THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE PART 1 is self-evident, consisting of an infinite

o
THE TERM : ARCHITECTURE variety of different sizes of masses or
volumes:
 Originated from the Greek word “Architekton” o such as squares, rectangles, circles,
 [ Archi – great / chief, Tekton – builder / creator]
 Architecture is the art and science of building
pyramids, ellipses, curves, cubes, etc
 It is the conscious creation of utilitarian spaces with o TREATMENT
the deliberate use of material o what do you do with the sizes and the
 should be technically efficient and aesthetically shapes?
pleasing
o how many different ways can you treat
ARCHITECTURE : as a discipline it in a simple way?
 ARCHITECTURE – an ability to organize, manipulate o how does that treatment alter or
and articulate the constant and variable component change?
parts of size, shape, and treatment. o in what ways can you define or
 ARCHITECTURE - a language of sequential path, manipulate the sizes and shapes? And
place, and transition spaces in relationship to site,
location, and orientation. so on.
o ORIENTATION
ARCHITECTURE : satisfying human needs
o what is the relative position of
something or someone?
o location - a particular place or position:
o -external - internal - interstitial
o -placement and displacement
o -edge (periphery) vs. center (core) or
foreground, middle ground, background
o -relationship of a building to its
neighbors
o -relationship of building to sky
o -relationship of building to ground and
so on
ARCHITECTURE : aspects of form
ARCHITECTURE : functional
o Site
 The architect should have a comprehensive o Location (geography)a point or an area on
understanding of the client activities before beginning the Earth's surface or elsewhere.
to design. o Building site, a place where construction
takes place.
ARCHITECTURE : aesthetics o Structure
 Elements of aesthetics o It is an arrangement and organization of
o Mass & space interrelated elements in a material object or
system, or the object or system so
o proportion
organized.
o symmetry
o Materials
o balance
o It is used for construction process. Many
o contrast
naturally occurring substances, such as clay,
o decoration rocks, sand, and wood, even twigs and
o massing leaves, have been used to construct
buildings. Apart from naturally occurring
ARCHITECTURE : psychological
materials, many manmade products are in
 Play with human mind use, some more and some less synthetic.
 mood and productivity o Services
 affect health and wellbeing o Building services are the systems installed in
 expression of cultural pride buildings to make them comfortable,
functional, efficient and safe.
 societal passion, or national esteem
 Structural
 Space, form, and light
 Plumbing
 Electrical
o Physical structure has a significant effect on
 Fire safety
human behavior.  Maintenance
“As humans find themselves spending more time enclosed o Use
within the walls of structure, it becomes valuable to design o Circulation
structures integrating features of the natural environment and o It refers to the way people move through and
structural landscape features into the human-made interact with a building.
environment (Joye, 2007)”  APPROACH: The Distant View
 ENTRANCE: From Outside to
o Research suggests the design of residential inside
and commercial space has pervasive effects  CONFIGURATION OF THE PATH:
on its inhabitants and is an important The Sequences of Spaces
consideration in architectural design.  PATH-SPACE RELATIONSHIPS:
o Space, form, and light are elements that are Edges, Nodes, and Terminations of
often incorporated either purposefully or the Path
unconsciously for aesthetic or practical  FORM OF THE CIRCULATION
reasons but more pointedly give people SPACE: Corridors, Halls, Galleries,
meaning, purpose and stability amidst an Stairways and Rooms
ever-changing physical universe of seeming o Expression
chaos. o Expression in architecture implies a clear
and authentic displaying of the character or
ARCHITECTURE : components personality of an individual (architect).
o Character
o SIZE AND SHAPE o The Character and Style of a building is
based on its functional aspects, associated
aspects and personal aspect.
 o The character of some buildings is
expressed through elements associated with
certain influences.
o Experience
o Experience in architecture is the art of
articulating a clear user story/journey through
a design as intended by the architect.
GESTALT IDEAS OF VISUAL PERCEPTION
o The Gestalt Principles are a set of laws arising from
1920s’ psychology, describing how humans typically
see objects by grouping similar elements, recognizing
patterns and simplifying complex images.
o Designers use these to engage users via powerful -
yet natural- “tricks” of perspective and best practice
design standards.
o Gestalt theory focuses on the mind’s perceptive
processes
GESTALT THEORY : principles
o Closure
o Preferring complete shapes, we
automatically fill in gaps between elements
to perceive a complete image; so, we see
the whole first.
o grouping into recognizable forms or shapes -
negative space between walls create a cross
that becomes illuminated with natural light
o Common Fate
o We group elements that move in the same
direction.
o Common Region
o We group elements that are in the same
closed region.
o Continuation
o We group closer-together elements,
separating them from those farther apart.
o grouping those results in a continuation of
direction - reflection pool allows architectural
structure to continue into the water
o Convexity
o We group elements that are in the same
closed region.
o Figure-Ground
o We seek differences and similarities in an
image and link similar elements.
o structure of walls and negative space create
interesting figure/ground relationships
o Proximity
o We follow and “flow with” lines.
o the degree of distance between sensations -
doors are placed at different distances away
from each other, creating a visual rhythm
around the pool
o Regularity
o We perceive convex shapes ahead of
concave ones.
o Similarity
o Disliking uncertainty, we look for solid, stable
items. Unless an image is truly ambiguous,
its foreground catches the eye first.
o Symmetry
o the degree of sameness to each other - two
nearly identical buildings are placed next to
one another
o Synchrony
THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE PART 2
ELEMENTS OF ARCHITECTURE
o Understanding fundamental elements such as point,
line, plane, form and space, shape, pattern, light,
color, surface and texture with reference to the
evolution of architectural form and space.
o POINT
 Marks a position in space
 Conceptually, it has no length, width
or depth
 It is static, centralized and
directionless
 A point can serve to mark:
 The two ends of a line.
 The intersection of two
lines.
 The meeting of lines at the
corner of a plane or
volume.
 The center of a field.
 A point has no dimension. To visibly
mark a position in space or on the
ground plane, a point must be
projected vertically into a linear
form, as a column, obelisk, or tower.
Any such columnar element is seen
in plan as a point and therefore
retains the visual characteristics of
a point.
 Other point-generated forms that
share these same visual attributes
are the:
 Circle
 Cylinder
 Sphere
o LINE
 Two points describe a line that
connects them.
 Although the points give this line
finite length, the line can also be
considered a segment of an
infinitely longer path.
 A point extended becomes a line.
Conceptually, a line has length, but
no width or depth. Whereas a point
is by nature static, a line in
describing the path of a point in
motion, is capable of visually
expressing direction, movement
and growth.
 Two points further suggest an axis
perpendicular to the line they
describe and about which they are
symmetrical. Because this axis may
be infinite in length, it can be at
times more dominant than the
described line.
 A line is a critical element in the
formation of any visual composition.
 It can serve to:
 1. Join, link, support,
surround or intersect other
visual elements.
 2. Describe the edges of
and give shape to planes.
 3. Articulate the surface of
planes.
o LINEAR ELEMENTS
 A line can be an imagined element
rather than a visible one in
architecture.
o PLANE
 A line extended in a direction other
than its intrinsic direction becomes
a plane.
 Conceptually, a plane has length
and width, but no depth.
 The properties of a plane – its
surface color, pattern, texture –
affects its visual weight and stability.
 Planes in architecture define three-
dimensional volumes of mass and
space.
  The properties of each plane – size,
shape, color, texture as well their
spatial relationship to one another
ultimately determine the visual
attributes of the form they define
and the qualities of the space they
enclose.
 In architectural design, we
manipulate three generic types of
planes.
1. Overhead Plane
 The overhead plane can be either the roof plane that
spans and shelters the interior spaces of a building
form, the climatic elements, or the ceiling plane that
forms the upper enclosing surface of a room.
2. Wall Plane
 The Wall Plane, because of its vertical orientation, is
active in our normal field of vision and vital to the
shaping and enclosure of architectural space.
3. Base Plane.
 The base plane can be either the ground plane that
serves as the physical foundation and visual base for
building forms, or the floor plane that forms the lower
enclosing surface of a room upon which we walk.
o PLANAR ELEMENTS
o VOLUME
 A Plane extended in a direction
other than its intrinsic direction
becomes a volume.
 Conceptually, a volume has three
dimensions: length, width and
depth.
 A volume can be either a solid –
space displaced by mass – or a
void – space contained or enclosed
by planes.
o FORM
 Form is the primary identifying
characteristic of a volume.
 It is established by the shapes and
interrelationships of planes that
describe the boundaries of the
volume.
 Form may refer to an external
appearance that can be recognized.
 It often denotes the formal structure
of a work – the manner of arranging
and coordinating the elements and
parts of a composition so as to
produce a coherent image.
FORM : properties
 Shape
o The characteristic outline or surface
configuration of a particular form.
o Shape is the principal aspect by which we
identify and categorize forms.
 Size
o The Physical dimensions of length, width and
depth of a form.
o While these dimensions determine the
proportions of a form, its scale is determined
by its size relative to other forms in its
context.
 Color
o A phenomenon of light and visual perception
that may be described in terms of an
individual’s perception of hue, saturation,
and tonal value.
o Color is the attribute that most clearly
distinguishes a form from its environment. It
also affects the visual weight of a form.
 Texture
o The visual and especially tactile quality given
to a surface by the size, shape,
arrangement, and proportions of the parts.
o Texture also determines the degree to which
the surfaces of a form reflect or absorb
incident light.
 Position
o The location of a form relative to its
environment or the visual field within which it
is seen.
 Orientation
o The direction of a form relative to the ground
plane, the compass points, other forms, or to
the person viewing the form.
 Visual inertia
 SURFACE

o The degree of concentration and stability of a
form.
o The visual inertia of a form depends on its
geometry as well as its orientation relative to
the ground plane, the pull of gravity, and our
line of sight.
 SURFACE
o Surfaces refers to any figure having only two
dimensions, such as a flat plane.
o The term, however, can also allude to a
curved two -dimensional locus of points
defining the boundary of a three -
dimensional solid.
THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE PART 3
ELEMENTS OF ARCHITECTURE – FORM
o SPHERE
o A solid generated by the revolution of a
semicircle about its diameter, whose surface
is at all points equidistant from the center.
o A sphere is a centralized and highly
concentrated form.
o Like the circle from which it is generated, it is
self centering and normally stable in its
environment.
o It can be inclined toward a rotary motion
when placed on a sloping plane. §From any
viewpoint, it retains its circular shape.
o CIRCLE
o The Circle symbolizes unity, stability,
rationality. It is also the symbol of infinity,
without beginning or end, perfection, the
ultimate geometric symbol.
o It represents a completeness which
encompasses all space and Time.
o HEMISPHERE
o Cut horizontally in half.
o Cut portion forms an edge, circular in plan.
o The dome and the edge portion give the
visual character.
o CYLINDER
o A solid generated by the revolution of a
rectangle about one of its sides.
o A cylinder is centralized about the axis
passing through the centers of its two
circular faces.
o Along this axis, it can be easily extended.
o 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.
o CONE
o A solid generated by the revolution of a right
triangle about one of its sides.
o Like the cylinder, the cone is a highly stable
form when resting on its circular base, and
unstable when its vertical axis is tipped or
overturned.
o It can also rest on its apex in a precarious
state of balance.
o PYRAMID
o A polyhedron having a polygonal base and
triangular faces meeting at a common point
 or vertex. The pyramid has properties similar
to those of the cone.
o Because all of its surfaces are flat planes,
however, the pyramid can rest in a stable
manner on any of its faces.
o While the cone is a soft form, the pyramid is
relatively hard and angular.
o CUBE
o A prismatic solid bounded by six equal
square sides, the angle between any two
adjacent faces being a right angle.
o Because of the equality of its dimensions,
the cube is a static form that lacks apparent
movement or direction.
o It is a stable form except when it stands on
one of its edges or corners.
o Even though its angular profile is affected by
our point of view, the cube remains a highly
recognizable form.
o Transformation
o Dimensional Transformation
 A form can be transformed by
altering one or more of its
dimensions and still retain its
identity as a member of a family of
forms.
 A cube, for example, can be
transformed into similar prismatic
forms through discrete changes in
height, width, or length.
 It can be compressed into a planar
form or be stretched out into a
linear one
o Subtractive Transformation
 A form can be transformed by
subtracting a portion of its volume.
 Depending on the extent of the
subtractive process, the form can
retain its initial identity or be
transformed into a form of another
family.
 For example, a cube can retain its
identity as a cube even though a
portion of it is removed, or be
transformed into a series of regular
polyhedrons that begin to
approximate a sphere.
o Additive Transformation
 A form can be transformed by the
addition of elements to its volume.
 The nature of the additive process
and the number and relative sizes
of the elements being attached
determine whether the identity of
the initial form is altered or retained.