Thomas Heatherwick: The Da Vinci of Our Times or Solving Problems that Don't Need Solving - Essay Example

Turkey political system January 28, Successful architecture is inspired. The research shows the essence of architecture.The study focuses on the structure needs of different stakeholders. Thomas Heatherwick’s is current day architecture’s Leonardo Da Vinci. Thomas Heatherwick is the Leonardo Da Vinci of our times (Wroe 1). In one of Leonardo Da Vinci’s innovative concepts, the Roman theologian Tertullian (living between the 154 to 223 time period) and most scientists and scholars had a popular concept that the mollusk shells’ appearance on mountain tops were remnants of the Holy Bible’s Noah’s flood story (Koutsoukos 5). Leonardo Da Vinci (living between the 1450s - 1520s) went a different or abnormal way. Leonardo Da Vinci created the scientific hypothesis that the mountains were once near the coast lines. Da Vinci espoused that as time went by, the continuing movements of our earth’s crust moved the present day mountains farther and farther away from the oceans’ coastlines. Modern day archaeology discoveries showed erosion and the earth’s movements moved the mountains several miles away and from the sea shores (Koutsoukos 5). If a person was living in Leonardo Da Vinci’s time, such person believed Leonardo Da Vinci is abnormal (Learning 420). Based on the prior discussions on Leonardo Da Vinci’s advanced theories, Thomas Heatherwick’s 22st century architectural concepts firmly fits into the fitting shoes of the 21st Century reincarnation of Leonardo Da Vinci. Thomas Heatherwick refused to abide by the logical consequence concepts of other average-minded architects (McKeon 5). As average minded architects, the building “drawers” normally preferred to imitate or copy the mundane architectural concepts of popular architects. Thomas Heatherwick abhorred the mundane architectural structures of our 21st century buildings as “without a soul”. As a growing up kid, Thomas Heatherwick decided to take up architecture in order to upgrade architecture into the 22nd century. A shown by some of Thomas Heatherwick’s creations, it is undoubtedly clear that Thomas Heatherwick successfully succeeded in improving on face of the present day architectural landscape. For example, Heatherwick’s Eat Beach Café was designed to fill the needs of the rich and poor beach goers (Feigel 10). Thomas Heatherwick was popular because he had the genius capacity to solve problems needed to be solved, revolting against standardized architecture’s creativity absence (Gartman 259). Each building structure has certain architecturally unique problems. Architecture is also defined as the design process that solves the stakeholders’ problems (Anderson 36). Further, the weather condition is another problem that has to be architecturally solved successfully (Pressman 23). The architect should not build a small log cabin in snow-covered Alaska, U.S.A. Likewise, the architect should not construct an Eskimo ice home in the deserts of Africa. The architect must resolve the cold buildings’ heating problems by including the fireplace in the architectural drawings. Being an artist, Thomas Heatherwick snugly delved in the art of solving comfort and maximisation use problems before they have been resolved. Thomas Heatherwick starts to solve the architectural space problem by successfully formulating relevant questions (Ching 2). Furthermore, the average architect emulates the architecturally proven concepts of the place and time period. Japanese architects, , including popular Japanese architects Kenzo Tange and Fumihiko Maki, build the familiar Japanese buildings within Japan’s prefectures (Brott 75). Eskimo architects build ice houses in freezing cold communities. The Eskimo’s ice buildings are composed of blocks of 15 cm by 90 cm by 45 cm dimension ice (Senosian 70). Architects innovatively crafted the Palace of Westminster (United Kingdom’s House of Parliament) by incorporating the Gothic perpendicular style revival concept (Porter 35). Moreover, British architects would surely prefer certain building types. Many architects prefer designing towering skyscrapers in Downtown New York, including the very formidable Empire State Building (Lemire 11). Most Chinese temples, including those located within our London spheres, are constructed using the same architectural styles. Many Chinese buildings, especially temples, include dragon figures. Popular Chinese architecture includes China’s Temple of Heaven. The building was constructed during Emperor Jiajing’s time. The temple included symbolism and numerology inputs (Cai 44). Bench, 1994 The above bench masterpiece of Thomas Heatherwick shows one of the creator’s genius outputs (Dezeen, 2009). The six (6) benches are made from one (1) complete metal source, aluminum (Betsky 1). The one piece aluminum raw material was molded to contain the legs, seat and back portions, having zero (0) fittings or fixtures. The metal is used in the construction of airplanes. In the creation of his 1994 bench masterpiece, Thomas Heatherwick included several factors. First, the bench is made from one lone material. Next, the bench metal was extruded to arrive at the finished bench form. Aerospace technology was used in the molding of the bench. The technology incorporates sturdy metal materials, adapting the building to the changing needs of the users (Parisi 196). With the lives of the thousands of airplane passengers in the hands of the airline company’s airplanes, strong materials are used (Heatherwick 1). UK Pavilion, 2007 Thomas Heatherwick won the competition to design the United Kingdom Pavilion, gold medal winner. The requirements of the competition included having a football pitch size. Next, the architect had to focus on a low construction budget. Third, the structure must be able to one of the top attractions. Thomas Heatherwick handily complied with the needed competition requirements. Heatherwick’s technology-infused (Marshall 11) estimated 4,200 sq. m. auditorium Pavilion was formidably one of the top five pavilion attractions, with its estimated 15 ft. spine features. The curious visitors were effortlessly persuaded to enter the magnetically curious structure (Heatherwick Studio, 2010). Using software to create powerful expressions (Ryan 118), Heatherwick incorporated the distance architecture concept to enhance the art-influenced (Davis 1) structure’s attractiveness (Chen 42). Office Interior, 1995 In 1995, Thomas Heatherwick finally finished the construction of his unique office interior company, Heatherwick Studio. The chair size is enough to fit only one (1) person. One chair is composed of six (6) metal spin materials. The company’s marketing strategy was to combine the related construction fields of discipline. Incorporating aesthetic flow and blending design (Lefteri 106), the fields include Heatherwick’s expertise in sculpture (Allinson 418), furniture planning, construction material selection, and product blueprints. Maximizing the AutoCAD architectural drawing software (Sykes 30), Thomas Heatherwick mastered civil engineering, interior design, creative inventiveness, and architecture (Thompson 240). Further, Heatherwick Study’s three dimension strategies blended uniquely different office interior designs and historical concepts (Fallan 25). The image shows the architect’s revolving spun chairs. Taking into consideration space inputs (Taylor 2), the sitter can favorably roll around the chair to face all sides of the office or room without having to turn one’s head around. Shying away from normative architecture’s boring features (Groat 111), the architect was able to fill the need to fill the comfort and aesthetic beauty requirements of the clients (Betsky 1). Millennium Bridge, 1996 Thomas Heatherwick won the 1996 Architecture competition (Archilovers 1). The competition was sponsored by both the Financial Times, architecture association of Britain, and the London Borough of Southwark. The competition required designing one (1) footbridge crossing the Thames. The estimated 324 meter bridge must cater to the comfort of people crossing the wobbly bridge. Lastly, the bridge should comply with environmental standards. Clearly, Heatherwick solved the requirements of the competition by incorporating the engineering, design, aesthetics theories (Gibbons 149). Heatherwick successfully supplied the stakeholders’ value requirements (Emmitt 15). Conclusion Triumphant architecture is grounded on inspiration. The essence of responsive architecture includes filling the different stakeholders’ various structure needs. Software-based technology increased the quality of Thomas Heatherwick’s architectural masterpieces. Evidently, Thomas Heatherwick is 21st century architecture’s Leonardo Da Vinci. Works Cited Allinson, Kenneth. Architects and Architecture in London. London: Routledge Press, 2013. Print. Anderson, Jane. Basics of Architecture: Architectural Design. London: AVA Press, 2010. Print. Archilovers. Millenium Bridge. Retrieved January 27, 2014 Brott, Simone. Architecture for a Free Subjectivity. London: Ashgate Press, 2011. Print. Cai, Yanxin. Chinese Architecture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011. Print. Chen, Gang. Landscape Architecture. London: Archite Press, 2011. Print. Ching, Francis. Architecture: Form, Space, and Order. London: J. Wiley & Sons, 2012. Print. Davis, Evan. Made in Britain. London: Hachete, U.K. Press, 2011. Print. Dezeen. Dezeen. 7 October 2009. 27 January 2014 Print . Print. Emmitt, Stephen. Architectural Management. London: J. Wiley & Sons, 2009. Print. Fallan, Kjetil. Design History: Understanding Theory and Method. London: Berg Press, 2010. Print. 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