Qualities of Architectural Space

This photo (click on the image to see a larger pic) was taken on Saturday in The Museum Gardens, York, UK. I found myself being drawn to the centre of the tree, beneath its canopy and wondered what were the constituents of such magnetic qualities?

The answer is that the tree (especially a tree such as this) has the qualities of space and enclosure that we create in our homes and our workplaces. Here is a setof 'keywords' which come to mind when looking at the image:-

'enclosure, warmth, light, translucency, ambience, colour, safety, security, cover, texture, volume, scale, tone, organic, symmetry, asymmetry, growth, arterial, aspirational, hue, saturation, luminescence, permeability, porous, boundary, border, vista, etc'

Francis D.K. Ching in his remarkable book 'Architecture - Form, Space, and Order' (Wiley, New York) states that the key properties of enclosure are : shape, surface, edges, dimensions, configuration, openings. He goes on to say that the key qualities of space are: form, color, texture, pattern, sound, proportion, scale, definition, degree of enclosure, light, view.

Many times I am in an a space which is comfortable, staid, and secure but doesn't have the x factor which this image portrays. I think that what I am trying to say is that it takes much more than a design and a little research to make a great building or a fabulous space. The tree has made a perfect synergy between form and function and it is somewhere between its form and function that its energy resides.

The tree is of the hill that it resides upon, and the keywords noted above go some way into providing a sort of embryonic swatch to articulating a space which has the x factor.

Ching also states that 'The qualities of an architectural space.... are much richer than what.... diagrams are able to portray. The spatial qualities of form, proportion, scale, texture, light, and sound ultimately depend on the properties of the enclosure of a space. Our perception of these qualities is often a response to the combined effects of the properties encountered and is conditioned by culture, prior experiences, and personal interest or inclination'.

When I experience a wonderful space and I am energised by it, I try and process that feeling of awe or inspiration into a swatch of keywords which at least are pointers to why the space is successful and at most, forms the inspiration which ties into the warp and weft of my own photographic work.

Mermaid Quay

There's a maritime feel to this contemporary retail space at Mermaid Quay Cardiff, Wales, Great Britain. Visit Cardiff - it is a city on the mend; with Llandaff not far away for the historically minded, and the Millenium Centre (sad name) with it's lyrical facade.

Victorian Vermiculation

I would like to welcome the architecture students of the University of Nevada with a fine photo of Victorian Vermiculation! This particularly playful and lyrical example of rustication should keep the architectural spirits up whilst studying those long hours. Special thanks to Jeanne Brown at University of Nevada Las Vegas Libraries for listing my blog in their architecture section. Any students care to comment or suggest a contribution from the UK angle of architecture please feel free to contact me. Or maybe send some pics of the architecture you are studying?

Nothing's Changed

On Saturday I went into town. I'm always drawn like the protagonists in Close Encounters to the big urban UFO. I always spend a disproportionate amount of time in the architecture section of the local bookshop. Anyway, whilst meandering around town I was struck by the bright and vibrant displays of fashionable people showing their stuff in the metropolis. What is it about our identity which makes us want to stick out in the crowd? When pondering about our need to be individuals in this contemporary age it struck me that this fashion craze isn't just applicable to today and not just to people. Look at the typical traditional timber framed house of the medieval period. Full of crazy designs and supernatural patterns intended to strut the wealth of the owner across the medieval stage. The design above (I took this in Stratford upon Avon, UK) could be the pattern on a Mary Quant dress? I think it is remarkable that over 500 years ago people were plagued with the same urge to peacock themselves.


Now where did I put my Calvin Kleins?

BEHIND THE PHOTO....

Well it's that time of week again. Every Wednesday I will be looking in depth at the technical, emotional, etc background to one of my photos. Today it is more on the emotional side. This image was taken in Venice in February 2005. It is on the Piazzetta San Marco outside the Doge's Palace. This photo was taken on the day before I got married at the Palazzo Cavelli on the Grand Canal. I found the process leading up to such an important event invigorating and the subject of my photography changed from one of abstract architecture to that of people and the associated hustle and bustle. This picture holds more than a memory for me then, with the sun slowly setting over the Zecca. It has a comfort and warmth which is calming and soothing - just what one needs on the night before the wedding. Stag Night? - just a quiet drink at Harry's Bar sufficed.

Feeling a little drained, artistic inspiration on the wane? Shoot into the sun my friend, shoot into the sun...