Part A
Question 1
Charley Haley is the author of the article “Civil art 'humanizes' places, expresses identity, lecturer at NDMOA says”, where she analyses the impact of art on our lives. She considers it to be the generator of identity for a community. Moreover, public art “humanizes” cities, as the representative of Forecast Public Art Becker noticed during his lecture (Haley, 2014). He also showed some interactive artworks, which could be changed with the hand of any person. There were some sculptures, where people could write their wishes to others or just notes.
Everybody nowadays is able to share his thoughts with other people by means of social media, and art along with architecture are the most popular themes of photos, pictures or even paintings. When people understand that a sculpture has been created by someone like them, they feel the satisfaction and love rising in their hearts, as they have the hope to create something similar in future. An artwork does not require special skills - you just have to be talented and have a great desire to beautify this world.
Every government has their funds to be spent on public art projects, so it is unreasonable to measure the value of artwork. Becker said that any manifestation of art should not be underrated for its usefulness for different communities (Haley, 2014).
Question 2
Taj Mahal is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and people consider it to have its own soul full of feelings. It had been built in order to show great love to a woman. The mausoleum symbolizes the memory of happy years, which one couple spent inseparably. A lot of different specialists – inlayers, calligraphers, painters, dome-builders and other artisans from the whole empire came to create and design such a huge building (Dwivedi, 2011). Nowadays it is the place of worship for millions of people. Unlike Taj Mahal, the Eiffel Tower in Paris was built as the present to the city for 100-year anniversary of the French Revolution. Many artists joined the process of creating the Tower, and they even protested against its original Egyptian form. Eventually, the Eiffel Tower is the unique artwork that attracts thousands of people to come and take a look at the symbol of Paris.
Part B
Question 1
The beginning of skyscraper era took place in 1880s, when people discovered that there was not enough place for new buildings, so they began to build up. According to such changes, the construction techniques developed rapidly. The Chicago School involved using columns and grids of steel beams, strong materials, which were resistant to any weather. The new building method had been invented, and soon skyscrapers appeared on streets. The Woolworth Building is the one of Gothic designs, where architects used their basic knowledge along with innovation of equipping the interior of the building. It has luxurious, cathedral-like rooms with sculptures, mosaics and gold ceilings. The Woolworth Building was the tallest building in the world in 1913, and it is still in the list of 50 tallest buildings in the USA. The Seagram Building in New York City was built to please people`s eyes, as much attention was paid to the aesthetic look of the building. Glass walls were used - it was an innovation for the 1950s as well as bronze, which was used to decorate the building from the outside.
Question 2
Vanna Venturi House was built by Robert Venturi in 1960s for his mother. He used all his talent to create a house that is now considered as the first postmodern building. He represented traditional things in a new abstract way – he used no ornaments and nothing bulky. The façade of the house is a monumental gable combined with mismatched windows. The man designed the simple house with oversized chimney and no garage. Another architect Frank Lloyd Wright decided to enhance the beauty of nature when designing Falingwater in 1930s. It is the most famous house of America, which was built during the darkest days for art. The matter was that the financial system of the country had suffered from the failure of many banks. Wright was offered to design a waterfall near the house, but he proposed to make the house the part of the waterfall. He convinced his customers by saying that the woods around the terrain supported the illusion that stream flew through the house, not alongside it (Secrest, 1992). The man paid great attention to the harmony between nature and man. Fallingwater was organically designed with glass and no metal frames for stone walls; many windows and balconies just complemented the sense of being in a wood while resting in the house. This masterpiece of Wright stays adored by thousands of people now, as it is the house, where everything a person would want to have in his life is present and functions well.
References
Dwivedi, N. (2011, June 27). Question left unanswered. Wikinut. Retrieved from http://writing.wikinut.com/Question-left-unanswered/2tenh616
Haley, C. (2014, March 14). Civil art 'humanizes' places, expresses identity, lecturer at NDMOA says. McClatchy - Tribune Business News. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1507232112?accountid=45844.
Secrest, M. (1992). Frank Lloyd Wright: A Biography, University of Chicago Press: Chicago.
