Theory of Architecture I Arch 4591

Course content
Introduction to Theory of Architecture
 Historical perspective
 Characteristics of architectural theory

Primary Elements of Design

Form and space
Determinants of form & space
 Function and Structure
 Climate and Topography
 Technology and Materials
 Culture, Society, and Economy
Principles and methods of architecture

2
 1. Historical Perspective
 The term theory of architecture was originally simply the accepted
translation of the Latin term ratiocinatio as used by Vitruvius, a
Roman architect-engineer of the 1st century CE, to differentiate
intellectual from practical knowledge in architectural education.
 Later, it has come to signify the total basis for judging the merits
of buildings or building projects. Such reasoned judgments are
an essential part of the architectural creative process.
 1. Historical Perspective

Distinction between the history and theory of architecture

 The distinction between the history and theory of architecture did
not emerge until 1818, when separate professorships with these
titles were established at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.
 It is impossible to discuss meaningfully the buildings of the
immediate past without discussing the ideals of those who built
them, just as it is impossible to discuss the ideals of bygone
architects without reference to the structures they designed.
 1. Historical Perspective
 Historical Development of Architectural Theory and its
relationship to the broader society can be described in terms of
four main issues:
 Relation to cultural setting
 Rhetoric
 Design principles
 Relation to scientific philosophy
 1. Historical Perspective
 The recent history of architectural theory can be
summarized in terms of four broad periods:
 Renaissance/ Baroque, 1450 – 1700
 Premodern, 1750 – 1880
 Modern, 1910 – 1960
 Postmodern, 1965 – present

 A comparison of the four periods in architectural history

as viewed with respect to the four issues affecting them
can demonstrate the nature of theory in architecture.
 2. Characteristics of Theory

 History and Theory are closely related and have always been
essential to the study of architecture.
 Theories are general statements dealing with
 What architecture is,
 What it should do, and
 How best to do it.

 History deals with theories, events, design methods, and

buildings.
 2. Characteristics of Theory

 Theories are helpful to architects in making choices and decisions

– Establishes a procedure
– Orders decisions to make them useful
 Theories in architecture are less rigorous than scientific theories
which are analytical in nature and require rigorous proof.
 Architecture Design is synthesizing in nature
– Assimilates and integrates a wide variety of elements in new ways
– Suggests directions but cannot guarantee results
 2. Characteristics of Theory

 A symptom of the speculative

character of theory in architecture is the
tendency for theoretical statements to
be manifestos employing evocative
language
 Louis Henri Sullivan “form follows function”
 Ludwig Mies van der Rohe "Less is more" Louis Sullivan Mies van der Rohe
 3. What Architecture is
 Theories about what architecture is are concerned with
identifying key variables such as space, structure or social
process which should generate the form and character of a
building.
 Theories often take the form or rely on analogies i.e. organic or
machine-like, etc.
– Analogies provide a way to organize design tasks in a hierarchical order.
– Analogies employ what is most important or pertinent to that analogy
 3. What Architecture is
 Some recurrent analogies employed in theory to explain and
direct architecture.
1. Mathematical Analogy
Geometry and numbers as a basis for architecture, in tune with a
universal order.
- Golden section
- Greek orders
- Numbers theories of the renaissance
 3. What Architecture is

2. Biological Analogy
A. Organic – focuses on the
relationships between a building
and its site.
B. Biomorphic – focuses on growth
processes and movement
capabilities associated with
organisms.
 3. What Architecture is

3. Romantic Analogy
A. Evocative: uses associations or exaggeration to
elicit an emotional response.
B. Associations: can refer to nature, the past,
exotic places, primitive things the future,
childhood, etc.
C. Exaggeration or excess: can intimidate, frighten
or awe through the use of contrast, excessive
stimulation, unfamiliar scale or forms.
 3. What Architecture is
4. Linguistic Analogy
A. Grammatical model – architecture is composed of elements
(words) that are ordered by rules ( grammar and syntax) that
allow people to understand what a building is trying to
communicate i.e. Greek orders.
B. Expressionist model – building as a vehicle for the
expression of the architects attitude toward the building i.e.
Saarinen’s Dulles airport conveying flight in its form.
C. Semiotic model – a building is a sign a sign that conveys
information about what it is and what it does i.e. Robert
Venturi’s ducks vs. decorated shed.
 3. What Architecture is

5. Mechanical Analogy
 Buildings are like machines. They
should express only what they are
and what they do, i.e. “A house is
a machine for living” Le corbusier
 3. What Architecture is
6. Problem Solving Analogy

 Assumes that environmental needs can be solved through careful

analysis and deliberate procedures. It includes three stages:
• Analysis
• Synthesis
• Evaluation
 3. What Architecture is
7. Adhocist Analogy
Buildings should respond to the
immediate need, using materials readily
available without making reference to an
ideal.
• Eames House, Charles and Ray Eames
• “Ugly and Ordinary” Robert Venturi
 3. What Architecture is
8. Dramaturgical Analogy

 Human activities are often characterized as theater, and so the

built environment may be seen as a stage in which people play
roles and buildings become settings and props.
• Corporate America
• Plaza d’ Italia, Charles Moore, et. al.
 4. What Architecture Should Do
 Theories about what architecture should accomplish are
concerned with identifying the goals that the designer and the
building should satisfy. They are not concerned with a way of
seeing buildings or interpreting them, but with their purposes.

 These generally take two forms:

A. General Goals
B. Relational Goals (Relationships Between Built Environment and
Other Phenomena
 4. What Architecture Should Do
A. General Goals – statements about the task of architecture.
1. Vitruvius made the earliest widely known goal statement for architecture
which is paraphrased to depend on, “Commodity, Firmness and Delight” (In
Latin firmitas, utilitas, and venustas) .
 Firmness: We must build buildings with strength to survive the elements
and the forces of nature. A building needs to stand up, to protect its
occupants – keep them dry and warm in the winter and cool in the
summer. It also needs to be built to protect itself. It must shed water away
from its structure to prevent rot in organic materials, decay in masonry,
and corrosion in metals. It is wasteful to replace building materials
frequently. We must consider how to use building materials efficiently, and
know the most suitable materials for that building in that particular location
in terms of availability and durability.
 4. What Architecture Should Do

 Commodity: A building must be well designed, laid out efficiently so that

spaces for related activities are adjacent. The building must be composed
not just in plan but in section, with regard to the hierarchy of its spaces. A
building should be laid out so that the most important activities take place
in the most important spaces.
 Delight: We are trained to believe that beauty is subjective, that it rests in
the eye of the beholder. Vitruvius held a very different idea. He believed
that architectural beauty was quantifiable, stating that “account will have
been taken of … Beauty … so the relative measurements of the
members will give the work a pleasing and elegant purpose.”
 4. What Architecture Should Do
2. Development of social sciences in 19th. And 20th. Centuries
brought about a view of buildings as social, technical,
economic, psychological organizations.

3. Current and future changes in people's relationship to the

environment need will require a building to respond to energy
efficiency and its impact on the environment. E.g. Green
architecture like Eco-housing, Passive design, LEED standards
and so on.
 4. What Architecture Should Do
B. Relational Goals (Relationships Between Built Environment
and Other Phenomena)

• Two central concerns are addressed in these type of goal

statements
• They represent a dilemma in architecture in their contradictory
nature.
 4. What Architecture Should Do
1. The first concern of these type of relational goals is that
architecture should satisfy the technical requirements
of buildings.
a. logical structural systems
b. appropriate materials, construction methods & costs
c. regional and contextual in design
 4. What Architecture Should Do
2. The second concern is that architecture's primary
purpose is social in nature i.e. that the building is a
background and support system to enhance ongoing life
processes.
a. a vessel for the flow of life it serves.
b. it must be flexible and adaptive to human concerns.
 5. Theories on How To Design
A. Theories about how the architect should go about
designing are concerned with identifying appropriate
methods of operation.
- usually directed toward the assurance that buildings
will accomplish particular ends
 5. Theories on How To Design
B. Concerns of Theories
1. Participants: relationships of individuals and groups during the
design process.
 Private inspired act of an individual vs. logical effort of a team of
professionals.
 Complexity of the building process is likely too much to be understood and
guided by an individual.
 Inclusion of user groups and others.
2. Procedures: where does the designer begin? What decisions
should control or generate the design?
 5. Theories on How To Design
 Typically, there are two underlying methods or structures for
proceeding:
a) inductive – begin with the details. Through accretion, the details, or
partial solutions, finally add up to a built form.
b) deductive – design procedures begin with an overall intention or idea
about the build and let the details grow out of that central theme.
c) seldom is one method used exclusively, and it is usually evident which
one governs.
 5. Theories on How To Design
C. Priorities
Problems in architecture are typically complex in nature:
 technical – structure, mechanism, etc.
 social – users
 aesthetic – ecological, political

Some theories establish priorities:

 find the essence of the problem and let that be the controlling factor.
 there is an underlying element that needs to be expressed in structure
and form before extra details are added.
Thank you!