VIEW

THE HUMAN BODY. We rely on it, on ourselves, to identify and interact with our immediate surroundings and exterior landscape. We must not forget that everything in architecture is an extension of the body. From the visual to the tactile, everything has a connection to sight, sound, taste, feel, touch, and memory. We live and exist in architecture with our bodies and we experience spaces with our senses. Never design without understanding this. We design for humility, of the landscape and surroundings. We don't design for luxury, a superficial decoration that easily falls of its surface. A deeper meaning and visual approach is how to understand architecture.



"It is often with the eye that stimulation begins."
quote from the film, KinseyAlfred Kinsey, 1894-1956, American biologist, who founded the Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction at Indiana University


THE EYE -
Definition of: See
saw, seen, see·ing. –verb (used with object)

to perceive with the eyes; look at.

to view; visit or attend as a spectator: to see a play.

to perceive by means of computer vision.

to scan or view, esp. by electronic means: The satellite can see the entire southern half of the country.

to perceive (things) mentally; discern; understand: to see the point of an argument.

to construct a mental image of; visualize: He still saw his father as he was 25 years ago.

to accept or imagine or suppose as acceptable: I can't see him as president.

to be cognizant(knowledgeable of something especially through personal experience) of; recognize: to see the good in others; to see where the mistake is.

to foresee: He could see war ahead.

to ascertain, learn, or find out: See who is at the door.

–verb (used without object)

to have the power of sight.

to understand intellectually or spiritually; have insight: Philosophy teaches us to see.

to give attention or care: See, there it goes.

to find out(discover); make inquiry: Go and see for yourself.

to consider; think; deliberate: Let me see, how does that song go?

—Verb phrases

see through, to penetrate to the true nature of; comprehend; detect: He quickly saw through my story.

In an interior view of the eye, we see lines, textures, and shape.



The world through our eyes is also comprised of lines, textures, and shapes.


The eye is a sphere, like the earth. As we begin to see, a connection can be made of the body to our landscape. Images of circles and spheres naturally occur in the landscape. Circles and spheres also become metaphors to ideas.



“Heaven wheels above you, displaying to you her eternal glories, and still your eyes are on the ground.”
Dante, Italian Author and Poet 1265-1321

It is a drama about a journey from Hell, to Purgatory, then Paradise. If we begin to visualize three plains of space all stacked on each other at a given distance between them, what we start to see is the first approach to looking at the landscape in architectural terms. If we can imagine a vertical line connecting these three parallel plains, we can develop a visual journey recorded from looking above. Here is a diagram depicting the concept:



Let's look at current news events to represent this view. Looking from above we see that, there is global warming, and 200 million : Number of people around the world who could be displaced by more intense droughts, sea level rise and flooding by 2080.



Virgin Galactic - Sub-Oribtal Space Tourism for $200,000, The space tourism firm plans to eventual launch flights out of a terminal at New Mexico's Spaceport America, with additional trips through the aurora borealis to be staged from Kiruna, Sweden.


War in Iraq -Baghdad, Documented civilian deaths from violence 80,671 – 88,095



South Carolina Democratic Primary, Obama wins 55%



Heath Ledger dead at 28 - found in Soho apartment in New York, The massage therapist and a housekeeper found his naked body at about 3:30 p.m



Steve Jobs unveil's Macbook Air - Moscone Center, San Francisco


Want Ads- House for Rent - Bay Area, Single Family, 2 bedroom, 2 bath townhouse




Detail Plan view of the Mac Book air


A visual point of view from above gives us a map of our surroundings and a reference point as to where we exist. We can see the overall view, the big picture in a location map, vicinity map, site plan, roof plan, floor plan, and detail plan view. In reference to our bodies, we associate ourselves with the objects in the image. We can be a dot on this earth or an figure in a room depending on our relationship to scale.

LOOKING DOWN FROM ABOVE

United States - Borders


Map - Transportation Lines
New York



BART



Detail: Manhattan, New York


Detail: London Underground Tube






The world seen from above can only be experienced by means of a spaceship, airplane, hand glider, out of body experience, or in a floating dream. It is why we record the world on paper and draw plans, images that represent the overview of the landscape. Drawing maps help us see beyond our physical exploratory limitations. From a God's Point of View, the vertical line point of view, is designated in the term plan. In our driving and walking experience, the use of a map gives us an overall view of a place and our relationship to scale; ourselves to the site. Also with a map, we see the Cartesian coordinate gird N-E-S-W which help make directions easier. Once again, we connect ourselves to nature by using the sun's path. The idea of 'comfort' is established because we know where we are at any given time and place. There is little unknown when a map is available.






A map helps inform us of the area of exploration seen from above, but the human experience is detailed through the perspective view, on eye level. We take pictures with perspective views of the world all the time. There are also different point of view where one can capture an image such as worm's eye view, a shot taken nearly from the ground. in this position, our views are E-W directional vs. the N-S views of the plan. We interchange between these two views, the plan(encompassed approach) and the perspective(intimate approach) to communicate the idea of place, i.e. a pedestrian street, a piazza, a busy downtown, to complete a visual idea of place, and human connection to place.
Taking and collecting photographs through the perspective point of view is one that is intimate. as we take pictures of objects and the scenery, everything in the frame will retain a certain memory for yourself. In the future, our senses will recall them. We describe the objects and scenery in pictures with a sensation on a breath of fresh air as if it was yesterday. Objects exist for human beings to retain memories when we can no longer speak of them.







Although these two point of views, the plan and the perspective are different modes of visual communication, the element of the sun's actions on objects exist in both approaches. The sun is a giver of not only life to things, it gives objects shape, and validates a day turning into night. A shadow gives pictures a human quality that defines space; solids and cavities.

SUNLIGHT AND SHADOWS


Shadows reveal the object through depth and Solid/Void Relationships. We understand the mass of an object through its shadow. Wall thicknesses are revealed in openings, entrances and windows. Shadows reveals time on an object and can animate an inanimate object. Shadows help us to associate in plan how tall something is, or whether it is touching the ground, or floating in space.
Shadows reveal time of day, shortened for sun at noontime, or elongated for a setting sun. The art of representing a shadow on paper can be seen through a series of equally spaced 45 degree angles, stippling, or as a solid black. Shadows reveal the reality of objects in a picture, whether the object is round or flat, textured or smooth.
Shadows are also what gives an object life. It is a metaphor and can be personified to be a living thing. When an object is casted in light, it could be said that the object 'exists.'
The sun, a giver of life to objects, is also a destroyer, as it weathers and bleaches objects in time. As human beings, we need a window of protection from the sun, and voids within objects, or solids above us help to do this. Every sketch and final drawing should contain shadows. It makes the drawing exist. Every object thought of should exist with shadows of some kind.



Trees in Plan View with Stippled Shadow


Objects in Perspective view with Shadows


ASSIGNMENT
1. Learning Vocabulary: Define these words in your sketchbook
See, Sight
Mapping
Site Plan
Floor Plan
Perspective
Tactility
Site Orientation

2. Mapping is a way to identify a place. Your assignment is to map(draw) your journey from your bedroom to City College in Plan and Perspective.
Take pictures along your journey from eye level. Blow up images larger than 4x5 and can be as large as your sketchbook, (depending on how bold you are)
Sketch images by tracing out its perspective view
Use simple line drawing sketches
Reveal shadows through line weights and thinknesses
Write about the sights, sounds, and tactile items that you encounter along the journey.
You must sketch at least three points of interest in perspective.
Also, locate the points of interest on the site map.

Some things to think about that should be reflected in your sketches( if it pertains):
Is there a grid system on the map?
Are you on foot or in auto?
What is the landscape? Are there trees, etc.?
What time of day is it?
Objects should have shadows to indicate time of day.

Remember, this is not about sketching a 'realistic' picture, but sketching an idea about concepts and perception. If you are solely concentrating on drawing a picture, then you have missed the whole point. There should be an idea behind the image, and it is revealed through your lines. Your story is the lines, not the images.


Reference
http://discovermagazine.com/2007/apr/map-right-back-at-you
http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/k/kinsey-script-transcript.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/18/nyregion/18trees.html?_r=1&oref=slogin