Student booklet
ARCHITECTURE Architecture is all around us. These days, most humans live in cities surrounded by buildings from all kinds of eras and in many different styles. Having this in mind, this project intends to explore the topic, starting by learning new language items and then develop hands-on tasks which will reflect what you’ve learned.
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Match each key word to its definition: a.
AR-CHI-TEC-TURE
b.
AR-CHI-TECT
c.
CEL-LAR/ BASE-MENT
d.
SOCK-ET
e.
BAL-CO-NY
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GT2 | Unit 5 | Student booklet
A platform with a low wall or railing tha extends from outside a building. Room under the ground floor of a building, usually used for store things.
The art of designing buildings.
A person who designs buildings.
The part of a piece of equipment, especially electrical equipment, into which another part fits.
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Now write a number from activity 1 to a corresponding picture below:
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Look at the sets of pictures and read the descriptions of some well-known architectonic styles. In pairs, match the pictures to the styles. Discuss: what elements from the buildings helped you to make your choices?
a.
b.
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GT2 | Unit 5 | Student booklet
c.
d.
e.
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1.
Neolithic Architecture 6000-3000 BC. Architectural style used by the first known people. Buildings were mostly made of stone.
2.
Roman and Greek Architecture 700BC – 500 AD. Architectural style of the Roman and Greek Empires, the buildings have become more advanced and functional than ever before.
3.
Gothic Architecture 1200-1600 AD. Popular during the Medieval Period Europe. Mean to evoke emotion and make anyone standing next to these building feel their great presence Characterized by use of the pointed arch and used on many great churches and Cathedrals still standing in Europe today.
4.
Art Deco Architecture 1920-1940 AD. This is ‘the Great Gatsby style’ of architecture. Art Deco represented luxury, glamour, exuberance, and faith in social and technological progress. The style is often characterized by rich colors, bold geometric shapes, and lavish ornamentation (decorations).
5.
Late Modernism or High-Tech Architecture 1970 AD. Characteristics of high-tech architecture focus on technical elements. They included the prominent display of the building’s technical and functional components the use of prefabricated elements (steel, glass, iron).
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GT2 | Unit 5 | Student booklet
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What is your favorite style? Share your opinion with your classmates. Talk about the elements that influenced on your choice.
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Do some research on your favorite style. What other information can you add to the description in activity C? Write down what you’ve found.
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GEOMETRY Think about this: Where is geometry in our world? (stones, the sea, nature, music, the universe, etc.)
Architecture begins with geometry. Since earliest times, builders depended on imitating natural forms — like the circular Stonehenge in Britain — and then applied mathematical principles to homogenize and replicate the forms. Watch this video about Stonehenge:
http://bitly.ws/sKoE
Now talk to your classmate and share what you’ve learned. You may want to watch the video again! 8
GT2 | Unit 5 | Student booklet
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Before you read: Effective reading Don’t read all texts the same way. Sometimes you can read quickly, looking for key words. When there is a lot of detail, make sure you understand each sentence before you read the next one.
While you read: Look at the pictures and identify in which lines the text is talking about.
PERSPECTIVE Do you know what perspective is? Do you know it is a fundamental concept in architecture?
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, it is the technique or process of representing on a plane or curved surface the spatial relation of objects as they appear to the eye. When specifically talking about the architectural concept, perspective is the representation in a drawing or painting of parallel lines as converging in order to give the illusion of depth and distance. But how to do this? Can we observe a scene in real life that gives us an idea of what perspective is? The answer is yes! The two sides of a road are parallel: they never meet. But if you look along a straight road, its sides look like they are going to meet at the horizon. If you draw two lines on a piece of paper, and they meet in the middle and look like a road, the point where they meet is called the vanishing point. 9
You can draw a three-dimensional space on a flat piece of paper by following geometrical rules. The Italian architect Filippo Brunelleschi started to work these rules out in Florence in 1418. The Italian author and artist Leon Battista Alberti simplified and clarified them in 1435. All the lines that go away from the observer are drawn so that they go through the vanishing point. Perpendicular lines going across in front of the observer will be nearer to one another the nearer they are to the vanishing point. You can work out where to draw them like this: draw another point outside the picture on the same horizontal line as the vanishing point. Draw points along the bottom (or the top) of the picture, all the same distance apart. Draw lines from each of these points to the point you have drawn outside the picture: the place where each of these lines crosses the edge of the picture shows you where to draw horizontal lines so that they will all appear to be the same distance from one another.
If you draw columns or windows, that must all be the same size and shape, in your picture they will be the same shape, but not the same size. Lines connecting the same part of any two of them will go through the vanishing point, and a line connecting two parts of the same object will be parallel to a line connecting the same two parts of a similar object that is nearer or further away.
(Adapted from: www.onestopclil.com. Written by Chris Dawson and Daniela Morini and The Merriam-Webster dictionary, 2022 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.)
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GT2 | Unit 5 | Student booklet
After you read: Circle T (true) or F (false). a.
All roads go through a vanishing point.
T
F
b.
In a drawing, parallel lines going away from the observer go through the vanishing point.
T
F
c.
The rules of perspective were discovered in Italy.
T
F
d.
Lines going across look equally spaced if they are nearer to one another at the bottom of the picture.
T
F
e.
If you draw all the windows on a wall the same shape, they will look the same shape.
T
F
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Now that you know more about perspective and how it works on a surface, try to do the activity suggested by the text. Look at the pictures below as examples.
Start drafting: create a vanishing point (VP) by drawing parallel lines that meet at the horizon (top of the page), or just imagine where the “horizon line” of your picture would be.
Draw another point outside the picture on the same horizontal line as the vanishing point.
Draw points along the bottom or the top of the picture, all the same distance apart. The number of points depend on the object you will draw.
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Draw lines from each of these points to the point you have drawn outside the picture. Check if the all the lines appear to be the same distance from one another.
If it doesn’t work out the first time, don’t worry - it is just a draft and it takes a little practice. Just give it another try!
Draw a simple object, e.g., a cube, using the lines as a reference of perspective from the horizon line (front) to the side you want it to be at.
Notice that your drawing will resemble a 3D object. After understanding how it works, use your creativity and turn this first object into a more complex one, e.g., a house.
https://cravepainting.com/blog/one-point-perspective
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Look at the picture below.
Have you seen any similar image before?
What do you call it?
What is it for?
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GT2 | Unit 5 | Student booklet
Now that you know some basic ideas behind architectural drawing, imagine you work for a company with a team of architects. Choose from the three situations below and share ideas and thoughts with your team.
SITUATION 1: The science team from a school has recently won a very important international competition. Thanks to this, it got a large sum of money to invest in remodeling one of the communal areas. You were a member of the science team and now you are an architect. You think the money should go to a new science lab. Think of the arguments for spending the money in this way. Make a list of elements your lab will include. Draw a floorplan of the lab on posterboard, showing where each of these elements would be. Then, present your proposal to the rest of the class. Macmillan Education Ltd. © Macmillan Education Limited, 2022
SITUATION 2: A young entrepreneur is starting her first business: An ecological shop that sells clothes and accessories like necklaces, earrings, shoes and purses made of recycled materials. She contracted you and your team to design a shop where the products are displayed in a beautiful way, calling people’s attention, but also using ecological, reused and recycled material. Think of how the shop should be assembled, what elements it should have and the kind of material they are made of. Draw a floorplan of the shop on posterboard, showing where each of these elements would be. Then, present your proposal to the rest of the class. https://ecocult.com/7-ethical-and-sustainable-fashion-stores-in-los-angeles/
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SITUATION 3: A couple of partners decided to open a restaurant in your city/town. It is an Italian “Cantina” and they will serve traditional dishes and desserts. They have a big shop that must be divided into a room for the kitchen, another for the main salon and another for the dessert counter and cashier. They want a traditional Italian decoration. Draw a floorplan of the restaurant on posterboard, showing where rooms and furniture should be. Then, present your proposal to the rest of the class. https://www.top-rated.online/cities/Rio+de+Janeiro/place/p/1652879/La+Trattoria
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BRIDGE-BUILDING PROJECT
This architecture project involves building a model bridge out of popsicle sticks to cross between two desks from your class.
You can research online for tutorials and models, but the execution must all be done by the group members. You can break the project into smaller tasks for each member of the group to make it simpler.
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GT2 | Unit 5 | Student booklet
In groups, plan the design and think of materials you will need to start building. You can use as many popsicle sticks (or similar items) as necessary and some kind of mending material or substance, such as glue or wire.
Not only must the bridge be functional, and able to allow toy cars to cross, but you must also try to make the design interesting and be purposeful in how you put it together.
Take notes during the process, as everyone in the group should be able to explain why you chose the design you did, after a series of possible options.
Test your design beforehand to see if the cars can cross, as your group should present it to the class.
Here are some ideas:
https://theresjustonemommy.com/craft-stickbridge-stem/craft-stick-bridge-for-toy-cars/
https://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Bridge-withPopsicle-Sticks
https://br.pinterest.com/ pin/497014508875971005/
USE YOUR CREATIVITY AND HAVE A GREAT TIME!
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