Jake Porter: Blog Response 8

I recently revisited the Harvard Medical New Research Building when I read what we needed for this blog. This building in particular clashes with the surrounding buildings, but not so much as a distraction, but simply in the choice of materials and it's appearance. It does not exactly stick out like a sore thumb, but rather blends into to the buildings around it and almost acts as a void from a distance; it's almost as if nothing is there. However, as you get closer the space and it's function becomes more evident. You still have the sense of a void but now it is only by means of the type of material because of the exterior walls on the two surrounding buildings. When looking from the inside of the building the structural detail with the spider joints holding the glass panels in place and the columns holding everything else together completely stands out. It gives you an appreciation that it almost seems nonexistent from the outside. It's almost as if the building is being lifted off of the ground but is not being let up into the sky because many of the other buildings around it exceed it in height. It is interesting to think that such a small detail can make such a drastic difference in the way a building is seen as a whole.