This is for 3 essays about architecture, landscape and other design disciplines for a humanities writing class. Not really about architecture but about critical thinking.
An annotated bibliography was already completed and I provided the sources below for writing about Machu Picchu. Additional or other sources can be used.
Due: 10.21.18
The 1,500-word essay presents me with an observation; in other words, a ‘DESCRIPTION’… it is a description of the project in detail. That means that it discusses its program, the site, the spatial qualities, its construction and materials, and any other item of importance which has a physical presence. It also talks about who built it and its intended use. In a few words: this is a description… this is about the physical presence of an object in the world and the way it is used.
Due: 11.25.18
The 2,000-word paper on the other hand, is a ‘FORMAL ANALYSIS’ of the work’s visible attributes – the same ones described in 1,500-word essay. In this paper you will look at forms and their relationships in space, and you will write about how these elements work together and the kind of reactions they will trigger in the users. You will also talk about how the project serves its patron’s needs and how it relates to its context (e.g. the built environment, the natural environment, its cultural context, etc.). In a few words: this is a ‘formal’ analysis… this is an interpretation of the effects that the individual aspects of the project have upon its visitor and its context.
Due: 12.08.18
The 2,500-word essay is a deeper and more ‘COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS’ that develops the previous analysis further to include a cultural, social, and political to expand its more refined, philosophical and poetic meanings. For instance, how are the project’s forms and spaces meaningful; how are they expressions of their own time and what is their cultural import? In a few words: this is a ‘cultural’ analysis… it is an overarching argument in which you describe the effect of the project as whole and its full impact on the world and the people of its time.
Therefore: 1. Description (Already done); 2. Formal Analysis; and, 3. Comprehensive Analysis. Three (03) distinct and separate papers on the same topic.
If you chose to expand your sources below, only use ‘academic’ sources; no Wikipedia or unpublished internet references, please – don’t use tourist guides, coffee–table books, encyclopedic dictionaries, and a plethora of other non–academic references. All sources must be printed (books, book chapters or journal articles).
Machu Picchu: A Civil Engineering Marvel
by Kenneth R. Wright , Alfredo Valencia Zegarra, Ruth M. Wright, Ph.D. Mcewan Gordon
Lost City of the Incas (Phoenix Press) Paperback – October 1, 2003
by Hiram Bingham
Machu Picchu: Exploring an Ancient Sacred Center
by Johan Reinhard
Machu Picchu: The History and Mystery of the Incan City
by Jesse Harasta, Charles River Editors
The Conquest of the Incas 2012 Edition
by John Hemming
