a&s skyscrapers

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

My Building(steph)



The building is located where the school is now. I got the idea from my friend who was just randomly doodling and I redrew one of her ideas with my own ideas as well. This building is used for a hotel, and theres 46 floors and theres a fountian in front of it and two trees.

stephs essay prt 3


The Seagram Building is a skyscraper in New York City, located at 375 Park Avenue, between 52nd Street and 53rd Street in Midtown Manhattan. It was designed by the German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, in collaboration with the American, Philip Johnson and was completed in 1958. It is 156.9 meters tall with 38 stories. It stands as one of the finest examples of the functionalist aesthetic and a masterpiece of corporate modernism. It was designed as the headquarters for the Canadian distillers Joseph E. Seagram's & Sons.

Then in 1928 Johnson met the Bauhaus architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who was at the time designing the German Pavilion for the Barcelona exhibition of 1929. The meeting was a revelation for Johnson and formed the basis for a lifelong relationship between them as well as competition.
Johnson returned from Germany as a proselytizer for the new architecture. He Toured Europe with more understanding along with his friends, Alfred H. Barr, Jr. and Henry-Russell Hitchcock and examined firsthand recent trends in architecture. The three put together their discoveries at the landmark show "The International International_Style Architecture”. The show was profoundly influential and was seen as the introduction of modern architecture to the American public. It introduced such pivotal architects as Le Corbusier, Gropius, and Mies van der Rohe.

I feel that as I learned about him I found out different things about him. For instance, he was gay and that his buildings are interesting to me cause they are beautiful and they have very unique shapes.

essay part two(steph)


When Johnson was younger and in school he explained that he was a great student except when it came to certain things like writing. He had difficulties with writing and it developed into a disease. So he flunked in writing most of his life. He went to high school in Tarrytown, New York. After that he studied at Harvard as an undergraduate because he had started at Harvard when he was 17. While he was at Harvard he focused on history and philosophy. His education was interrupted with extended trips to Europe. He visited Chartres and the Parthenon and after those visits he became very into architecture. In 1940 he continued his education in a design school in Harvard. Some of his early works include the Glass House and the Seagram building. His architectural style was International but the glass house on the other hand was more of a modern style.
He was struggling with his sexuality his whole life. You can see it in most of his artwork. Johnson’s first feeling was to be ashamed of himself being gay because of the way he was brought up with his parents, so he just hid it.
Throughout the 1950’s and 60’s Johnson delighted some and outraged others with sleek modern designs like those of his Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut, the Seagram building in New York, and the crystal cathedral in Garden Grove California.
The Glass House was built in 1949. The system they used was steel frame inside and glass on the outside. Johnson’s glass house was his best achievement. People from everywhere went to see it. It was completed in 1949. He was inspired by the plans of Mies Van Der Rohe’s Farnsworth house in Illinois. "He designed a small, boxy house, also highly influenced by Mies, for a client in Sagaponack, Long Island, in 1946, but his first significant building, and still perhaps his most famous, was not for another client at all but, like the Cambridge house, for his own use: it was the Glass House in New Canaan, completed in 1949 with its counterpoint, a brick guest house.”
"The serene Glass House, a 56-foot-by-32-foot rectangle, is generally considered one of the 20th century's greatest residential structures. Like all of Mr. Johnson's early work, it was inspired by Mies, but its pure symmetry, dark colors

steph:: philip johnson the begining



Philip Johnson was born in Cleveland, Ohio on July 8th 1906. When he was 13 he saw his first cathedral. So he thought, “my goodness, if a kid like me can get this excited”, he didn't think it was anything unusual. His mother didn't either. She was interested in art. She took him to France during the Versailles Treaty years and he remembered saying to himself “If I lived in Chartres, I would turn Roman Catholic to enjoy that cathedral” and he turned Roman Catholic. Johnson’s father was a lawyer and he had an interest in golf. On the other hand, his mother was the opposite. She was a housewife and she was interested in architecture. He was struggling with his sexuality his whole life. You can see it in most of his artwork. Johnson’s first feeling was to be ashamed of himself being gay because of the way he was brought up with his parents, so he just hid it.

Monday, June 25, 2007

amandas building




this building is located where the school stands. this building is used for buisness offices. i got this idea from radomly doodling and i just came up with the idea and i liked it alot so i kept the idea

essay part three

He was introduced to architecture through the writings of Henry Russell Hitchcock.
The Glasshouse is a nice house. I like the glass because the glass makes it stand out more than a normal house. It’s also more of a modern look that I favor.
Philip Johnson’s work is more of a modern style. He has worked on the Glass House and if you look on the inside you can see it has more of a modern style. His early work includes the John de Menil House in Houston, Texas built in 1950. The outside isn’t that great. It looks like a normal building. I do like the door a lot because it’s glass and I favor glass things. I think it’s so nice; glass makes everything look much nicer in my opinion. The second building he made was the Mrs. John D. Rockefeller Three Guest House in New York built in 1950. I couldn’t find a picture of that one but it seems like it would be nice because its Mrs. John D. Rockefeller’s guest house I think that would be a nice building. He also made the Hodgson House at New Canaan, Connecticut 1951, Nuclear Reactor at Rehovot, Israel 1960-1964. He made many others and I can’t name them all because there is way to many. He made some buildings that he’s not famous for but then others that he is very famous like the AT&T building (now the Sony building) in New York. The AT&T building is a 37 story high-rise in Manhattan. The Sony building was built by Philip Johnson and his less famous partner John Burgee and constructed in 1984. It became immediately controversial for its ornamental top. I went in that building and it was really nice the door was huge and the inside had a lot of arches by the elevator and a section to shop and to eat lunch its not like any other skyscraper I’ve been in. all the other ones are just a building with nothing in it but a front desk but the AT&T building it had a whole different layout which was cool it was different and I liked it a lot.
Philip Johnson was the Regional Vice president of AT&T/SONY corporations.
The best thing about the AT&T (Sony) building is the backwards arch on the top the arch catches eyes of many people and it makes the recognize it and the arch lets people know oh that’s the AT&T building or oh look it’s the Sony building and stuff the arch is like a symbol people know what it is when the see it.
In the words of Paul Goldberger Johnson “was the man who invented networking”

essay part two

Philip Johnson’s Glass House was a major achievement when it was completed in 1949. He was inspired by the plans of Mies Van Der Rohe’s Farnsworth house in Illinois. Before designing his first building at the age of 36 Johnson had been a client, critic, author, historian, museum director but not an architect. The Glass House was more of a modern style on the inside. His early influence as a practicing architect was his use of glass that was the strength of his masterpiece. He designed his own residence in Canaan, Connecticut. *The concept of a Glass House set in a landscape with views as its real “walls” had been developed by many authors in the German Glasarchitektur drawings of the 1920’s, and already sketched in initial form by Johnson's mentor Mies. The building is an essay in minimal structure, geometry, proportion, and the effects of transparency and reflection. After completing several houses in the idiom of Mies and Bruer, Johnson joined Mies in the design of the 39-story Seagram building.

essay part one

Philip Johnson’s Glass House was a major achievement when it was completed in 1949. He was inspired by the plans of Mies Van Der Rohe’s Farnsworth house in Illinois. Before designing his first building at the age of 36 Johnson had been a client, critic, author, historian, museum director but not an architect. The Glass House was more of a modern style on the inside. His early influence as a practicing architect was his use of glass that was the strength of his masterpiece. He designed his own residence in Canaan, Connecticut. *The concept of a Glass House set in a landscape with views as its real “walls” had been developed by many authors in the German Glasarchitektur drawings of the 1920’s, and already sketched in initial form by Johnson's mentor Mies. The building is an essay in minimal structure, geometry, proportion, and the effects of transparency and reflection. After completing several houses in the idiom of Mies and Bruer, Johnson joined Mies in the design of the 39-story Seagram building.

Schooling

When Johnson was younger and in school he explained that he was a great student but couldn’t do certain things like writing that was a writers block type thing that exaggerated up to a disease. So he flunked everything to do with writing. Johnson didn’t really know why he became a architect he said basically because he couldn’t do anything else and he was good at architecture so he just went with it. He went to high school in Tarrytown, New York. After that he studied at Harvard as an undergraduate because he started college when he was 17. While he was in Harvard he focused on history and philosophy. He graduated from Harvard in 1927 with a degree in philosophy. His education was interrupted with extended trips to Europe. He visited Chartres and the Parthenon and after those visits he became very interested in architecture. His interest became his life’s work. In 1940 he continued his education in a design school in Harvard.

Philip Johnson the begining

Philip Johnson was born in Cleveland, Ohio on July 8th 1906. He was an amazing architect. He designed the Glass House and the Seagram building. He was struggling with his sexuality his whole life. You can see it in his work there is an increasing interest in flamboyant surfaces and ornamentation. Johnson’s first instinct was to be ashamed of his sexuality and hide it. On work like the pavilion the structure manifests what Kipnis calls a gay tendency toward decorative architecture. His Father was a lawyer and he was into golf. His mother on the other hand was a housewife and she influenced Johnson to become an architect

Monday, June 18, 2007

Chrysler Building





The chrysler Buildings construction was finished on September 19th,1928. The architects name was Willam Van Alen. The height of the building is 1,047 feet. There is a total of 77 floors in the chrysler building. The style of the building is art deco. The materials that were used was stainless steal. The color of the building in me and stephonys eyes is silver. My favorite feature is the pointy tip because it stands out to everyone who crosses it. I wouldn't change anything about this building because it is a part of history but if I had to I would change the material maybe to glass.

Luis Kahn.

The video we watched in class was about a man named Luis Kahn. He was an architect and he didn't deisgn many buildings but everyone he did do they were monumental. Mostly white men got to build skyscrapers there were hardly any women and when there was, Luis had affairs with all of them and seemed to have children with all of them as well. They all seemed eccentric and thought there architectual deigns were the best. They are differnt because they have diffrent ways of building and diffrent ideas on style.

Sony building.


The Sony Building was designed by a architect named Phillip Johnson. It was opened in 1984 .The AT&T which is now the Sony building is 37 stories high. It is located in Manattan on Madison avenue. The achitectual style of the sony building was modern. The materials they used were stone and glass and steel skin. The color of this building is more brown. The special shape in the building is the upside down arch at the top. I would change the color of the building to grey because the grey would look alot better I think.

The United Nations Building



The United Nations was first started in 1950. It is located In Turtle Bay on the eastside of Midtown Manhattan . The date of construction was in 1952 and the architect is Wallace K Harrison. The height of the building is 39 stories high basically the same thing as floors. The architectual style is modern. The material they used is thermapane glass and vermont marble. The color of this building from what me Stephony could see was a bluish color. I was supprised by the size of the bulding and it was nice.
I don't think I would change anything but if I had to I would change the color or the tint of the glass.

Friday, June 15, 2007

Ezra Stoller

Ezra Stoller didn't only take pictures of skyscrapers. He took pictures of any unique building and any time a new skyscraper was built, they didn't consider it done until he Stollerized it. He only took pictures of buildings in New York. He also liked to photograph cars because that made his pictures look better.
All his pictures are in black in white and you can tell when it's night or day because in the day the backround is lighter than it is at night.

Met life.



Met life is short for the very long name it has which is the Metropolitan Life Insurance Tower. The date of construction was in 1905. The name of the architect was Napolean LeBrun. The height of this building is 700 feet. There are 50 floors. The architectual style is the old renaissance. The materials they used were marble and limestone.The color of the building at least from what me and Steph see is off white/ white. The shapes in it are the pointy shape and the rectangles which were the windows they were the most repeated shapes.

Flat Iron Building



The Flat Iron Building was finished in 1902. The architects were Daniel Burnham + John Wellborn Root. The building height is 285 feet. There are only 22 floors. The architectual style is a classic greek column. The materials they used were lime stone and glazed terra cotta facade.
The color of the building from what me and Stephony can tell is gray there are some repeated shapes but there are mostly rectangles and squares which are the windows.
The only special shape is the triangle.

About Us

Amanda:

My name is Amanda Fanelli. We attend New Design High School. I'm 14 going on 15 and I'm Italian, Irish and German. I lived in Queens all my life and now I live In Astoria . I'm a very funny person but I'm in summer school because I failed alot of my classes.. yea.


Stephony:

My name is Stephony Sagredo. I am Puerto Rican and Dominican. I'm 15 years old and I was born in Brooklyn, raised in the Bronx and now I live in Brooklyn again. I have a tongue ring and big round hoops. I'm very tall and funny and I'm in summer school because I was a goofball.

Stephs Paragraph

Stephony:

The video was about the history of skyscrapers. The 3 reasons for skyscrapers landmark, symbol, and saving space. When the Eiffel Tower was built it was the tallest tower of that time. They had elevators and they used to charge people to get on the elevators to get to the top to see the veiw of pairs. The guy got a good idea from his wife. He put the photo album on top of the bird cage and he got and idea of having something heavy on top of thin bars which was the idea for a building. Then people thought that was too expencive so they got an idea of making it international style which was with glass so they can save money and it could get it made faster.


Amanda:

In this video we learned about the Eiffel Tower, elevators, industrial style buildings, and where the idea came from for the skeletal construction. They were all skyscrapers the 3 reasons for them making the skyscrapers were landmark, symbol, and saving space. And the industrial style which was the whole building being made out of glass. That saved them alot of money because glass was so cheap. The guy that made the bird cage thing what happened was he wanted to sit and there was a big photo album on the chair, so his wife moved it and put it on top of their bird cage. He just stared at it and that gave him the idea of making the thin bars with something on top of it that is heavier.