Back-of-the-Moon Community: Copper medallions on the exterior walls of the Gioja House

1995

Work of Art for Project, Ornament

The medallions, about 12" in diameter, are running at the height of the perimeter beam of the first floor; wooden mold has been used for the shaping of the copper.

Created by:

Christopher Alexander, Saul Pichardo, Randall Schmidt

Content of

Project

Neighborhood of Five Houses: Gioja House 1992 to 1996

Lake Travis, Austin, TX, U.S.A.

Residential, Realized , Construction completed in 1995

Client:

Mr. & Mrs. Geoffrey and Linda Gioja

C.E.S. staff:

Christopher Alexander, Saul Pichardo, Randall Schmidt

Contractor:

Center for Environmetal Structure with Carl Lindberg

Project stages:

Layout on the site by clients and C.E.S. Use of full scale mock-ups Design Development and Building Permit drawings done after layout Direct construction management and on-site design decisions Budget and subcontractors under C.E.S. control

Design and construction of a family house for Geoffrey and Linda Gioja, with an area of 2.100 square feet.

Contents

Models & Mock-ups

Back-of-the-Moon Community: Gioja House and Heisey House; copper medallions mockups 01/01/1995

Construction Mold

Created by:

Christopher Alexander, Saul Pichardo, Randall Schmidt, Center for Environmental Structure, Berkeley, CA

Medium:

Array

Size:

d=12"

Scale:

1'=1'

Two copper sample mockups of medallions, about 12″ in diameter. The medallions were used at the height of the perimeter beam of the first floor of the houses; also one wooden mold which was used for the shaping of the ...

Photographs

Back-of-the-Moon Community: Gioja House copper medallions on the exterior walls - Photographs 18/03/2018

Exterior View, Focus on Details

Photographer:

Dan Klynn, Lake Travis, Austin, TX, U.S.A.

Source:

Digital

Characteristics:

Color

Image of the medallions, about 12″ in diameter, running at the height of the perimeter beam of the first floor.

References

Scientific Research

Ornament and Function as Products of Unfolding

Areas of focus:

Design and Building Process

Guiding idea:

Structure Preserving Transformations

Ornament arises as part of the design process, when a person is making and seeks to embellish this "something" while making it. It arises as a result of the latent centers in the uncompleted thing requiring still more centers, requiring ...