Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Janice Fredwest
Unique Forms
The unique forms that make up the Aronoff Center are what really grabs the attention of people passing by. Eisenman wanted to create a space using geometric forms. The Aronoff Center is an addition to the DAAP building. Eisenman responds to the orthagonal lines of the existing buildings by creating a curving spine that wraps around the three existing building. The new addition seems to follow the form of the landscape more than the existing building. This curved line is complex in both plan and section. The curve also has no center. This building could not have been created without the new technologies in building construction. From there spatial boxes were planted along the curved path and each box overlapped the next. (Eleven Authors) Eiseman uses structure as a highlight in the Aronoff Center and used the new technologies in comptuers to his advantage, but there are many inconsistencies and problems in his concept and construction as the result of such a complex building.
While the diagram for the new aronoff building is seamless with the existing buildings, the reality is slightly different. Many areas are sloped, especially on the 500 level where the buildings did not line up. There are also pieces of rubber where the seams are (purposefully) to allow for the movement of the individual buildings.
Site
Just as Eisman had to compromise with the materials and colors chosen, the site too presented a problem with Eismans original design. The exterior can hardly be seen. Eiseman had originally wanted to lower the hill on the northern and western faades to reveal more of the building, but the university administration did not allow for this. Now half of the building is hidden behind the landscape. The Northern faade is covered by the existing buildings. The eastern entrance is the only place where you can really get a good look at the building.
There is a sense of logical system to the overall form, but sometimes that logic is elusive. Doing such a complex series of forms along with many concepts causes tehre to be grey areas in actual construction.
Because the structural design of the building presented special engineering challenges, the architects had to toss away all conventional wisdom and try to visualize the building as a shape. Computer modeling was indispensable says
Tim Raberding, president of Progressive Engineering
Site Plans
Left: Hand Drawn Right: Computer Generated
Floor Plan
Eisenman uses too many concepts with the columns, causing a compromise to the idea of a true column. Eisenman brings attention to a structure that is not even there.
After Thoughts
Peter Eisenmans design for the Aronoff Center was very complex and a huge undertaking. He had many initial design issues by having to build off of an existing building. He also created his own issues by having many concepts to his building, many of them involving structure. Having the new technology merge with the limitations of building construction was another problem. Dealing with all of these issues make certain aspects of the building and its structure a little under par. He could not stay true to all of his concepts at once, so the building has much compromise. It is also deteriorating at an alarming rate. At the same time, the Aronoff Building would not be nearly as unique and interesting if it had not been for all of the risks that Eisenman took on. We should be glad for what Eisenman strived to do, but learn from his mistakes in hopes that we can build form and function with perfection.
Biblography
Eleven Authors, Eleven Authors in Search of a Building: The Aronoff Center for the Design and Art at the University of Cincinnati. New York: The Montacelli Press, 1996. Pp 21-119 Preiser, Wolfgang. Aronoff Center for University of Cincinnati: POE The AIA Jouranl of Architecture, Janurary 2006. Chitwood, Heather. Architectural Thesis from Cincinnati, Ohio. University of Cincinnati http://www.architectureweek.com, signature architecture: The Aronoff Center for Design and Art http://www.archinet.com/gallery