Chapters 5 and 6 (week 2): Sculpture and Architecture

Assemblage

the technique of sculpture, such as welding, whereby performed in pieces are attached.

Carving

shaping by cutting, chipping, hewing.

Casting

the process of making a sculpture or other object by pouring liquid ,material into a mold allowing it to harden

Earth Sculpture

sculpture that makes the earth the medium, site, and subject matter.

High-relief sculpture

sculpture with a background plane from which the projections are relatively large.

Low-relief sculpture

sculpture with a background plane from which the projections are relatively small.

Mass

in sculpture, 3-dimensional form suggesting physical bulk, weight, and density.

Modeling

the technique of building up a sculpture piece by piece with some plastic, or malleable material.

Sculpture in the round

sculpture freed from any background plane.

Space sculpture

sculpture that emphasizes spatial relationships and thus tend to de-emphasize the density of its materials.

Sunken-relief sculpture

sculpture made by carving grooves of various depths into the surface planes of the sculptural material, the surface plane remaining perceptually distinct.

Tactility

touch sensations, both inward and outward.

Centered space

a site--natural or human-made---that organizes other spaces around it.

Living Space

the feeling of the comfortable positioning of things in the environment that promotes both liberty of movement and paths as directives.

Post-and-lintel

a structural system in which the horizontal pieces (lintels) are upheld by vertical columns (posts). Also called post-and-beam.

Pediment

the triangular space formed by roof jointure in a Greek temple or building on the Greek model.

Cantilever

a projecting bean or structure supported at only one end, which is anchored to a pier or wall.

Earth-rooted architecture

buildings that bring out with special force the earth and its symbolism.

Greek-cross

a cross with equal vertical and horizontal arms.

Latin-cross

a cross in which the vertical arm is longer than the horizontal arm, through show midpoint it passes.

Symmetry

a feature of design in which two halves of a composition on either side of a central vertical axis are more or less of the same size, shape and placement.

Sky-oriented

buildings that bring out with special emphasis the sky and its symbolism.

Axis mundi

a vertically placed pole used by some primitive people to center their world.

Flying buttress

an arch that springs from below the roof of a Gothic cathedral, carrying the thrust above and across a side aisle.

Earth-resting architecture

buildings that accent neither the earth nor the sky, using the earth as a platform with the sky as a background

Earth-dominating architecture

buildings that "rule over" the earth.