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Analysis Richard Meier (A0) 17!05!2010 DEF V2
Analysis Richard Meier (A0) 17!05!2010 DEF V2
Analysis Richard Meier (A0) 17!05!2010 DEF V2
Richard Meier
BIOGRAPHY
Richard Meier has maintained a specific and unalterable attitude toward the design of buildings from the moment Richard Meier first entered architecture. Although his later projects show a definite refinement from his earlier projects, Richard Meier clearly authored both based on the same design concepts. With admirable consistency and dedication, Richard Meier has ignored the fashion trends of modern architecture and maintained his own design philosophy. Richard Meier has created a series of striking, but related designs. Richard Meier usually designs white Neo-Corbusian forms with enameled panels and glass. These structure usually play with the linear relationships of ramps and handrails. Although all have a similar look, Richard Meier manages to generate endless variations on his singular theme.
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THEMATICS
The three of the most significant concepts of Richard Meier s work are Light, Color and Place. His architecture shows how plain geometry, layered definition of spaces and effects of light and shade, allow Richard Meier to create clear and comprehensible spaces. The main issue Richard Meier is focusing on as an architect, is what Richard Meier termed placeness: What is it that makes a space a place. According to Richard Meier there are ten factors that connect a building to its environment, one or more of which must be present for a space to be a place: factors which cause the Mode of Being; those which emphasize the presence of the building as an independent object; factors which emphasize the presence of the building in its given environment; those which encourage fantasy and play; factors which encourage ecstatic exuberance; factors which preserve a sense of mystery and adventure; ingredients which connect us to reality; those which link the building to its past; facilitate spontaneous exchanges; and affirm peoples identity.
Source: http://architect.architecture.sk/richard-meier-architect/richard-meier-architect.php
Richard Meier was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1934. Richard Meier graduated from Cornell University in 1957 then worked with a series of architects, including Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill and Marcel Breuer. Richard Meier established his own practice in 1963. His practice has included housing and private residences, museums, high-tech and medical facilities, commercial buildings and such major civic commissions as courthouses and city halls in the United States and Europe: Among his most wellknown projects are the High Museum in Atlanta; the Frankfurt Museum for Decorative Arts In Germany; Canal+ Television Headquarters in Paris; the Hartford Seminary In Connecticut; the Atheneun in New Harmony, Indiana, and the Bronx Developmental Center in New York. All of these have received National Honor Awards from the American Institute of Architects (AIA). In 1984, Mr. Richard Meier was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize, considered the fields highest honor and often equated with the Nobel Prize. In the same year, Mr. Richard Meier was selected architect for the prestigious commission to design the new $1 billion Getty Center in Los Angeles, California.
South elevation
North elevation
Jubilee Church
B B C
B
B D F E E A D C A B C D E F Adjecent F
C
H
B B B C
E E
F F G A D
Circulation elements
Approach, frontal
Spatial relations
Ching
A
H
D E
A E F G C
Circulation elements
Approach, frontal
Form compositions
Circulation elements
Approach, frontal
Form compositions
Structure
Plan to section
Repetitive to unique
Structure
Plan to section
Circulation to use-space
Repetitive to unique
Natural light
Circulation to use
Parti
Natural light
Massing
Unit to whole
Geometry
Hierarchy
Massing
Unit to whole
Parti
Geometry
Hierarchy
G G C B A E F E D H I J M N O K K
G F K E
L F P
F E HH A B C
J I I HH J H L
G F F
A A E F F G
B A
C D E
H G
I J K
M L
N O P
E HH
Conclusion Conclusion
Steadman
A B G A F C D E
A. Corridor B. Employee rooms C. Exposition space D. Exposition space E. Staircase F. Staircase G. Exposition space
D C
L. Office
Conclusion
B A F
C D E
H G
I J K
M L
N O P
D C
G A B D C E F
B
C
H L
Jubilee Church
has Affords Affords has
Form
Operation
Performance
Form
Operation
Performance
has
has
has
has
COMPARISON LIGHT
Richard Meier is known for his use of dynamic light. In the two analyzed projects we see two very different ways of using it.
COLOR
When faced with the oeuvre of Richard Meier one immediately notices one thing: the color. White is the most pre-dominant color used by Richard Meier.
In the church, the color works well for a different reason. White has always been associated with the divine, with cleanliness and serenity. Combined with the direct light and the open space plan the color creates a sense of heaven on earth. In contrast to the museum the spaces are not closed by panels. Instead the space breaks through their geometric shapes. The panels still serve to define different areas, but not different spaces.
PLACE
The third theme of Richard Meier is place. Or maybe better, the things that make a space a place.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion one can say that Richard Meier is a man who stands by his themes. He elegantly shows how a small set of principals can be used in very different ways and produce two unique buildings while retaining the obvious hand of the architect.