4th Reading Response (Commodity, Firmness, and Delight)

From Roth, I am going to pick one place that I think exemplifies each category (commodity, firmness, and delight).

In chapter 1, Roth explains that commodity is all about how a building functions. On page 19, Figure 1.9 shows the Zion Lutheran Church in Portland Oregon which I believe shows most amount of function throughout the space. The axis not only shows the importance of the preacher, but also it tells the people where they can and cannot go, where to and where not to sit, and also where their place is. They sit in pews that are all identical and below the preacher, making it as though they are the pupils and the preacher is the teacher, which is true. Also, the church has a vertical axis. The pieces of curved wood start from the floor and go all the way up to a point on the middle of the ceiling, lining up with the point of the cross. Since this is a church based off the belief of God, it's no wonder why all of the points in the building point up into heaven. This building without a doubt conveys it's message that God is the center of their world and that he is above everything.

In chapter 2 of Roth, the book tells us that firmness is essentially how the building stands up, and I think the Valley Temple, Pyramid of Khafre, in Giza, Egypt (page 29) is the perfect example to use to explain how a building stands. Although this temple isn't decorated to please the eye, it is, however, very beautiful in the simplicity of the design and how we are able to see how the temple was built and why it has lasted for so long. The temple was built in 2570-2500 B.C.E., which was about 4,500 years ago! Not only does that right there prove the firmness of the structure, but by looking at how the stone was laid out, it's clear how the structure is still standing tall. It is made from vertical and horizontal, stick, strong, sturdy, square pieces of stone. Since the columns are pretty close together and short for the most part,making the structure very sturdy, makes the fact that the building is so old and still standing more believable.

Roth talks about delight in chapters 3, 4, and 5. But, the building that I think portrays the highest delight factor is the picture of Edar Kaufmann's house on page 83. This picture is just breath-taking, not only with the beautiful house, but with the surrounding nature. The house is made with stone slabs to imitate natural rock, vertical masonry piers, and smooth horizontal concrete floor slabs. The fact that such a geometrical and mad-made house could coexist with such an untouched natural background in phenomenal. Also, even though the outside of the house is very square and geometrical, the varying sizes of the horizontal slabs make the connection from the house to nature. I would say that what is aesthetically pleasing about this picture is the juxtaposition, but the house kind of contrasts, but at the same time sort of complimenting the nature surrounding it.