Where Geometry Meets Organic 21st Century Loudspeaker Cabinet Product Design by modifying Modernism with
Pre-Moderism's Styling Details
using Self-Similar Designs or Fractals
Fractilizing or using a Self-Similar design can make excellent sense. From
the perspective of loudspeaker cabinets, the curved shapes
lend themselves to a striking design having low diffraction. Fractials
can be applied to either the cabinet shape or to finish details on
the cabinet surface. US Enclosure
can manufacture these loudspeaker cabinets with the same or higher
control of wall vibration than found in MDF, Plywood or Metals.
For general products, fractal surfaces
create a great gripping surface. When considering structural design,
the postmodern, neo-furturist and deconstructionist design methods can
use fractionalization as a tool which allows a meeting of the concepts
of
modernism's logical basis with detailed beauty. From
loudspeaker cabinet to skyscrapers, products can be fractialized or
self-similarized to the limits of the wall material's resolution.
US Enclosure concept for a Fractal-based low diffracting loudspeaker cabinet
manufacturable in our plant from 10 units to 1,000,000 units per year.
After this introduction
concludes, the design style comments begin with Rome 300AD and address
construction techniques, design styles,
and Rome's material technology. Then this page travels forward through
the
history of design having very detailed surface features until the advent of Modernism. Certain
design schools are not addressed on this page
as they did not utilize appreciable exterior design shapes which could
translate for moving today's product design into interesting
offramps. Other US Enclosure design pages focus on Modernism, especially related
to Loudspeaker Cabinet design; US Enclosure Design endorses no specific
designs.
Nonetheless, a detailed exterior cabinet style has
positive attributes which can be found when using fractals
in product or even architecture design work. Except during design "revivals" the historical curve has been to less expressively detailed designs. Pre-Modernism design's used a style readily adaptable to fractals which now can be inexpensively manufactured for
product construction having a new detailed and modern 21st Century feel.
This page examines some of the highest detailed design styles during the period from the
fall of Rome until the birth of Modernist design and shows where fractals can be used in place of the
flourishes. The goal is to manufacture for OEM's completely fresh-looking
designs for Loudspeaker cabinets, as well as for other products' designs.
Specific Fractals have non diffracting effects and their curved shape strengthens the cabinet
Fractal Definition refresher:
A fractal, mathematically first described discovered in 1978, is a natural phenomenon or a
mathematical set that exhibits a repeating pattern that displays at
every scale. It is also known as expanding symmetry or evolving symmetry. If the replication is exactly the same at every scale, it is called a Self-Similar Pattern, of which an example is the Menger Sponge.
Fractals can also be nearly the same at different levels. This latter
pattern is illustrated in the magnifications of the Mandelbrot set.
Fractals also include the idea of a detailed pattern that repeats
itself. Fractals are different from other geometric figures
because of the way in which they scale. From a far distance, you see a
shape that happens to be a fractal. When any portion of the shape
you see at a distance is examined under a microscope, the shape you saw
at a distance is in the microscopes eyepiece.
Modern Examples using Very Old Design Schools
In
the early 1980s, Philip
Johnson
designed a Post-Modernist
addition to the Cleveland Play House which reflects Byzantine influences, and could be termed Neo-Byzantine.
The Dancing House in Prague, by Vlado Milunic and Frank Gehry, who described the structure as "New Baroque".
Gare do Oriente the Lisbon Oriente
Station is one of the main Portuguese intermodal transport hubs, and is
situated in Lisbon. The concept was originally designed by Spanish
architect Santiago Calatrava in 1995.
With some influence from Gothic architecture, the station bears
considerable resemblance to Santiago Calatrava's earlier Allen Lambert
Galleria within Toronto's Brookfield Place.
Calatrava's objective was to realize a new space with ample room and
functionality providing multiple connections between various zones in
the metropolitan area of Lisbon.
Brookfield Place (Toronto 1992) Gothic Modernist
1981 Postmodern Gothic (Cleveland)
Rayonnant Design
Examples of Rayonnant Details that lend themselves to Modern Design Fractal Interpretation
In the
11th Century, repeated formalized designs ( fractal-like ) took hold in
the West and created highly detailed project designs using
repeated and mirror image styling's.
Rayonnant (French word meaning "radiating") specifically describes the radiating spokes of the rose windows in French and other Gothic architecture between c. 1240 and 1350, characterized by a shift in focus away from the High Gothic mode of utilizing great scale and spatial rationalism towards a greater concern for two dimensional surfaces and the
repetition of decorative motifs at different scales. After the
mid-14th
century, Rayonnant gradually evolved into the Flamboyant style, though
as usual with such arbitrary stylistic labels, the transition point is
not clearly defined.
The
transition (in France) from Rayonnant to Flamboyant Gothic was gradual
and evolutionary in form, marked primarily by a shift towards new
tracery patterns based on S-shaped curves (these curves resemble
flickering flames, from which the new style got its name). However,
amidst the chaos of the Hundred Years War
and the various other misfortunes experienced by Europe during the 14th
century, relatively little large scale construction occurred and
certain elements of the Rayonnant style remained in vogue well into the
next century.
Cologne Cathedral (1248–1322)
The
various decorative elements employed in the Rayonnant style (bar
tracery, blind and open tracery, gables and pinnacles) could also be
applied on a much smaller scale, both for the micro-architectural
fixtures and fittings within a church (tombs, shrines, pulpits,
sacrament houses, etc.) and also for small portable objects like
reliquaries, liturgical equipment, ivory diptychs, etc. This combination
of flexibility and portability may have been a key factor in the
dissemination of Rayonnant and its various offshoots across Europe in
the late 13th and early 14th centuries.
Rayonnant takes the
appearance of structural lightness to the extreme.
More of the wall surface than ever before was pierced by windows and
buildings were often given lace-like tracery screens on the
exterior to hide the bulk of load bearing wall elements and buttresses.
Blind tracery use (decorating an otherwise blank
wall) and of open tracery, typically all using the same decorative
motifs as the adjoining areas. English Decorated Gothic has been
characterized by some design historians as "French design with an
English accent".
Flamboyant Design
Examples of Flamboyant Details that lend themselves to Modern Design Fractal Interpretation
Flamboyant style(from French flamboyant, "flaming") is the name given to a florid style of late Gothic architecture beginning about 1350 in France and Spain evolved out of the Rayonnant style’s increasing emphasis on decoration. Its most conspicuous feature is the dominance in stone window tracery
of a flamelike S-shaped curve and the
dramatic lengthening of gables and the tops of arches. . Structural logic was
obscured by covering buildings with elaborate tracery. Attractive French
examples include Notre-Dame d’Épine near Châlons-sur-Marne,
Saint-Maclou in Rouen (c. 1500–14), and the northern spire of Chartres Cathedral.
Spanish Flamboyant architects developed their own intricate forms of
vaulting with curvilinear patterns; the Capilla del Condestable in
Burgos Cathedral (1482–94) and Segovia Cathedral (begun 1525) provide
examples. Flamboyant Gothic, which became increasingly ornate, gave way
in France to Renaissance forms in the 16th century.
The term is sometimes used of the early period of English Gothic architecture called the Decorated Style. A key feature is
the ogee arch, originating in Beverley Minster, England around 1320.
In
the past the Flamboyant style, along with its antecedent Rayonnant, has
frequently been disparaged by critics. More recently some have sought
to rehabilitate it. William W Clark commented:
The
Flamboyant is the most neglected period of Gothic design because
of the prejudices of past generations; but the neglect of these highly
original
and inventive design fantasies is unwarranted. The time
has come to discard old conceptions and look anew at Late Gothic
design.
Baroque Design
Examples of Baroque Details that lend themselves to Modern Design Fractal Interpretation
Baroque Design is the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late 16th-century Italy, that took the Roman
vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical
and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic
Church and the absolutist state. It was characterized by new
explorations of form, light and shadow, and dramatic intensity.
Whereas
the Renaissance drew on the wealth and power of the Italian courts and
was a blend of secular and religious forces, the Baroque was, initially
at least, directly linked to the Counter-Reformation, a movement within
the Catholic Church to reform itself in response to the Protestant Reformation.
Baroque architecture and its embellishments were on the one hand more
accessible to the emotions and on the other hand, a visible statement of
the wealth and power of the Church. The new style manifested itself in
particular in the context of the new religious orders, like the Theatines and the Jesuits who aimed to improve popular piety.
By
the middle of the 17th century, the Baroque style had found its secular
expression in the form of grand palaces, first in France and then
throughout Europe. During the 17th century, Baroque design spread
through Europe and Latin America, where it was particularly promoted by
the Jesuits.
Features of Baroque Design
Michelangelo's late Roman buildings, particularly St. Peter's Basilica,
may be considered precursors to Baroque design. His pupil Giacomo della
Porta continued this work in Rome, particularly in the facade of the
Jesuit church Il Gesù, which leads directly to the most important church facade of the early Baroque, Santa Susanna (1603), by Carlo Maderno.
Distinctive features of Baroque architecture can
include: In churches, oval interiors at times. Fragmentary or
deliberately incomplete architectural elements. Dramatic use of light;
either strong light-and-shade contrasts (chiaroscuro effects) as
at the church of Weltenburg Abbey, or uniform lighting by means of
several windows (e.g. church of Weingarten Abbey). Opulent use of color
and ornaments. An external façade often characterized by a dramatic
central projection. Illusory effects like trompe l'oeil
(an art technique involving extremely realistic imagery in order to
create the optical illusion that the depicted objects appear in three
dimensions.) and the blending of painting and design. Pear-shaped domes
in the Bavarian, Czech, Polish and Ukrainian areas.
Beaux-Arts Design
Examples of Beaux-Arts Design Details that lend themselves to Modern Design Fractal Interpretation
Beaux-ArtsArchitecture (/ˌboʊˈzɑːr/) heavily influenced the architecture of the United States in the period from 1880 to 1920.
The style expresses the academic neoclassical architectural style taught at the École des Beaux-Arts
in Paris. The style of instruction that produced Beaux-Arts
architecture continued without major interruption until 1968. On the eve of World War I ( 1910) the Beaux-Arts
style competitors roots were occurring and by 1915 - 1925 major
competitors among the architects of Modernism and the nascent International Style had designs under construction .
The Beaux-Arts training emphasized the mainstream examples of Imperial Roman architecture
between Augustus and the Severan emperors, Italian Renaissance, and
French and Italian Baroque models especially, but the training could
then be applied to a broader range of models: Quattrocento Florentine
palace fronts or French late Gothic.
American architects of the Beaux-Arts generation often returned to
Greek models, which had a strong local history in the American Greek Revival
of the early 19th century. For the first time, repertories of
photographs supplemented meticulous scale drawings and on-site
renderings of details.
Some aspects of Beaux-Arts approach could degenerate into mannerisms. Beaux-Arts training made great use of agrafes,
clasps that links one architectural detail to another; to
interpenetration of forms which is a habit of the Baroque style; and, of
symbolism taken to literal-minded extremes. Beaux-Arts sculptural
decoration is along conservative
modern lines, employing French and Italian Baroque and Rococo formulas
combined with an impressionistic finish and realism.
Beaux-Arts style: Principal characteristics of Slightly overscaled details, bold sculptural supporting consoles (a structural piece jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket., rich deep cornices, and other sculptural enrichment's. Examples include: a
Textured Base with smooth outside walls above the base, Arched and
Gabled openings, classical details with an eclectic mixing of various
styles. Symmetry. Sculpture (
panels, figural sculptures, sculptural groups), murals, mosaics, and
other artwork, all coordinated in theme to assert the identity of the
design. Classical design details: Spindle Shapes, Pilasters (the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function.) , Festoons- in architecture typically a carved ornament depicting conventional arrangement of garland bound together and suspended by ribbons. Cartouchs-- an oval or oblong design with a slightly convex surface, typically edged with ornamental scroll work. Acroteria--
a design ornament placed on a flat base called the plinth, and mounted
at the apex of the Arched and or Gabled openings-in the classical
style., with a prominent display of richly detailed clasps (agrafes), brackets and supporting consoles, and Subtle Finishes using Polychromy.
The final three images (below) follow the Beaux-Arts approach:
classical details with an eclectic mixing of various
styles.
These examples are Richardson Romanesque.
Bristol Byzantine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Byzantine Revival Design
The Byzantine Revival or Neo-Byzantine movement was an architectural revival
movement most frequently seen in religious, institutional and public
buildings. It emerged in the 1840s in Western Europe and peaked in the
last quarter of 19th century in the Russian Empire; an isolated
Neo-Byzantine school was active in Yugoslavia between World War I and
World War II.
Neo-Byzantine architecture incorporates elements of the Byzantine style associated with Eastern and Orthodox Christian architecture dating from the 5th through 11th centuries, notably that of Constantinople and the Exarchate of Ravenna.
The style is characterized by round arches, vaults and domes, brick and
stucco surfaces, symbolic ornamentation, and the use of decorative
mosaics.
Bristol Byzantine is a variety of Byzantine Revival architecture that was popular in the city of Bristol, England from about 1850 to 1880.
Neo-Byzantine Design in Russia
Byzantine architecture, like Russian
Revival, had the least chance to survive the Socialist anti-religious
campaign of the 1920s. Destruction peaked in 1930, targeting large
downtown cathedrals with no apparent logic: Kharkov Cathedral of Saint
Nicholas ( Santa Claus ) was demolished "to streamline tram lines". Most
of remaining churches were converted to warehouses, cinemas or
offices, and left to rot without proper maintenance. Nevertheless,
majority of Byzantine churches survived past the fall of the Soviet
Union.
Russian Neo-Byzantine Style defined:
Hemispherical domes
Blending of arches and domes. The
supporting arcade blends directly into dome roof; tin roofing flows
smoothly around the arches. Arches were designed for maximum insolation via wide window openings. A few designs (Sevastopol Cathedral, 1862–1888, Livadia
church, 1872–1876) also had wooden window shutters with circular
cutouts, as used in medieval Byzantium. In the 20th century this pattern
was reproduced in stone (Kuntsevo church, 1911), actually reducing insolation.
Exposed masonry. The Neoclassical canon enforced by Alexander I required masonry surfaces to be finished in flush stucco.
Byzantine and Russian revival architects radically departed from this
rule; instead, they relied on exposing exterior brickwork. While exposed
brickwork dominated the scene, it was not universal; exterior stucco
remained in use, especially in the first decade of Alexander II's
reign.
Two-tone, striped masonry.
Russian architects borrowed the Byzantine tradition of adorning flat
wall surfaces with horizontal striped patterns. Usually, wide bands of
dark red base brickwork were interleaved with narrow stripes of yellow
of grey brick, slightly set back into the wall. Reverse (dark red
stripes over grey background) was rare, usually associated with Georgian
variety of churches built in Nicholas II period. The importance of
color pattern increased with building size: it was nearly universal in
large cathedrals but unnecessary in small parish churches.
Sretenia Gospodnya Church- built 1998 in St. Petersburg
Gare do Oriente - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
First published 02/29/2016
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