XII Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2020

Contrast is a ratio in which the difference in homogeneous properties prevails. A number of contrasting elements are combined by the opposite of the distinctive features. Contrast is generated not just by difference, unlikeness, but by polarity, the opposite of the properties.

The contrast of the spatial form elements gives rise to its dynamism, sense of movement in the direction of the predominant magnitude.

Like all other means of organizing a spatial form, the identity of nuance and contrast cannot be arbitrarily chosen relationships. A spatial structure with different proportions arises in architecture in accordance with the purpose of the building and functional capabilities.

Common examples of contrasting comparisons in architecture are contrasts of high and low, flat and three-dimensional, large and small forms. Such properties as isolation and openness, heaviness and lightness can becontrasting as well. Color contrasts (complementary colors) and textures (smooth - rough) complement the comparison of volumes. Contrast emphasizes properties, shapes, makes them more impressive; nuances, on the contrary, bring together dissimilarities, smooth out differences. Contrast and nuance relationships create optical illusions that enhance the impression of the architectural composition under perception. The vertical component seems to us to be more horizontal, even if their sizes in nature are equal.

A geometric figure inscribed in a larger one seems noticeably smaller than a uniform-sized, but adjacent to smaller ones. By reducing the size of the windows on the facade you can achieve greater monumentality. A large space seems even to be more spacious at once if it opens after a small and a compact one; more extensive if it opens immediately after a small and crowded one.

The architectural solutions of each era are largely determined not just by the architect’s own ideas but also by the possibilities of the technology development. Newly invented materials have formed new approaches to things which are already customary and the active use of such materials has gradually enabled the load-bearing structures to become more reliable and simultaneously cheaper. All this created conditions for the prefabricated buildings which in turn determines the face of the modern architecture.

Buildings constructed in the past exist now, buildings constructed in our time will exist in the future. Because of this, contrast in architecture is inevitable. Moreover, contrastive modern buildings give architecture a new profound meaning.

In my opinion, every architect thought about the compatibility and harmony of the created architectural objects with the existing environment. Can architecture fit harmoniously with the surrounding buildings? This introduction into the environment allows the implementation of factors such as plastic and fine structure, the surface of the facades, which allow you to create unique and non-contrasting forms.

Compared to other eras, a new absolutely contrasting path was chosen about 100 years ago; today modern architecture is following this path. The new architecture abandoned everything that made outwardly similar buildings diverse in details, learned instead to create objects that were worlds apart from each other and completely unlike what had been built before.

In the arsenal of architects of the 21st century, the principle of contrast, of course, occupies one of the central places. Contrast is inevitable in the case of reconstruction and expansion of the existing buildings. When creating a building or a new building, the architect seeks to emphasize that this object was created in these days, taking into account the current achievements in the field of structures and construction materials. The initial volume does not change. One of these architects is Norman Foster, whose Reichstag dome has become a symbol of the unification of Berlin. Norman also carried into effect the operation of the Hearst Tower in New York in 2006, combining a historic six-story building with a 182-meter high glassteel skyscraper.

Of course, a lot depends on the typology, the more socially significant an object is, the higher its chances of transformation. In other words, when the purpose of reconstruction is to attract closer attention to a wider public, contrast is an indispensable device.

The recognized master of such reconstruction is Daniel Libeskind. It is enough to recall, for example, his project to expand the museum of military history in Dresden (2011). He embedded a five-story triangular V-shaped glass, metal and concrete wedge into the classical architecture of the existing building.

Thus, the contrast in architecture is one of the strategies that modern architects often use when creating urban planning dominants.