WRITING ASSIGNMENT
This writing assignment leverages the skills you have been honing in recitation to better understand the built environment through close observation. The assignment calls upon your observational skills to craft a formal building analysis of a Boston-area building. To be clear, this is not a research paper, but one in which you use your own observations and ideas to analyze a specific building.
The focus of your writing should be on your aesthetic discrimination of specific aspects of the building, both in its overall form and in smaller details. The assignment has three parts, each of which is described in detail below: an initial “look” at the building with a required recitation discussion and blackboard post; a first writing; and a second rewriting of the essay based on recitation instructor feedback.
Building choices (choose only one):
H. H. Richardson, Trinity Church, c. 1877
206 Clarendon St, Boston, MA 02116
H. H. Richardson, Sever Hall, 1878
Harvard Yard, Cambridge, Massachusetts
McKim, Mead, and White, Boston Public Library, 1888-1895
700 Boylston St, Boston, MA 02116
Old North Church, 1723 and later
193 Salem St. Boston, MA 02113
Faneuil Hall, 1742 and expanded by Charles Bulfinch, 1806
1 Faneuil Hall Square, Boston, MA 02109
McKim, Mead, and White, Symphony Hall, 1900
301 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, MA 02115
Part I: Looking and Outlining a Course of Action (5% of Course Grade)
Please Bring Hard Copy of Outline to Recitation
Due: Monday Section: Feb. 23
Wednesday Section: Feb. 25
Thursday Section: Feb 26
Choose one of the buildings from the list above and plan a time to go visit the site. Give yourself at least one uninterrupted hour to observe the building, all of its details, and its surroundings. You should look at all possible angles of the exterior and explore as much of the interior as you can. Write down everything you see. Be thorough. Only after you have spent time looking and taking notes for at least an hour should you take photographs of the building. Consider any photographs you take as evidence to support your observations and ideas that you’ve developed about the building through your looking exercise.
It might help to think about the ways we have categorized observations in recitation:
• Decoration, Color, Symbols:
o Aesthetics:
Composition: Is it a coherent whole or a composition of component parts?
Massing & Hierarchy of Volumes
Ornamentation
• Ceremony, Performance, Ritual
o Spatial Organization:
Sequence of spaces – Circulation patterns
Directionality
Experiential qualities – How do you perceive the architecture?
• Tectonics and Materiality:
o How was it built?
o Of what material is it made?
o How does technology impact its design?
• Function:
o What is it used for, how does its purpose relate to the layout or pattern of use?
• Meaning:
o What did/does the building signify and how does it communicate these ideas?
• Location, Site, Composition:
o Environment: What is the attitude towards the site? The landscape? The buildings around it?
o Precedents: Perhaps you have seen something else from which this architecture takes cues
Start to think about what conclusions you can draw from your observations. Use this opportunity to collect your thoughts on the building you have chosen and the potential conclusions you may draw in your written analysis. In addition to your rough outline and relevant topics, please include one supporting image of your building (taken at your trip to the building).
Part II: Draft (10% of Course Grade)
Due: March 30
Format:
Two (2) single spaced, type-written pages
Times New Roman, 12 pt, 1 inch margins
Number second page (follow Chicago style headings)
Include a title
Images may be included after the text and do not count toward the paper length
Do not use title page – this paper is too short to warrant it!
After discussing your observations in recitation and with your recitation instructor, start to concretize your opinion on your building.
While this paper is not a research paper, your essay should still have a clear thesis statement developed from your observations. Your thesis statement – which should be a part of your introduction – should tell your reader what you are arguing about and how you will prove it. Your introduction should be followed by well-organized body paragraphs that support your conclusion.
After you are done, be sure to reread your paper for grammatical errors and to make sure that your writing is clear and to the point.
Please bring a hard copy of your complete draft class, and post it to Blackboard as wel.
Part III: Final (15% of Course Grade)
Due: April 22, Hard Copy – Bring to Class (Final Exam Review Day)
Once you have submitted your outline, please set up a time to meet with your recitation instructor for feedback. This will help guide you through writing the paper. You may choose to meet with your instructor after you have written the outline only or after you have completed the outline and the draft. You will get written feedback on both. Incorporate both the written feedback you were given and what you discussed in your meeting to craft your final paper.
