Your book contains many pictures of worship spaces (scattered throughout pages 123-154). Choose the one that you like best and in a minimum of 500 words explain why you chose it.
Or choose the one you like least and explain why.
liking and disliking something requires feelings. Therefore, you will need to imagine yourself within the space you select (no field trips, sorry). Picture yourself entering the space and walking through it. What feelings do you get, are they positive or negative feelings?
Try to pin-point what it is about the space that gives you either the positive or negative feeling. When discussing architecture try to use design vocabulary like, line, shapes, colors, volume (height and width), mass, balance, repetition, and light/shadow as starting points. These concepts are defined on page xxvi in the Starter Kit section of your textbook. Also, architecture in general is further explained on page xxx in the Starter Kit.
For example:
As I imagine entering this space with high vaulted ceilings, I would look up and see light streaming through the stained-glass windows. The act of looking up is like looking up to heaven and would make me feel like I am seeking God. The contrast of the colored windows against the dull cold stone would draw my eyes to the story being told there. The repetition of the pillars makes my eyes follow a visual path, where I end up finding a holy object, much like a pilgrimage.
Here is the list of the 20 places/spaces from the textbook. Please pick from this list:
Santa Costanza, Rome, ca. 350 C.E. (interior)
The Wine-Making Scene, ambulatory vault of Santa Costanza
Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus, ca. 359 C.E. (Museo Petriano, St. Peter’s, Rome)
Dome of Heaven, catacomb of Santi Pietro e Marcellino, Rome, 4th century C.E.
San Vitale, Ravenna, 526-47, (exterior)
San Vitale, Ravenna, 526-47 (interior)
Theodora and her Attendants, San Vitale, Ravenna, ca. 547, mosiac
Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, 532-37, (exterior)
Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, 532-37, (interior)
St. Mark’s, Venice, (exterior)
St. Mark’s, Venice, (interior)
Creation Dome, narthex of St. Mark’s, Venice
Madonna and Child Enthroned, ca. 1270, tempera (National Gallery of Art)
Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem, Late 680s-692 (exterior)
Jesus Watching Muhammad Leave Mecca, from a medieval Persian manuscriipt from Al-Biruni
Mosque, Cardova, begun 786 (interior)
Sinan, Mosque of Sultan Sulayman, Istanbul, 1550-57 (exterior)
Sinan, Mosque of Sultan Sulayman, Istanbul, 1550-57 (interior)
Court of the Lions, Alhambra Palace, Granada, 1354-91
Harem Courtyard, late 16th century, Topkapi Palace, Istanbul
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HELPFUL HINTS:
READ THE INSTRUCTOR’S ANNOUNCEMENT which lists all the worship spaces found on pages 123-154 in your textbook.
Liking and disliking something requires feelings. Therefore you will need to imagine yourself within the space you select (no field trips, sorry). Picture yourself entering the space and walking through it. What feelings do you get, are they positive or negative feelings?
Try to pin-point what it is about the space that gives you either the positive or negative feeling. When discussing architecture try to use design vocabulary like, line, shapes, colors, volume (height and width), mass, balance, repetition, and light/shadow as starting points. These concepts are defined on page xxvi in the Starter Kit section of your textbook. Also, architecture in general is further explained on page xxx in the Starter Kit.
For example:
As I imagine entering this space with high vaulted ceilings, I would look up and see light streaming through the stained-glass windows. The act of looking up is like looking up to heaven and would make me feel like I am seeking God. The contrast of the colored windows against the dull cold stone would draw my eyes to the story being told there. The repetition of the pillars makes my eyes follow a visual path, where I end up finding a holy object, much like a pilgrimage.
