Blog Post 3 Theory and History of Design

Circles play an important role in the way buildings, sites, and spaces are designed.  An ancient and universal symbol of unity, wholeness, infinity, the goddess, female power, and the sun.  To earth-centered religions throughout history as well as to many contemporary pagans, it represents the feminine spirit or force, the cosmos or a spiritualized Mother Earth, and a sacred space.  Gnostic traditions linked the unbroken circle to the "world serpent" forming a circle as it eats its own tail. Examples on campus of where we use and see circles being used in the design and layout would be:  the Elliot University Center.  When you first walk in the front entrance from the walker parking deck, you enter into a circular foyer, which has four points of the circle one to the east(the food area), one to the west(bookstore), one to the north( the information desk) and of course the south(back to the parking deck).  If you proceed towards the north in the EUC, you will come across another circle, which is more of a crazy circle, but in all, it is still a circle.  In everyday life we use circles as places to meet and gather.  These are points that are easy to recognize and aren't as heavy in traffic flow as say a  hallway or stairwell. The place where I believe commodity, firmness, and delight are executed well on campus would be the MHRA building.  The position of the circle with the building is very attractive.  The light that pours in through its glass paneling keeps the room filled with light in the lobby when you walk in.  As you walk in it is very open and airy, giving you a sense of breathable space.  Within this circle are some setting areas for students who are either waiting on someone, or just passing the time reading and waiting for class.  There is also a winding staircase that reaches 4 floors high.  The delight factor is pretty good when you walk in, the elements in the design are very clean, and give aspects of high tech and progress, something that helps represent UNCG as a progressing university.

Photo cited: http://www.thebluntblogger.com/1539/crop-circles-mystery
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