Architectural Design II

“Experiencing architecture”- Book Reading

Chapter I - Basic Observations

- Nitya Mahesha (1RW20AT063)

Shashank Manohar (1RW20AT089)
Sheryl S K (1RW20AT090)
"Experiencingarchitecture" written by Rasmussen is a book that explores what it truly
means to perceive and experience architecture which thereby answers the question:
how must a building be viewed?

He starts on by drawing similarities between painting ,sculpture and architecture,how

they appeal to the eye and how that seems to be all there is to them .

Sometimes we can be limited by our appreciation of the external appearance,

which is no different from judging a book by its cover.
What one must understand is that architecture is
INDIVISIBLE . It isn’t a group of elements that can be
separated but a whole that must be experienced and is
without a doubt more than just the sum of it’s parts.

Architects, just like painters and sculptors use form, mass, and colour but what sets them
apart is the functionality in their art which can express itself practically to solve real life
problems and produce creative and pleasing solutions. Another decisive factor that makes the
art in architecture unique is its utility.
Rasmussen, in his book, draws a parallel between an architect and a
theatrical producer, he says "the man who plans the setting for our lives. But
he must be aware that the actors in this play are ordinary people leading
ordinary lives’’ and should be more sensitive to their natural way of being. It
further brings attention towards cultural sensitivity.
What may be appropriate and proper during a
time period or a generation may not be in
another.
Danish Renaissance king Christian IV (played
by an actor) , is riding the bicycle .Even though
they are individually fine , they do not go hand
in hand with each other .
It is rather disastrous to put a work of
architecture from the past in the present case
scenario. Not only does it lose its core
essence, but also its meaning. An architect
must also keep in mind that he isn’t just
creating a space for the present but for the
future. They should be ahead of their time so it
withstands the passage of time.
He then goes on to compare an architect to a gardener, "No matter how beautiful his conception of a
garden may be it will, nevertheless, be a failure if it is not the right environment for the plants, if they
cannot flourish in it. The architect, too, works with living things—with human beings, who are much
more incalculable than plants."

A building should serve its purpose and be utilized to its full potential only then is it a good building.
The external appearance comes as an afterthought as one must be able to thrive in this house

Creativity is the process which brings life to building. But the architect
is rather anonymous as he provides an aid to craftsmen who construct
the building , a set of instructions for them to follow and put into play
It is based on a number of human instincts, on discoveries and experiences common to
all of us at a very early stage in our lives

Now this has been profoundly illustrated by comparing us with animals us, animals are
born with natural instincts but humans rely on learning and gathering information over
their lifetimes, sharpening their skills and abilities through their experiences and
interacting with their surrounding

Throughout our lives we are constantly interacting with the environment,

our accumulated knowledge and experiences . It’s these natural
tendencies enables us to evolve and thrive.
He gives an example of an enormous church of
S. Maria Maggiore which is placed on a hill .
The slopes uneven were now smoothened and
a huge flight of stairs was added . The tourists
who came to visit this place were in a hurry and
hardly gave any attention to the space around
it . To them the stairs were just a medium
connecting them to the true destination , the
Church.

The author had seen a couple of boys play in

the very same spot years ago . They had
unconsciously experienced the rawness and
the true essence of that place by playing on it
and interacting with it dynamically
Continuing on the thought of instincts, Steel talks about how many of them are influenced from our
childhood experiences and how we instinctively know whether a material is hard, soft, hot, cold by merely
looking at it and without touching it , these instincts help us know a particular characteristic of a material
by just glancing at it
A child experiments the texture, shape and form and this knowledge unconsciously helps the child to be
aware of the particular property and this remains ingrained in the subconscious mind and dictates how we
perceive things and the emotions evoked after observing a particular form.
Our instincts are so habituated to an extent that we know for a fact that there is a striking difference
between a football , something we touch with our feet and a tennis ball, something we touch with our
hands and our ease in handling the two balls is different.
 Corundum Satin
These instincts are clearly based on previous experiences with similar material
For example we naturally assume a material is hot, cold, soft or hard because of our past experience with
the same or similar material
When we observe a material which has curvy surfaces we assume the material is soft and if it has
depressions on its surface, we assume that it’a a rough material
And this instinct has evolved such that we can even identify when a material is heavy or light just by
glancing them
 The pear-shaped cup by Wedgewood
The pear shaped cup manufactured by Wedgewood is an excellent
example of play on the senses
By external appearance it appears smooth and has a curvy form
and this assumption is based on our experience with similar
material which would have been inherently soft but after a
moment we realize that it’s the form that is smooth and not the
material itself
You can almost feel the touch of the potter while making this cup
and how the movement of his hand shaped the entire tea cup
So although we know for a fact that it is hard we also inherently
know that it once used to be soft before it was treated with fire to
become the hard material it is now
And even the handle wasn’t molded but made by the potter
himself so the entire form was a result of careful shaping of the
cup
Steel also spoke to a man who used to do these cups and spoke
about how he enjoyed making the handles whole-heartedly , a
simple sentence for a deep experience
The “Everything is cake”
trend is an example of
mockery of the senses but in
a more radical way when
compared to the pear shaped
cup
This particular quality can be extended to bigger scales as is evident in the the
English bridge built during the 19th century
Although it is made of brick, a hard material the form’s curvy nature brings out th
smoothness and it also appears in conjunction with the surroundings like the river
shaping themselves along their course, how the silt depositions slowly alters its
shape
Similarly the form of the bridge imitates its surroundings which is an important
aspect of architecture

Rustications in the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi at
Florence
Rustications are another example which
produces the opposite effects where it portrays a
rough character through textures
Even the effects of heaviness and lightness can be
conveyed through forms
For example - A wall built with large stones
appears to be heavy because we remind ourselves
of the hard work it took to bring those stones to
that form
At the same time, a wall with smooth stones no
matter how heavy it is, appears to be light
And these instincts are because of the said
childhood experiences and this isn’t limited to a
child because there is no end to learning and hence
we are continually learning how things feel and
their surface characteristics
 Sidewalk in Bloomsbury, London Sidewalk in Aarhus, Denmark

The sidewalks are an excellent examples of assumptions of weight

The smooth sidewalks in Bloomsbury, London appear light because of the smoothness in texture
The texture can be felt through our skin and we get to know how well the materials can be mixed to
get the particular consistency and in order to counter this assumption on textures there are broad strips
of asphalt
In Switzerland, cobble stone paving is beautifully laid and gives aesthetic pleasure to
the eyes and has perfect foil in uniform pale yellow limestone of surrounding wall
and fountain.

Variety of material can be used for paving for satisfactory results ,

but can't be combined or used simply without any reason.

In Stormgade ,Copenhagen if the same

In Holland, clinkers are
used in streets and on
highways for neat and
pleasant surface.
material is used as foundation for
granite pillars the effect is far from
good.
Effect :
-clinkers become chipped
-You get uncomfortable feeling that
heavy pillars are sinking into softer
material.

*clinker is the stony residue from a furnace

When a child becomes aware of textures of various materials he forms an
idea of Tautness.
*Tautness is the firmness or stiffness of anything when it's being pulled.

The child learns by:

-Making a bow and drawing the string tightly that it hums , he now gets an
impression for life of a tense curve.

-Seeing a fishing net hung up to dry ,gives him an experience how reposeful it's
slack and heavy lines are.
There are a few monumental structures of greatest simplicity which
produce only a single effect like hardness or softness.

Most buildings have a combination of hard and soft, light and heavy ,taut and slack,
and many surfaces.

This is known as Elements of Architecture.

Architects can call it "PLAY".
To experience architecture, you must be aware of all the elements.
Using the term tools produced by man, in the broad sense includes buildings
and the rooms.

Man gives each tool it's individual character by means of :

-material
-form
-colour
-other perceptive qualities
And each implement their own effect on our minds.

The man-made implements exert influence on him ,they become more than useful articles
,increase our vitality. This has been explained using examples of :
-tennis racquet
-riding boot
-umbrella
To describe an object even the most precise description ,enumerating all visible
characteristics will not give what we feel is the essence of the object itself.
We are generally not aware of what it is that we perceive ,but only of the conception
created in our minds when we perceive it.

The best buildings have been produced when the architect has been inspired by something
in the problem which will give the building a distinctive stamp. Such buildings are created
in a special spirit and they convey that spirit to others.

External features become means of communicating feelings and moods from one person to
another. Often, however, the only message conveyed is one of conformity.

*Conformity is a type of social influence involving a

change in belief or behavior in order to fit in with a group.

*details tell nothing essential about architecture, simply because the object of all
good architecture is to create integrated wholes.
Understanding Architecture:
-You must experience it.
-You must observe how it was designed for a special purpose.
-How it was attuned to the entire concept and rhythm of a specific era.
-You must dwell in the rooms, feel how they close about you.
-Observe how you are naturally led from one room to the other.
-You must be aware of the textural effects.
-Discover why just those colors were used.
-How the choice depended on the orientation of the rooms in relation to windows and the sun.
-You must experience the great difference acoustics make in your conception of space.

—to bring order and relation into human surroundings—is the task of the Architect.