blog post 2: circles + groups + stacks + [people]

On Friday we walked outside to visit different sites on campus.  We were told to focus on four main elements: circles, groups, stacks, and people.  We were also told to look for principles including repetition, contrast, emphasis, unity, harmony, balance, and proportion.  

circles: the sun + the moon, sacred spots

This picture and the one before it are circles on college avenue.  There are a couple of smaller ones that signify when there is a breaking point to major walkways leading to and from college avenue.  There is one circle that is larger than all of the others that is in the center of campus.  It is a major focal point, because on one side there is the cafeteria and dorms, and on the other side there is the library and academic buildings. The circle puts emphasis that the two different sides of campus join and work together.

These four pictures are of the back and front entrance to the elliott university center.  They both have a natural light source that could represent life, which is appropriate because the euc is the heart of campus and people are constantly walking through the building.  There is repetition in the panels on the wall and they also make groups by using different colors.  On each circle on the ground, there are 10 lines that connect the outer circle to the inner circle.  This could represent a connection between college and the "real" world and how college is preparing us to interact and unite with the outside world.

There is also a resemblance to stonehenge.  Each have structures that resemble columns that connect the ground to natural light.  They also both signify a center or gathering area.

These are also examples of circles on campus.  They are both outside the cafeteria, another focal point of campus, which also creates a circle.

[people]: emulating the human body

So this is a little out there, but after looking for circles on campus, I couldn't stop seeing them where ever I went.  The idea of mulch being spread in a circle and having life come from the center of it didn't seem intentional, but I thought it represented the idea of a circle well and how life (or a person) could be the focal point of a circle and put emphasis on that person.

stacks: mountains, gathering resources

The library is a really good example of stacks and repetition.  Each row of blocks shows each floor of the library, and the pattern is repeated throughout the whole outside of the building.

The is a sidewalk leading to the library from college avenue, where there was a circle that showed their separation.  The blocks have a repeated pattern, and the rows are stacked on top of one another.

As the leaders of our groups were walking us through campus, they said that most of the buildings were neoclassical architecture.  This is architecture that is inspired by classical architecture of ancient Greece and Rome.  The building are most likely to have tall columns that rise the whole height of the building and symmetrical shape.  This is very evident in the alumni house.  The bricks, the shutters, the tiles on the roof, and the stairs are all stacked in rows on top of one another.

[people]:

There are tall columns that have a base, shaft, and capital.  This could represent people: the base could be the feet, the shaft could be the body, and the capital the head.  

groups: groves of trees, reaching vertical, groups of people

Columns are the most obvious form of groups in many of the buildings on campus.  They reach vertically from the bottom to the top of the building.  It could seem that there is unity at the center of the building, especially since each side is identical to the other.