Assignment for Module 3:

Find a contemporary example of a building that uses a grid, or matrix, to organize its façade and/or internal spaces. How would you explain the grid? Do you think the technique helps or hurts the design? Compare and contrast the contemporary building and its grid to Brunelleschi’s use of grids at San Lorenzo. What was Brunelleschi’s design intention? How is it similar or different from the contemporary architect’s intention?

Purpose

The purpose of this assignment is to think carefully about the form and function of an historic building, then find interesting similarities and differences between its design and that of a modern building.

Use the FIRST TWO pages of your graphic analysis to document the two buildings. Use the THIRD page to compare and contrast them in as many ways as you can, using either bullet-point notes, or a blend of simple diagrams and written comments.

To document the buildings, you may use EITHER images you have found online (line drawings are better than photographs, if you can find them) OR hand-drawn sketches. You must also EXPLAIN your images or sketches with bullet-point notes that contain useful facts AND your own observations. On your third page, try to compare as many formal and functional aspects of the two buildings as you can. The essential part of the exercise is the inclusion of observations that analyze the architectural design and/or cultural messages conveyed by these buildings. Your assignment will not be evaluated for aesthetic merit but for the richness of its analytical content.

Format

• Three pages (11″ x 17″ or similar) should be included in each Analytical Graphic Comparison (with the first two pages showing, at minimum, plans and elevations for both the Renaissance and the contemporary building).
• Your name, the date, and the number of the Analytical Graphic Comparison assignment must be listed on the first page.
• Images or sketches should document both examples equally and be carefully organized on the page.
• The names of the buildings, dates of their construction, names of their architect(s) and any other descriptive or explanatory text should be included in a coherent and visually clear manner.

Tools

• Pencil (and/or other drawing instruments)
• Access to scanner