Chaos to Cosmos- Final Composition

As mentioned in earlier posts, my current project has been to invent an element, mass produce it and arrange it in a composition ready for presentation. Below are photos of part of this final composition which I built earlier from our teams design. The brief was quite flexible, so my team decided to work in timber as it would be a higher quality than cardboard. Although this meant spending two afternoons in a workshop trying to build around 100 identical wooden shapes from scratch.

Creating an Element

One of my current projects is based around inventing a 3D shape that could be used as an element of a larger pattern, based either on cosmos or chaos. I am working as part of a 3 man group, developing and constructing these elements for a presentation at the end of the week. I thought I would share some of the development composition ideas that I created for our element because I was fascinated by the variation of compositions that the shape could create.

The first thing I started looking at was a centralised, flower-like design that could be used to highlight the variation in angles and layers the shape has whilst lying on its base. These compositions were inspired by natural patterns I found in plants and flowers. I quite like the patterns below because it is a fully universal and versatile design that is fully symmetrical.

When balancing the atom on its side, its possible to make more interesting circular compositions that are more flowing and structural than the patterns above. Below are some examples of these, using the same shape as used for the designs above.

Pirates Are Good...

Probably the most inspiring bullet-point taken from my lectures in Design and Communication so far has been my tutors quote regarding originality...

Don't try to be original, try to be good.

It's an interesting point to be made; if you're inspired by another persons work, and you think that you could use the design and make it better, isn't it in the interest of the client to do that? All architects borrow influence from either their predecessors or contemporaries, and all those ideas are generally derived from nature or other artistic forms. The best designs are the ones that have grown from grass-roots rather than just appeared. He was basically saying not to hesitate jumping onto somebody's concept if you believe your developments can improve the outcome.

Cosmos and Chaos

Cosmos and Chaos are Ancient Greek deities that represent order and dis-order in cosmology. As an assessment, I have been looking at the small elements in architecture (i.e. bricks, planks, modules), and the way they join together to form either chaos or cosmos.

Chaos- The Greeks saw chaos as the scary, formless void which cosmos was born from. In contemporary terms it could be seen as the freedom of shapes from any geometrical norms. Post-Modernist architecture has great examples of these chaotic shapes that ignore the balanced ideas of the classicalists.

Cosmos- This is the order that emerged from the labyrinth of chaos in mythology. Cosmos is visible in lots of traditional buildings, in particular classical and neo-classical. It displays balance, symmetry and stability. Yet it's not just reserved for the ancients; it can be seen everywhere in modern design and blends seamlessly into the world around us, from masonry layouts to blocks of flats.

Romanesque Lincoln

As part of a local architecture/history project, I chose to look at a nearby Romanesque building dating from the 1100's, possibly built as a palace for King Henry II. The only surviving feature of any significance is the arched doorway to the building, but this alone has inspired me to dig deeper into this period of medieval classicalism.

An obvious starting point for any architectural study in Lincoln has to be the cathedral, which dominates the city from its location on the crown of a steep hill. The western front is rich in Romanesque features which date from the earlier Norman building on the site.

What inspires me about the style is the variation in the sculptures and strong details surrounding the doorway into the cathedral. The entrance to the building, underneath three large archways, reminds me of the triumphal arches of the Roman era. Its interesting to think whether the Normans were trying to mimic the Roman style in order to create the same overwhelming impact as their predecessors.