Point4

I believe that the reflections unit is like a cartwheel. First, you start off in a box, meaning you are following the rules. Second, you step out of the box, exploring different possibilities. Third, you turn upside down, breaking the rules. And finally forth, you revert to the box, creating a new set of rules. In other words I have interpreted design at this time to be reflecting back on past ideas then going outside the box in order to create something “modern”.
From one revolution to the next many different design ideas come and go. Many ideas were being revived, but instead looking to Rome as the latest designers have been doing for quite some time people are looking to what Rome based its idea of architecture off of. They decided that Greece was more “pure” compared to Rome therefore reflecting their ideas would most likely be better. Gothic revival was also starting to reappear. A lot of church-like characteristics were being seen in non religious buildings. For instance, Strawberry Hill’s pink room is a perfect example of this with its fan vaults and other similar features.
Not only did people reflect on the past but they also looked to other countries. Since trade was becoming more widespread people were able to experience other cultures. From this, a sense of worldliness started becoming popular. The East was starting to be used as a precedent for design in the West. People in the west wanted to create an “artificial world”, a world of architecture that did not belong and was not normal in its new context. For example the Royal Pavilion in England. This building’s exterior shows great influence from India and even the interior does not look like it belongs in England because of its layers of colorful decorations. Many people were striving for an exotic feel and by pasting other countries architectural ways they are able to create this.
What can you see you reflection in? Perhaps a mirror but for my point I would have to say the Crystal Palace. During the nineteenth century many revolutions arose, one of them being the industrial revolution. With this industrial revolution new materials such as iron and glass come into the field of design. These materials allow for new kinds of structures to be constructed such as the Crystal Palace. The Crystal palace is a show room that in my opinion captures the idea of this unit, it reflects the ideas of the past and the present as well as all of the design languages brought forward from both. It not only reflects the ideas of design though what it carries within it but the Crystal Palace itself is a significant part of what design is leading to.
I believe that this unit draws a very fine line as to what it is trying to express. In my opinion it is like a clock, it is able to grasp the past and move forward in order to create something modern at this point in time. These pictures of clocks in a way show what you would generally think of as a clock and what someone has done to a clock after they step outside the box and go upside down.

http://www.conranusa.com/images/default/us/catalogue/large/9052720.jpg

http://www.furniturestoreblog.com/2008/05/20/10_coolest_affordable_retro_modern_wall_clocks_under_300.html