- Position yourself. (100 to 200 words)
There’s an oft-quoted saying, “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture,” that seems to suggest that art needs to be experienced directly and that writing or analysis is beside the point. What’s your initial reaction to this saying? What do you think it means, and do you agree?
- Summarize and analyze. (200 to 400 words)
Start by familiarizing yourself with two educational buildings: the Brown Center on the MICA campus (designed by Ziger/Snead and Charles Brickbauer and completed 2003) and the Rolex Learning Center at the École Polytechnique Fédérale in Lausanne, Switzerland (designed by SANAA and completed in 2010). What do you remember of your experiences taking classes in Brown, visiting for lectures or exhibitions, or using the building for other activities? What activities take place here? Who uses the building? How does it seem to be organized? What does it look like? How does it relate to the MICA campus and to the neighborhood? Then watch the video on the Rolex Learning Center, asking yourself the same questions.
What do these two buildings have in common? How do they differ?
Read through the two reviews of these buildings, both published in major professional journals shortly after the building’s completion. What do you learn from each review? What ideas and information does each author convey? Does the author take a position on the value or significance of the building?
- Evaluate. (200 to 400 words)
In what ways do these two articles help you better understand the buildings they describe? Are the claims they make about the buildings supported by your own experiences or your own observations of the video? Do the authors emphasize certain aspects of the building over others? Do they seem to miss anything important?
