Ziggurats in Hollywood

Significance of trees

The Hollyhock House is surrounded by trees. Directly by the house are a bunch of pine trees, all in rows. The hard inner core of trees represents matter, which stands for motherhood, maternity, and fertility. These were things worshipped by the ancient world. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh and Enkidu steal trees from a sacred forest that is forbidden to mortals.

Tree outside of the Hollyhock House Tree in Serepiqui de Heredia, CR

Modern day celebrity homes

http://youtu.be/VlDpOr0ryLo

Even today, celebrities and the rich and famous have the urge to create extravagant homes. With this comes the desire to show off these homes. Aline Barnsdall created a

grandiose house on a hill to show it off. Now, celebrities have many more outlets to put

their cribs on display.

The Hollyhock House sits atop a naturally steep hill overlooking the city. The Sumerians build their Ziggurats upon a steep platform that serves as a

“faux hill” type of façade that gives it the illusion of being on top of a mountain. This steepness gave it grandness and the feeling of being closer to the gods due to the exaggerated height and view of the city below that

can be seen once you have reached the top of the Ziggurat.

From the southern façade of the Hollyhock House you can see the bent axis design that mimics the design of the Sumerian Ziggurats where

you are unable to see the entrance to the structure from the beginning of the path. This gives the person the feeling of the unknown of what

lies ahead, or a mystical approach when entering the building.

Upon entering the Hollyhock House you do not end up in a particular room such as a living room, but are left with a myriad of choices of

rooms to choose from. It almost feels like you are entering a cave when coming through the entrance (contraction) with various mini caves that

open up (expansion) once you have stepped inside.

Dining room & Hall off the front entrance.

Music room also off the front entrance.

An artist’s rendering of the glory of Ancient Sumeria with a Ziggurat in the

background.

Like the arched doorways of the Sumerian Temple, the Hollyhock house is intended to be awe-inspiring. It’s extensiveness of the hallway suggests that the door that one is about to go through leads to something important. At the same time, the presence of walls gives it a quasi-inside feeling. Two double doors flanked by large, shiny handles, suggesting opulence.

In Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, dark and hazy trees and land blend in with the only a few lighter areas, such as the pond and some areas of the ground, but overall, the dark areas are so soft that it gives those areas a sense of mystery.

Chiaroscuro also serves the Hollyhock home to give it an air of mystery and drama. The dark areas are created by naturally dark walls, which would otherwise have delineated geometric shapes in the room, giving the viewer an impression of softness and mysteriousness of the dark areas surrounding the lighter ones, like in Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.

Like the Sumerian temples of ancient times, the Hollyhock House has “introverted”, or feminine, features. The Hollyhock façade seen throughout the interior and exterior of the house is an introverted feature. Although it is a stylized representation, the façade still features the flower, seed and leaf of the plant. Plants represent mother nature and “matter”; the civilized and feminine.

People entering a Sumerian Temple would experience the feeling of “expansion and contraction”, as seen by the floor plan of the temple above. The ramp leading up to the cella was open to the outside and had no limiting features, but then once in the cella, the space became compressed and confined.

Mirroring the Sumerian temple, Frank Lloyd Wright used “expansion and contraction” in the Hollyhock House. The entry doorway begins as an open walkway, but then becomes more and more confined with the addition of walls and screens. Finally at the doors, the space is very compressed and the ceiling is just above head height.

Once inside the entrance, one of the myriad of rooms to choose from is the living room which opens up (expansion) one you step through its doorway. The ceilings go from low, to arched and tall in the living room. A visitor to the Hollyhock House would feel the same phenomenon of expansion and contraction in the Sumerian Temple; going from the compressed space of the doorway to the open, large space of the living room.

An Unexpected Modernity• Outside on the

“Great Lawn” we found this graffiti bomb that was thrown up on the signage.

• Even something seemingly far removed from the city itself is still very much connected to it.

Harry Potter VIII : Loss of Innocence

• Once innocent little kids casted for the best-selling novel series, Harry Potter.

These little actors were living the dreams of millions of children!

• Since stardom hit the cast of Harry Potter, the three main characters

have been indulging in a life of excessive luxury,

fame and influential power .

Epic of Gilgamesh VS

Contemporary Life• Once we have been

exposed to world of excessive pleasure, it is difficult not to ask for a life of vanity, not to mention going back to basics…