Architecture and Communication Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Architecture and Communication - Term Paper Example The Empire State Building is located on Fifth Avenue, in New York City, New York, and was touted to have been completed in the span of a mere sixteen months. It has 102 floors, and has a height of 381 meters, or 1252 feet. At the time of its completion, it was the tallest building on earth, taking that title away from the Chrysler Building. As well, apart from the World Trade Center, the Empire State Building remains the tallest architecture in all of New York. In terms of general architecture, it is said that the building deviated from the strict European standards of the time, showing more flair and panache in comparison to the more staid European buildings of the time, even as it conveyed the appearance of something that has been sculpted, or else something that was deliberately molded rather than erected with the use of conventional architectural and building methods, and those aspects of the public building became in time one of its defining architectural signatures. Moreover, d eviating from the tail end of the Art Deco style’s sensibilities, the architecture is said to be less frivolous even as it showed its own character in an understated manner. In the decade of the 1920’s, when this style was in vogue, the Empire State Building designers stuck to something that is uniquely the character of the building itself, away from the zigzag designs of the time, and towards something that can be considered as more staid and more business-like. Functionally, too, it showed its practical aspects by having four differing facades, deviating from the convention of just having one, as is common, on the side of the buildings facing the avenue. All this gave the Empire State Building, from an architectural and design perspective, a unique identity (Artifice). II. Style of the Design of the Empire State Building, History The style of the building’s design is characterized as being Art Deco that is muted, or low key in its approach as well as in its ex ecution. That means being more understated and less done with flair, in comparison to the traditional conception of Art Deco and in comparison to the style execution of buildings in the same era and immediately prior. On the other hand, what differentiates Art Deco architecture from other forms of architecture is its depiction as being Modernistic, and this depiction applies to the Empire State Building too, in common with Art Deco executed buildings of the time (Artifice). The simplicity of the design coupled with its height is what marks the design sensibilities of the Empire State Building, it is said, and these twin characteristics are in a way set apart from the architectural design sensibilities of Art Deco in general. It is muted and not overt in its design sensibilities, which all the more highlights its more business-like and functional characteristics. Where the design reflects a certain bareness, this also is reflected in the way form yields to function. Among the conside rations in the design is in the ability of the building to house productive work, with tenants that are businesses in orientation, in the shortest possible time, and making maximum use of the available facilities and space. The emphasis on the modernistic aspects of the design, on the other hand, extend to its facades being characterized