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Lesson Plans: Days One and Two: Slide
Presentation and Architectural Vocabulary
Author: Kathryn Maxwell
Grade Level: Art Class Grade 8
Indiana Educational Standards: Visual Arts Standards 1 and 2 (History), 4
(Criticism), 6 (Aesthetics)
8.1.1
Rationale: Middle school students are aware of their surroundings. In
smaller communities, there are students who are not familiar with the variety of
architecture that exists outside their hometown. It has been my observation
that students are intrigued with pictures of buildings that have features
similar to those in their own houses and in neighborhood buildings.
Therefore, viewing a slide presentation of buildings representing various
styles will foster an informed appreciation of architecture as an art form in
the students' hometown.
8.2.1, 8.2.2
Preparation: Contact Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana and
reserve their "Traveling Trunk: Stories Buildings Tell." It is free to
use; just pay the return shipping. In the trunk are slides of period
architectural structures that exist in Indiana, plus handouts of architectural
styles that were used to create the Architectural Styles handouts for
this lesson. (Or, use the HLFI publication "On the Street Where You Live: Be a
Building Watcher!" Click
here for a PDF file.)
Make copies of these handouts to form a pamphlet of Federal, Greek Revival,
Romanesque, Gothic Revival, Italianate, Second Empire, and Queen Anne styles.
Give each student a pamphlet before the slide presentation begins. Look through
the slides in the trunk, and organize twenty to fifty slides that are good
examples of these architectural styles. Organize the slides in chronological
order beginning with post & lintel examples and moving forward with Greek,
Roman, Gothic, Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Italianate, Second Empire,
Romanesque, and Queen Anne styles. Take slides of notable examples of period
architecture in your community. Suggested structures are the courthouse,
churches, banks, fire station, post office, other public buildings, older
downtown buildings, older civic buildings, older homes, older farmhouses,
diners, schools, and old theatres. Take close-up slides of Roman (Palladian)
arched windows, Gothic windows, window hoods, cupolas, spires, capitals of
columns representing the three Greek orders, unique ginger bread, spindles,
sunbursts, and various roof styles. Intermingle slides of similar styles found
in your hometown with the slides of period architectural styles. Obtain a slide
projector and large screen and an extension cord, if necessary. Students should
place seats in such a way as not to obstruct the projection of the slides. Have
plain sketch paper available for students to draw on during the slide
presentation.
8.1.1
Objective: The student will view and discuss architectural styles
while viewing slides and using the Architectural Styles handouts. The student
will note and discuss similarities and differences among the following styles:
Federal
Greek and Greek Revival
Gothic and Gothic Revival
Italianate
Second Empire
Queen Anne
8.4.2
Introduction:
Begin your slide presentation and discussion with dialogue similar to this:
"We are beginning a new unit today called Designing Place: Architecture as
Community Art." (Or use my alternative title, 'At Home with Architecture.') Man
has come along way from living in trees, caves, and stick lean-tos. I am about
to show you slides representing various periods of architecture. We have periods
in our school days, where you move from one class and school subject to
another. In periods of architecture, we move from one 'style' of architecture
to another. (Show your first slide.)
"What is style? (Allow students time to answer.) You know what style is in
the clothes you wear. (Allow students to comment.) Style develops through
'techniques' or the way something is created. Style in art develops when artists
create works that have similar techniques. For example, how many of you copy the
way a friend writes because the way they make their letters have a unique twist
or slant or curve that makes their writing interesting or fun to view? You are
imitating their style of writing. How many of you watch for the latest trend or
'style' in new shoes? We want to be in 'style'. We want to look similar. After
a while, we get tired of looking similar, so we search for something different.
We may dig into Dad’s old clothes and find a shirt that has 'The Eagles' rock
band printed on the front. We get to school and our friends may like Dad’s old
shirt. So they go home and dig through their folks' old clothes and come to
school wearing an old "Beatles" t-shirt. Pretty soon, you have started a
'retro' t-shirt style at school. You have brought back something popular in the
past, and made it popular again.
Architectural styles are like that.
8.5
Activity:
- Begin the slide presentation by showing a post and
lintel example or a Federal style building. Explain what post and lintel
means. Ask students to tell you where they might find a post and lintel
example in the Federal style house. Note that the post and lintel dates back
to Ancient Egyptian times and we use it still today.
- Explain how a Federal style house may be symmetrical
or asymmetrical. Allow students to explain what elements in the house’s design
make it formal or informally balanced. Use the "Architectural Styles"
handouts/pamphlet as a reference. Call students' attention to the gable roof.
Explain the word "gable." Ask students if their house has a gable roof.
- Show a slide of a Greek structure with columns. Note
that columns are fancy "posts" supporting a lintel. Show slides that have
examples of the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian columns. Tell students these
columns were designed 2500 years ago.
- Allow time for the students to draw columns representing
each of the three Greek orders. Explain how the columns evolved, how each
order was fancier that the one before. Note that the designs of the columns
were influenced by objects found in nature.
- Show a slide of a local building that has Greek columns
supporting a pediment.
- Explain "pediment." Note egg and dart moulding and
dentils.
- Show a slide of the Parthenon or a building that has a
pediment and perhaps a frieze. Explain what a "frieze" is. Use your
Architectural Styles pamphlet. Also refer to the
Glossary of Architectural Terms.
- Show a slide of classical architectural styles and then
follow it with a slide of a building in your community that has similar styles
of roof design, columns, use of pediments, or an entablature. Discuss Greek
Revival and explain the word "revival". Show slides of Greek Revival
buildings. Let students explain what makes the building look like it was
influenced by the Greek style.
- Show a slide of a building with a Roman arch. State that
the Romans invented the arch some 2300 years ago.
- Show a slide that shows a Roman arch with a distinct
keystone. Explain "keystone".
- Show a slide that illustrates an arcade. Note that an
arcade is a series of arches, not a game room. Also note that in Roman times,
bathhouses and gathering places often used the arcade in their structure. This
may well be how the word "arcade" evolved into the name for video game rooms.
- Show a slide that illustrates the Romanesque Style.
Describe how this style looks heavy and very sturdy. Follow it with a
Romanesque example found in the local community. Note the big stones used in
the construction of the building.
- Show a slide that illustrates a cupola. Explain
"cupola" and how it was used as an adornment in modern times.
- Show an example of classic Gothic architecture. Note the
tall pointed windows, and the flying buttresses, and the gargoyles. Students
are intrigued by the idea that the early church told stories about faith and
good and evil through sculptures that were carved and mounted on the church’s
structure.
- View examples in the local community of Gothic Revival
architecture. Allow students time to comment about the Gothic influence.
Explain how Gothic art developed during the Dark Ages. The tall Gothic
churches were thought to reach toward the heavens. Peasants were superstitious
in those days and because many were uneducated, they were easily influenced by
unusual figures and phenomena. They could not rationalize unusual events.
Today the self-named group of "Gothic" people use "dark" or black shades to
identify themselves and take an interest in "dark" literature. They also have
an interest in the mystical. It's interesting how art imitates life, and visa
versa.
- Show comparative slides of Italianate architecture. Note
the hipped roof, quoins, the decorative window hoods, the ornamental keystones
on the Roman arches, the brackets under the eaves, and the distinctive bell
towers.
- View a slide of a Second Empire style building. Note
that the style developed in France. This style has the distinctive mansard
roof, which is often used to illustrate a haunted house. It also has
decorative window hoods. Show examples of this style in a local structure.
This style is seen often in Indiana where there was a concentration of French
settlements.
- View the Queen Anne style house. This is a popular style
seen in most Indiana communities. Note the decoration on the building:
spindles, cupolas, spires, gingerbread, the long front and side porches, the
patterned shingling on the outside walls. Several students may live in a Queen
Anne style house.
- For fun, show a Stick style house and ask students to
comment on how this style and the Queen Anne Style are similar and different.
- Show a slide of a Dutch Colonial house so that students
may view an example of a gambrel roof design.
Depending on discussion and the number of slides, this lesson may extend
through two days. Summarize by informing the students that they will be defining
the vocabulary words used these last two days, and then they will be drawing
examples of some of the structures they have seen.
Materials:
- Pencil and unlined paper
- Slide projector and large screen
- Slides of hometown buildings (or use photos in this website)
- Slides of classical and revival styles of architectural found in the HLFI
resource trunk
- "Architectural Styles" handout
- "Architectural Vocabulary" handout
Resources:
Optional: "Art Textbooks for Individual Student Exploration" handout
can be used by students in their spare time. |
