Blog: IAR 221 History and Theory of Design 1/ Acropolis +Xianyang

Our class was divided into our groups for this discussion.  Each group was given a specific term from the reading passage to elaborate on its importance and how both Acropolis and the Palace at Xianyang both connected and how they differ.  My group (Pegasus) was given the word Experience and here is my response to this discussion.  Both cultures valued people, I would say through experience and the materials available, each site was constructed carefully for what worked in their environment and the experience of working with those materials.  Acropolis is built upon a mountain to keep it as a "safe"  environment as well as on a high pedestal looking down on the rest of the buildings.  The Palace at Xianyang on the other hand is placed at the center of its city to show its importance.  Each building has its own extravagant ornamentation.  Simplicity was seen as more important in Acropolis as opposed to the Palace in Xianyang.  Each building was constructed based upon how society viewed it at the time.  The layout of both buildings can easily be viewed from the geometric perspective.  Acropolis setting having a more triangular shape with most of the building leading up to the main temple.  The Palace at Xianyang can be viewed as circular with the most important part(The Palace)  in the center of the cirlce and all the other buildings going outward from that point.