Chartres cathedral

The town of Chartres is located approximately fifty miles southwest of Paris and has a skyline dominated by its magnificent Gothic style cathedral. There had been a church in Chartres since the eighth century, however it was in 876 that the town and church became a important site. It was in that year that Charles the Bald, grandson of Charlemagne, made a gift to the church of a veil or tunic which was believed to be worn by the Virgin Mary when she gave birth to Christ. The church then had to accommodate great numbers of pilgrims who came to homage to the relic as well as serve the religious needs of the towns people.                                                            

In the middle ages the town of Chartres was also an important place for education. In 990 a scholar named Fulbert came to Chartres and started a school which would rank as one of Europe's leading scholastic institutes for the next two hundred years. The liberal arts were prominent in the school as evidenced by the words of the scholar Thierry of Chartres who said.                                                                                     

Philosophy has two principal instruments, the mind and its expression. The mind is enlightened by the Quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music), its expression, elegant, reasonably ornate, is provided by the Trivium (grammar, rhetoric and dialectic).                                                                                                                 

There is a visual reminder of the school and the importance of learning among the sculptures in the cathedral. The Royal Portal is the entrance over on the western wall of the cathedral which has surrounding bays with sculptures dedicated to Mary and her story. These sculptures are in turn surrounded by symbols for each of the seven liberal arts mentioned in the above quote by Thierry of Chartres, along with a famous practitioner for each including Pythagoras.                                                             

The present cathedral was completed in around 1224, the culmination of a thirty year building project which had been initiated almost immediately after the previous building was destroyed in a devastating fire. Responsibility for the design and construction of the cathedral was that of the master builder. To the regret of many historians of Art and Architecture, the identity of these master builders is unknown. It is clear however that these men were not just technicians who were adept at cutting stone and mixing mortar, but also remarkably skilled as designers, problem solvers and engineers. These were people who functioned as architects and had to maintain a vision of the finished project while at the same time showing a concern for the huge detail involved in the construction process.                                                                  

The construction of the cathedral was to take three decades due to financial delays which hampered the payment of workers and the purchase of building materials, it was not just one master builder who worked on the project. It is suggested that up to nine different master builders could have worked on Chartres cathedral. Each having a different amount of influence on the finished result but all having to adapt their plans to what was already constructed. Interestingly, the masters did not all use the same standard measurement. It was therefore likely that new masters would have to deal with the added complication of continually making adjustments to their own calculations. Despite the fact that the cathedral was constructed over a thirty year period under the direction of different people, the final result stands as a magnificent tribute to the unification of a multitude of different plans and phases.                     

We would expect mathematics and geometry to have played a role in the general engineering and construction of the cathedral. Calculating dimensions of parts such as flying buttresses and even designing the colourful stained glass windows all used mathematical techniques. However as well as the more obvious uses of mathematics in solving typical problems in construction, there is also an interesting numerical relationship used in the design of the cathedral. It is important to first look at the motive for this before examples are clearly understood.                                          

At the time when the present cathedral was begun in 1194 the school at Chartres had a well established tradition. It seems that many connections can be made between education and architecture . The scholastics were the first to arrange theories and arguments into sections and sub sections which was an approach in stark contrast to the books that were previously assembled. It is suggested that this approach was symbolised architecturally by the uniform divisions and sub divisions of space that the floor plan quite clearly was designed to embody. The gothic cathedral usually had the layout of a Latin cross which echoed the Crucifix but also perhaps more abstractly mirrored the human form of a man with his arms outstretched. Symmetry is also present along the central axis in the layout as it is also in the human form. At the crossing point there is often a dome or a large spire to indicate the human heart reaching up towards heaven.                                                                              

At the time of the building there was already a fairly strong Neoplatonic tradition at the school, one that was focused around mathematical and musical studies. The masters at Chartres were similar to the Platonists and Pythagoreans in the way they were obsessed with mathematics, maybe because it was considered to be an absolute. Mathematics was believed to be the link between God and the world, the magical tool that would unlock the secrets to both.                                                               

The scholar Thierry of Chartres used geometry and arithmetic to bring out certain important aspects of theology. Perhaps the most obvious being the use of the number three, symbolising the trinity. Often as an equilateral triangle to define the equality of the three persons, God the father, the son and the holy ghost.                                    

However it seems that the people of the middle ages believed that many of the early numbers in particular had a connection to the bible and therefore should be used symbolically in the design of the cathedral.                                                            

Significance was brought to the number four by the four evangelists Mathew, Mark, Luke and John who wrote the Gospels. Also the form of the cross with its four extremities with a crossroads where all things meet.                                                

Eight and the octagon represent resurrection and rebirth, as Christ rose from the grave exactly eight days after he arrived in Jerusalem. This means they are also symbolic of baptism and spiritual rebirth which is why many baptismal fonts are octagonal.

The number twelve is made important by the twelve apostles. This number often is used in Medieval cathedrals for the number of columns.                                          

While twelve was an important number, the number thirteen was, and still is today thought of as unlucky and to be avoided. This is as it represents the apostles plus Judas, and the betray of Jesus Christ.                                                                        

Six, six, six is thought of as the number for the devil and is obviously to be avoided as revelation says.                                                                                                          

And here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.       

As we know that there was already a high view towards mathematics at Chartres, we should not be surprised to see the use of numbers in a symbolic way incorporated into the design of the cathedral. Although it was not only Chartres where examples of this are evident. In many gothic cathedrals mathematics and geometry were intentionally used in the design process. In the middle ages people believed that beyond the events and needs of our world lay the hierarchies of other beings and existences. They did not believe that function was the only requirement of a building. They thought that behind the superficial appearance of things lay a greater reality that could reveal the true nature of the universe. This was as real to them as the laws of science are to us. They not only tried to understand this but also apply what they had learnt to what they did. The results of all their investigations were therefore expressed through numbers and geometry and applied to buildings so that the structure would reflect the divine. By setting into the design as many appropriate numbers and symbols as possible they believed that they were constructing a slice of eternity itself and his essence would occupy the building.                                                                                                      

The floor plan of Chartres cathedral is a good example of how mathematics and particularly geometry was used in the design. It is in a cruciform shape, with the nave and choir lying along the east west axis and the transepts along the north south axis. There are two towers at the west end and seven chapels are the ambulatory at the east end. It seems that the original master builder made use of three diamonds which give a special symmetry to the design. The verticals of the diamonds line up and identify the western entrance, the entrance in the north and south transepts and the centres of the two larger chapels in the east. All the diamonds meet at the centre of the labyrinth, a pattern inscribed in the nave which perhaps shows mans way to God.                     

It seems that the floor plan is more important in the overall design of Chartres than you would first think. Although there were nine different master builders, beauty is produced by a feeling of oneness and unity throughout the whole building. This effect is produced by the use of the same proportions and ratios for every aspect of the cathedral from foundations to the roof. The original master builder designed the floor plan using these ratios in such a way that elements such as piers, windows and even the facades had to follow the same proportions.                                                        

Another fine example of how the master builders used geometry is shown by an elaborate plan for a window onto a circular stairway. Important in the design of this window is the ratio 2:3, a ratio which could seem difficult in terms of measurement. It was easily constructed though by use of an equilateral triangle and a square which is half of one side of the triangle. If the diagonal is taken from the square and the height from the equilateral triangle then the ratio is found to be 2:3.

Pentagons were used often in the design and hexagons also as they had six sides, a number which was considered perfect. The original master builder used the shape of the hexagon in deciding where to place the transept walls. All these examples are evidence of the fact that geometry had such a crucial role to play in the design of the cathedral.                                                                                                                       

In summary it is clear that as geometry and mathematics had become hugely important to the people of the middle ages, due to not only the ideas of philosophers and mathematicians, but also because of the political, economical and theological development of the period. The belief that geometry and number was a link to God was so strong that it influenced the Gothic style in a number of ways. Maybe it is this fact that mathematics was so intentionally incorporated, is one of the main reasons why these cathedrals remain such a great importance to us so many years later, not only as a place of worship, but also as a work of art.

 

 

The Chrysler Building

Today technology allows us to construct structures that we would never have been able to make in the past. Some of the creations are impressive based on what they accomplish but others are masterpieces in themselves. Man’s capability to build such tall buildings, as the skyscrapers we are familiar with covering our cities today, is a major expression of the advancements we have made as a culture. The power necessary to build such tall structures inspired competition between architects to see who could build the tallest one. One skyscraper that has inspired many and served as a model, for high rise buildings that were created after, is the Chrysler Building. The Chrysler Building serves as an identifying mark to anyone that views the New York City skyline. The history surrounding the Chrysler Building is almost as intricate as the artwork and engineering of the building itself. Today it elicits a reaction from anyone who passes by just as it did when it was first created.

The term skyscrapers has become the term used for tall, multi-storied buildings that have a height of at least 152 meters or 500 feet. The term was originally used to refer to a tall mast on a sailing vessel. Skyscrapers were first introduced in the 19th century. Prior to the 19th century a high rise building was thought of as unrealistic because it was irrational to have people walk up multiple flights of stairs. There was also the problem of providing the top floors with water pressure. Early on they only had the technology to provide water up to 50 feet or 15 meters. These problems were soon rectified by the invention of the elevator and also with the development of a water pumps that were made of steel and reinforced with concrete. Skyscrapers first appeared in New York and Chicago. The Home Insurance Building, the first skyscraper ever erected, was a 10 story structure built by William Le Baron Jenney in Chicago.

Although these problems were corrected and the idea of building a skyscraper became a feasible task, there were many conditions that had to be taken into account, that did not need consideration when building a structure less than 40 stories tall. Four story buildings are supported by their own walls; however a new method needed to be created for skyscrapers since the previous building method would not provide enough support. Metal skeletal frames made of columns and beams were then developed to provide the support and strength needed for the skyscrapers. As the buildings grew taller, their structural design was made lighter and stiffer. Also, as the buildings grew taller, wind became an important issue. Normally, the force that acts on the skyscraper pushes directly downward towards the ground that would then counter balance that push. However, when an additional force acts on it, such as wind, the forces would act differently on the skyscraper. With a lateral force acting on the building, the steel columns of the frame on the windy side would stretch apart slightly while the columns on the other side would compress. Therefore, the skeletal frame built had to be made so that the structure would be free to move slightly with the wind and, at the same time, remain sturdy.

The initial plan for this particular skyscraper built on Lexington Avenue at 42nd Street was pioneered by William J. Reynolds. Reynolds was a former New York State Senator who became a real-estate enthusiast. His major achievement was “Dreamland” in the Coney Island amusement district in Brooklyn, New York. Reynolds hired William Van Alen to help create an architectural design.

William Van Alen was born in Brooklyn in 1882. Van Alen received night classes at the Pratt Institute and spent his days working at an architectural firm. The first project that helped gained Van Alen notoriety was his drawing of a grand opera house that won him the Paris Prize in 1908. Three years later he and his partner, Craig Severance, began their own architectural firm. After the partnership ended in 1925, Van Alen went on to build a restaurant for children on 5th Avenue and Severance began a new partnership with whom he planned on building the Bank of Manhattan at 40 Wall Street with. The bad terms on which the partnership ended would lead to future competition in which each architect tried to prove his greater level of success.

Walter P. Chrysler, founder of the Chrysler Corporation, was born in 1875. Chrysler gained a lot of mechanical experience by undertaking an apprenticeship through a mechanic shop and watching his father working at the Kansas Pacific Railroad shops. By 1928, only 25 years after completing his apprenticeship, he had already established his own corporation and he soon became the second largest producer of automobiles in the world after creating the Plymouth and DeSoto. After achieving such high rate of success, Chrysler decided to move his headquarters from Detroit to New York City. It was around this time that Reynolds realized he no longer had the funding to complete his project, and therefore leased the property to Chrysler, who turned the design around to suite his needs. Chrysler wanted to show the world his accomplishments by constructing the world’s tallest building. Although he kept Van Alen as his head architect, Chrysler had him alter the plans from the original 67 stories to a 77 story building and to add distinguishing decorations.

Chrysler was not the only one preoccupied with constructing the tallest building in the world; the 1920s marked an age of competition between many architects, and their wealthy backers, to hold that title. At the time that the Chrysler Building was undergoing construction, the Manhattan Bank, today’s Trump Building, was also in its early stages of being built. The architect responsible for the Manhattan Bank was Van Alen’s ex-partner Craig Severance making the struggle for height a personal matter as well as an architectural feat. Originally the Chrysler Building’s final height was announced to be 925 feet tall; however Chrysler and Van Alen were keeping an additional spire a secret. For this reason they did not worry when Severance announced the anticipated final height of his building, the Manhattan Bank, to be 927 feet tall.

After Chrysler chose an engineering company, Ralph Squire & Sons, and a construction company, the American Bridge Company, they were ready to begin construction. Construction began following a ground breaking ceremony on September 19, 1928. The greatest amount of workers that the erection of the building required at any one time was just over 2,000 people. The building was finished in just over two years due to the rapid pace the employees maintained. They were able to construct at a rate of four floors per week. No casualties or injuries occurred during the formation of the Chrysler Building. This was an incredible accomplishment at the time due to primitive safety regulations. It was believed to be the result of a new phone system that allowed supplies to be dealt with immediately rather than being randomly misplaced in the way of the workers.

The Chrysler Building was a typical building at the time because the exterior was covered in brick like most of the other buildings being constructed. It did, however, have a central core system that set it apart from other buildings. The central core system along with all the structural members was made of steel, roughly totaling 21,000 tons of steel. It has been reported that close to 391,881 rivets were used to hold the Chrysler Building together and that the cladding is composed of almost 4 million bricks. The magnitude of supplies used in the formation is enough to build nearly ten thousand suburban houses.

The final structure was one of the last built in the Art Deco style. The particular style was extremely popular in the 1920’s and 1930’s. Art deco is typified by simple geometric shapes and angles, as well as, a lot of symmetry. It is believed that the style was first displayed at the Arts Exposition, Internationale Arts Decoratifs et Industrials Modernes, in Paris in 1925. After its introduction it spread throughout the architectural community, but the fad only lasted to the mid- 1930’s.

The façade of the building is extremely ornate and unique. The entire surface consists of 3,862 windows. Although the main levels of the building are clad with brick, which was characteristic of the time period, it did have a spire at its peak that was extremely innovative. Chrysler also had Van Alen add decorations, that would make his building distinguishable from any other building, along with increasing the building’s height. As Chrysler was the head of a world leading car corporation, he wanted Van Alen to alter the building’s outer adornments from gargoyles, which would have been used to garnish the structure had it remained under Reynolds control, to icons of the Chrysler Corporation. At the corners on the 61st floor, stainless steel eagles were added. The eagles were emblems similar to the ornaments used on the hoods of the 1929 vehicles. The 31st floor was also decorated with Chrysler’s notorious radiator caps. Even though the ornamentation dotting the outside of the building was meant to be an atypical identifying feature, it is barely noticeable from the streets of the city surrounding the structure.

In 1929, Van Alen realized that the Manhattan Bank was near completion and was too far along for Severance to alter its plan. It was then that Van Alen unveiled a secret weapon, the spire. The spire itself was 185 feet tall, which would increase the total height of the Chrysler Building to 1046 feet (or 319 meters) tall. This height would not only surpass the Manhattan Bank, as well as the Eiffel Tower, by 48 feet. The Eiffel Tower held the title of the tallest structure in the world for forty years before the Chrysler Building exceeded it.

The steel used to make the spire was developed by a man named Krupp in Germany after the Second World War. It has been described as diamond-honed Euro KA-2 steel. Chrysler had the steel tested to make sure that it would never tarnish and not a single piece of the metal on the spire has ever needed to be replaced. Before the spire was exposed to the public, Van Alen kept it hidden in the elevator shafts of the building. As an extra precautionary measure, the spire was stored as five separate pieces. When the structure was finally presented, construction worked pulled the different pieces out of the top of the building, where others would rivet them into place. The entire process was completed in only ninety minutes.

The spire is composed of seven thin semicircular ridges that are piled one on top of the other. Each ridge has its own row of triangular windows that follow the rounded shape. With each level, the area of the building decreases until it forms a pointed vault from which the antenna extends. The metal that the tower is built of is so reflective that it can be viewed by boats in the nearby bodies of water.

 

Another remarkable feature of the Chrysler Building is its lobby. The floor of the lobby is made of yellow Siena marble with an amber onyx and blue marble trim. It also had red Moroccan marble covering the walls. The lobby is home to impressive mural, created by Edward Turnbull, which graced the ceiling. The piece of artwork is exceptionally large with an area of 100 by 76 feet. This mural is entitled “Energy, Result, Workmanship, and Transportation”. The piece of artwork depicts the Chrysler Building with a plane, workers, and various patterns for the background. Turnball used actual employees at the time as models. The mural itself had to be touched up and darkened two separate times, first in 1970. Originally the amount of lighting in the lobby did not allow for much appreciation. When Tishman Speyer Properties acquired the Chrysler Building the second restoration project was begun to illuminate the mural, as well as restore it, and was not completed until 1999 and ended up costing 100 million dollars.

The elevators that were put inside the Chrysler Building were an extreme electrical accomplishment of the time. They were manufactured by the Otis Elevator Company. The elevators were innovative because they were gearless, had a fully automatic signal control, and an automatic leveling. Thirty two elevators were installed throughout the entire structure. Although the elevators were built in such a way that they could travel twelve hundred feet per minute, New York City regulations prevented them from traveling at such a speed. Instead they ran at the greatest speed allowed of seven hundred feet per minute. Each elevator was made from a different type of wood found in various parts of the world. The doors were comprised of various geometric shapes, which exemplified the Art Deco theme throughout the Chrysler Building.

The Chrysler Building’s stairs that lead to the basement and the upper levels have also been characterized by the Art Deco foundation of the building. The banisters are made of chrome and the walls of the stairwell were composed of marble, the same material of that in the lobby. Although climbing the stairs would be a difficult task, due to the number of floors, it is well worth the experience of seeing the intricacy, especially for those who appreciate architecture.

Tile and marble make up a great portion of the building’s interior. Throughout the building 446,000 tiles were used. The structure is also filled with 112,000 square feet of marble. The small details that were added to the building increase its elegance and splendor.

Construction on the Chrysler Building was concluded on May 27, 1930. When the building officially opened for use, part of the interior just under the glass windows of the spire was used as an observatory. The observatory included an observation deck that jutted out from underneath the spire on the 71st floor. The deck consisted of triangular windows and walls decorated astronomical images. After the observatory was closed to the public in 1945 a Chrysler Cloud Club arose in the1970s. The Cloud Club was located on the top of the building in its own private lounge. The lounge area was a few floors deep and Chrysler had his own private area within it. Those guests lucky enough to be invited to the frequent luncheon meetings could expect a gorgeous view and a relaxation period within the lounge. This Cloud Club would also be closed to the public and it, along with the majority of the building, would eventually be turned into office space.

After all the work, time, and money that Chrysler devoted to the building, he decided that he would rather keep the building in his family than convert it to his headquarters. He continued to have his car company based in Detroit and utilized the building office space than can be leased. Since the building was not used for his company, Chrysler decided to pay for the 15 million dollar project out of his own money. None of which went towards William Van Alen. Chrysler believed that Van Alen had taken bribes by the other contractors and therefore refused to pay for his design. Van Alen responded by taking Chrysler to court however the case was eventually dropped.

Although the Chrysler Building retained Walter P. Chrysler’s last name, it has been bought and sold many times. Throughout the course of the building’s history it has been owned by Tishman Speyer Properties, Sol Goldman and Alex Di Lorenzo, the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, and Jack Kent Cooke, a Washington D.C. investor. As of August 22, 2001, the Chrysler building was sold a Dusseldorf-based company GVP. The company bought it from Tishman Speyer Properties for an investment fund in hope to acquire 395 million US dollars from German investors.

The Chrysler Building had acquired a reputation as the world’s tallest building after it was finished; however, its rein did not last very long. The Chrysler Building only remained as the tallest structure from 1930, when it was completed, until 1931, when the Empire State Building was completed. The Empire State Building rises up 1244 feet and is also an Art Deco piece of architecture but is not as aesthetically pleasing as the Chrysler Building. As of the year 2002, the Chrysler Building was still the 19th tallest building in the world and is certainly one of the most inspired.

The amazing building, that is the Chrysler Building, was not an overnight achievement. A great deal of effort went into its planning and construction. Although the building never fulfilled its original purpose, Chrysler considered it a personal achievement proving his own success. The Chrysler Building is an imposing landmark that has paved the way for many more innovative skyscrapers. Although it did not maintain its status as the world’s tallest building, it still remains one of the many record shattering buildings and will always be one of the most majestic. Even architect Philip Johnson was once quoted saying, “This is not just a building, it was built to bring its owner close enough to touch the face of God”.

 

Green Buildings

Introduction

A green building (also referred to as sustainable building or green construction) is a structure that employs an approach that is responsible for the environment besides being efficient in regard to resources all through its life cycle: This is from selecting the site to designing it, constructing, operating, maintaining, renovating and demolishing it. To achieve this, the client, the engineers, the architects and the entire design team closely cooperate at all stages of a project. Practicing Green Building complements and expands the conventional building design areas of comfort, durability, utility and economy.

Despite the fact that novel technologies are continuously under development to complement existing practices in coming up with greener buildings, the universal intent is that such structures are designed to diminish the general effect on the built environment on health of the humans in addition to the natural environment via: Diminishing environmental degradation, pollution and waste, improving productivity of the employee and guarding occupant health, efficient usage of water, energy, in addition to other resources.

A natural building has the same concept to a green building but rather on a smaller scale and leans towards using natural materials that are obtainable locally. Green architecture and sustainable design are closely related topics. Sustainability can be described as fulfilling the needs of current generations devoid of compromising the capacity of generations to come meeting their needs.

 

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