Two-Point Architecture |
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Title: Cream City Building
Size: 61 cm x 48.3 cm (19 in x 24 in) Medium: Graphite on Bristol paper Completion: April 2018 Cream City Building was inspired by buildings you'd typically see in the city of Milwaukee. Using artistic inspiration from structures of Milwaukee like the Basilica of St. Josaphat and Chapman's Department Store; this building is meant to express a time in Milwaukee history when buildings were made from a ‘cream brick’. The building was meant to be large so the purposes of it vary to: holding dancing rehearsals, performances, wedding receptions and homeless shelter soup kitchens.
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Critical Investigation Research:
The Basilica of St Josephat was built by Polish Immigrants as a way to show their pride in their heritage and to also build a place for devotion to their religion. This structure was built from borrowed parts of a Post Office in Chicago where you can still see printed on some of the door handles inside the church. The Basilica of St Josephat was also the very first Polish-American church to be considered a basilica; the third basilica in America. A church is named a Basilica for being big, beautiful and historic. A German-born architect, Erhard Brielmaier, designed the Basilica of St Josephat taking inspiration from the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome. The church was built between 1896-1901. In 1926, the parish hired a Roman artist, Gonippo Raggi to paint the interior of the Basilica.
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Beutner, Jeff. "Chapman’s Second Store, 1870s". urbanmilwaukee, https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2015/02/03/yesterdays-milwaukee-chapmans-second-store-1870s/(accessed April 6th, 2018).
This image of Chapman's department store was actually the second one built. It moved locations in 1872 for being so successful. Chapman's Department Store was one of the most long-running dry goods stores in Milwaukee until finally in 1981 it was closed and demolished. The new building that is located on the same spot is called the 411 East Wisconsin Center building and it's the third tallest building in Milwaukee.
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Inspiration:
My building was inspired by The Basilica of St. Josephat's architecture and Chapman's Department Store 411 Building.
I chose the Basilica for my inspiration because the architecture is beautiful and iconic. This building is a work of art and the inside contains amazing stonework, glass windows, motifs, and paintings. It is also a building that expresses culture and has personal value to me. The Basilica is located close to the neighborhood I lived in for most of my life which is another way to express identity through regional architecture. When I lived there, I could see the Basilica from the upstairs window of my house. |
What I wanted to use in my architectural piece was the use of various levels like the Basilica has. The building does not have only one roof, but contains various rooms at different heights thus making the outside resemble sort of a mountain. I wanted to use that in my own piece. I also liked the dome shapes and wanted to make balconies with that same dome for their roofs.
Ackerman, Sandra. Milwaukee Then and Now. Indianapolis: TF Publishing, 2004.
Beutner, Jeff. "Chapman’s Second Store, 1870s". urbanmilwaukee.com. https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2015/02/03/yesterdays-milwaukee-chapmans-second-store-1870s/(accessed April 6th, 2018). "411 East Wisconsin Center". http://city.milwaukee.gov. http://city.milwaukee.gov/bbc/participants/411-Building. (accessed April 6th, 2018). |
At first, I did not know where I wanted to go with my building but I knew I wanted to create a structure that resembled the classic look of Milwaukee from the Cream City Brick era and the Basilica. I looked through a book called, 'Milwaukee Then And Now' and found some interesting buildings in Milwaukee and what they looked like a long time ago next to what they looked like now. That is where I found Chapman's Department Store.
I didn't necessarily want to make a building for the purpose of a department store, but I really liked the artistic designs of the architecture of the building. The second building of Chapman's department store had windows, pillars, archs and a border around the roof I wanted to use in my architectural piece. Unfortunately, the building does not exist anymore; it was replaced with the third tallest building in Milwaukee called the 411 East Wisconsin Center Building designed by Henry Weese & Associates of Chicago.
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Planning:
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The first two images are practice of the concept of two point perspective; The whole class was practicing how to create different shapes and how to divide them equally using two point perspective. The third image shows how to create a running sidewalk that ends at the vanishing point.
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When I started creating planning sketches, I had an idea for a hall that could be used for dance practices / rehearsals, wedding receptions and even a soup kitchen. The front door would have pillars on either side with gargoyles standing on top of the pillars. once you walked inside, there would be a stair case in the middle with doorways going into a kitchen on either side, Once you walked up the stairs, there'd be a heavily decorated doorway into a huge, ballroom like hall. But, I decided to scrap the idea since I was focusing more on the interior rather than the exterior.
I decided to also have a different purpose to my building in my second idea. I wanted to create an old-looking building used for the purpose of extracurricular activities for students after school and on the weekends. Like the first design, I focused more on the interior of this building rather than the exterior design. So, in my third design, I started sketching a building used for the same purpose as my first design but pulled inspiration from the Basilica of St Josephat.
I decided to also have a different purpose to my building in my second idea. I wanted to create an old-looking building used for the purpose of extracurricular activities for students after school and on the weekends. Like the first design, I focused more on the interior of this building rather than the exterior design. So, in my third design, I started sketching a building used for the same purpose as my first design but pulled inspiration from the Basilica of St Josephat.
Process:
For the first step of the process I drew a horizon line using a T-square. At first, I made my building way too big and my perspective points to close together, but then I was told to extend the perspective points onto cardboard behind my paper so it would be off the Bristol paper and the building would not look as smushed.
At first, I drew a dome towards the center-left of the paper which I did not use any architectural techniques to create. I decided to get rid of it because the building was too close to the left side of the paper and I wanted the building to be taller and not wider. After erasing the dome, there was a bid gap between the tower I drew and the entrance of the building which was center-right. The entrance of the building included an overhanging roof with three layers. At first, the roof over the entrance and also over the side walk into the entrance were three triangles each getting taller and narrower as they went up and were all positioned over top of one another. But, as I went on with the project, I decided that each layer should protrude from the building a little farther with each layer down. I implemented my inspired dome design from the Basilica of St Josephat along the left wall of my building. At first, I sketched out the balconies by eye-balling it which turned out looking very weird and flat. So, I used a method I learned from the time MIAD came into the classroom on dividing a shape equally according to perspective. I did this by starting with one rectangle. I found the middle by connecting the diagonals of the rectangle together and drawing a straight vertical line where the two lines met. Then, to create rectangles that went down the wall in the direction of the vanishing point, I drew a dot in the bottom right corner of the rectangle and using the midline I drew, drew a dot at the left side of the rectangle on the midline. I connected these dots together from the bottom right to the middle left and continued drawing until I reached the perspective line of the top of the rectangles. From there, I drew a straight line down to create another rectangle which continued down with the perspective. When I finished this, I drew three balconies which took up three rectangles each. Their roofs were supported by four pillars and underneath them where protruding windows. For the right side of my building, I didn't know what to do with it. At first, I thought of having a giant dome for the roof, but I decided against that, especially when I looked at the architecture of Chapman's Department Store and the roof of the building, I decided to take the dome out. For the wall, I did the same process of dividing rectangles equally as the wall goes down. Inside the triangle, I began drawing dark, thin lines to represent the supports holding up the glass. To indicate a window was there, I could've pet people inside of the building, but I decided to shade and use value to show the shadow being casted over the windows. To add more decoration, I drew arches over each window. I didn't know how to create arches using an architectural technique, so I eyeballed it.
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Reflection:
As I reflect on my work, I wish I would have taken more time on drawing. I found out how important planning sketches are to a project. It's vital to your creativity and your final product when it comes to developing ideas and technical attributes. I realized now how important it is to draw lightly also. I would draw very heavily throughout the project which resulted in having ghost lines still there even when I erased the paper as hard as I could. I also learned how important it was to have a sharp pencil. When the pencil begins to dull, it gets really hard to create precise and thin lines.
I really enjoyed doing this project because drawing is one of my strong suits and I really liked learning new concepts in perspective. I never knew how people could flawlessly draw windows equally lined before this project. It really helped me develop my skills. I would like to do another project like this possibly.
I really enjoyed doing this project because drawing is one of my strong suits and I really liked learning new concepts in perspective. I never knew how people could flawlessly draw windows equally lined before this project. It really helped me develop my skills. I would like to do another project like this possibly.
ACT Questions:
1. Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
I'm able to identify the cause and effect as I look at the images of my inspiration and see the designs like the domes of the Basilica or the pillars of Chapman's Department Store in my own piece.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The authors gave a history and purpose to the buildings of my inspiration.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Architecture is a way to express culture and pride.
4. What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
Cream City Brick Milwaukee and Milwaukee architecture from the late 19th century.
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I inferred how different time periods sprout different opinions and interests and how buildings from the time period I chose my inspiration from were heavily decorated and valuable.
I'm able to identify the cause and effect as I look at the images of my inspiration and see the designs like the domes of the Basilica or the pillars of Chapman's Department Store in my own piece.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The authors gave a history and purpose to the buildings of my inspiration.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Architecture is a way to express culture and pride.
4. What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
Cream City Brick Milwaukee and Milwaukee architecture from the late 19th century.
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I inferred how different time periods sprout different opinions and interests and how buildings from the time period I chose my inspiration from were heavily decorated and valuable.