Teaching about Architecture

National Art Education Association

Teaching about ArchitectureAuthor(s): Heta KauppinenSource: Art Education, Vol. 40, No. 1 (Jan., 1987), pp. 44-49Published by: National Art Education AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3193034 .

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Teaching about Architecture

44 Art Education January 1987



Heta Kauppinen

T he important challenge for art teachers is to reach the large number of students who will become the audience for the arts and decision makers affecting the visual environment. In-

formed decisions about the built environment require knowledge about architecture and its development. As a functional art form architecture reflects culture and is expressive of its time and place. Buildings confine the space we live in and provide the framework for products, art works, and activities. The natural context for architectural studies is in the art programs' environmental studies. In this article architectural studies are presented in three major categories: historical and critical studies and studio practice. Historical Study Historical analysis is essential in architectural studies because architecture is a historical art. Buildings outlast the culture and function they were created for. A basic knowledge of architectural history and styles is basic to appreciation of the built environment and to the simple enjoyment of looking at buildings. In historical study identifying style is an important activity. Style in architecture means the distinctive aspects of an age, historical period, or region (Woelfflin, 1947). Architecture critics and scholars sometimes claim that style cannot be compre- hended by looking at the details of a building but only by perceiving the whole (Giedion, 1941; Rasmussen, 1959). However, students should learn to identify architectural details indicative of a style as necessary in making wholistic appreciation possible. The names of details serve also as a basic vocabulary of architectural terms without which meaningful discussion or analysis of architecture is impossible. Even elementary discussion of architecture requires some basic knowledge of appropriate terminology. In school students may learn only the major characteristics of styles as they appear in various architectural forms. An understanding of such basic stylistic principles is needed to recognize more vernacular inter- pretations peculiar to a specific culture or to detect characteristics of former styles in contemporary architecture.

In historical study an effective method is contrasting one period with another, a method used in architectural analysis by a number of scholars (Woelfflin, 1889, 1915, 1947; Giedion, 1947; Attoe, 1978; Foster, 1982). In comparative analysis students can discover the process of development. The characteristics of style become clearer when juxtaposed. Comparative analysis about the develop-

Art Education January 1987 45



ment of a style from the early stages toward the mature stages helps students see the variation of ideas in a style and achieve wholistic understanding. Comparisons can be made between successive styles such as the Romanesque and Gothic styles or Baroque and Rococo and between two eras expressing similar stylistic features such as the Gothic style and Gothic Revival or Renaissance and Renaissance Revival. These kinds of comparisons help students to understand how styles develop from previous styles and how styles are gradually modified for the needs and resources of a new era and culture. Comparing a number of styles by analyzing the development of a particular architectural structure or element contributes to students' understanding of the continuity of ideas. In historical analysis, students need to study plans, sections, and elevations of buildings. Architectural drawings offer clear presentation of ideas, communicate the precise qualities of any given style, and clarify details which are often lost in photographs. Understanding plans, sections, and elevations is a specific visual skill which must be learned through training.

Studying architectural style leads to an awareness of the interrelation of society, geography, climate, material, and method of construction. Historical analysis helps students understand how architecture is a natural outgrowth of the culture of its time and place. The essential achievements of historical study are the mastery of a basic vocabulary of architectural terms and an overall comprehension of the development of styles and the succession of eras. Critical Study Activities in critical study should develop students' understanding of the built environment and efforts to improve its usefulness and quality. Students should know why buildings exist in the forms they do, who is responsible for them, and why a culture or subculture builds in a particular way. Knowledge of the history of architecture is necessary to conduct a meaningful critical study.

Architectural criticism falls within three basic categories: normative criticism, interpretive criticism, and descriptive criticism (Attoe, 1978).

Normative criticism depends upon formal aspects of art, norms outside the relevant environment and the relation of the environment to the standards implicit in the norms.

46 Art Education

The primary observations of formal aspects are style; mass/space; scale and proportion; material and balance. Other important formal aspects are form, texture, rhythm, light, color, pattern, and ornamentation. As in historical study, students look at formal aspects in elevations, plans, and sections. Organizing principles for analysis such as symmetry/asymmetry and harmonious proportions such as the Golden Section help students to select and interpret what is relevant.

Interpretive criticism attempts to make students see the environment in a subjective way. It relates to feelings and impressions. Students are encouraged to make subjective statements based on their opinions about the building. A building may be seen as solemn, inviting, cheerful, rejecting, homey, noble, practical, sacred, or business- like. Or a building may be seen as massive, light, soft, edgy, rough, or busy when one judges its general appear- ance. The impressions of light and shadow, texture, acoustics, form, and color usually influence interpretive criticism. Interpretive criticism may seek allegory in statements such as the building looks like a needle (castle, ship, cone, sphere, cube, box, oyster, mushroom, spaceship, fortress, etc.) An important dimension of interpretive criticism is to analyze life, action, and events which take place in a building. This kind of analysis attempts to describe and define the function of a building. Since students can visit only a few of the buildings studied, the approach through their subjective feelings helps them understand the variety of functions a building has to perform. The emotional aspects expressed in interpretive criticism broadens the scope of critical study.

Descriptive criticism describes pertinent events and cir- cumstances in the design process and construction of a building. Descriptive criticism deals with the development of an idea and is biographical or contextual in character. When descriptive criticism is biographical, it looks at buildings as manifestations of the ideas of an architect. The development of an architectural idea and its impact on later ideas can be studied from the perspective of the major creator. Descriptive criticism provides information about the social, political, and economic context which affected the design and construction of the building.

Descriptive criticism is not judgmental. However,

January 1987



(Left): An historical study: Climate and architecture; (Top right): Exaggeration: The essential characteristics of a building; (Middle left): Interpretive criticism visualized: "The building looks like . . . " an impression of a modern building; (Middle right): A projective study of imaginary buildings.




understanding how things and ideas developed and were invented is instrumental in aiding appreciation. Students tend to look at the world based upon their limited past experience. Focusing their attention on special aspects of descriptive criticism sets up the possibility of a new experience.

A necessary type of criticism especially for children and young people is to assess the acceptance of a building, i.e. attitudes toward it. The final criticism of a building or an environment takes place when people use or misuse it. Students may analyze why particular places in the school or school yard are more popular than others. They may detect eroded paths which develop when sidewalks do not satisfactorily link the points of access to the building. They may study wear in the school building in corridors, stair- cases, etc., to identify heavy use. Students may find fingerprints, trash, or graffiti and analyze whether they indicate vandalism or acceptance of certain places. The outcomes of vandalism and its causes can be studied and then understood better. Intentional vandalism is a form of destructive criticism toward the environment. Learning about it brings it to a more conscious level and can reduce vandalist actions among the students. Studio Practice The basic studio activities include linear constructions of space in perspective and projective presentations. Another basic activity is to make students acquainted with some harmonic systems of proportion such as the Golden Section. Simple forms of these methods can be taught relatively early in elementary school. Because drawing is the original means of presenting an architectural idea, drawings should be the primary way of presenting ideas in architectural studies in the art classroom. The following methods are useful in critical studies.

Juxtaposing apparent opposites or similar buildings is a useful critical device. When students juxtapose buildings of a similar design, the analysis may concern function. Conversely, when juxtaposing buildings of the same function, students may compare the designs. Juxtaposed pictures of the preservation and renovation of buildings such as before and after helps students to understand

48 Art Education

(Top Left): An historical study: A Queen Anne style house reproduced from a photo- graph; (Top right): An historical study: Experimenting with natural materials for construction; (Middle): Montage: An old house dwarfed by skyscrapers; the signs on the skyscrapers are cut from magazines; (Bottom): Juxtaposing the present and planned construction on a site.

principles in improving and modifying the environment. Students draw and discuss proposals for the renovation of a building. Juxtaposing two historical extremes in architecture gives students an opportunity to identify similarities and differences and to consider the reasons for these similarities and differences.

Polarizing architectural pictures brings several pictures to analysis with a given picture. Students may polarize a number of architectural elements such as window and door designs, color and texture samples, and the like with a given building and discuss their appropriateness to it. They may place the building in different environments and settings and discuss the impact of the building on the environment or conversely the impact of the environment on the building. For historical study, students may polarize a number of buildings from various styles, arrange them is succession, and discuss the development of a particular element or overall impression.

Exaggeration focuses on problems for criticism. For instance, a detail of a building is enlarged and its function and aesthetic value analyzed. In a city scene or in a building, a reoccurring feature is depicted more clearly than the rest of the picture in order to study its nature and effect. Students can identify harmonious and discordant elements in the environment. They can analyze monotony or harmonious variety, the quality of a cityscape, and the impact of the number and repetition of windows, doors, and entrances, steps, ramps, and signs.

In montage the character of a building or city scene is changed by adding a new element. The image is studied in a new context. Students may place another building, a fence, a statue, trees, plants, or other elements next to the building depicted and study how the impression of style, proportion, or function are intensified or modified with the new addition. A building can be dwarfed, outdated, ridiculed, dignified, overpowered, or expanded by what is brought to its vicinity.

For most problems reproductions of architectural drawings or photographs can be used in combination with students' works. With the help of AV equipment, pictures can be enlarged, repeated, repositioned, overlapped, etc.,

January 1987



for analysis. Evaluation and Assessment Designing instruments for assessment in architectural studies is not complicated. Pictures of architectural details, plans, sections, and elevations can be used for testing mastery of terminology. Essay examinations cover both historical and critical material. Pictures of buildings can be used for visual identification of styles and architects. Architectural drawings of buildings related to their respective plans can be used to assess students' skills in reading architectural pictures. Students may draw simple pictures for principles and concepts. Conclusion In architectural studies students learn what has been done in architecture during the history of civilization. They learn to judge what kind of contributions architecture makes to the environment, and they acquire confidence in their ability to make decisions about the environment. In closing, I would like to quote Feldman. "The desire to preserve civilization, to renew the best of the past, and to build a better future, needs to be firmly established in every generation. And that is the real job of art education." (1983, p. 9)Ri

Heta Kauppinen is an Assistant Professor, School of Fine Arts, The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

References

Attoe, W. (1978). Architecture and critical imagination. Chichester, New York: John Wiley and Sons.

Feldman, E.B. (1983). Art in the mainstream. Art Education, 36 (4), 5- 9.

Foster, M. (1982). Architecture. New York: Excalibur Books. Giedion, S. (1941). Space, time and architecture. Cambridge: Harvard

University Press. Rasmussen, S. S. (1959). Experiencing architecture. New York: John

Wiley and Sons. Woelfflin, H. (1889). Renaissance and Barock. Basel: Schwabe & Co. Woelflin, H. (1915). Kunstgeschichtliche Grundbegriffe. Basel:

Schwabe & Co. Woelflinn, H. (1947). Prolegomena zu einer Psychologie der

Architektur. Basel: Joseph Gantner.




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Teaching about Architecture