Summer Studio in Classical Architecture 2018 | Week Two

Follow the ICAA’s 2018 Summer Studio in Classical Architecture program, from June 18th through July 14th, as students from across the country spend four weeks in New York City and the surrounding region exploring the ideas, methods, and issues related to classical architectural design. You can also read updates from weeks one, three, and four.

Summer Studio in Classical Architecture students Mallory Smith and Timothy Farina give an update on the second week of the 2018 program, which included an introduction to geometry and proportion, a study of the ionic order, and field trips to Washington Square Park and Forest Hills Gardens.

Daily Student Blogs

June 29th, by Jheanelle Miller

Today we met up at Washington Square Park with instructors Mike Watkins, Kellen Krause, and Michael Geller. The topic of the day was urbanism and we began by discussing different types of urban spaces and buildings. To study these types, we sketched various street sections including the intersection of Washington Square and 5th Avenue, where there are townhouses on one side of the street and a park on the other. We also looked at Washington Mews, which is a residential street with smaller buildings and street parking.

After lunch we went to Forest Hills Gardens, a residential neighborhood in Queens. Here we continued our lesson on urbanism which was reinforced with further sketches of the surrounding streets and spaces.

June 28th, by Jason Xu

Today began with studio work as we continued to strive to understand classical architecture through our individual projects. Measuring, sketching, and layering both drawings and thoughts every step along the way. Instructor Michael Mesko, along with our teaching assistants Mark Santrach and Keaton Bloom, provided significant critique and feedback on our works at hand, making us better informed about every visual and contextual design decision we make.

In the afternoon we had our second proportion and geometry lesson taught by Rachel Fletcher. We explored the concepts of geometry and were thoroughly astounded by its universal application in architecture (from the works of Palladio to those of Philip Johnson), proving its significance in all architectural compositions.

The day concluded with a lecture by Urban Planner and Architect Mike Watkins from Mike Watkins Architects, who introduced us to the principal concepts of urban analysis and design, while showing examples of the firm’s works as further reference.

June 27th, by Jarrett Thomas

We began the third day of week two with a lesson on Ionic columns and their characteristic volutes, which we learned how to draw. After that we had a class on proportions with Rachel Fletcher, where we learned how to construct different geometric shapes with a compass, and how these shapes and concepts form the basis of proportion in classical architecture.

Later, we traveled to the Ferguson & Shamamian architecture firm in SoHo for a tour. Here we got a behind the scenes look into different stages of projects that the firm has worked on, and learned about different methods they use to complete their projects. After the tour we were greeted by co-owner of the firm, Mark Ferguson, who gave us insight into what owning a firm is like and answered some of our questions.

Finally, our measured drawing instructor Stephen Chrisman gave a presentation about a residential project he and his team at the firm had been working on, which allowed us to see their design process from precedent analysis to construction.

June 26th, by Jack McMichael

Today we continued to develop ideas for our final project - designing a structure that is an entryway into Prospect Park, Brooklyn. We continued to develop drawings for our project and explored different concepts learned from the American Vignola.

Last Friday we visited Prospect Park and made a number of measured drawings and sketches. We are now able to use these measurements and sketches as a precedent to influence the size, style, and layout of our own designs.

June 25th, by Evan Dziedzic

In today's class we started off with a lecture by architect Giuseppe Mazzone, who gave a very interesting presentation about the proper way to render shade and shadow on columns. This will be important for us to know when we get to the watercolor rendering component of our studio project, as we are most certainly going to have to know the proper way to shade our columns.

After this we did a small exercise with graphite powder where we needed to erase the powder to create a three-dimensional flower with the proper shading and shadow.

After lunch we took everything we have learned so far and got started on our studio project. To start we had to complete a rough sketch, or esquisse, in order to get a foundation for our ideas to bloom.

After our esquisse designs were done we had a quick pin up so we could look at what everyone drew. To finish off another day of working hard and learning a lot, we had another incredible presentation from Giuseppe Mazzone about the work he did for his doctorate in architecture.

Tags: Summer Studio