Bridges as art Questionaire |
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 Bridge No. 1 Goodwill Bridge Brisbane, Australia  Bridge No. 2 Golden Gate Bridge USA  Bridge No. 3 Puente de Alamillo Spain  Bridge No. 4 Millau Viaduct France  Bridge No. 5 Salginatobel Bridge Switzerland  Bridge No. 6 Bridge, Orleans France |
Please will you……. a) Read the names of the 6 bridges set out immediately below then b) read the 4 criteria set out below then c) look at the photos of the 6 bridges then d) think how Bridge Number 1 compares with Bridge Number 2, Bridge 3 with 4 and Bridge 5 with 6 then e) answer the questions making sure your judgments concur with your comparisons in d) then f) if you feel it worthwhile return to me David Blockley at D.Blockley@bris.ac.uk Click here for a version of the Questionaire in Word format The Bridges1) Goodwill Bridge, Brisbane, Australia 2) Golden Gate Bridge, USA 3) Puente del Alamillo, Seville, Spain 4) Millau Viaduct, France 5) Salginatobel Bridge, Switzerland 6) Bridge, Orleans, France The CriteriaCriterion Number 1When I first saw this bridge I experienced a powerful emotional reaction. Comment This is a measure of your emotional reaction to the bridge - positive or negative. Questions to ask yourself might be: * Apart from the fact that you may have to cross it - does the bridge draw you towards it? Do you want to look at it further? * Do you get a feeling of harmony, interest, intrigue, puzzlement? * Does it annoy or irritate you. * Is it simply just beautiful or just very ugly? * Do you want to engage with it or shy away from it? * Do you feel nothing for it at all - you just aren't interested in it (apart from the need to use it as a means of crossing). Criterion Number 2 The bridge is in total harmony with its context Comment A bridge in context is an exercise in composition as surely as when an artist paints a picture or prepares a sculpture. Good composition requires a bridge to fit its context. Good composition needs balance. However whilst symmetry is balance, balance is more than mere symmetry. Asymmetry can be balanced if it creates a sense of interesting flow on a visual journey without rifts or abrupt changes. An ugly bridge may create interest simply through its ugliness but the feeling of disharmony makes you draw back so here is where you mark down an ugly bridge. Questions to ask yourself might be: * Are the proportions and scales appropriate? Does the bridge dominate, or is too small for, its location? * Does the bridge sit heavily on the ground? * Does it lack a lightness of touch so it appears out of balance? * Is it too angular with only straight lines and clashing hard edges? * Does it have curves that create softness and emotional warmth? * Does it have details that result in deterioration - e.g. rust on concrete? * Do lines follow the flow of the internal forces? Criterion Number 3 The bridge gives me a sense of frozen movement. Comment Photographic snapshots of people are more interesting when people are not merely standing still with arms by their sides but are doing something natural. A sculpture is effective when there is implied movement. For example the muscles of Michelangelo's David impress you because you feel David is strong and athletic - but he is just a static slab of stone after all. As a viewer you become engaged with what is going on and you imagine. You see an object - a photo, painting or sculpture which is still and unmoving but which has potential movement - frozen movement. So just as a home snapshot photograph or a sculpture is more interesting if there is frozen action so a bridge can be more interesting if it seems slightly off balance. For example the Pont de l'Europe in Orleans has an arch which is inclined and hence gives you a feeling of potential movement. Indeed the arch would fall over sideways were it not for the cables which mutually brace the deck and the arch into a single whole. The leaning arch gives a sense of strength but also of fragility. It is this conflict that makes the bridge unusual and interesting. Questions to ask yourself might be: * Does the bridge give you a sense of visual movement? (Of course we must immediately distinguish this artistic concept from actual physical movements due to wobbles and vibrations.) * Is the visual movement engaging? * Do you find your self imagining where the movement is leading? Criterion Number 4 The bridge has a clear form that makes sense to you Comment The fourth criterion is about clarity of flow of line, shape, texture and contrast. It is the very essence of what a bridge is about aesthetically. Is its form pleasing to the eye? Simplicity may be sufficient for clarity of flow but it isn't necessary. Simplicity can be plainness, lack of inappropriate ornament or pretentiousness, freedom from intricacy and numerous divisions into bits. But simplicity must be understandable, however it needn't be austere. Simplicity is straightforward, truthful and direct. It implies modesty, innocence and purity with integrity and unity. Simplicity may be easy, natural and may be primitive. The opposite of simplicity is clutter. It is distracting and takes our attention away from the essence of something. So by reducing clutter we can more easily focus on what is important. Questions to ask yourself might be: * Do you find the bridge pleasing to the eye? * Do you get any sense of its essence i.e. what it is about aesthetically? * Do you feel that the lines, shapes, shades, textures, contrasts, make clear sense to you? * Is there any sense of pretentiousness? Is there no over elaborate ornament? Is it too austere? * Is the simplicity of the bridge straightforward, truthful and direct? Is it modest, innocent and pure with integrity and unity? * Is the simplicity easy, natural and primitive? |
The AssessmentsPlease circle a number below - 1 = totally disagree, 5 = totally agree | |||||
| Goodwill Bridge, Brisbane, Australia | Totally disagree | Disagree | Don't agree or disagree | Agree | Totally agree | When I first saw this bridge I experienced a powerful emotional reaction. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | The bridge is in total harmony with its context. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | The bridge gives me a sense of frozen movement. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | The bridge has a clear form that makes sense. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Please add any comments |
The AssessmentsPlease circle a number below - 1 = totally disagree, 5 = totally agree | |||||
| Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco | Totally disagree | Disagree | Don't agree or disagree | Agree | Totally agree | When I first saw this bridge I experienced a powerful emotional reaction. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | The bridge is in total harmony with its context. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | The bridge gives me a sense of frozen movement. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | The bridge has a clear form that makes sense. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Please add any comments |
The AssessmentsPlease circle a number below - 1 = totally disagree, 5 = totally agree | |||||
| Puente del Alamillo, Seville, Spain | Totally disagree | Disagree | Don't agree or disagree | Agree | Totally agree | When I first saw this bridge I experienced a powerful emotional reaction. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | The bridge is in total harmony with its context. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | The bridge gives me a sense of frozen movement. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | The bridge has a clear form that makes sense. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Please add any comments |
The AssessmentsPlease circle a number below - 1 = totally disagree, 5 = totally agree | |||||
| Millau Viaduct, France | Totally disagree | Disagree | Don't agree or disagree | Agree | Totally agree | When I first saw this bridge I experienced a powerful emotional reaction. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | The bridge is in total harmony with its context. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | The bridge gives me a sense of frozen movement. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | The bridge has a clear form that makes sense. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Please add any comments |
The AssessmentsPlease circle a number below - 1 = totally disagree, 5 = totally agree | |||||
| Salginatobel Bridge, Switzerland | Totally disagree | Disagree | Don't agree or disagree | Agree | Totally agree | When I first saw this bridge I experienced a powerful emotional reaction. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | The bridge is in total harmony with its context. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | The bridge gives me a sense of frozen movement. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | The bridge has a clear form that makes sense. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Please add any comments |
The AssessmentsPlease circle a number below - 1 = totally disagree, 5 = totally agree | |||||
| Pont de l'Europe, Orleans, France | Totally disagree | Disagree | Don't agree or disagree | Agree | Totally agree | When I first saw this bridge I experienced a powerful emotional reaction. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | The bridge is in total harmony with its context. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | The bridge gives me a sense of frozen movement. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | The bridge has a clear form that makes sense. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Please add any commentsBack |