Sayre BP8 IAR 221

Ancient [Core]

The Core of the Nautilus shell, shed by the mollusk Nautilus, can be used to express the growth of architecture. The chambers which are grown by the Nautilus are added over the years and can be a metaphor for the different ages and forms of architecture that have emerged.

Representations of the Nautilus assist in showing the metaphor, possibly reminding us that all things find a root in nature somewhere. It's quite the looker.

Architecture of the Ancients

Not the most ancient form of architecture, however Roman and Greek architecture were arguably the height of Ancient architecture both in form as well as technology. The following images represent this height which was the core of what the later chambers of the nautilus is based on. The Parthenon, Temple of Hercules and The Pantheon, while time in which were built stretches over the centuries, are all the basis for later forms.awe

Parthenon

The Greek addition to the spiral, the meeting of all the columns far in the air representing a triumph in architecture

The Temple of Hercules, in the Forum Boarium, a circular structure excellently preserved and a guide for future construction

The Pantheon, "All Gods", also a representation of a kind of perfection of architecture, and one of the strongest influences to later architecture.

Renaissance [Middle]

These examples of later architecture were a redux, holding up the original forms in order to continue the glory of the Ancients. As one of the steps which is linked to earlier forms it is the second set of chambers that spiral out from the core of architecture. It looks similar, as indeed it was meant to, yet differences are found here and there as the chambers get larger, and further from the core. The changes in size of the chambers could be a representation of the amount of ideas which are produced in each representative time period, and may indeed be a perfect parallel to the developments in architecture.

Villa Capra - a representative of architecture redone, a tribute to the Pantheon in form and done one better by the addition of 4 facades.

Dome of Florence Cathedral - The dome was influenced by the Pantheon, and is like the next chamber in the nautilus, similar to the last.

Sant' Andrea - Capturing the size of the ancient Roman baths, this structure brings back the scale of ancient buildings.

Baroque [Outer Rim]

As one nears the outer rim of the shell, the chambers are elongated, very different from the inner shells. The differences in size and shape and curve of the later chambers represent an explosion in differences in architecture. Baroque, the stretching of the mind, the restlessness of the eyes, the separation from the simplistic yet grande Renaissance, fills observers with almost too much to look at. This was chosen as the outer rim as it represents the furthest from the spiral, from the original and ancient ways of the more plain to the extravagant and grandiose.

San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane Flowing further form the inner spiral finds a stretch from original forms and a stretch in design.

Hall of Mirrors, Versailles - Extravagance over the previous plain architecture has been developed and expresses the grand nature and opening of the senses.

Zwinger Palace, Germany Yet another view of the extreme design and movement of the eye.

Each of these separate sets of chambers shows the growth of not only architecture, but humanity.

One could express the sum of humanities ideas through the Nautilus's shell. Each chamber grows in size due to the aggregation of humanities ideas and some ways that this is represented is in our architecture, as well as art, technology, literature and music. Although this has used the Nautilus to describe architecture, i believe that Humanity as a whole could also be seen in this fashion.