BP # 4

Of the four buildings visited during Friday's class the library was the single space
where commodity, firmness, and delight were at their highest achievement. The ionic columns used in the library gave it solidity and the towers also made it look firm and highlighted the entrance way. The library was the original cylinder space and each other building was created based on it's image. The quality of lighting in the ECU was very poor and the circles located throughout did not have any specific function and the arrangement was not useful. The floor patterns helped guide you through the building, but air returns were not incorporated into the space at all. This diminished the quality of the interrelationship of spaces. The MHRA building had the highest in delight; the glass windows gave off a sense of horizontal stacking and hierarchy. All the materials used were pretty solid and well planned out. But the hollow columns provided no real purpose and did not provide the sense of solidity that was seen in the library columns. In the MHRA, ECU, and the music buildings none of the axis seemed to serve any significance overall. Whereas, in the library the axis marked the four major buildings of the campus and guided you to and through them (providing a pathway). The materials used in the library emphasized the power and solidity of the building and makes it seem more structurally sound. In addition, since it is the oldest building of the four it has a high rating performance and stability department. Although the MHRA and the music building have a newer "fresher" appearance that makes them more delightful than the library, overall the library out ranks them based on the other building conditions.