Architecture Culture & History 1

Project : Precedent Study

The only project in architecture culture and history consists of 4 parts, it requires us to truly understand the historical building that we have chosen. This project focuses on investigating historical works to enrich architectural design and ideas. Through the study of existing buildings, we were able to inform and expand our own architectural vocabulary and develop design concepts. In a group of 4, we were required to conduct analysis on specific building through drawing, model-making, written and verbal presentations. More specifically, we were to submit a study essay, an individual analysis presentation board, a detailed model and finally to verbally present them.

The historical building that we have chosen was Santa Maria del Popolo which is located in Rome, Italy. After rounds of research and studies, we were able to gather sufficient information about Santa Maria del Popolo. We did a draft to highlight the things that we wanted to focus on in producing the essay and it was approved after tutorial sessions. It meant a lot since it showed us that we were on the right track. Following various discussion with the group members, we have picked up important facts and information on Santa Maria del Popolo and managed to produce a 500 words research essay. We were able to give adequate evidence as a result of our research on the building.

Here you can view our research essay.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8hgiOMglBrhM25na0NWUlI1QzQ/edit?usp=sharing 


The second part of the project was the analysis presentation board. The presentation board should include floor plans, building sections, analysis diagrams and sketches. The drawings produced should be able to communicate the depth of our analysis of the building. Drawings should be composed on one A2 board and hand-drawn and hand-written. For this project, I have decided to focus on Chigi Chapel which is located in Santa Maria del Popolo because I think it has a very interesting history and is a beautiful architectural creation. I did plenty of research before planning the layout of the presentation board to make sure I have a good balance of information on the presentation board. My analysis has included the building concept, the structure of the building, circulation, spatial organization, sketches of the building and also the main focus which is the magnificently built dome.

Analysis Presentation Board

Moving on to the third part of the project, which was the most interesting one in my opinion, the model making part of it. We were restricted to using only Balsa timber in producing the model. The model is 30 cm x 30 cm in dimension with 10 cm depth. The focus of our model was again on Chigi Chapel as we all agreed upon it. To show the interior of Chigi Chapel, we have done a sectional model of the building. We also thought that the columns in Chigi Chapel look interesting as they have a lot of details in them. To show the details of the column, we did a close-up model of the capital. Another attraction of the Chigi Chapel being the tombs of Chigi brothers, which we also made to compliment the entire model.

Finally, after all the works are done, we were to prepare for a verbal presentation to communicate your precedent study of the historical building. With the help of our analysis drawings and details in model, we were able to complete our verbal presentation well.