Exemplar 1: Renzo Piano - Harvard University

HARVARD UNIVERSITY BY RENZO PIANO

The strategic use of shadowing in this section by Renzo Piano, gives the 2D image an illusion of a 3D image as well as adding to its horizontal depth. The colour of the background is a gradient sky blue which fades down to a lighter hue towards the building allowing it to stand out in the image.

It is also noted that the yellow/orange colours are used to highlight areas of high traffic and also perhaps, the most important space of the building. Less important spaces, car parks and service areas of the building are left uncoloured to emphasise the importance of the coloured spaceS.

I found that the most predominate thing about this image is the bold, black section line. This is contrasted with the structural elements of the building which are shown in red where the section is cut to contrast with the bold, natural ground line. What I’ve also noticed is the ratio of the building along the streetscape. The building only occupies ¼ of the street; this allows the surround neighbouring buildings to be depicted accurately and allows the viewer to gauge the relationship of the building within its context.

On the topic of context, the existing buildings in the background of the image are transparent allowing the sky to bleed through. I believe this is so the existing buildings, which are observed to be significantly larger than the proposed, don’t overshadow the image, taking away from the focus point. I’ve also noticed that the trees in the image that sit along the cut of the section are shown as solid entities, however, as they recede into the background, they also become transparent and lighter, drawing focus back to the elements that sit on the section plan.

I plan on employing many of these techniques and elements into my sections, in particular the use of a strong section line, gradient background and background building transparency as I believe they are the strong points of this image. I do believe however, due to the long nature of the site, it may be difficult to incorporate such a wide streetscape into my drawings.

REFERENCE
Piano, Renzo (Architect). (2008). Harvard Univesity [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.nysun.com/arts/harvards-three-art-museums-will-share-one-name/80353/