A series of north/ south streets is alphabetized to provide navigation-friendly datum; Arlington, Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth, Exeter, Fairfield, Gloucester, and Hereford. As you move west, you traverse the alphabet.
We paid close attention to a corner condition at the intersection of Berkeley and Commonwealth, building elements seemed designed to frame the experience to the city:
The facade of the residence on the east side of Commonwealth noticeable broke with the language of the urban wall it was a part of by stepping down a full story. A corner turret delineated a perceived language that a rotational transition was imminent and forthcoming, and just as you reach the edge of the house you realize the entrance flanks the west end and is set back which pulls your gaze through the corner and into city fabric.
On the other side of the street an apartment building acts as a sort of rudder, which adds indelibly an emboldened desire to direct all attention through this very specific corner. It is proportioned so that horizontal reveals all point toward context on the horizon, taller and longer than its width, it exerts pictorial gravity.
Later on we drew neighborhood churches, each from a different period. Two in particular were examined; First Lutheran on Berkeley St and First Church of Boston on the corner of Marlborough and Berkeley. Both churches had designed elements that directly effected subjects by demarcating outdoor spaces with an air of sanctity; First Lutheran with its courtyard and First Church with some sort of urban den which sinks a few feet below grade before rising to the church entrance:
Our final stop was Copley where we drew Trinity Church. Proportions were so well considered that seams between building materials always brought the eye to some geometric whole. It was pleasant to be within the portico among carefully considered columns while looking out onto the square where the trees felt like they were a correlation to the slender vertical elements at hand.
No comments:
Post a Comment