READING COMPREHENSION 1

[1]
Wachovia Center
Winston - Salem, NC, USA 1995
Architect: Cesar Pelli

WACHOVIA CENTER

Commoditie: This building is located in the heart of down town winston salem which makes it accessible for business financial services and central business districts. It was also designed to be accessible to the business  I-40 highway. The structure was designed  to fit in with the original architecture from the surrounding city, the architect's main idea was to design the building and incorporate moravian architecture which is the style of architecture that most buildings such as churches incorporated back in the 1700's. The building's design incorporates elements of old salem such as the star generated floor pattern and the hoody canopy entrances. Moravian revival architecture is unique to winston salem's old salem district and this is where the idea of the dome at the top of the building came from. The office tower is centrally located on the site  with a major landscaped plaza to the north and an employee plaza to the south. This is what makes the building perfectly adjusted to its site.

Firmness: Most of the buildings from the 1700's in winston salem are still standing today, some buildings have been  under demolition to rebuild new sophisticated buildings, but others have been preserved to preserve the beauty of architecture from the 1700's.  This building was carefully designed to withstand earthquakes, wind loads , and any sort of natural disaster. The structure was designed to resist a strong wind with a very long period of about 50 years or more. The main building materials for this project were granite, stone, glass, marble, and stainless steel. Granite is very durable and resistant against acid rain, previously marble was used on most buildings, but granite is preferable for engineers and architects due to its high durability and aesthetic qualities.

Delight: The overall dimension of the building is 460 feet and 34 floor offices with a 50, 000 sq foot plaza flanked on each side by garden like seating areas. The square plant at the base gently develops into an octagonal form near the top through a series of progressively larger chamfered corners of a tower carved or sculpted out of a single block of stone. The tapered form produces an elegant profile on the skyline, creating a sense of permanence and authority to anchor the southern end of Winston-Salem. At the time it was built, it was the tallest granite domed skyscraper in the world.

[2]


Eastern cultures are very passionate and most of their designs are inspired out of their religious philosophies. There is always a purpose on why the design was specifically designed on that way. For example, this textile I chose is very rich in design, color, patterns, style, etc. A helpful example that helps me clearly understand the composition of cultures is that people in China have different branches of religious believes. On the other hand, South American culture is predominantly dominated by catholicism and christianity.


[3]

Citizens of the U.S. are typically used to commoditie more than people that come from another countries and cultures. All around the world people come to the U.S. for a better life, better opportunities, and perhaps a better professional career.  Most buildings in the U.S. are designed for a certain occupancy load and not necessarily the building codes from the U.S. are the same all around the world. As I was reading the hall, I encountered a paragraph that addressed people of the Spanish culture about being seriously stressed and the fact that they are in an environment that doesn't fit them, might be because of they are not used to the american way of living, language, traditions, etc. The room in which we gather is tremendously ridiculous in terms of space. Taking notes is always a challenge because there's not much space between each sit.

[4]

HOUSE PONCE, SAN ISIDRO ARGENTINA

The idea was to maintain the view from Rio de La Plata, and to explore space with rectangular forms. My quote: "Environmental design makes a happy earth". Its abundant vegetation makes this building exotic and happy to explore each and every one of its interesting spaces all around the building.