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70 STRUCTURE AS ARCHITECTURE▲ 4.32 Dome Leisure Centre, Doncaster, England, FaulknerBrownsArchitects, 1989. Structure articulates entry.▲ 4.33 Cité de la Musique, Paris, France, Christian dePortzamparc, 1995. Entrance structure.with its connotations of formality no doubt encourages a more relaxedattitude in building visitors.The Cité de la Musique, Paris, provides the final example of structurearticulating entry. An open rectangular framework designates entry(Fig. 4.33). Its four closely spaced two-storey-plus red frames reference thenearby Parc de la Villette follies, less than a hundred metres away. Therefore,rather than reflecting interior structure which in this building is notparticularly evident, the entrance responds to external influences. Unlikethe open frameworks that inspired the canopy design, Portzamparc’sentry folly bears load from two trusses forming an elongated wedge. Thetrusses, visible through the glazed walls of the wedge that defines a linearcirculation spine, visually tie the entrance framework to the main building.Since the trusses bear on the first storey beams, the structural membersabove that level are essentially gestural. The open frames of the Citéde la Musique entry structure successfully fulfil common architecturalexpectations by marking entry and encouraging it.EXPRESSIVE ROLESExterior structure has a long tradition of playing expressive roles.Consider Gothic cathedrals. Their pinnacles, flying-buttresses and buttressesexpress how the horizontal thrusts from masonry roof vaults areresisted and transferred to the ground (see Fig. 4.8). Load paths becomelegible through a combination of structural layout, shape and scale.On the other hand, Renaissance exterior structure, such as at S. GiorgioMaggiore, Venice, expresses aspects other than the Romanesque interioror its structural actions. Four giant attached-columns dominate the façade(Fig. 4.34). They appear to be supporting a section of pediment thrust up

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