Architectural History and Criticism Commons^™

From Socialist To Post-Socialist Cities: Narrating The Nation Through Urban Space, Joshua Hagen, Alexander Diener

Joshua Hagen

The development of post-socialist cities has emerged as a major field of study among critical theorists from across the social sciences. Originally constructed under the dictates of central planners and designed to serve the demands of command economies, post-socialist urban centers currently develop at the nexus of varied and often competing economic, cultural, and political forces. Among these, nationalist aspirations, previously simmering beneath the official rhetoric of communist fraternity and veneer of architectural conformity, have emerged as dominant factors shaping the urban landscape. This article examines patterns, processes, and practices concerning the cultural politics of architecture, urban planning, and identity …

Concepts Of Space In Urban Design, Architecture And Art, Nicholas N. Patricios

Nicholas Patricios

The contributions that have been made by psychologists, anthropologists and others to the revision of our traditional concepts of space demand, in the author's view, a new approach to urban design, architecture and art. These contributions suggest that two basic categories of space must be distinguished: the physical and the mental. Mental space is shown not to have a one-to-one correspondence with the space that is part of the physical world, due to the mediation of various psychological and cultural factors. A concept of space may be said to originate in an observer's mind and is a structure that is …

Future Of The Library? Turning Conflicting Pressures Into Compelling Opportunities, Ludmilla D. Pavlova-Gillham, Jay Schafer, Shirley Dugdale

Ludmilla D Pavlova

Many institutions are scrutinizing library space as a potential space bank in times of tight capital resources, while librarians are seeking ways to shift lesser-used collections into storage, create more user space, and improve services. Accomplishing these tasks at University of Massachusetts Amherst's Du Bois Library, a 26-story tower, posed a particular challenge. The library's master plan needed to explore compatible uses, partners for integrated services, and identify opportunities to repurpose space for university needs as well as the library's future vision. Learning Outcomes: 1.Recognize functions compatible with future libraries and their mission. 2.Identify forces prompting change in research libraries …

Owen Jones And The Conventionalization Of Ornament, John Kresten Jespersen Ph.D.

Kresten Jespersen

Owen Jones, an architect and theorist of ornament, is best remembered as an ornamenter of distinction. His theory and practice of conventional ornament, his powerful color, and his original forms which had their origins in the ornament of the Alhambra substantiate the claim that he was the greatest ornamenter of his age. The book analyzes the theory of conventionalization as it applies to ornament, color, architecture and interior design. In particular, the book explores repose as the psychological and spiritual outcome of his ornament.

British Civic Architecture In The United States Of The Ionian Islands, Nicholas Patricios

Nicholas Patricios

On 5th November 1815 the United States of the Ionian Islands was established under British protection through signature of the Treaty of Paris. British Residents were subsequently stationed on each of the seven Ionian Islands off the west coast of Greece as governors of each Island. During the Protectorate period, 1815-1864, the Residents carried out numerous public works from public buildings and structures to roads and harbors. The most prolific Resident was Charles Napier in Kefalonia. The civic architectural style of the public buildings and structures designed by British architects and engineers was inevitably Neo-Classical, ironically a new style for …

Reinventing Airspace: Spectatorship, Fluidity, Intimacy At Pek T3., Alberto Pepe

Alberto Pepe

In this article, I explore the contemporary practice of air travel conceptualizing airports as socio-technical mobilities. Drawing both from the notion of “space” posited by Michel de Certeau and that of “non-place” by Marc Augé, I argue that the supermodern nature of air travel has generated forms of crisis that have embedded themselves in the architecture and the modus operandi of contemporary airports. Airports are necessarily located in a physical and tangible sense, yet their function is so tightly coupled with transience, mobility and spectatorship, that they bring anthropological accounts of “place” to unprecedented extremes. In this article, I analyze …

The Application Of British Neoclassical Design Principles: The Greek Island Of Kefalonia, Nicholas Patricios

Nicholas Patricios

A fascinating example of taking available designs and then engaging in the act of designing new designs is the application of the British Neoclassical architectural style to new buildings in the Ionian Islands off the west coast of Greece. This occurred when Britain occupied these Islands in 1809 which then received independent status in 1815 under the British crown. It is ironical that the country that created classical architecture had neoclassical architecture introduced from the outside. The largest of the Ionian Islands, Kefalonia, provides an insightful case of the application of British neoclassical design principles to new civic buildings and …

The Re-Emergence Of Traditional Architecture In Greece: Kefalonia And Ithaka, Nicholas Patricios

Nicholas Patricios

The interest in antiquities in Greece began after the conclusion of the revolution that led to independence of the country in 1832. A brief history of the legislation to protect the country’s architectural heritage is traced up to the historic landmark law of 2002 that defined the concept of cultural heritage and the re-organization of government departments to achieve the law’s objectives. Beginning in the 1920s and parallel with the protection of antiquities a movement to preserve Greek vernacular architecture was undertaken that was recognized in the landmark law of 1978. The application of the laws of protection and preservation …

Odysseus And Ithaka, Nicholas Patricios

Nicholas Patricios

The website poses the questions why go to Ithaka with a notable response. The Greek text from Homer's the Iliad and Odyssey with a parallel English translation that refer to specific places on Ithaka is accompanied by a contemporary photograph of the place mentioned by Homer.

Phineas Paist And The Architecture Of Coral Gables, Florida, Nicholas Patricios

Nicholas Patricios

Coral Gables in South Florida is lauded as one of America's finest early 20th century planned developments. It was the vision of George Merrick, the city's founder and master builder, to create a completely planned development. The architect Phineas Paist (1875-1937) played a major role in realizing Merrick's dream for Coral Gables as "colorist," "supervisor," and "designer." To better understand Paist’s ideas, his architecture, and his contribution to the architecture of Coral Gables it is necessary to examine his education and experiences during his formative years prior to his arrival in Coral Gables.

The Neighborhood Concept: A Retrospective Of Physical Design And Social Interaction, Nicholas Patricios

Nicholas Patricios

In 1929 the neighborhood concept was published separately in two forms. First was the neighborhood idea of Clarence Stein and Henry Wright, exemplified in their plan for Radburn. Second was the Neighborhood Unit idea of Clarence Perry. Since then, for the past seven decades, the concept has been applied and adapted internationally. Over this period the concepts original principles of neighborhood physical design, in both its forms, have varied with little controversy. What has been and is still an issue is the nature of the relationship between the neighborhood's physical arrangement and the social interaction among its residents. The conceptual …

Urban Design Principles Of The Original Neighborhood Concepts, Nicholas Patricios

Nicholas Patricios

The neighbourhood concept is arguably one of the major planning landmarks that shaped the urban form of the twentieth century city in many countries. Coincidently, both the neighbourhood idea of Clarence Stein and Henry Wright, exemplified in their plan for Radburn, and the Neighbourhood Unit idea of Clarence Perry were published in 1929. The urban design principles of Stein and Wright included the idea of a superblock of residential units grouped around a central green, the separation of vehicles and pedestrians, and a road hierarchy with culs-de-sac for local access roads. A cluster of superblocks was to form a self-contained …

The Politics Of Traditional Contemporary Buildings, Marwan Ghandour

Marwan Ghandour

Kefallinia: The Imperial Legacy Of Britain's Greek Empire, Nicholas Patricios

Nicholas Patricios

Kefallinía is the largest of the seven Ionian Islands off the west coast of Greece. These Islands were for over five decades in the first half of the nineteenth century an independent state under British protection and known as the United States of the Ionian Islands. British imperial legacy in Kefallinía included an island road network that forms the basis of transport today, lighthouses, bridges, a quay, a customs house, courts of justice, a prison, a hospital, and public squares. Three men were responsible for the remarkable physical transformation of Kefallinía in the form of major civic projects and public …

Downtown Miami: The Old And The New, Nicholas Patricios

Nicholas Patricios

An architectural tour of the significant historic and modern buildings in downtown Miami organized for the 53rd Annual Meeting of the Society of Architectural Historians, June, 2000.

International Style Diaspora: Le Corbusier's Le Groupe Transvaal, Nicholas Patricios

Nicholas Patricios

The philosophy and ideas of modern architecture, labeled the international style that originated in Europe were dispersed widely around the world. The theme in this paper is the transmission of the principles of modern architecture from Western Europe to one place, the tip of Africa. The new views were introduced into South Africa as early as 1925 and were continually applied until the early 1940s when local interpretation of these new views of architecture became apparent. Although Walter Gropius and Mies van de Rohe influenced the architects designing South African buildings during the 1930s and early 1940s, Le Corbusier held …

The Architecture Of Argostoli: A Venetian Colonial New Town, Nicholas Patricios

Nicholas Patricios

Argostóli, a Venetian new town on the Ionian Island of Kefallinía, provides an example of how architecture is shaped by cultural factors. Relevant factors in the context of the Venetian occupation of Kefallinía are the political, economic, social, and ecclesiastical ones. From 1500until 1797, Kefallinía and the other Ionian Islands remained a Venetian colony. During these three centuries the Islands formed the boundary between the eastern and western worlds. While most of Greece fell under Turkish rule, the Ionian Islands were exposed to western culture through Venice. Argostóli became the new capital in 1757. The new colonial capital had no …

Rating-Scale Methodology For Environmental Designers, Nicholas Patricios

Nicholas Patricios

There are many methods and techniques available to environmental designers to obtain and use information on spatial behavior, attitudes, preferences, opinions, and so on. Among them are rating-scale techniques. This paper discusses these from a particular theoretical orientation and covers the utility, concept, and an evaluation of rating scales. Three case studies are described to illustrate the application and usefulness of the graphic rating-scale technique to environmental designers.

An Agentive Perspective Of Urban Planning, Nicholas Patricios

Nicholas Patricios

An agentive model of person-environment relations is proposed based on environmental behavior research. The agentive process consists of three stages: awareness of information in the phenomenal environment; perception and cognition - construal - of the environmental information; and action in the behavioral environment. The agentive model of urban planning brings together theory and practice and would assist efforts to resolve conflicts and achieve consensus in urban planning transactions.

An Agentive Model Of Person-Environment Relations, Nicholas Patricios

Nicholas Patricios

Three fundamentally different positions regarding the conceptualization of person‐environment relations are briefly discussed. An argument is made for the transactional‐constructivist position which regards the nature of what we take to be the environment as that which is only apprehended through the minds and actions of persons. The transformational process of this view of person‐environment relations, that of environmental knowing‐action, is elaborated upon in some detail. The transactional‐constructivist position, however, is transformed into an agentive one by adopting from the three basic images of persons that have been identified that of a person as agent. Consequently in the agentive process of …

The Conceptual Determinants Of Two Archetypal City Forms, Nicholas Patricios

Nicholas Patricios

The two urban spatial forms analyzed from a cosmological point of view are the circular and the orthogonal. The circular symbolism of the Near Eastern cities is considered first followed by the Plato's theoretical city of Atlantis and then the ideal cities of the Renaissance architects. Circular cities of the 19th century, those of the Utopian Socialists, had in contrast an ideological basis. In addition to the practical basis for the orthogonal layout conceptual influences are evident in the grid cities of the ancient Greeks, in the Spanish Laws of the Indies, and those cities designed later to express the …