“MUSITECTURE” – AGGLOMERATION OF TWO ARTS

(ABSTRACT OF REASEARCH PAPER)

Since their conception, Architecture and Music have aroused statements like these based on
the similarities in their compositional characteristics, their structure and the effects they
have on the societies’ way of living and thinking. The need for such a study is vital to any
Professional/Student of architecture. A more complete understanding of ‘architectural space’ is
the need of today. The built environment has reached proportions never before achieved. This
environment, whether it is our living space or our workspace, influences not only our quality of
life, but also our mindset. A fuller understanding of the emotional nature of architectural space
will not only broaden the horizons of our understanding of space, but will enable us to design
appropriately emotive spaces. To understand the techniques used by composers to express
emotion in music, and thereby to understand the nature of emotion in music and to discover the
means by which emotion is stored and transmitted. To understand the theory-of-design
considerations used in architectural design and the emotive effects thereof. To draw parallels
between the theory-of-design considerations in music and in architecture to ultimately derive
considerations for the design of emotive spaces.
This study is limited to western (European) music of the tonal period (roughly 17 th cent. To 20th
cent.) only, and makes use of pieces by Beethoven, Bach, Mozart and Caracassi. A larger
selection of musical examples, especially those taken from Indian classical music, would
certainly make the research more complete. This study is limited to the basic major/minor –
happy/sad antithesis and the platonic solids as the base for the musical and architectural
comparisons respectively. The study of other, higher level, emotions like power, monumentality,
etc. is again beyond the scope of a limited pages research paper. The basic methodology would
begin by analyzing various works by composers from the tonal period of western classical music,
and the list of considerations appropriate to each of the emotive categories mentioned above. This
would be first done in general, by laying down the ideas, which would then be discussed in detail,
based on two examples each from the classical period and the modern period. This would include
the case studies, whose analysis would result in the tabulation of the considerations thus derived.
The basic ideas would include the tension and resolution created within the parameters of scale,
texture, articulation, volume and proportion.
Unavailability of specific literature related to the topic in this country. Case studies and examples
will be selected both on their suitability as well as their availability. The analysis are purely my
own, and are, as such not in-depth musicological offerings, but rather, subjective ones, taken from
the viewpoint of an architect. It must be noted that tough this study does make use of western
classical music and western ideas of theory of design, the author hopes that this research paper
will not be restricted to the western sensibility, but be universally applicable. Additional research
in alternative musical idioms would undoubtedly enhance the scope of such research, and will be
left for a future research work.

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Folk music (12th to late Greek
15th century) Roman
Byzantine
Romanesque
Middle ages Renaissance Gothic

1300
Renaissance

BAROQUE HIGH
RENAISSANCE

1500
Classical period Mannerist
Baroque

ARCHITECTURE
Roman era
Nationalist era
Picturesque neo-
MUSIC

Late Romantic era

classical
1700

Early twentieth century

MODERN MUSIC
International
Post modern MODERN
Jazz, Blues, Rock n’ ARCHITECTURE
roll, Country, Constructivism
Electronic. International
1900

Post modern
70’S PSYCHEDELIC
Post modern historicism
80’s classic rock, glamrock, Hi-technology
disco Neo-modern
DECONSTRUCTIVIST
90’s flash pop, metal, fusion, ARCHITECTURE
2000

trance
Critical regionalism
st
21 century shock, pop,
metal, techno, rap

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Although it is a fact, that; while every kind of art form uses different tools and medium for its
conception, construction and expression and, henceforth it is futile to compare two of them in
simultaneity on a point-to-point basis without turning highly metaphorical (and canonical) in our
approach; an analogical comparison between their structures is highly tenable and reasonable.

As Deryck Cooke puts it in his book, ‘The Language of Music’, the composer groups together
masses of non-representational material (tone instead of stone) into significant form, governed by
the principles of proportion, balance, and symmetry. He adds that thus, the only meaningful
analysis of comparison between music and architecture is through their structure (the way they
are put together piece by piece).

In my opinion, any other kind of comparison, be it of their emotional character, effect, or link
through external parameters (like perceptions), is highly controversial and subject to individual
philosophies. It will always be wiser in such a case to just state the prerogative of a larger
majority of people. Thus, all Architectural and Music history (again a generalization of the
majority; not for the whole globe) can be said to be divided into movements wherein a number of
people have worked under a single guiding factor (or objective or concept) and taken it to its
zenith of consummacy. E.g. Renaissance, Mannerist, Modern, Baroque, Classical and other
movements. But once that saturation of ideas within that movement is reached, it self-destructs
and branches out in different directions. Here, these branches turn into little movements
themselves, which might or might not become prominent. All these, of course, being shaped by
various factors of prevalent art, technology, culture, social scenario, commercialization,
industrialization etc. in a given region. Art, Architecture and Music are constantly undergoing a
change but a classification can be obtained by considering the majority of people under a style.

Now, from the classical era till date, various stylistic movements have emerged and have been
subdued on the shores of time. But one property common to them was the pursuit for beauty. As
John Sloboda puts it, ‘the ultimate aim of any art form is the expression of beauty’. Although we
can generalize this fact, it does lead us to question, what is this universal norm of beauty? ; And,
if there is such a thing, how is it intrinsically inscribed in all that is pleasant and beautiful?
Having said that, it is opening up a whole new chapter of debate as this opinion is subject to a lot
of personal perception, regional opinions, stylistic priorities and experiential motifs.

But if there is no intrinsic formula to attaining beauty other than relying on the flow of time and
experimenting with aberrations of prevalent style; then what was the sacred harmony that the
ancients always talked about? Was it just another farce that comes and goes with time? The
contrast in the following pictures of buildings from three different eras might better portray the
never-ending ambiguity surrounding the changing notions of beauty.

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 ST.PETERS, VATICAN CITY, ROME

VILLA SAVOYE, POISSY, FRANCE

GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM, BILBAO, SPAIN

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All these three buildings belong to, arguably, three of the most powerful movements in
architecture, namely; Classical, Modernist and Deconstructive. While the first figure is highly
significant of ornamentative exuberance, the second is the modernistic vision of functional
idealism. The third portrays the expressionistic distortion of Gehry’s vision. All three of them
have been the contemporary vision of architecture in their own right time of conception. It is an
intriguing question of how all of them were revered in their own times as examples of meaningful
architecture and yet they seem to be so distinct.

Another exciting (personal) observation is the way in which the buildings in the classical era
seem to be covered all over (only on the skin) in some kind of a disease (ornamentation), but the
modern buildings have somehow managed to cure themselves of it and get the body out in the
open. However, it seems as if the deconstructivist buildings have gone one step further and this
time managed to infect their bodies from within (structure). (Contempt is not an intention!!).

All humor aside, it is the same way with music. If we were to consider the prevalent styles of
music corresponding to each of the above mentioned movements, it would roughly be by taking
the classical, jazz/atonal, and electronic/psychedelic form of composition. However, while one
primary motive of music can be taken to stir emotions, Architecture seems like a much more
complex phenomenon involving form and function, symbol and social purpose, technique and
belief.

2.HARMONY …
2.1 HARMONY
The harmony comes from the Greek word harmonia meaning a
“fastening or joint”. According to the Oxford dictionary, the general meaning of the word is an
agreement, accord or synchronization. Even with so many diverse interpretations and the meaning
changing throughout the years, the basic definition has remained the same.
Although the origin of musical notation lies much earlier in the Middle East in the third
millennium B.C. the concept of Harmony dates back only as far back as Pythagoras (500 B.C.).
whereas European music was developing in modes from 400 B.C. until 1500 A.D.
Later, however, with the advent of western classical music, the number of ratios which
were classified as being harmonic increased. Even so, the ratios applicable to architecture
remained the same and were widely seen in works of a majority of classical architects.

2.2 HARMONY IN ARCHITECTURE

The idea that the same ratios that are pleasing to the ear would also be pleasing to the eye
appears in writings of Plato, Plotinus, St.Augustine, and St.Aquinas. But the most direct
statement comes from the Renaissance architect Leone Battista Alberti (1404-1472),

“ I am convinced of the truth of Pythagoras’ saying, that Nature is sure to act

consistently…I conclude that the same numbers by means of which the agreements of
sound affects our ears with delight are the very same which please our eyes and our
minds.”

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 VILLA CAPRA ROTUNDA, PROPORTIONS AT PLAY

2.2.1 SIGNIFICANCE OF PROPORTION

Proportion within a geometrical figure, a musical scale, or indeed a mathematical

sequence, can be said to be “a harmonious relationship between the parts, with and within the
whole.”
Plato was one of the first to write an explicit description of how all that exists is
ultimately a single bond. On the bond of harmony between one entity and the other, he wrote:
“The best is the one that affects the closest unity between itself and the terms it is
combining and this is best done by a continued geometrical proportion.”
Furthermore he worked on the ‘lambda’ configuration of numbers, which were derived from the
works of Pythagoras whose proportions were thought to be in perfect harmony:

“It is a set of numbers whose relationships with each other seemed to summarize all the
interdependent harmonies within the universe of space and time.”

2.2.2 SIGNIFICANCE OF FORM

The form a building takes, and the effects of those forms on the human psyche are based
on the basic shape of the building, and the position, orientation and visual inertia of the shapes.
According to the Gestalt theory, the mind will simplify the visual environment in order to
understand it. From geometry we know that the simplest shapes are the circle and the infinite

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series of regular polygons that can be inscribed within it. Of these the most significant are the
primary shapes: the circle, triangle, and the square.

The CIRCLE is a plane curve every point of which is equidistance to a fixed point within the
curve. As ching says, “the circle is a centralized, introverted figure that is normally stable and self
centering in its environment.”

MAUPERTIUS, 1775 CLAUDE-NIKOLAS LEDOUX

As ching defines, a SPHERE is a solid generated by the revolution of a semi-circle about its
diameter, whose surface is at all points equidistance from the center. A sphere is a centralized and
highly concentrated form.

The TRIANGLE is a plane figure bounded by three sides and three angles. As ching says, “the
triangle signifies stability. When resting one of its sides, the triangle is a very stable figure. When
tipped over to stand on one of its vertices, however, it can either be in precarious state of
equilibrium or be unstable and tend to fall over onto one of its sides.”

A SQUARE is a plane figure having four sides and four right angles. Ching gives its visual
characteristics: “The square represents the pure and the rational. It is a static and neutral shape
having no preferred direction. All other rectangles can be considered variations of the square.

CHAPEL, MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, 1955

The three dimensional derivation of the square is the CYLINDER. As ching says, a cylinder is “a
solid generated by the revolution of a rectangle about one of its sides. A cylinder is centralized

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about the axis passing through the centers of its two circular faces. Along this axis, it can easily
be extended. The cylinder is stable if it rests on one of its circular faces; it becomes unstable
when its central axis is inclined from the vertical.”
2.2.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF SYMMETRY
Symmetry types are divided into two categories: point groups and space groups. Point
groups are characterized by their relationship to at least one important reference point; space
groups lack such a specific reference point. Both point groups and space groups are found in
architecture.

BILATERAL SYMMETRY is by far the most common form of symmetry in architecture, and
is found in all cultures and in all epochs. In bilateral symmetry, the halves of a composition
mirror each other. Bilateral symmetry is present also not only on the scale of a building, but on
urban scale too.

ROTATION AND REFLECTION provides a sense of movement and rhythm in architectural

elements and an emphasis on the central point of the architectural space. The sacristy of the
basilica of S.Spirito in Florence, designed by Giuliano da San Gallo in the last years of the
fifteenth century, is octagonal in plan and both the architecture and the distinctive pavement
design exhibit rotation and reflection.

CYLINDRICAL SYMMETRY is that found in towers and columns vertically in towers

represents a defiance of gravity. Rare examples of spherical symmetry may also be found in
architecture, though the sphere is a difficult form for the architect because human beings move
about on a horizontal plane.

CHIRAL SYMMETRY is perhaps less well-known than other types of symmetry but
frequently effectively used in architecture. Chiral symmetry is found in two objects which are
each other’s images and which cannot be superimposed, such as our hands. The two opposing
colonnades designed by Gianlorenzo Bernini that surround the elliptical piazza in front of
St.Peter’s in Rome exhibit chiral symmetry.

SIMILARITY SYMMETRY is currently receiving a great deal of attention and is best known
for its identification with fractals. Similarity symmetry is found where repeated elements change
im scale but retain a similar shape, such as in the layered roofs on a pagoda, the roofs of which
decrease in size but retain their form as they get closer to the top of the building.

SPIRAL OR HELICAL SYMMETRY may be thought of as a special kind of similarity

symmetry. Helixes and spirals in architecture often represent continuity. In spiral staircases, the
unbroken form expresses the continuity of space from level to level throughout the
building.Frank Lloyd Wright used the helix in his 1946 design of the Guggenheim Museum of
New York.

TRANSNATIONAL SYMMETRY falls in the category of space group symmetry, and is, after
bilateral, the most common kind of symmetry found in architecture. Translation of elements in
one direction is found in solemn rows of soldier-like columns, or in the springing succession of
arches in an aqueduct. Translation of elements in two directions is present in the wallpaper like
patterns of the curtain wall facades of many modern buildings.
These all, conclude the basic types of symmetries present in buildings. Other more complex types
of symmetries are not discussed here as it is not considered noteworthy. Thus, proportion,
symmetry and form being the most basic elements of harmony in architecture.

2.3 HARMONY IN MUSIC

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Harmony is based on harmonics and resonances. Notes may be considered to be in harmony with
each other when some of the harmonics of each note, especially the louder harmonics, share the
same frequency. Although most harmony comes about as a result of two or more notes being
sounded simultaneously, it is possible to create harmony with only one melodic line. There are
many pieces from the baroque period for solo string instruments for example, in which chords are
very rare, but which nonetheless convey a full sense of harmony.
Basically, there are just two kinds of harmony: COORDINATE and SUBORDINATE
harmony. Subordinate harmony is the hierarchical tonality or tonal harmony well known today,
while coordinate harmony is the older Medieval and Renaissance tonalite ancienne, “the term is
meant to signify that sonorities are linked one after the other without giving rise to the impression
of a goal-directed development. A first chord forms a progression is independent of the later one
and vice versa.”

2.3.1 THE HARMONIC SERIES

The expressive basis of the musical language of Western Europe consists of the intricate system
of tensional relationships between notes, which we call the tonal system. This system derives
from the natural phenomenon, which we call the harmonic series.
The correspondence between the harmonic series and the modern harmony is as follows. After the
experiments of the Pythagoreans, the Greeks used only 2 notes of their series; i.e. their ‘harmony’
moved entirely in parallel octaves. This happens naturally, of course, when male and female
voices sing the same tune; and the feeling is that they are singing the same notes. Thus
established the naturalness of the octave, which is to be the same note as the fundamental, but at a
higher pitch; the interval is the span of all the scales of western music; the modes, the major,
minor and chromatic scales alike.
Three other systems of composition have been developed in the nineteenth century: those based
on the chromatic scale, atonality, and serialism. The chromatic scale can be traced back to the
harmonic series, and consists of twelve notes in place of seven in the major and minor systems.
There are no full steps in such a system, and the seven notes of the major/minor system are
interspaced with half steps, such that there is a constant alteration between natural and unnatural
notes.

2.3.2 SIGNIFICANCE OF RHYTHM

The dimension of time works in a greater variety of ways. Firstly, music can exist without setting
up any strong tie tension at all as it does in plainsong. This tends to remove plainsong from the
human categories of time into those of other-worldliness. Measured time tension on the other
hand, is created by setting out fixed points and by having a succession of beats, real or implied, to
measure them by. The regular tensions created in this manner are of two types: duple and triple
meter. The other type of time tension, besides that of accent, is duration. This emerges in the form
of tempo, movement, or phrasing. The fundamental one is of course tempo. It may seem strange
to define it as a function of duration, but it is obvious that a slow tempo is created out of beats of
long duration, a quick tempo out of beats of short duration. We say of anyone who moves slowly
that he takes his time; and when the beats take their time, the tempo is slow.
Movement is also extremely important. There is clearly a great expressive difference between and
even stream of notes of equal length and a jerky, agitated succession of notes alternately long and
short.

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 3.CORRELATIONS IN PAST…

3.1 THE GOLDEN SECTION IN ARCHITECTURE

3.1.1 THE PARTHENON AND GREEK ARCHITECTURE

The ancient Greeks knew of a rectangle whose sides are in the golden proportion (1: 1.618 which
is the same as 0.618: 1). It occurs naturally in some of the proportions of the Five Platonic Solids
(as we have already seen). A construction for the golden section point is found in Euclid's
Elements. The golden rectangle is supposed to appear in many of the proportions of that famous
ancient Greek temple, the Parthenon, in the Acropolis in Athens, Greece but there is no original
documentary evidence that this was deliberately designed in. (There is a replica of the original
building (accurate to one-eighth of an inch!) at Nashville which calls itself "The Athens of South
USA".)

The Acropolis, in the center of Athens, is an outcrop of rock that dominates the ancient city. Its
most famous monument is the Parthenon; a temple to the goddess Athena built around 430 or 440

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 BC. It is largely in ruins but is now undergoing some restoration (see the photos at Roy George's
site in the link above).
Again there are no original plans of the Parthenon itself. It appears to be built on a design of
golden rectangles and root-5 rectangles:
 The front view (see diagram above): a golden rectangle, Phi times as wide as it is high
 The plan view: 5 as long as the front is wide so the floor area is a square-root-
of-5 rectangle. However, due to the top part being missing and the base being curved to
counteract an optical illusion of level lines appearing bowed, these are only approximate
measures but reasonably good ones. The Parthenon image here shows clear golden sections in the
placing of the three horizontal lines but the overall shape and the other prominent features are not
golden section ratios.

PANTHEON, LIBERO PATRIGNANI

3.1.2 MODERN ARCHITECTURE

1. The Eden Project in St. Austell, between Plymouth and Penzance in SW England and 50
miles from Land's End, has some wonderfully impressive greenhouses based on geodesic domes
(called biomes) built in an old quarry. It marks the Millenium in the year 2000 and is now one of
the most popular tourist attractions in the SW of England.

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2. A new £15 million Education Center called The Core has been designed using Fibonacci
Numbers and plant spirals to reflect the nature of the site - plants from all over the world. The
logo shows the pattern of panels on the roof.

3.2 FIBONACCI AND MUSIC

Trudi H Garland's [see below] points out that on the 5-tone scale (the black notes on the
piano), the 8-tone scale (the white notes on the piano) and the 13-notes scale (a complete octave
in semitones, with the two notes an octave apart included). However, this is bending the truth a
little, since to get both 8 and 13, we have to count the same note twice (C...C in both cases). Yes,
it is called an octave, because we usually sing or play the 8th note which completes the cycle by
repeating the starting note "an octave higher" and perhaps sounds more pleasing to the ear. But
there are really only 12 different notes in our octave, not 13.

3.2.1 GOLDEN SECTIONS IN VIOLIN CONSTRUCTION

The section on "The Violin" in The New Oxford Companion to Music, Volume 2, shows how
Stradivari was aware of the golden section and used it to place the f-holes in his famous violins.

Baginsky's method of constructing violins is also based on golden sections.

3.2.2 DID MOZART USE THE GOLDEN MEAN?

This is the title of an article in the American Scientist of March/April 1996 by Mike May. He
reports on John Putz's analysis of many of Mozart's sonatas. John Putz found that there was
considerable deviation from golden section division and that any proximity to golden sections can
be explained by constraints of the sonata form itself, rather than purposeful adherence to golden
section division.

3.2.3 PHI IN BEETHOVEN'S FIFTH SYMPHONY?

He claims that the famous opening "motto" (click on the music to hear it) occurs exactly at the
golden mean point 0·618 in bar 372 of 601 and again at bar 228 which is the other golden section
point (0.618034 from the end of the piece) but he has to use 601 bars to get these figures. This he

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does by ignoring the final 20 bars that occur after the final appearance of the motto and also
ignoring bar 387.

4. CASE STUDIES…

4.1 PARC DE LA VILLETTE, PARIS, 1982.

The first example we are taking is of the Parc De La Villette in Paris conceived by Bernard
Tschumi in 1982. in a 1987 article, Tschumi formulated his revealing idea of pleasure in
architecture: “my pleasure has never surfaced in looking at buildings, at the ‘great works’ of the
history or present of architecture, but rather in dismantling them”. The Parc De La Villette design
thus leaves behind all functionalist and therapeutic nostalgia and is governed only by the
“pleasure principle” of the architect himself. In this particular project, that principle manifests
itself in the superimposition of three different ordering systems.

First layer consists of a system of POINTS. A grid is drawn over the whole site. Every 120
metres, the horizontal and the vertical lines cross. Tschumi calls those crossings “points.” On each
point, a “folie” or folly is built, a three storey red cube measuring 10 x 10 x 10 metres that can be
used for any activity. These buildings have no pre-programmed function and may be used as an
exposition hall, as a café or as any other public space. But although every single folie is
conceived of as a cube of 10 x 10 x 10, no single cubicle exactly the same as any other in the
park. Some folies have cylindrical or triangular forms attached to them; others lack walls or are
turned on their sides. In that way, Tschumi wants to investigate the often-ambiguous relationship
between norm and deviation, from and its function. Here again the idea is taken up that repetition
may function as a means to establish contrasts and difference. This first layer of points should
allocate space to what Tschumi calls “point-like activities”, specific activities that take place
within the concentrated space of a folie. The second layer, the layer of LINES, is superimposed

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on the grid and establishes a space for “linear activities” describes the pedestrian traffic that
crosses the park in several possible ways. The center of this linear layer is formed by two axes,
the North-South coordinate and the East-West coordinates which link up the four entrances to the
park. Apart from straight axis, the layer consists of erratic, undulating lines meandering through
the landscape. The third ordering system that is put on top of the previous two is the layer of
SURFACES. These surfaces provide room for all activities that need large horizontal strips of
land, like sports, games, and markets. This topmost layer is completely disjuncted from the
bottom layers and creates unexpected areas within the park, which are filled with the natural
substances, sand and gravel. This again further Tschumi’s intent of questioning the difference
between conceptualization and actual use to instill unpredictably as being a governing factor in
the design.

4.2 ‘ART ET PUBLICITE’, PARIS, 1989.

For the 3500 square foot fifth floor of Pompidou Centre, an original installation was needed that
could accommodate exhibitions on Art and Advertising. Whereas the combination of extremely
heterogeneous materials like fragile works on paper and life sized neon signs suggested two parts
to the exhibition, it was decided to dissimulate the boundaries between them by not giving ion to
an a priori architectural distinction. Instead, it was decided to create an architectural meditation
between art and advertising. The project plays on an idea of endless fluid space and on
transparency. There is superimposition of various grids of crosses each marking the angle of the
spaces they divide and define. Visitor’s movements through the exhibition takes place freely
among the partition crosses. Several ‘sight and sound’ islands, as well as an entire street along the
length of the building, fitted with ‘flickering images’ explore the elements of 21st century art
production.

5. CONCLUSIONS…

5.1 THE HAPPY SPACE: DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

The happy space, as we can designate it, will have naturalness inherent to it. This is
derived from the relationship of the major triad and scale to the harmonic series produced when
sounding the tonic. The notes of the triad reinforce the first five harmonics produced by the tonic.
The other notes of the scale relate directly with the notes 8 to 16 of the harmonic series. Though
these are high-level harmonics, and cannot be consciously heard by the ear, they still help to
define the tonic. Thus, any notes used within the constraints of the major mode necessarily
reinforce the tonic.

This can be interpreted in the realm of architecture as a volume that is perfectly stable, and whose
spatial organization is such that it reinforces the geometry of the volume. Any regular geometric
form that is recursive would generate such a system of stability. By virtue of its recursion, the
geometry would also include self-similar units, which would reinforce the macro-level form. The
cube, cylinder, and cone are all stable volumes generated from the square, rectangle, and triangle.
However, the relationship of these figures with their respective grounds has to be such as to
reinforce their inherent geometry. The geometry of the cube is essentially on of equality between
its sides and angles. Both from within, and from without, each element of its structures reinforces
the overall geometry of the form. Each wall is square in shape, so are the roof and the floor
planes. Thus, the overall square geometry can be defined both as an element of the whole as well
as of the part. This link between the part and whole can be linked to the octave or tonic triad
being sounded. In both cases there is an exact reproduction of the whole in the part, and the part

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in the whole. However, considering a derivation of the cube, the cuboids, the relation between the
walls and the overall geometry is not an exact, but a close relation; this can be compared with the
dominant or the dominant triad being sounded in the context of the tonic. The relation between
the dominant and tonic is not an exact reproduction, but a closely related one.

5.2 THE SAD SPACE: DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

Contrary to the ‘happy’ space, the ‘sad’ space has an inherent ‘unnaturalness’ in to it. Modulation
within the ‘sad’ examples is either to the dominant minor scale, or the relative major. This
movement to the relative major provides contrasts, and relief from the subconscious distortion of
the minor scale. However, both the examples display a marked preference fro the minor intervals
of the third and sixth to the relatively more ‘natural’ interval of fifth. Modulation happens when
dominance is given to an alternative key. Thus by avoiding the use of the dominant chord, the sad
examples tend to avoid tonality. This can be interpreted as a situation where a central focus exists,
and is referred to from time to time, but on the whole is generally avoided. This suggests a less
important role of the central focus. The forms ideally suited for such a space would be the sphere,
or hemisphere. There is a well established relation between the ground plane and the vertical
curvilinear planes. The sphere has a very strong centrality, which can be distorted by the
superimposition of the alternative focal point within or without the space. The sphere could be
distorted by means of stretching, so as to give it an oval shape. The sphere could be distorted by
means of stretching, so as to give it an oval shape. Inclining such a from with respect to the base
plane would further give the effect of motion to dispel its stability. The intervallic jumps also
indicate a studied trend away from logical stepwise movement. Rather than logically move from
one focal point to another, there is a tendency to create unnatural changes in the visual frame. A
slower tempo suggests less elements, but of greater significance. Whereas the ‘happy’ pieces had
faster tempos with a large number of notes per beat, the ‘sad’ examples tended towards one or
less notes per beat. This implies a sparse texture, but a greater degree of significance to each
element.hus whereas the ‘happy’ space is based on a studied application of geometry and
interrelationships between objects from the overall form to the minor units, the ‘sad’ space in fact
its very opposite; the studied destruction of the ‘naturalness’ of the basic form, and apathy
towards interrelationships of the subsidiary elements. Though both require the order imposed by
the architect in their conceptualization, the nature of the order imposed is entirely opposite. Thus
the antithesis of happy-sad also results in an opposing set of considerations in architecture .

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