WoolyBully7, 2/1

It was amazing to see so many distinct differences between the buildings of downtown Orlando, which is not a terribly large city. There are not nearly as many buildings as let’s say New York, London or Tokyo but there was still enough to aid us in learning about Jencks’ Emergent Rules. I think having the powerpoint with some examples prior to going downtown definitely helped me get a feel for the architecture and building styles to then analyze buildings such as the Bank of America (or what’s left) building, the O.C. Courthouse, the Lynx Station and the Wachovia building.

As a New Yorker I feel as though there are not a lot of true “high-rise buildings” in Orlando but I can guarantee that the next time I am home I will be thinking of Jencks, his Rules and how they related to the dozens of skyscrapers that makeup the Manhattan skyline. Not only looking can we see these themes from a city standpoint, but we can also see them within each building. Even some of the smaller buildings in Orlando had multiple demonstrations of the Rules.

It’s fascinating to see how the themes also carry on throughout the world. Europe, the Netherlands especially, contain so many different styles that Jencks’ 11 Rules don’t seem to be able to even come close to describing some of the features of the buildings. I found the most interesting and common themes to be anamnesis, tradition reinterpreted and urbane urbanism. Anamnesis is just a pure reaction to seeing something, whatever pops into your mind first. Tradition reinterpreted and urbane urbanism are almost opposites since one deals with traditional style and the other with modern, contemporary style.