9 Matching Annotations
  1. Feb 2017
    1. *I.l:lI N V I TAT ION TOVernacular Architecture

      Carter and Cromley's Invitation to Vernacular Architecture explores into the history of architecture and built environments using information collected over the course of thirty years. Their purpose is to collect and make historical accounts on architecture accessible to instructors and students. The text describes the concept of a material culture

      Carter,Cromley. Invitation to Vernacular Architecture, http://atlspaceplacerhets17.robinwharton.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Invitation-to-Vernacular-Architecture.pdf

    2. Learning to read architecture— an ability that centers on a kind of visual and spa­tially oriented analysis— is not easy

      This can be partly true, but I do know that in art history artworks can usually be categorized by their style. This style can be used to determine the era in which the artwork came from. I can probably understand that it would be difficult to categorize an architecture based on its design with many buildings and spaces referencing designs from past eras, but if a structure does reference designs and aspects from historic architecture wouldn't that be helpful to understanding how the space effects its community.

    3. In the way we create and use architectural space, we say things we would never say in our journals or diaries.

      One could probably draw parallels between an architectural space and one's perception of the world, that architecture represents our unspoken history of our societies and our understanding of nature even if we don't actually discuss these aspects directly.

    4. Rather than foregoing the status that brick afforded, they put their m oney where it would do the I most good, on the front, w here their good taste and apparent affluence could be seen by all.

      Wouldn't this text be considered as a loose opinion of the structure. To say that brick would be better of in the front would be more of a preference to a certain design than rather researching how the design attributes to the house for that historic moment. However if the preference of the majority of houses during that era acquired this style, then maybe its not mere opinion.

    5. is often said that the past can only' be known through its remains, the trick for historians being, then, to find the best kinds ol remains to study

      Does this include individuals who lived during the time in which the architecture was built, and if so can it be considered as credential to one's research or subjective? The most that I have learned about city structures in Macon and Atlanta are from My Father and he was born in the 50's.

    6. At some point you have to decide what it is all about. There are no intrin­sic truths but only your own story of what happened.

      This sentence is a very good description of a historian, which is somewhat disappointing. We are constantly rebuilding history, but at the cost of making conclusions and have several plot holes.

    7. . Smaller houses tend not to endure, so the material record may be skewed in favor of the elites, just as the written record is.

      This can be true about Middle Georgia neighborhoods. One can find many blighted households and buildings found through Macon alone, with little research or history put into them.

  2. Jan 2017
    1. The teacher’s space is to the front, facing out toward the students who sit in neat rows of chairs/desks, all bolted to the floor. Everyone has his (Dr her own desk— his or her own space—-reflecting the American value of individuality.

      Carter and Cromley, The Invitation to Vernacular Architecture,pp.95.

      I find interesting how we recently discussed this concept in class. There always appears to be a set balance of space between the student and the teacher. Since ancient Greek and Roman eras that introduced a auditorium like class setting, to present day with our smaller yet similar classrooms, there's always some form of balance created from the architectural layout of the classroom.

    2. Unlike other mammals, humans cannot simply live in nature; rather, we must devise ways of finding and making shelter, clothing and feeding ourselves, and producing the tools needed for survival.

      I find this somewhat odd that the author would speak about human lifestyles as if we are not animals. Just like us, some other mammals have to create shelters or use tools to survive.