This month, the Brown Design staff had the opportunity to be apart of the ICAA Workshop in Classical Architectural Design with the Savannah College of Art and Design, School of Building Arts. The workshop was designed to introduce us to the practices of classical architectural design with a strong accentuation on its utilization in the design of new places and buildings. Traditional architecture and urban design embraces the work that occupies the classical style and the application of its fundamentals in vernacular and the expression of region. The presentation provided recent professional work in this field, case studies, as well as present the elements of the classical architectural style, and demonstrate ways in which architects and urbanists use the rich materials found in historical patterns to apprise designs of new buildings and places.
The practice of classical architecture has a style that is compliant and contains a kind of flexibility to be modified to the proper functional demands of building types and the quality of region in a specific place. The efficient means in the traditional design methods and process, all lead to a design solution. We had the opportunity to see how architects have adapted to the classical style to the altering contexts and any modern program requirements.
With a good place, it begins with an overview of the terminology and proportional relationships of the traditional orders and their constituent parts.The architect’s fluency in classical architecture, and engaging with the environment as means for introducing new design, enhance their skills. The classical compositions are formed form a combination of the principal components and exemplify the beauty as well as the structural primaries that are considered in the design of a new building.
While studying historical buildings and places, architects have found it to be a key resource when problems of composition arise within contemporary design. As the presentation continued, we were introduced to a method of studying precedents through measured drawings as means of building a repository of solutions to references in the design of new places and buildings. Our group measured the historic Independent Presbyterian Church here in Savannah. The church is a beautiful 1819 Church with with a mixed order composition.
Architectural design is about making choices based on either the floor plans, elevations, details, etc. The choices that are made, are from a list of specifications that are represented by commodity, firmness, and delight; Vitruvius’ trilogy. While there are difficulties that correlate with finding the correct scale, The architect is able to make a sequence of determinations that range from how the building will fit on the site with the specific room size, height of ceilings, as well as the details and the profile.
We’d like to thank the Institute of Classical Art and Architecture for presenting us their Workshop in Classical Design. We are always excited about bettering our skills within traditional design and we look forward to applying these new skills to our current and future projects.
originally posted 02.27.17
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