I chose to do my apartment. The specific room I chose is the dining room/kitchen. In the first picture which is at night, you can see the smaller wall and wooden floor in front. The space is dark and there's only one overhead light on. This makes the table dark and the overall feel to the room is a bit boring and one may feel unproductive while working at the table. In the mid day you can see some light coming through the left side of the photo. The dining room is bright and you can clearly see the wall color and other surroundings. In the morning there is the most natural light coming through. This picture was taken with no other lights on. This room can be clearly seen without other lights on. Saving electric is a great thing to do in the morning and all day. You cant see the room off into the distance because there is no window in that room.

Add caption

 A fairly new discovery and material of the 21st century is Plant-based polyurethane rigid foam. It is a new foam made from plants such as kelp, hemp, and bamboo. It can be used for insulation in homes, surfboards, chairs, and more. It is environmentally friendly and could help save money on heat/electric. New discoveries like this that help cut costs in homes and are environmentally friendly will change the future in good ways.

Almost every room in the house had a fireplace. Fireplaces were vital to warm the house. The fireplaces were anything but ugly. Each fireplace was a little different from the rest. The first fireplace I saw was the most elaborate. It was in a main room which is why it was so decorative. A lot of the fireplaces used marble or stone. You can assume that they were wealthy because of all of the fireplaces that had marble. The fireplaces ranged in their scale. The bigger fireplaces were put in more important rooms, while the smaller fireplaces were put in bedrooms.

This building is an example of modern architecture for a variety of reasons. One reason would be because of the use of metal and glass. The main point of this building is the glass windows. While the use of metal supports the windows and provides a sleek, clean look. It has a yellow pop of color on the windows. But, it doesn't have decorative details. Modern buildings don't have elaborate detail the way that older buildings do. Most modern buildings showcase windows the same way this building does.

Stainless steel is a very common metal that's used in kitchens. It is used for microwaves, sinks, fridges, and dishwashers. It is stainless and highly durable. Stainless steel is used in architecture in a variety of different ways. Chicago's Home Insurance building was one of the first made with steel. Skyscrapers were made with steel so that they would be properly supported. Steel was the material of choice because of the durability and strength it has.

The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is a building that has lots of light. The windows are huge and can be seen throughout the whole mall. The windows provide a connection with the environment because you can see out to the sky though these windows. You can see weather, light, dark, etc.

The first notable things about this room is the use of light. There are small lights all over the ceiling which makes student more awake to work.

This space is different in that the circulation desk is a little by itself because of the wall. The wall is unique because there are large openings throughout it. One might assume this is to help organize lines of people.

The reference desk is kind of in the middle of the large room. This is so that it is easily seen and easily accessible. The shape of this desk makes it more interesting.

This space is large and tall. It's tall to indicate a grand entrance. This space doesn't use much light that's man-made. It uses light from the sun by it's large windows.

This study area makes use of a smaller space. This space is long but not that wide so they used shorter tables to make the most out of this space. 

This small study space is made more interesting by the floor's repetition of shapes. The desk is purposefully put in front of the window to let light in. 

The bookshelf is relative to the size of people. Some books are a bit higher but most are reachable by people.


The space of Young Library is used well. When you first walk in you notice how big the library is compared to yourself. This indicates importance of the library. The use of light is also something huge for this design. There are computers for use throughout the entrance floor. These are a bit secluded by the use of large walls and smaller openings to get to the computers. There is also a very large mural on the wall. The size of this indicates importance and the size of it draws your attention to it.  

Unit 2 summary -scale

Scale is very important in terms of design. Scale is one of the main focus’s for interiors. The objects must be usable for humans. For example, a couch is scaled to be used for people to sit on comfortably. If the couch is too big, then people would have trouble getting on the couch. That’s why scale in interiors is very important. Scale for exteriors can range from small to gigantic. When standing next to a large building, one may feel small or even intimidated by the large building. A large building can be large for many reasons. One reason would be to represent something or someone. For example, the Salisbury cathedral, and other cathedrals, represent faith and God’s glory. They are made massive because they represent something big and important to groups of people. They also show the creativity of their time period.

              In terms of urban scale, the buildings size is very important. For example, in New York City, they have lots of restrictions on how large a building can be. Not so much the height, but the width of the building is very important so that one building doesn’t take up too much space. A building can be analyzed and described by scale alone. If a building is very tall you could speculate that the building is used for many different things. You could also assume that the building is important if it’s very large. In an interior if an object or space is large, such as a buildings’ atrium, you will know that the atrium is an important gathering area for people. This idea goes back to that humans and scale are taken into high consideration in design and are one of the most important things in design and in describing design. 

Below is a picture of the Salisbury Cathedral. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salisbury_Cathedral

The designer of the building focused on the use of light by making large windows. This ties into scale because he made these windows so large compared to a person and compared to most other building’s windows.   

My sense of modern hasn't changed a whole lot. I've known how modern design can be a mixture of modern materials and older materials. Also how clean and basic shapes are usually used, but they can also be more complex. As well as how colors can be neutral and colorful. I've learned more about modern furniture and how many furniture pieces are meant for functionality. Most modern design is for function but can be aesthetically pleasing. My sense of scale has changed a lot. I always thought scale only meant how big or small something is. But I've learned how it's much more than just that. Scale can mean the size of a building compared to the environment or other buildings around it. It also means how people interact with the building/ object and maybe how they feel while standing in/ outside of a building. For example, while standing outside of a cathedral, you will feel very small in comparison to the large building.