Submitted by Sarah Wegenast, Aurora
Middle School
Architectural Facade - Artist Research Project
For Ages 10 - 14
The
purpose of this project was to study and create an Architectural
Facade using a master artist as inspiration for the gallery windows.
Students designed a building facade of their architectural choice and
filled the windows with famous artwork. Students selected a famous
architectural building of their choice from the website greatbuildings.com and completed a worksheet with information that they then shared
with the class orally. The average size of the facades range from
24" to 36" (61 to 91 cm).
They give an oral report using this site
as they show their building on the projector screen.
They then have to design and draw their
own facade of a building (with characteristics of the building they
studied) using colored pencils.
In some of the
windows and doors they must include reproductions or part of reproductions
of one of their favorite artists (See
Picasso Detail). They are about 24 -36" (61 to 91 cm) in size (18" x
24" (46 x 61 cm) paper could be used if you don't have the large size). The boys
seem to enjoy the architectural drawings and the girls the windows. They
glue them on two pieces of construction paper. One as a one inch (2.5 cm) frame
outline and the other as the mounting back paper. I love it when there are
about 40 of them on the walls of the middle school gallery. It is quite a
show. I also have them display their report with rendered drawing. See
building closeup details.
Materials
Submitted by Marianne
Galyk -
formerly Ridgemont Elementary,
Mt. Victory, Ohio
Lesson: Victorian Splendor - Watercolor paintings
Grade level: Upper elementary - thru middle school
Marianne is moving on to Ridgemont
High School, Ridgeway, Ohio. She has this to say about her elementary
architecture lesson. I did a lesson
last year with fifth grade that turned out well involving Victorian
architecture. We talked about houses in nearby towns (the county seat
and the adjoining county seats - we live in a very rural area) where most
had all seen these large ornate houses. I also made a handout for them
to use showing some different basic architectural elements (arches,
dormers, bay windows, gables, etc.) using the Illustrated Architecture
Dictionary as a resource. This was enough to get them started. We first drew in
pencil the basic shapes, and then went over those and added details
(shingles, siding, etc.) with Sharpie markers. After that, they water colored
if time permitted. I told them it was not unusual for the Victorians to
use bright combinations in their color schemes. Some of the boys took on
a more medieval castle theme, but that was okay, too.
Prior to this we had done a few days on 3-D
art (cones, cylinders, cubes, etc.) so I was happy to see a few of
those concepts reflected.
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| Click on the images above for full size |
This would be a nice lesson to tie in the
colorful paintings of Hundertwasser
-Austrian Painter
Use this idea with Linda
Woods' Dream House Drawing Lesson Plan
Resources
Books
How to Read Buildings: A Crash Course in Architectural Styles
- This practical primer is a handbook for decoding a building’s style, history, and evolution. Organized by architectural element (roofs, doors, windows, columns, domes, towers, arches, etc.), the book is roughly chronological within each section, examining the elements across history, through different architectural styles, and by geographical distribution.
Victorian Gothic House Style: An Architectural and Interior Design Source Book
- Through this highly illustrated source--with over 500 photographs, some from original catalogues and others specially commissioned--anyone can recreate the feel of a 19th century Gothic revival style home.
Links
