Humanities (Abridged)

Humanities Study Guide Design is the most important part of a building because it is the way it uses space. Remember, architecture is an art form that gets to encapsulate a space and turn it into something else. An architect or artist creates a centered space by taking this space and focusing it on an object or feature . The object or feature may have a gravity towards it, where everything seems to lead to this one location within the building. When an architect designs space to promote comfort, calm, and a feeling of freedom, we call this living space. Sometimes the building itself is the center of life, and everything bustles around its doors; this is called a configurational center. Although the buildings themselves are works of art, they also hold a purpose for everyday life. For example, consider the great Notre Dame. Most people would not mistake it for a hospital or office building; the function or purpose is evident. The earliest architects constructed their buildings with their function at the forefront of their minds. Whether it was a temple to honor God or a palace for royalty, it should be appealing to the eye and serve its purpose. Depending on the function and time period, the elements of the exterior will vary. One type of the earliest beam constructions is the post-and-lintel. This form uses strong, vertical pieces to support top horizontal sections, and it was one of the first found building designs after earth formations. Stylobate is a thick, stone base at the bottom, supporting a column, like the columns you would see at the Greek temple ruins. A column is the vertical support beam that holds up the roof. Although we need support in modern times, we do not typically see columns in our everyday housing. The entablature is the horizontal parts at the top of the columns or vertical beams used for decoration or embellishment. The pediment, or the point at the top of a build that looks like an obtuse triangle laid on its widest side, is another design element that architects have used. Before an architect can even begin with these design elements, they must choose the material. The longevity of the structure and its ability to withstand the fierce forces of nature will depend on the material that is used. This choice can also reflect how the exterior or outside of the building is perceived. Sometimes the outside of a structure is for beauty, and the interior is all about function. Other times, the exterior is about function rather than decoration. It solely depends on the architect. We use these elements above to evaluate architecture. 1.5 Music Music is the oldest and most powerful of the arts, partially because sounds can create involuntary reactions. Whether a person listens to a vocalist or a person singing words, they will react to the sounds produced and their correlation to the words. Imagine listening to the saddest song you have ever heard; similarly, think about a happy or exciting song. You likely reacted to the beat and lyrics of the song, which made the experience memorable. When we analyze music, we first need to understand the language. The tone is the musical sound or what is being sung or played. Scale is a predetermined sequence of notes. The Sound of Music's do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do, is an example of a major scale. When we refer to the color of music, we are talking about how the tones sound. Some examples of color in music are bright, dark, and raspy. Pitch refers to how high or low a sound is. Dynamics describe what movement the music is taking on a decibel level. For example, when a musician creates music that goes from quiet to loud, it is called a crescendo. A decrescendo is the opposite when the music goes from loud to soft. The composer , or creator of the music, marks these on the music +using piano (quiet) , pianissimo (noticeably quiet) , forte (loud) , fortissimo (very loud), and others. ©2020 Achieve Page 7 of 14