WETS_Spain_2015

WENDY EVANS TRAVELING SCHOLARSHIP
PATTERNED MANIFESTATIONS
JENNIFER ALLEGRA CHU
SUMMER 2014
Established in 1999 by Wendy Evans Joseph, Class of 1977, the purpose of
the Wendy Evans Joseph Traveling Scholarship is to support summer travel
to study the natural and built environment in any region of the world.
The scholarship is awarded each May to juniors in the undergraduate Major in
Architecture on the basis of a competitive application process. The scholarship
recipients are required to document their study in the form of a photographic
essay submitted upon the completion of travel.
The Undergraduate Program in Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania
is a studio-based liberal arts and sciences program in the College of Arts & Sciences.
In addition to the general requirements for a Bachelor of Arts degree, the Major in Architecture
includes a six-semester studio sequence and two theory courses, taught by faculty in the
Department of Architecture in the School of Design, and four courses in the history of art and
architecture, taught by faculty in the Department of the History of Art in the School of Arts &
Sciences. The program offers an Intensive Major, with seniors enrolling in graduate-level
technology courses, a Minor in Architecture, a Minor in Design,
and a summer program for high-school students.
For more information on the program and examples
of students’ work in the undergraduate design studios visit:
www.architecture.sas.upenn.edu
Richard Wesley
Undergraduate Chair, Architecture
rwesley@design.upenn.edu
Book design: Sarah Beth McKay
(cover)
El Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes
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Throughout the centuries various
styles of architecture can be
identified by their different uses
of geometry. Within each of these
styles of architecture, geometry plays
an essential role in the creation of
transcedent experiences. In planning
my Wendy Evans Joseph Traveling
Scholarship travels, my goal was to
examine the intersection between
geometry and places of worship in
the various architectural styles in
Spain, a country with a long history of
diverse forms of religious worship. The
erection, conversion, and adaptation
of Spain’s places of worship over
the centuries provides a narrative of
the political, religious, and stylistic
transformations in the country itself.
(previous page)
El Transparente, Catedral Primada
Santa Maria de Toledo
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ITINERARY
Madrid
Cordoba
Sevilla
Granada
Toledo
Madrid
Barcelona
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I observed repetitive geometrical
patterns at varying scales. All surfaces - floors,
doors, and walls - were opportunities for infinite
repetition.
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(left to right) Cathedral de Seville, Mosque
of Cordoba, Monasterio de San Juan de los
Reyes, Santa Maria la Blanca

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(previous page) Monasterio de San Juan de los
Reyes
Many mosques were converted into cathedrals.
Often elements of an existing mosque were
incorporated into a new cathedral. Here, the
Catedral de Santa María de la Sede in Seville,
incorporates a courtyard where Moorish
worshippers once washed their hands and feet
before prayer beneath the shade of orange
trees.
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The Mosque-of Cordoba (793) is an
amalgmation of both Christianity and Islam.
Here the corner of the prayer hall collides with
the nave.

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(previous pages) The ceiling of the prayer hall
and the renaissance nave
(right) The arcaded hypostyle prayer hall uses
patterning to staccato and highlight infinte
expanse of God’s grace
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The epitome of the transcedent experience is
in the ceiling as one raises their eyes to the
heavens.
(right) Catedral Primada Santa Maria de Toledo
(following page) The nave of el Monasterio de
San Juan de los Reyes
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(previous page) The maqsurah at the Mosque
of Cordoba
(left): Catedral de Santa María de la Sede
(right): Capilla mayor, Mosque of Cordoba
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Patterning frames the coutyard view at the
Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes

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Geometry plays a role in the structural integrity
of places of worship. Rising heights are only
possible because of flying buttresses.
(below) a view from la Giralda Catedral de
Santa María de la Sede
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The slenderness of material is accentuated at
el Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes
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(bottom) El Monasterio de San Juan de los
Reyes
(right) Catedral de Santa María de la Sede

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The geometry of structure and light.
(left) Mosque of Cordoba
(bottom) Catedral de Granada
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Antoni Gaudi reconciled curvature
and linearity in the ceiling of the Cripta de la
Colonia Guell (1898)
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Gaudi experiments with the catenary
arches and mosaic framework at the porch
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(previous page) The Glory Facade, Sagrada
Familia (2002)
The experiments from La Colonia come to
fruition in the fractal geometry of La Sagrada
Familia in both the exterior and interior.
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Repitition creates the “forest” above and allows
for maximum light to penetrate the area below
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