The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts- a study

The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts

The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts is an art gallery and museum located on the campus of the University of East Anglia,Norwich, United Kingdom. The building, which contains a collection of world art, was one of the first major public buildings to be designed by the architect Norman Foster, completed in 1978.

With the donation in 1973 of their collection of ethnographic and twentieth-century art to the University of East Anglia, together with an endowment for a new building, Sir Robert and Lady Sainsbury sought to establish the Sainsbury Centre as an academic and social focus within the campus. The Sainsburys shared a belief that the study of art should be an informal, pleasurable experience, not bound by the traditional enclosure of object and viewer. As a result the Sainsbury Centre is much more than a conventional gallery, where the emphasis is on art in isolation. Instead, it integrates a number of related activities within a single, light-filled space.

The building brought a new level of refinement to the practice's early explorations into lightweight, flexible enclosures

Structural and service elements are contained within the double-layer walls and roof. Within this shell is a sequence of spaces that incorporates galleries, a reception area, the Faculty of Fine Art, senior common room and a restaurant.

Full-height windows at each end open the space up to the surrounding landscape, while louvres line the interior to provide a highly flexible system for the control of natural and artificial light. Large enough to display the Sainsburys' extraordinary collection, yet designed to be intimate and inviting, the main gallery - or 'living area' - evokes the spirit of the collection's originally domestic setting.

A new gift from the Sainsburys in 1988 allowed the building to be extended to provide space for the display of the reserve collection, together with curatorial and conservation facilities and a space for exhibitions and conferences, giving the Centre greater flexibility in its programming.

The new wing extends the building below ground level, exploiting the contours of the site to emerge in the form of a glazed crescent incised in the landscape. In 2006 a further programme of improvements was completed, which provides an internal link between the main and Crescent Wing galleries, a new education centre, additional display space, and improved shop, café and other visitor amenities.

 The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts building was opened in 1978. It was designed between 1974 and 1976 by the then relatively unknown architect Norman Foster. According to Chris Abel, "The building exemplifies Foster's early work of a regular structure embracing all functions within a single, flexible enclosure, or universal space where the design is all about allowing for change, internally and externally." (Chris ,2004)

The Centre also explains Foster's characteristic work methods of design development

The main building is sited on sloping, turfed ground, and consists of a large cuboid, clad steel structure. One face is almost entirely glazed, with the prefabricated skeleton clearly visible. Internally, the museum gives the impression of being one vast open space, lacking any internal divisions to interfere with the interplay of natural and artificial light. Services, lighting, toilets and maintenance access are housed in triangular towers and trusses, and between the external cladding and internal aluminium louvers.

By the late 1980s the collection had outgrown its accommodation, and Foster was asked to design an extension. Rather than simply extending the

existing structure as had been envisaged 15 years earlier, it was decided to look below ground. The sloping site allowed for an enlarged basement to emerge at a curved glass frontage overlooking a man-made lake.

Limitations of research through 2D media:
*sometimes we do not realize how huge the space is.
*The beauty of few elements can be appreciated only is visualized directly
*sometimes the design can be more appreciated in context to the site and surrounding if seen directly than in picture

Reference:

Everything.explained.today, (2015). Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts explained. [online] Available at: http://everything.explained.today/Sainsbury_Centre_for_Visual_Arts/ [Accessed 5 Dec. 2015].

Wikipedia, (2015). Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts. [online] Available at:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sainsbury_Centre_for_Visual_Arts [Accessed 5 Dec. 2015].

www.fosterandpartners.com, F. (2015). Innovative Architecture & Integrated Design | Foster + Partners. [online] Fosterandpartners.com. Available at: http://www.fosterandpartners.com/ [Accessed 5 Dec. 2015].

 Abel, Chris (2004). Architecture, Technology and Process. Oxford: Routledge. p. 102.

Reflection

Reflection

“Reflection is part of learning and thinking. We reflect in order to learn something, or we learn as a result of reflecting, and the term ‘reflective learning’ emphasizes the intention to learn from current or prior experience”(Moon 2004) 
Reflection is a type of thinking aimed at achieving better understanding and leading to new learning.

Kunsthaus Zurich in Switzerland

Reflection from 1st project:

Research on designs by architect David Chipperfield.

David Chipperfield,  (born December 18, 1953, London, England), British architect who was known for his modern, minimal designs.

Chipperfield’s work earned numerous accolades over the years. Most notably, in a 15-year span (1998–2013), seven buildings designed by his firm were nominated for the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Stirling Prize, with the Marbach (Germany) Museum of Modern Literature awarded the prize in 2007

Veles e Vents, Valencia, Spain

Other short-listed projects were an office and studio building in Düsseldorf, Germany (1998); the River and Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire (1999); Ernsting Service Centre in Coesfeld-Lette, Germany (2002); the America’s Cup Building in Valencia, Spain (2007); the reconstructed Neues Museum in Berlin (2010), which was the culmination of a mammoth 12-year project; and the Hepworth Wakefield Art Gallery in West Yorkshire (2012). Other notable works include the East Building (2013) of the Saint Louis (Missouri) Art Museum, a light-filled structure featuring skylights, floor-to-ceiling windows on the front, and a concrete facade that was composed of locally sourced river aggregates.

                                  Anchorage Museum expansion
                                  Anchorage, Alaska, USA

Chipperfield was granted the RIBA Gold Medal for lifetime achievement in 2011, the same year that he was awarded the EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture–Mies van der Rohe award. His other awards include the Heinrich Tessenow Medal (1999), election to the Royal Academy (2008), Germany’s Order of Merit (2009), and the Japan Art Association’s Imperiale Praemium (2013). David Chipperfield Architects was one of four U.K.-based firms chosen to contribute to the British pavilion, “City Visionaries,” at the 2000 Venice Biennale. A dozen years later Chipperfield served as the Biennale’s first British curator for the 13th International Architecture Exhibition (2012), which he titled “Common Ground.” After having been made Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2004, Chipperfield was knighted in the 2010 New Year Honours.

The hepworth wakefield, west yorkshire, UK

Appropriate research methods used:

*case study

*site visit

*online research

*books about the architect and his designs

Methods to approach research for next project:

*studying about similar projects by architects around the world:

online

books

magazines

*study on minimal design

*study on lighting and natural lighting and interesting spaces

Refrence:

Encyclopedia Britannica, (2015). David Chipperfield | British architect. [online] 
Available at: http://www.britannica.com/biography/David-Chipperfield [Accessed 2 Dec. 2015].

designboom | architecture & design magazine, (2014). interview with architect david chipperfield. [online] 
Available at: http://www.designboom.com/architecture/interview-with-architect-david-chipperfield-04-30-2014/ [Accessed 2 Dec. 2015].

Textile and its cultural aspects

TEXTILE AND ITS'S CULTURAL ASPECTS

Textile is one of the basic necessities for each and

every being on this planet.

• It plays a very crucial role in the 

economic status of the nation.

•The textile export brings great returns to

the nation and act

as a major national income.                  

•It provides employment to a wide sector of

subjects of the

nation and brings out an economical

balance and prevents unemployment in

the nation.                                              

•When the textile industry

of a particular nation stands out and 

export quality is met to the fashion

standards of this date it puts

thenation on the map. 

WHAT IS CLOTHING?

•Clothing is a term that refers to a covering for the

human body that is worn. The wearing of clothing is

exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of

nearly all human societies.

•The amount and type of clothing worn depends on

physical, social and geographic considerations.

•Physically, clothing serves many purposes; it can serve

as protection from the elements, it can enhance safety

during hazardous activities such as hiking and cooking. 

•It protects humans from rough surfaces by providing a

barrier between the skin and the environment.

•Clothes can protect humans from insect bites or

splinters. Clothes can regulate temperature in the cold or

heat.

•Further, it can provide a hygienic barrier, keeping toxins

away from the body and limiting the transmission of

germs.

•Clothing also provides protection from harmful UV

radiation.

CULTURAL ASPECTS

 
 Gender differentiation

•      In most cultures, gender differentiation of clothing is considered appropriate for men and women. The differences are in styles, colors and fabrics.

•      In Western societies, skirts, dresses and high-heeled shoes are usually seen as women's clothing, while neckties are usually seen as men's clothing.

•  Males are typically allowed to bare their chests in a greater variety of public places.

• Men may sometimes choose to wear men's skirts such as togas or kilts,especially on ceremonial occasions. 

Social status

•In some societies, clothing may be used

to indicate rank or status.

•In ancient Rome, for example, only senators were permitted to wear garments dyed with Tyrian purple.

• In traditional Hawaiian society only high-ranking chiefs could wear feather cloaks and palaoa or carved whale teeth.

•Under the Travancore Kingdom of Kerala, (India), lower caste women had to pay a tax for the right to cover their upper body.

•In China, before the establishment of the republic, only the emperor could wear yellow.

Religion

•Religious clothing might be considered a special case of occupational clothing. Sometimes it is worn only during the performance of religious ceremonies. However, it may also be worn everyday as a marker for special religious status.

•The cleanliness of religious dresses in Eastern Religions like Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Islam and Jainism is of paramount importance, since it indicates purity.

In Islamic traditions, women are required to wear long, loose, non-transparent outer dress when stepping out of the home.

Fashion

•There exists a diverse range of styles in fashion, varying by geography, exposure to modern media, economic conditions, and ranging from exclusive to traditional garb, to thrift store grunge.

•The world of clothing is always changing, as new cultural influences meet technological innovations.

• Researchers in scientific labs have been developing prototypes for fabrics that can serve functional purposes well beyond their traditional roles, for example, clothes that can automatically adjust their temperature, repel bullets, project images, and generate electricity. 

VARIOUS USAGE OF TEXTILE

*CLOTHING – 

SUMMER COLLECTION

WINTER COLLECTION

*WALL CLADDING 

*DRAPERIES

*LIGHTING

*CARPETS

Refrence:

Kittler, R., Kayser, M. and Stoneking, M. (2003). Molecular Evolution of Pediculus humanus and the Origin of Clothing. Current Biology, 13(16), pp.1414-1417.

         http://everything.explained.today/Clothing/

Architecture and cinema

ARCHITECTURE IN CINEMA

Cinema is a multi-dimensional art form as Jean-Luc Godard states: "There are several ways of making films. Like Jean Renoir and Robert Bresson, who make music. Like Sergei Eisenstein, who paints. Like Stroheim, who wrote sound novels in silent days. Like Alain Resnais, who sculpts. Like Socrates, Rossellini I mean, who creates philosophy. The cinema, in other words, can be everything at once, both judge and litigant.'4 Godard's list of the alternative ways of film making could be expanded by one more specific mode: cinema as architecture."(Pallasmaa, 2001)

The interaction of cinema and architecture

The inherent architecture of cinematic expression, and the cinematic essence of architectural experience is equally many sided. Both the art forms are brought about with the help of a host of specialists, assistants and co-workers.

Both architecture and cinema are arts of an author. The relationship between the two art forms could, for example, be studied from a multitude of viewpoints: how different directors depict a city, as "Walter Ruttman in Berlin, der Sinfonie der Grossstadt (1927) or Fritz Lang in Metropolis (1927); how buildings or rooms are presented, as in German Expressionist films with their fantasy architecture suspended between reality and dream"(Pallasmaa, 2001)

"An architect who made superb projects both as a designer of buildings and set designer was Paul Nelson. His project Maison Suspendue (1936-38)" (Pallasmaa, 2001)

It consisted of a house in which each room was suspended like bird nests within a steel-and-glass cage, a fantastic idea expressed through projected illusion. 

one could never speculate on the kind of buildings the wizards of cinema architecture would have built if they had not decided to devote their architectural talent to the service of the illusory art of cinema.

Architecture exists, like cinema, in the dimension of time and movement. One conceives and reads a building in terms of sequences.  In the continuous shot/sequence that a building is, the architect works with cuts and edits, framings and openings.

The Architecture of Cinema

There are hardly any films which do not include images of architecture. This statement holds true regardless of whether buildings are actually shown in the film or not, because already the framing of an image, or the definition of scale or illumination, implies the establishment of a distinct place.

On the other hand, establishing a place is the fundamental task of architecture; the first task of architecture is to mark man's place in the world. Through architecture we transform our experience of outsideness and estrangement into the positive feeling of domicile. The structuring of place, space, situation, scale, illumination, etc, characteristic to architecture the framing of human existence  seeps unavoidably into every cinematic expression. In the same way that architecture articulates space, it also manipulates time.

Lived space is not uniform, valueless space. One and the same event a kiss or a murder is an entirely different story depending on whether it takes place in a bedroom, bathroom, library, elevator or gazebo.

An event obtains its particular meaning through the time of the day, illumination, weather and soundscape. In addition, every place has its history and symbolic connotations which merge into the incident. Presentation of a cinematic event is, thus, totally inseparable from the architecture, although often unknowingly. It is exactly this innocence and independence from the professional discipline of architecture that makes the architecture of cinema so subtle and revealing.

The Mental Reality of Place

The event and place, mind and space fuse into a singular experience; the world exists through the mind and the mind is in the world.
  

In architecture of cinema the event ,characters, and architecture interact and designate each other. 
Architecture gives the cinematic episode its ambience, and the meanings of the event are projected on architecture. The cinematic narrative defines the boundaries of lived reality.The realities of material and lived image are fused.

The Logic of Emotions

We place our fears, desires and feelings in buildings. A person who is afraid of the dark has no factual reason to fear darkness as such; he is  afraid of his own imagination, or of the contents that his repressed fantasy may project into the darkness. 

The great mystery of artistic impact is that a fragment is capable of representing the whole.
The reader constructs a building or a city from the suggestions of the writer, and the viewer of a film creates an entire epoch from the fragmented images provided by the director. 
A work of art, however, cannot give the viewer emotions stored in its layers. The work receives the emotions of the viewer. A work of art does not reflect the affections of the artist; the subject lends his own emotions to the work. When experiencing a work of art, we project ourselves onto the object of our experience.

Yet even buildings are devoid of emotion; a work of architecture obliges us in the same way as literature and cinema to lend our emotions and place them in it. 
The buildings of Michelangelo do not mediate feelings of melancholy, they are buildings fallen into melancholy. 
Cinema and architecture, as all art, function as alluring projection screens for our emotions.

REFERENCE:

Ucalgary.ca, (2015). in situ: Lived Space in Architecture and Cinema. [online] Available at: http://www.ucalgary.ca/ev/designresearch/publications/insitu/copy/volume2/imprintable_architecture/Juhani_Pallasmaa/index.html [Accessed 23 Nov. 2015].

Pallasmaa, J. (2001). The Architecture of image. Helsinki: Rakennustieto.