of glass and steel. A somewhat radical vagary when considering a high-tech architectural construction would be positioned next to the Renaissance era architecture of the Louvre Museum (PIMLOTT, Without and within Essays on Territory and the Interior, 2007, p255 HEYER.American Architecture Ideas and Ideologies in the Late Twentieth Century, 1993, p275-278). Of course placing a pyramid (being a symbol of burial, and of an entirely different culture) in front of The Louvr e did not go too smoothly with the public, and many criticised both Pei and Mitterrands intentions. except the pyramid was not a direct connotation to Ancient Egypt, scarcely rather a fresh approach to a classical design.Mitterrand was also criticised for blocking the view of the historical buildings by putting the pyramid in the middle of the courtyard, simply due to its semi-transparent nature the pyramid juxtaposes The Louvre suddenly with the contrast of transparency and opaqueness (RUSTOW, Transparent Contradictions Peis Pyramid at The Louvre, 2006, p6). The two buildings that the other member of the group researched were St Pauls cathedral designed by Christopher Wren, (construction finished in 1677), and 30 St Marys axe designed by Norman Foster and partners, (construction finished in 2003).Both these buildings were build to replace previously destroyed buildings. St Pauls was built to replace old St Pauls which was one of the biggest buildings in Europe at the time. M ost of the building was destroyed by the Great raise of London and in 1668 a Royal Warrant was issued for the complete devastation of old St Pauls (GERAGHTY bbc. co. uk). Also in the time outcome between 1540 and 1650 the population grew by five or six fold. (ALLISON Architects and architecture of London knave 48) Ken ALLINSON notes, it is against this background that Wren set some creating St Pauls cathedral.Wren chose white Portland stone which had been used to great success by architects before him, one example being Nicholas HAWKSMOORs St Marys Church (GLANCY- The story of architecture page 84-85). 30 St Mary Axe was designed by Norman Foster and Partners and AUP Engineers and was built for the insurance friendship Swiss RE. Swiss Re had been working out of a soma of buildings in London and the company was looking to build one building that would replace all previous buildings to help unify the company.The purpose of this snap on one building was getting people to int eract, exchange ideas, become a creative community in the words of toilet COOMBER the then CEO of Swiss Re when they planned to build 30 St Mary Axe. Many locations were considered for the building but in 1992 a give way with 100lbs of Semtex destroyed the Baltic Exchange (POWELL, 30 St Mary Axe A tower for London, 2006, page 14). This presented the ideal location for 30 St Mary Axe to be built. The initial plans for 30 St Mary Axe were for a oftentimes bigger building than the one finally constructed.To gain planning permission Norman Foster and partners had to scale down the design. The design was described by London advisory committee as being unduly superior and assertive by reason of its height, form, bulk, massing and relationship to nearby high buildings. (POWELL, 30 St Mary Axe A tower for London, 2006, page 19) One equality to be made between St Pauls Cathedral and the 30 St Mary Axe, and The Louvre and its Pyramid is that of context at the time of design and construc tion. The London buildings were both designed and created within the context of their era.St Pauls was designed at the start of an English-Baroque movement (similar to that of other European movements, but much more conservative). (WHINNEY, Wren, 1971, p81 GLANCY, The Story of Architecture, 2000, p84), It reviews very baroque traits, which would have appeared on other buildings built before it. The Cathedral was built in the context of its surroundings. The same could also be said about the 30 St Mary Axe. It was built in a very modern era where the style of high tech/modern architecture is very common. Therefore relating to the citation at hand, we believe that the London buildings are rooted in the context of their surroundings.On the other hand, this conclusion cannot be said for The Louvre, and especially not for The Pyramid. The Musee du Louvre, (at the time, Palais du Louvre) was built as a one of a kind building, it did not follow a style that was already prominent in Paris , or therefore most parts of France at time of design and construction. We did agree that next completion The Louvre did fit the style more closely when the renascence and baroque movement swept through France, therefore more buildings of a similar style/context appeared.Thus creating relevance to the Louvres style. As for the Pyramid, although it is an interesting juxtaposition with the older style Louvre its context is not rooted with The Louvre. Had it been constructed near lArche de la Defense, in the more industrial part of Paris, then yes it would have context within its surrounding(s). This is credibly the reason that it caused so much controversy upon completion, and seen as such an out of place building.Another comparison that we made is that the London buildings were used to replace buildings that had been preexistent and consequently destroyed (Old St Pauls by the Great wind up of 1666, and The Baltic Exchange by an IRA terrorist attack). This means that the context o f which the new buildings are built upon is relevant to their purpose now. Old St Pauls and the previous buildings before it had always been that of a religious context roman temple, Saxon church and a Norman church (ALLINSON, Architects and Architecture of London, 2006, p49).The Baltic Exchange being the predecessor of the St Mary Axe means that the financial context of the building has remained, being in the heart of Londons financial district brings this truth home, along with the unison of all five Swiss Re buildings into one, again follows the financial context of the building (Swiss Re is a major insurance company). The difference between them and The Louvre and The Pyramid is that both Louvre and Pyramid were built for purpose and not to replace older buildings.The Louvre, passkeyly a fortress-turned-palace was stripped of its living necessities and turned into a museum, no building was required. The Pyramid was designed and built because of a inadequacy of reception and link to all wings of the museum. Both are original builds and as a result have created their own context within their surroundings as opposed to relying on the context of its surroundings to retrieve the style. To conclude, as a group we believe that the context of a building is not simply rooted in the setting, and building can specialize the context of a setting just as much as a setting can determine the context of a building.We were disposed two examples, one in London where the setting has driven the context, and the other in Paris where a new style had changed the context. So to disturb to the original quote by Dalibor Vesely, the relationship between buildings and intervening spaces is formal, but where the context is rooted is a chicken-or-egg question one will manage the other, but this is likely to change based of multiple factors including location and the purpose of the building. Word count with references 1619 Word count without references 1512 Bibliography Renaiss ance Paris Architecture and addition 1475-1600, David THOMPSON, University of California Press, Los Angeles 1984 Extract paraphrased, page 183 Architecture of France, David A. HANSER, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006 Extract paraphrased, page 116 Character of Renaissance Architecture, Charles Herbert Moore, The Macmillan Company, New York, 1905 Extract paraphrased, page 200 Without and Within Essays on Territory and the Interior, Mark PIMLOTT, 2007, Episode Publishers.Extract paraphrased, page 255 American Architecture Ideas and Ideologies in the Late Twentieth Century, Paul HEYER, 1993, John Wiley and Sons. Extract paraphrased, page 275 278 Transparent Contradictions Peis Pyramid at The Louvre, Stephen L. RUSTOW, 2006 Paper given at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Architectural Historians Extract paraphrased, page 6 30 St Mary Axe A tower for London Kenneth POWELL, publish by Merrell 2006 Page 13 15 2000+ London Sam LUBELL, create by Maconcelli press 2008Page 164 -165 Art icle published by Dr Anthony GERAGHTY 17-02-2011 http//www. bbc. co. uk/history/British/civil_war_revolution/gallery_st_pauls_01. shtml(Referenced on the 19-11-2011) Margret WHINNEY Wren, Published by Hudson 1971 Page 81 84 Christian NORBERG-SCHULZ Baroque Architecture, published by Electra architecture, 2000 Page 194 195 Jonathan GLANCY The Story of Architecture, published by DK, 2000 Page 84 85 Ken ALLINSON Architects and Architecture of London, published by Architectural Press, 2008