Blog Post 11

By the twentieth century the west had seen many revolutions of architecture. From ancient times, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo architecture was always changing. However, the roots seemed to stay grounded in precedents of styles in the past. For instance, Renaissance studied the designs of the ancients and Baroque exaggerated the styles of the Renaissance. With the new opportunity of glass and iron in construction, and mass production and machinery to make construction easier, modern architects wanted to make things that could not have been made before. They saw, studied, and analyzed those designs before them with the ability no one had before and, after they had their fill of imitating designs of the past, wanted to create a new and different style to represent their place in time. However, the quest for a modern style is not new. Modern is an ever changing concept, and each time period achieved its own sense of the word.


Building

http://sustainablecampus.unimelb.edu.au/difference/images/Berkeley_west.jpg

Function and form come together in this sustainable campus building. The University of Melbourne's new Economics and Commerce building has managed to achieve a blend of beautiful design, comfortable accommodation for students and staff and sustainability. I think sustainability is a new facet of functionality in our time period. Whereas the utilitarian designers of design in the 20th century did not put much thought into the affects of climate on their building designs, new architecture uses the climate to heat, cool, and provide energy for their buildings. In a way this use of machinery is exactly what designers like Mies van der Rohe would have expected science to produce to solve problems that arose, however, designers now actually integrate this new technology into their plans. Some of the sustainable aspects of this building are a "double-glazed facade with the ability to maximize thermal performance and glare reduction, enhanced features for rainwater collection, black-water recycling, recycling of cooling tower water, low-energy light fittings, low-water sanitary fittings, bike storage facilities and showers."
These features mean that the building will have carbon reductions of 73 percent, water use reductions of 90 percent, 100 percent fresh air, natural light, and a smaller carbon footprint. All this makes for a comfortable atmosphere, appropriate for an education building. 

Not only is this building functional, but the form seems to fit the purpose of the building. As a building that houses the instruction of economics and commerce, the glittering effect of the glass reminds me of wealth and glittering jewels. The vertical reach of the building, enforced by the columns on the facade, seem to reach higher, reminding me of society's constant efforts to climb up the social and financial ladder. The way it towers over the other buildings in the picture, like those cathedrals in the Renaissance Period, seem to suggest a shift in focus from religious wealth to material wealth.