Architecture: Art, History, and Imagination

• Architecture expresses human imagination and is more than just what is needed.

How Architecture Relates to Design

• Design involves balancing form and function.
• Architecture focuses almost entirely on form, while other designs focus on function.

Basic components of Architecture

• Art/Aesthetics: Visual representation and its effect.
• History/Social: Connection to the people and the time it was created.
• Imagination/Creativity: Adds excess beyond basic needs.
• University-level architecture emphasizes artistic and abstract concepts.
• College-level architecture focuses on practical construction, detailing, and concrete applications, similar to design class projects.

Parkwood Estate - Oshawa

• The "grand estate" was built in 1915 for R.S. McLaughlin, owner of General Motors Canada.
• Located at Simcoe and Adelaide St.'s in Oshawa.
• Renovated in the 30's and 40's, including gardens designed by John M. Lyle.

Estate Purpose

• Designed for McLaughlin's to entertain business and political guests, as well as accommodate their growing family.
• Darling & Pearson designed the Royal Ontario Museum and the Parliament center block tower in Ottawa.
• John M. Lyle designed Union Station and the Royal Alexandra Theater in Toronto.

Art & Aesthetics

• The Beaux-Arts architectural style was popular in North America from 1880 to 1930.
• Key elements of Beaux-Arts architectural style included:
  • Balustrades
  • Triangular pediments
  • Columns
  • Cornices
  • Pilasters
• Beaux-Arts style is a neo-classical revival, reusing classical elements in modern designs.
• Includes some symmetry features of the Georgian style, which are not essential to the building's function.

Gardens

• Gardens added in the 1940s are in the Art-Deco style which combines and contrasts the Beaux-Arts style.
• Features many styles with an attempt to be modern, geometric and cubist.
• Gardens repeat Beaux-Arts style features in a sleeker, more modern way.

Imagination & Creativity

• The building included many practical conveniences that were groundbreaking at the time
• Heated greenhouses produced year-round food.
• Included a heated indoor pool, games room, squash court and bowling alley.
• Modern features included a central clock network, central vacuum, remote controlled garden lights, central air conditioning, and a walk-in refrigerator.
• The spiral staircase with central dome and skylight, vaulted ceilings, painted ceilings, coffered ceilings, and arches are notable features.

History & Social Context

• R.S. McLaughlin's business competed with Ford, he needed an estate to entertain business guests and show his company was worthy of investment.
• The McLaughlin family hosted guests, including a royal visit from the King and Queen of England in 1939.
• The estate is a 15,000 square foot, 55-room building on an entire city block, with outbuildings.
• Today, the estate hosts tours, is a site for weddings and special events.

Arches

• An arch is the top of an opening in a building structure
• Used to hold weight or for support in various forms.
• Weight is transferred from above to the sides and ground.
• The round arch design works in pure compression, good for brittle materials like stone because it avoids tensile forces.
• Thrust, a sideways force at the arch base, increases as arch height decreases, requiring bracing and abutments to counteract.
• The arch is the first architectural element as its form can be widely varied while still performing its basic function.

Circular arch

• Circular Arch is simple to draw, it is a half circle, tangent at its edges
• No side force or thrust, it is a very useful structure
• Voussoirs: wedge-shaped stones that form an arch.
  • Keystone: The central voussoir at the apex of the arch (crown).
  • Springer: The bottom voussoir on each side

Domes

• Domes follow the same principles as arches, but they are spun in a 360 degree
• Domes are used to diffuse light and emphasize a central feature.
• Like arches domes require compressive forces around the base.
• Domes reflect sound, creating echoes or deflecting sound over distances.

Vaulted Ceilings

• Vaulted ceilings use arch shapes in ceiling or roof areas.
• Have a large impact on acoustics of the interior.
• Very difficult and costly to build due to structure and difficulty working overhead
• Examples of vaulted ceilings:
  • Barrel vault (Romanesque)
  • Groin vault (late Romanesque)
  • Rib vault (late Romanesque and early Gothic)
  • Fan vault (Gothic)

Embellishments

• Embellishments are decorative details or features that make a structure more attractive
• Not an exhaustive list, there are many embellishments that can be added to a structure

Types of embellishments

• Columns: Transmit weight through compression.
• Pilasters: Slightly projecting columns for aesthetics.
• Balustrades: Series of balusters supporting a handrail or coping.
• Coffered Ceilings: Sunken panels for decoration and acoustic effects.
• Cornices: Projecting shelf at the top of a wall.
• Corbels: Structural or cosmetic piece jutting from a wall.
• Gable End Treatment: Trim added to the peak of a gable roof.
• Portico: Covered walkway supported by columns.
• A portico can commonly include other architectural features such as:
  • Triangular Pediment
  • Barrel Vault
  • Columns
  • Pilasters
  • Sidelight
  • Transom Window: Window fixed or operable, above a door
  • Side Light: Usually vertical window flanking a door.
  • Fan Light: Window above a door with an arched or rounded top.