Scavenger Hunt
As we began our journey to find the buried treasure …oh wait there is no treasure, anyway, Devin and I took a look at the clues and planned our route. We began with clue number one, which told us to find the Barcelona chair. We knew there were two possible places to go (The Architecture Library and The Fine Arts Library). After reading the second clue, which told us to find a chair (other than the Barcelona) in the Architecture Library, we decided that would be our first destination. We first took our picture on the Barcelona Chairs seen here:
Clue 01:
The Barcelona Chair
Designed by Mies van der Rohe
In 1929 Mies designed the Barcelona chair after creating the German Pavilion, which held the World Arts Fair.
Knoll Inc stamps Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s signature into each chair still to this day.
Quote from the man himself: “The chair is a very difficult object. Everyone who has ever tried to make one knows that. There are endless possibilities and many problems - the chair has to be light, it has to be strong, it has to be comfortable. It is almost easier to build a sky scraper than a chair.”
After this we scavenged through the Library searching far and wide for our next prey as seen here:
Clue 2:
The Pastilli Chair
Designed by E. Arnio in 1967
Material: Moulded fibreglass
The New York Times described the chair as "the most comfortable forms to hold up the human body".
The domed base of the chair allows you to rock and roll in it however you please.
The magazine pictured is an issue of A10.eu new European architecture.
Once our first two missions were accomplished, Devin and I sat down and began researching for our next clues. Devin found the building designed by Peter Eisenman (The Wexner Center for the Arts) and the Thompson Library designed by Acock & Associates, while I searched for the buildings (The Science and Engineering Library and the Math Tower) designed by Philip Johnson. After our much-needed rest (not really) we decided to tackle the fourth clue given to us. As we journeyed through the Architecture Library we admired (aka couldn’t find our way out, got lost and practically walked every square foot of the building) the accessibility of the library’s ramp, which winds throughout the whole building. When we finally made it out of the jungle maze…err the library, we set off for the Math Tower and The Science and Engineering Library as seen here:
Clue 4:
The Science and Engineering Library
Philip Johnson designed the Science and Engineering Library in 1992.
The building is made of brick with many archways including the central archway, which is highlighted by a different brick pattern.
I liked all of the arches on the building especially the one located on the west side of the library, which has a circular glass window and goes to a peak at the top of the building. I really like the symmetry created with this building.
Once again we set off to our next destination, The Thompson Library as seen here:
Clue 5:
The Thompson Library
Designed by Acock & Associates
The design team for the original building was selected in 1910 through an architectural competition. The library opened its doors on January 6 1913.
The library is located at the head of the oval suggesting a place where everyone can meet to study together. The building was recently renovated during 2006-09 to increase the seating number from 850 to 1,800 with many different areas for learning.
We journeyed through the Oval fighting through armies of vicious squirrels (really have you seen the abundance of squirrels in that place, we could start a zoo…yeah “The Ohio State University Squirrel Zoo” come one, come all!). We reached our final destination, The Wexner Center for the Arts as seen here:
Clue3:
The Wexner Center
Peter Eisenman created The Wexner Center for the Arts, which opened in November 1989.
The Wexner Center was the first major public building Eisenman designed.
The white metal grid on the outside of the building is meant to look incomplete and deconstructed.
The journey was long and difficult (actually we finished before class was out...so I'll take it), but well worth the treasure at the end...ugh really there wasn't a treasure at the end?
