LESSON TWO: THE GREAT SPIRIT

I. Lesson Two, High School Art I, The Great Spirit, Two Days, 90 mins:

II. Lesson Rationale:

Architects often say that their work feels like making a filling boxes. They design
spaces that are meant to be useful or habitable. Educators at all levels of
teaching should consider the big picture. The big picture is not the global-market
economy. It is the result of in-depth encounters with the sacred. I want students
to be able to experience architecture they way I do. Students should be able to
have a spiritual experience with a space. Students should understand that a
spiritual place is not always a cathedral but a space that makes you feel
something that only your spirit and awareness of being can allow us to
experience. Our world economy is geared toward total emphasis in material
wants and needs and there is an eclipse of the hunger that people called the
hunger of the spirit. However, students will not be designing buildings for society
but expressing the spirit of a building in context of the area that surrounds it.
Students will use painting techniques to achieve a Zaha Hadid inspired rendering
in a fourth dimension. This dimension is often associated with the spiritual with
both Modernist philosophers and Modernist artists. I reworked this lesson with
some help from Dr. Shaboot and the knowledge learned from studying Middle
Eastern and Islamic Art in relation to the Modernist movements.
III. Key Concepts:
Spirit is built.
IV. Essential Question:
How is spirit created?
V. Lesson Objectives:
After the lesson, students will be able to combine contemporary painting
techniques to render one concept painting as assessed by creating tape-acrylic
methods on canvas.
VI. Specific Art Content:
Straight line/edge drawing/painting
VII. Resources & Materials for teacher:
Paper, pens, acrylic paint, tape, ruler, brushes, white board, marker
VIII. Resources & Materials for student:
Paper, pens, acrylic paint, tape, ruler, brushes, plastic cups, access to water
IX. Instruction and Its Sequencing:

Day One

1. Introduction/Motivation 2 mins:
Teacher will wear a yellow construction helmet during the introduction. Ladies and
gentlemen, welcome back to class. Are you ready to begin construction?
2. Guided Practice 20 mins:
Ask students to demonstrate their ideas to each other. Stop by each student
during class to check to see if they completed their task from the day before.
If a student did not bring in at least four images of their chosen idea, make a
 note of this they will lose/earn points later when this project is graded for
professionalism.
Demonstrate/review how to acrylic paint. Explain the purpose of tape.
Emphasize craftsmanship using those beautiful, crisp lines!
Showcase some architectural graphic rendering techniques from Architectural
Graphics by Frank Ching and the works of Zaha Hadid. Explain fourth
dimensionality as it relates to both spirit and architecture. You can use
some perspective to help identify your place among the fragmented
paint surface, but I am more concerned that your final rendering
feels like the place you chose. Instead of thinking three
dimensionally, I want to introduce the fourth dimension. *Write
definition on the white board* In the Fourth dimension we may be
able to not only see all sides of an object, but behind the object,
inside the object, and through time all at the same time. Isnt that
poetic? Some people claim that through their spiritual mediation they
can access some parts of the fourth dimension. Architects sometimes
draw in the fourth dimension and create rich spiritual artwork. Keep
this book/material in an area where all students can access it.
Zaha Hadid
Vitra Fire Station, Germany

We can imagine a spirit, too. Allow students to read the following

essay I did that explains spirituality in architecture. I explain Zaha
Hadid and how her architecture is the extension of the spirit of
placea purposeful construction. This may clear up any confusion
on what the spirit of place might look like.
 Explaining Zaha Hadid by Joseph Boatfield

When I think of my favorite fire stations, two come to mind. One is the iconic
Ghostbusters crash pad, the other is Zaha Hadids iconic Vitra Fire Station in
Germany. Most people who drive by it or experience the structure digitally
cannot immediately identify that this is, in fact, a functional fire station. They
assume it is wealthy home, or a modernist bus stop. Most are surprised to
learn that this a Malevich inspired fire station. What viewers expect is a box
with windows that reveal firetrucks and men sliding down on poles to
extinguish fires in the community. Instead, the building confronts the viewer
with sharp angles and puzzling forms. Zhang describes the building:
Hadid deconstructs the simple, integrated building into irregular
fragments, and reconstructs these fragments in the form of
conflicting, confronting and distorting, to create tense visual
perception and rich experience of the space. The fragmentation and
reconstruction not only embodied in the construction of architectural
form, but also in the relation between the buildings and its
surrounding environment. The purpose of fragmentation is to break
the existing order and organizational logic in the architecture and [its]
surrounding environment, and represents theatrically the instability
and break that caused by the fragmentation, to create a dynamic and
heterogeneous spatial experience (pg. 65, 2013).
As a household name, Zaha Hadid is one of the worlds most iconic
architects. She might be known more for her gender as an architect than her
work itself. While being, a female architect can be a rare achievement, an
influential female architect was seemingly nonexistent until her work began
appearing across the world. Hadid absorbed many constructivist elements
into her architectural aesthetic (Zhang pg. 63 2013). This is evident in the
modern slices and unpredictable sharp and steep forms found in all areas of
her early work. Hadids architectural practice followed Supremacist and
Constructivist manifestos considering floating lines and planes frozen in their
time and space. Also, Hadid made sure to represent architecture with no
reference to the function of architecture, but only to the surroundings. As a
Suprematist, she might say that an architectural structure is not meant to
reference its function at all, but can only reference an extension of what was
there before.
I argue that Vitra Fire House is a successful design that has brought the
Russian inspirations of Suprematism and Constructivism back to life through
contemporary architecture. The decisions that Hadid made in this work will
be the evidence of my claim. I argue that this Fire Station checks every box
of Suprematism thus making it a successful Suprematist work. This includes
making obvious reference to abstraction and purposefully having the viewer
consider that there is no possible interpretation other than what is seen.
Also, Hadid manages to make connections to the surrounding areas, as
many architects do, but different because she references the surrounding
forms rather than interacting with them. When constructing this assessment,
I want to also point out Noel Carrolls insistence on the importance of artist
intention and that the artist, not the critic, provides the value in art. In other
words, we can make an evaluation of the structure considering where it falls
in a genre.
Kazimir Malevich, one of the most famous during the era in Russia, created
work that is very minimal, and simplified to the basic elements of the form,
color, and line (Zhang pg. 63 2013). Although, he was not an architect, his
paintings emphasized a philosophy for abstraction. Suprematist creation for
him is to adhere to the representation of the pure feeling in the abstract,
but not to reproducing the natural reality.
We must rethink our concept of abstraction when we compare architecture
to the paintings of Malevich. Quite simply, a viewer must reconsider how one
can make something so functional as architecture abstract? Remember, we
understand architecture by how humans experience it. However, this fire
station has blurred the inherent function and spirit of a fire station. Zaha
Hadid accomplishes this task by confusing our interpretation of the
structure. The logic that everyday viewers have is not useful in this
interaction; the fire station has lost any of the traditional boxes that imply its
own function. There are no civic signs, no indications of purpose, and the
garage door seems to be only an architectural extension of a concrete wall.
Any representational or functional element has strategically been stripped or
embedded into the faade of the structure to obscure the purpose. Any
traditional element of fire station has vanished. One would be bright to
immediately identify the true nature of this building without any prior
knowledge. Upon presenting this work to a Middle Eastern studies class, no
student could correctly identify the function of this building. The choice in
design means is that Hadid has abstracted the logic architecture. By
reducing architecture to its sharp but meaningful form and stretching the
planes that surround the space, we understand that the structure is not
meant to be representational and we can no longer understand a fire station
in the traditional perspective. It now has adopted a broader definition. In
terms of the Suprematism, this would match the description.
The second point I would like to make is that the fire house, like
Suprematism, only references its own existence. Oftentimes, we see our
skyscrapers or apartment buildings rise beyond the land and appear as
monuments to the spinning gears of innovation. However, these sights
oftentimes are at war with the surroundings and are purposed to stand out.
They make no reference to the far stretching planes they are built upon and
only serve the functions of human requirements for space. Hadids work
does not consider its function but makes effort to reference to the
surroundings as the force in her work. Hadid's takes on the topography,
space, structure or events and so on in the cities, blocks and sites as the
possible factors to initiate and implement the transformation (Ma pg. 197,
2013). She uses the familiar elements of a space to create a new structure
that is difficult to identify in function but has everything to do with the
surroundings that existed before the architecture existed. The city is what
Hadid is referencing in Vitra Fire House. Hadid viewed the surrounding
streets as magnetic directions that the form of the fire house would follow.
Three streets surround the fire house, and the shards of concrete and glass
reference the directions they take. Hadid has shattered the different [forms]
to keep [connections] with the existing urban context, which divide the
building into an intricate and unimaginable non-geometry that reference
the surroundings. (Ma pg. 198, 2013). In relation to Suprematist art works,
her style transcends the subject matter. It makes no difference if it a fire
station or a private home, it can only reference its own existence.
Per Noel Carroll genre has certain points or purposes and has crucial
implications to what makes a work successful or unsuccessful (pg. 29, 2009).
To put it simply, the genre provides the criterion that will reference other
work in that genre. Hadids work falls into a Suprematist category and as
aforementioned, checks all the boxes that make it a successful Suprematist
work. One may question if we could argue that an architectural structure
could become part of a genre that is most popular for painting. Carroll would
argue that a critic, even a non-architect or non-Suprematist, would still have
the logical wherewithal to make that connection and form an evaluation in
the same way (pg. 31, 2009). Evaluation of the form must me made with the
purpose of the work in mind.
The evaluation of a work is dependent on how it is interpreted (Barret pg.
24 2003). As a critic, I argue that Zaha Hadids fire house design is a success
in Suprematism. When it comes to what Suprematism requires, in terms of
decision-making, this structure is easily an addition. This design, however,
provides a unique window for viewers to see Suprematist Art in a different
lens. While still fitting into the genre, Hadid has broadened the scope of
Suprematism to include architecture. In other words, the established
purpose in relation to the category makes this art work successful.

References:

Li, J. W., & Zhang, Y. Y. (2013). Study on the dynamic construction in zaha
hadid's early
works. Applied Mechanics and Materials, 357-360,
63.doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.357-360.63

Li, J. W., & Ma, H. Z. (2013). Study on the rationality of zaha hadid's creavity in
architecture. Applied Mechanics and Materials, 357-360, 197.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.357-360.197

Carroll, N. (2009). On criticism. New York: Routledge.

Barrett, T. (2003). Interpreting art: reflecting, wondering, and responding.

Boston: McGraw-Hill

Zaha Hadid

Review the different combinations of colors created with the paint and
demonstrate how to use with straight edge ruler and use tape to create
abstract shapes. Emphasize that professional craftsmanship and variety of
color makes a design more interesting. Explain that they can suggest 3D
planes and shapes by addition of cool colors to hint shadows.
Explain the final canvas size and ask students to keep their design small on
their canvas.
Use vocabulary like horizon line and picture plane. However, check that
students understand that their paintings represent the spirit of their ideas,
and do not require meticulous detail or exact perspective, instead these are
only methods to achieve what they want to the viewer to see. These
paintings are supposed to feel like their ideas more than they look
like their ideas. Zaha Hadids paintings dont look exactly like the final
buildings, do they? This is because she just wanted to express the spirit of her
building! How does the building experience feel for her?
Allow students the option of using pencil and erasers to draft their shapes in
before they begin painting. Emphasize that color is not as important as
creating forms that reflect or juxtapose the area, region, people living
around or using their structure. Have you noticed any patterns of shapes in
your chosen area? Would anyone like to share their ideas? Color is important
but I also want this class to focus on building in shapes that make me feel and
read your chosen area not just see it.

3. Independent Practice 60 mins:

 The fourth dimension is a powerful concept in cubist artwork. Zaha Hadid is an
architect inspired by some of the artists in the Modernist movement, creating works
that reference the fourth dimension as an extension of spirit. Another definition for
"the Fourth Dimension" is the very act of perceiving (consciousness) or feeling
(sensation). Artists and writers often think of the fourth dimension as the life of the
mind.
Duchamp.

Student begin to draw/paint their creations. Materials are set out in an accessible
area in the classroom so that students can gather them on their own. Keep the
paintbrushes to yourself so that students must show you their work before finalizing
their compositions

in paint. Keep a lookout to make sure that students are only using technology to
further understand their brainstorms and are on-topic.

4. Closure 8 mins:
Alright, architects! Continue to think about how you can reflect the spirit of your
chosen areas into your projects. Please begin putting up supplies and place your
projects in safe place in the student drying racks or student drawers. Ask if any
students have some final questions. Ask students to be careful not to damage others
work in the process of cleanup. In the final couple minutes of class, ask students to
define the fourth dimension on a notecard. This will be the formative
evaluation.
 Students who have begun painting should clean their brushes.

5. Formative Evaluation:
Check the groups of tables and make sure students are on task. Students should be
creating a personal space that is meaningful to their chosen areas. If a student is
confused with the techniques of the project, demonstrate an example on the dry
erase board or show a student example.

Collect notecards. This is a possible student work

The fourth dimension is

where you can see the
object, but also through an
object, around an object, and
see the object through time!
6. -Sally Classroom Management Procedures:

Listen for any confusion and try to inspire students to make connections between
their chosen area and the spirit of their building.
Some students may be intimidated by the mathematical steps of two-point
perspective. Try to break it down for them.
The only materials that we should be using would be pencils, paper, pens, colored
pencils, and personal technology. Make sure that students are responsible for
gathering and replacing all the tools they use. Nothing should be taken from
classroom unless they ask for permission to take art work home.

Day Two

1. Introduction/motivation 2 mins:
Can anyone tell me where we left off last time? Would anyone like to demonstrate
tape methods for anyone those who need a re-cap? Here is a quote to motivate us:
No house should ever be on a hill or on anything. It should be of the hill. Belonging to
it. Hill and house should live together each the happier for the other. Frank Lloyd
Wright
2. Guided Practice 8 mins:
Have one-on-one with students falling behind to see what they need to finish for the
day.
3. Independent Practice 70 mins:
Allow students to work independently. Allow full access to paints. Place architectural
graphic books and Zaha Hadid prints in the middle of the room.
4. Closure 10 mins:
Great job, architects! Please turn in your projects neatly on my table if you would
like it graded tonight. For those who still need more time, please take it home and let
me know what materials you will need. We will not be working on these projects next
 class and will be starting something brand new so it will need to be turned in by the
start of next class. Ask that students turn in both images and final rendering for
grading. Students should also fill out a short statement on how their projects reflect
the spirit of place.
5. Formative Evaluation:
Determine which students will need to take their projects home. Ask students who
seem finished to reconsider advanced architectural illustration such as rendering
texture or depth. Make a note of who is taking their projects home to finish.

Student Name: What will you need to finish outside of

class?
Judy I need to start over because I do not
like my first attempt.
Tara I have four more shapes I would like to
add.
Greg I need to create new colors that
represent my chosen area.

Allow these students to take home needed supplies like paint brushes and disposable
plastic containers of paint.

6. Classroom management procedures:

Students work individually. Students should be working independently and
conversation should be quiet. Keep careful control over time management.

Students will need a quiet environment when writing their reflections. Make sure that
students are on task during this writing so that the reflections are clear. Offer to write
a sample reflection of the demo work if students need more exposure to reflective
writing.

X. Summative Assessment and Evaluation:

Ask students to write out their thinking for this project.
What decisions did you make to connect a spirit of a place into your artwork?
Name some of the areas where this is communicated.

Please use the following rubric for grading this assignment

Area 1 2 3
Shapes The student did The student The student
not use any somewhat shapes correctly used
shapes to to communicate shapes to
 communicate the their spirit. communicate a
spirit. spirit.
Relationship to Rendering shows Rendering shows Rendering shows
chosen area no relationship to little relationship a clear
the chosen area to the chosen relationship
(Writing portion) for construction. area for between the
construction. chosen area and
construction.
Line The student did The student used The student used
not use clean minimal clean clean lines
lines to illustrate lines to illustrate throughout.
the space or the space or
texture. texture.
Professionalism Student did not Student Student used time
use time somewhat used appropriately and
appropriately and time turned materials
did not turn in appropriately. in on time.
materials on-time. Student may have
turned in
materials on time.
TOTALS:
This is my work based off the architecture in Beirut. Time limit was 60
mins.
Actual Student Work by Andrew Chan. The time limit was 60 minutes.
This was based off his chosen photo which was a street in China.
XI. Interdisciplinary Connections:
Construction, Engineering, city planning, geometry

XII. References & Resources:

Ching, F. D. (1985). Architectural graphics. Chapman & Hall.

Early Sketching
Students may sketch out their space and then try to break their architecture down into the
essence or most basic parts if needed before they begin a spirit painting.
 Use these images when teaching spirit studies:

Le Coubusier Utopia

How does this design make us feel? Do we feel lost or small? How could we express that in
a painting? What kinds of shapes and colors might we choose?
Zaha Hadid. Is this four demensional? What makes something four demensional?
XIII. Art TEKS
(2) Creative expression. The student communicates ideas through original
artwork using a variety of media with appropriate skills. The student expresses
thoughts and ideas creatively while challenging the imagination, fostering
reflective thinking, and developing disciplined effort and progressive problem-
solving skills. The student is expected to:
 (A) use visual solutions to create original artwork by problem solving through
direct observation, original sources, experiences, narrations, and imagination;

(B) communicate a variety of applications for design solutions;

(C) use an understanding of copyright and public domain to appropriate

imagery constituting the main focal point of original artwork when working
from images rather than direct observation or imagination;

(D) create original artwork to communicate thoughts, feelings, ideas, or

impressions;

(E) collaborate to create original works of art; and

(F) demonstrate effective use of art media and tools in drawing, painting,
printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, fiber art, design, and digital art and media.

XIV. National Art Standards

Anchor Standard: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.

Enduring Understanding: Artists and designers shape artistic investigations,

following or breaking with traditions in pursuit of creative artmaking goals.

Essential Question: How does knowing the contexts histories, &

traditions of art forms help us create works of art & design? Why do
artists follow or break from established traditions? How do artists
determine what resources are needed to formulate artistic
investigations?

VA:Cr1.2.HSI

Shape an artistic investigation of an aspect of present-

day life using a contemporary practice of art or design.