Thursday, February 3, 2011

Looking for Patterns In Urban Settings & Nature


Living in Toronto you are always surrounded by extremely tall buildings, even when you look out your window all you see are buildings, buildings and more buildings. Every once in a while I look out the window and the first thing that I see is this building. However, I had never really noticed its amazing structure and the many patterns it portrays, until I took a picture of it for this assignment! This residential building is located on College Street a couple of blocks from Ryerson U. I took the picture right from my window so I could snap a better picture of it. As you can see this building has repetition. Each floor contains a balcony, which is located on the same place for every floor, same size, shape and location for each floor of the building. The balconies also are placed on the back part  of the building in a u-shaped form. The balconies in the back part of the building are also placed on every floor and are the same size throughout the entire back side of the building. 
The building's structure also demonstrates angles and patterns. At the top of the building you can see the many angles in which the building forms. The back part of the building curves and has the entire back part of the building on a curve. There are also parts of the building that pop out as seen at the top of the building. The repetition of balconies shows a pattern that every side of the building contains. In addition, to the pattern of consistency, the balcony's fences also contain the pattern of simple, plain lines. "Patterns have their own identity. They can be plain and simple..." (Schirrmacher & Fox, 2009, p. 142). 
The overall design of the building demonstrates that it was meant for repetition of the balcony's, the pattern of the fences, the angles and curves since they all blended well together. "Design is the overall mark o success, the standard of achievement..." (Schirrmacher & Fox, 2009, p. 142). 
After having done this assignment, I began to notice that patterns and angles surround us everywhere we go. I look at this building everyday and had never noticed it contained so many elements! If it hadn't been for this assignment, I probably would have never noticed the repetition, or the great overall design of the building. Also, from looking at this assignment, patterns can be a fun and creative way for children to learn. Not necessarily in art, but in other ways as well. Activities can be brought into the classroom in which can help children understand the concept of patterns or having open-ended materials and seeing what patterns they come up with. 


Repetition and Patterns in the balconies
Angles at the top of the building
The curved back side of the building




Reference 



Schirrmacher, R., & Fox, J.E. (2009). Art and creative development for young children (6th Ed.). Belmont, CA: Delmar. 

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