The idea of function and form explored in the thinking of the Greek builder Vitruvian of using the human being as the measure of good proportion was re-explored by Leonardo Da Vinci in the Vitruvian Man analysis.
The architecture of Greece and the architecture of the Renaissance took on the way they look and feel the way they are today is because of application of mathematical proportions by original thinkers.
Le Corbusier, the French architect born in Sweden (1887) explored this in greater depths by applying the principles of the Fibonacci Sequence to the height of an English man with raised arm.
This video shows the beauty of Le Corbusier's original application of a mathematical ratio.
I am looking at the richness of INTEGRITY through the works of practitioners.
THE GOOD TREE BEARS GOOD FRUITS.
THE VITRUVIAN MAN
At the heart of the practitioner is his value system. He has an interest outside of himself. This interest is focused on an unknown so large that he is captivated.
What are the elements in this exploration?
What are the discoveries?
What are the applications?
What are the effects?
What are the benefits?
THE VITRUVIAN MAN by Leonardo Da Vinci give clear answers to these questions.
Care for the human person; respect for learning; honour for craftsmanship; honesty in evaluation;
value quality; practice of diligence; all marks of the richness of integrity.
These are two insights of Frank Lloyd Wright that I found highly engaging:
A GREAT ARCHITECT IS MADE NOT BY WAY OF A BRAIN NEARLY SO MUCH AS HE IS MADE BY WAY OF A CULTIVATED, ENRICHED HEART.
LIFE ALWAYS RIDES ON THE STRENGTH TO VICTORY, NOT THROUGH INTERNATIONALISM...BUT ONLY THROUGH THE DIRECT RESPONSIBILITY OF THE INDIVIDUAL. In the following interview with Frank Lloyd Wright and Mike Wallace in his abrasive kickboxing-style (of David Letterman and Jay Leno), Frank Lloyd Wright out-wit, out-box and out-kick Mike Wallace. I see a thinking practitioner as deep into his profession as his efforts towards enriching the built environment with respect for the thoughtfulness of nature. Enjoy the originality of the Frank Lloyd Wright.
Currently, the Malaysian environment is reeling from the effects of degenerative corruption...complete absence of integrity.
But here is an example of a human being with integrity. He brings with him qualities that lift. Works that come from him enrich, ennoble and enable new efforts to build with new vigour.
FALLING WATER is a work worth looking at for itself. And for the quality of an original man with INTEGRITY who built it.
In 1935, Frank Lloyd Wright returned to the spotlight with
FALLING WATER, a residence for Pittsburgh's acclaimed Kaufmann family.
Strikingly original and stunningly beautiful, FALLING WATER was designed using
a series of cantilevered balconies and terraces constructed atop a waterfall.
This innovative private house in rural southwestern Pennsylvania remains
Wright's most celebrated works.
It has been declared a national landmark that
is widely considered one of the most beautiful homes ever built.
Frank Lloyd Wright's thinking:
Architecture is essentially human. It is the human spirit
manifesting itself. When a man builds, he can't hide. You know what, who and
how that man is.
Walter Gropius was the man that gave flesh, muscles and
spirit to the vision of integrating all the branches of skills related to
building human dwelling for work, rest, recreation, learning, earning a living
and relating.
The year was 1919 in Weimar, Germany
The quest is process-based.
From observation to discovery.
From discovery to invention.
Under-pinning observation, discovery and invention is
intuition which together give artistic form to the environment we live in.
Here is a summary behind the setting up of a ground-breaking
system of building: THE BAUHAUS.
Thinking that harmonises form and function.
Applying intelligence with respect for materials and
surroundings and technology.
Creating beauty within the integrity of functions.
Art enters in to touch the hearts of the dwellers.
Spirituality with the soul and guts of nature.
These clarified values give creative freedom to bring his
ground-breaking structures to life.
People who live in them can own them by adding or removing
elements.
