GM 9/11

GM 9/11

The trip down town was insightful, helping me to further understand Jencks The Emergent Rules. Particularly; I felt that the Bank of America building tour showed excellent examples of disharmonious harmony. Just a couple of some of others of the many examples in the design of the building are double-coding, tradition reinterpreted, new rhetorical figures, and multivalence.
The Bank of America building appears to be designed completely around disharmonious harmony; which introduces the other rules used as listed above, opens the door if you will, for their use. The use of the pyramid design, topped-off by a pseudo church steeple, set off from the main building by the partially enclosed courtyard, on Orange Avenue is the first indication of disharmonious harmony. Examples of tradition reinterpreted can be seen, again, from the use of the pyramid and church steeple symbolizing wisdom, goodness, strength, longevity, and might. Things you might associate with churches and banks. Examples of double-coding can be seen with the use of security cameras, placed inconspicuously where you might not expect to see a security camera; for example, expecting to see a light fixture in a series of light fixtures, you instead realize you’re looking at a camera leaving you to rethink the use of the light fixture and camera in those uses and in those locations. Very similar to tradition reinterpreted, examples of the use of new rhetorical figures can also be seen in the design of the building.
New rhetorical figures such as lamps used in the bank lobby can be seen used again in other areas of the building, in different ways. Their shade shapes are repeated in the lighting design in a series of lights used in a hallway for example. Multivalence is most prevalent in the over-all design of the building. The exterior of the building is busy, in other words, there is a lot going on with the design, few smooth surfaces, and if the surface is smooth, it’s designed to reflect other surfaces, giving it potentially new and multiple interpretations.