Blog Assignment 3

WALL TEARS by Yuka Yoneda

from http://inhabitat.com/2010/07/27/wall-tears-elegant-wall-art-blown-from-recycled-glass/

Owen Jones wrote in The Grammar of Ornament (1856) that, “Construction should be decorated. Decoration should never be purposely constructed.” Considering about his background, he meant manufactures should be functionally decorated, and the decorations have to be appropriate to it. In other words, designers should always consider the utility of the production first, and the embellishments should be subordinated.

In my opinion, if designer is creating some functional manufactures, his principles will be definitely true. Otherwise, he will be wrong. In current days, there are numerous designs which exist for decoration only such as the Wall Tears by Yuka Yoneda, so decorations can be purposely constructed.

However, he was living in completely different world compare with us. He was one of the reformers of design in the latter18th century and the early 19th century, who was strongly influenced by A.W.N. Pugin. During that specific period, there was a significant growth in both economy and population, which lead to a number of issues of social. Many conflicts between working-class and upper class deteriorated the social instability. Reformers tried to through revival Gothic style to reduce the fear of social unrest. Therefor Jones' principle was true in that period.

Assignment 2

The first one La Chaise was designed by Charles and Ray Eames in 1948.

The second one was designed by Anne-MetteJensen and Morten Ernst in 1994.

Both of they have organic curve surfaces with rational straight line structures support them.

Sensuous impulse in design is a strong reflection from designers who have been searching for a new style in a cold rational world for a very long time. They look for a completely fresh way to design things that are totally out of any classical principle which they are tired of. Therefore, they start to create a large number of illogically imaginary arts to break those rules. It seems like a wild plant glowing madly on the ground. This phenomenon is likely to spread as fast as explode, and the design might become more and more fantastically imaginary and irrational. To sum up, sensuous impulse is the process of changing from classicism to romanticism.

Sensuous impulse is not only appear in the history, but also in the recent days. The reason for that is there is a swing between the straight line and the curve (They are the representation of classicism and romanticism respectively), but the range of the swing is been becoming smaller and smaller. The creations designed by people are getting closer to the balance between the straight line and the curve.

Blog Assignment 1

The Seagram Building, that was designed by Ludwing Mies van der Rohe, is a typical example of International Style and a masterpiece of corporate modernism. It had significant influences on Americant achitecture. After it was completed, the visible building structure caught attentions from people, starting to supplant a formal decorative articulation. Its success didn't only come from the new solution of building skyscraper, but the elegant proportions and the relation to the overall site. The Seagram Building, the model of the functionalist aesthetic, is the one that started a new era of modern architecture.