User:Nbloniarz

Natalie Bloniarz

Overview

The paragraph should give a three to five sentence abstract about your entire London HUA experience including 1) a summary of the aims of your project, 2) your prior experience with humanities and arts courses and disciplines, and 3) your major takeaways from the experience.

My goal for my London HUA experience is to explore art through history. Specifically, I will be exploring the history of architecture through art, the characteristics of religious art throughout history, and the history, purpose, style, and creation of stained glass windows. Previous courses I have taken in the humanities and arts are: AR1101 Digital Imaging and Computer Art, MU 2637 String Ensemble, and I have experience from high school courses such as AP U.S. History, AP European History, AP Literature and Composition, and AP Language and Composition. MAJOR TAKEAWAYS HERE.

Milestone 1

London Architecture
Objective: A descriptive timeline of the change in architecture throughout the city over time through photographs including comparing different churches, buildings, bridges, museums and even unsung architectures accomplishments such as parking garages (or car parks).

This is in collaberation with Emily Wilson and Olivia Gibbs

Below the objective statement, Insert a one or two paragraph summary of your findings from having reached this milestone. Edit the link below to link to your milestone page.
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Milestone 2

A Mosaic of Mosaics
Objective: An analysis of mosaics in British museums and across the London.

Below the objective statement, Insert a one or two paragraph summary of your findings from having reached this milestone. Edit the link below to link to your milestone page.
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Milestone 3, Capstone

Capstone: The History, Purpose, Style, and Creation of Stained Glass Windows
Objective: To develop a timeline of the history of stained glass windows, including their style and purpose, and to create a stained glass window.

Below the objective statement, Insert a one or two paragraph summary of your findings from having reached this milestone. If this milestone, for you, represents a humanities and arts capstone, please indicate so. Edit the link below to link to your milestone page.
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Activity Journal

The activity journal represents an ongoing log of reflections gained through each and every project activity on the calendar.

Week 1

Activity #1 Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London

Today's visit to Westminster Abbey helped me to refine my first milestone from a broad history of architecture to a more focused analysis of Gothic architecture. It also provided a starting point for my research into Gothic architecture and some basic history of the Abbey. Though I really wanted to take photos inside to use for my milestone, I understand that that is not possible. I also started my quest to find the ugliest picture of Jesus as a baby, to keep with the tradition started by my brother on our vacation to Italy.
During the visit to the Tower of London, I had discovered that medieval history is a period that I do not find that appealing to study. The queue leading up to catch a glimpse of the crown jewels felt like waiting for a roller coaster. The silliest part was that the exhibit was incredibly short, and to keep people moving they had a moving sidewalk along the row of crowns. I would have loved to spend more time looking at the ostentatious jewels, but it was incredibly crowded and my height made it hard to see around others in the exhibit.
I was so excited to have taken my first double-decker bus and getting to sit right in the front up on the upper level. It was interesting to see the other tourists get on and look confused from the Oxford Street stop I got on at, progress to more confident locals. The weirdest part of the journey was seeing one person getting on then immediately getting off one stop later, which would have been a two minute walk down the road.

Activity #2 The British Museum

I really enjoyed today's visit to the British Museum. After deciding last night to join the other two girls in the architecture group for their first milestone, this provided a great opportunity to start working with them. The museum courtyard provided some great photos for the milestone, and it was incredibly designed. The thought that people had built that intricate glass ceiling, creating the largest covered square in England, was fascinating. I especially enjoyed looking at all of the Egyptian artifacts, as that is my favorite time period throughout all of history. The sheer number of artifacts in the museum was incredible and it would take at least a week to be able to see and appreciate their extensive collection. I would love to go back at a later date to further explore the other wings of the museum. I knew that the British people had a large collection of Egyptian artifacts, but I never knew that the British Museum has the second largest collection outside of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
I also got the chance to do some more exploring in London on a quest to complete the scavenger hunt. At the end of our scavenger hunt quest we returned to Westminster Abbey to attend evensong. It was a pleasant experience and the choir sounded incredible, it was also a nice experience to attend the service to get a better idea of the protestant faith. It was cool to see that it is possible to sit right next the choir and among the members of the clergy. I wish I could have taken my own photos inside the Abbey for my milestone, but I understand they want to maintain the rights to images of the Abbey.

Activity #3 St. Paul's Cathedral

Today's visit to St. Paul's Cathedral was incredibly interesting because it was a major architectural shift from Westminster Abbey. The two churches are similar in their abundance of statues and graves but are vastly different in appearance. The inside of the cathedral was stunning and bright. My two favorite aspects of the cathedral were the golden mosaics and the whispering gallery. The whispering gallery reminded me of the inside of Il Duomo in Florence, both with incredibly narrow staircases that have the tiniest of windows and their imposing artwork staring down at you. The cathedral is also a part of my first milestone and provided a good amount of the information I needed to research. I also learned today that the Dean's stairs were actually in Harry Potter like I thought. I find it fascinating to see that the movies took the time to find the most authentic English architecture to include in scenes, it helps ground the movies more towards reality.
Today was also a journey to capture more photos of buildings for my first milestone, taking me to the Gherkin, the Lloyd's Building, the Royal Exchange, and the Barbican Centre. I cannot wait to go back to the Barbican Centre because of its beautiful courtyard. I am also looking into taking a tour about the architecture of the building. The Gherkin was my favorite building to observe because of its unique shape. My least favorite building was the Barbican Centre only because of its brutalist style, which I find rather dreary and overtly industrial. The courtyard inside of the building made up for the drab architecture and is a place I hope to visit again.

Week 6

Activity #5 Milestone Work

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References

The Sun is pretty big.