THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE 1 CONTEXT FOR ARCHITECTURE AS SATISFYING

HUMAN NEEDS

UNIT I: INTRODUCTION TO ARCHITECTURE As per GEORGE S. SALVAN words

I. GENERAL INFLUENCES
ARCHITECTURE
1. NEEDS OF MAN
▶ Originated from the Greek word Architekton • PHYSICAL NEEDS
Food, Shelter and Clothing
▶ Archi – great. Tekton – builder
• INTELLECTUAL NEEDS
▶ Architecture is the art and science of building Education, Science and Government

▶ It is the conscious creation of utilitarian spaces with the • EMOTIONAL NEEDS

deliberate use of material
2. ACTIVITIES OF MAN
▶ Architecture should be technically efficient and aesthetically
pleasing. • Desire for PRESERVATION
• Desire for RECOGNITION
▶ ARCHITECTURE - a manifest order appropriately conceived
• Desire for RESPONSE
logically developed conditioned and disciplined coherent • Desire for SELF-EXPRESSION
through consistency

OTHER DEFINITIONS II. INFLUENCES OF NATURE

1. CLIMATE
2. TOPOGRAPHY
3. MATERIALS

III. INFLUENCES OF NATURE

1. SOCIAL CONDITION
• Radio, TV, Movies, Times

2. MAN’S PERSONALITY
• Tradition, Culture, Religion

3. MAN’S INTEREST
• House, Factory, Churches

FUNCTION, AESTHETIC and PSYCHOLOGICAL

I. FUNCTION
- Spatial SEQUENCE
- Spatial FIT

“Is the study of ease of

use, of how quickly
someone can understand
how to use a particular
human-made object
and how easily they
can use it”

NO FUNCTION
NO SOUL
II. AESTHETICS ARCHITECTURE AS A DISCIPLINE
Elements of aesthetics

• Mass & Space, ▶ ARCHITECTURE – an ability to organize, manipulate and

• Proportion, articulate the constant and variable component parts of size,
• Symmetry shape, and treatment.
• Balance
• Contrast, ▶ ARCHITECTURE - a language of sequential path, place, and
transition spaces in relationship to site, location, and orientation.
• Decoration
• Massing

III. PSYCHOLOGICAL
- Physical structure has a significant effect on
human behavior.

- As humans find themselves spending more time

enclosed within the walls of structure, it becomes
valuable to design structures integrating features
of the natural environment and structural
landscape features into the human-made
environment (Joye, 2007).

- Research suggests the design of residential and

commercial space has pervasive effects on its
inhabitants and is an important consideration in
architectural design.

The relationship of architecture to other fields and disciplines

THREE COMPONENTS

I. SIZE AND SHAPE

Is self-evident, consisting of an infinite variety of

different sizes of masses or volumes:

• such as squares, rectangles, circles, pyramids,

ellipses, curves, cubes, etc.
- Space, form, and light are elements that are
often incorporated either purposefully or II. TREATMENT
unconsciously for aesthetic or practical reasons
but more pointedly give people meaning, What do you do with the sizes and the shapes?
purpose and stability amidst an everchanging
physical universe of seeming chao • how many different ways can you treat it in a
simple way?
• how does that treatment alter or change?
• in what ways can you define or manipulate the
sizes and shapes?
• what is your strategy for detailing and joinery
(articulation)?
• treatment is pattern, texture, color, figure,
ground, light, illumination, contrast, opacity,
• transparency, translucency, reflectivity, visual
density, thickness or thinness, etc

III. ORIENTATION

What is the relative position of something or someone?

• location - a particular place or position:

• external - internal - interstitial
• placement and displacement
• edge (periphery) vs. center (core) or foreground,
middle ground, background
• relationship of a building to its neighbors
• relationship of building to sky
• relationship of building to ground
• directionality, redirection or reversals:
• up vs. down
• left vs. right
• longitudinal vs. transverse
• horizontal vs. vertical
• orthogonal vs. diagonal
• exposure: north - south - east - west
 THREE TYPES OF SPACES V. SERVICES

• Structural
I. PLACE – SPACES • Plumbing
major spaces that portray a sense of definite • Electrical
location or position
• Fire safety
• Maintenance
II. PATH – SPACES
major transition spaces which are directional;
corridor, connector, passageway. GESTALT THEORY

III. TRANSTITION – SPACES

Gestalt theory originated in Austria and Germany toward the
end of the 19th century. Since then, Gestalt theory has become
• minor spaces which process a change from
fundamental to several related disciplines, including art,
one condition to another.
graphic design, web design and interior design.
• joint spaces (or articulation spaces)
• can define a pause between spaces What is Gestalt Theory?
• can juxtapose spaces of contrasting or
continuous character •Gestalt theory focuses on the mind’s perceptive
• can act as a separator space processes
• can act as fastener, joining or linking space
• servant-spaces are transition spaces that act •The word "Gestalt" has no direct translation in English,
as functional support (storage spaces, but refers to "a way a thing has been gestellt ; i.e.,
bathrooms, mechanical voids, space ‘placed,’ or ‘put together’";
occupied by structural elements, etc.)
•common translations include "form" and "shape"
INTRODUCING THE VARIOUS FUNCTIONAL ASPECTS OF
•Gestalt theorists followed the basic principle that the
ARCHITECTURE whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

•In viewing the "whole," a cognitive process takes

I. SITE place – the mind makes a leap from comprehending
the parts to realizing the whole.
• Location
- (geography)a FIGURE GROUND SEGREGATION
point or an area on
the Earth's surface or
elsewhere • When you look at the
• Building site, a place environment, you look at
where construction it as a whole picture, not
takes place separate parts.
• There are images in the
II. STRUCTURE environment that people
are aware, this would be
• It is an arrangement the figure.
and organization of • Images people are not
interrelated elements aware of make up the
in a material object ground.
or system, or the
object or system so
organized

III. SKIN
• The figure is what a
person is concentrating
on;
• The ground would be
everything else in that
environment;
• Some properties of figure
ground:

• Figures hold more

memorable association
IV. CIRCULATION than the ground.
• Figures are seen as being
• Approach in front of the ground.
• The ground is seen as
- The Distant View
uniformed material and
• Entrance seems to extend behind
-From Outside to inside the figure.
• Configuration of the path • The contour separating
-The Sequences of Spaces the figure from the
• Path-space relationships ground appears to
-Edges, Nodes, and Terminations of the Path belong to the figure.
• Form of the circulation space (Goldstein, pp. 156-159)
-Corridors, Halls, Galleries, Stairways and
Rooms
 REVERSIBLE FIGURE/GROUND III. CYLINDER

•There are no correct interpretations to what the figure is and

what the ground is; it is the individual’s choice.

•People have different memories and experiences that

influence their perception of images.

•We have seen that meaningfulness can help determine which

area we see as figure.

•If something has meaning to someone, it normally "jumps out"

at them, and is more noticeable

GESTALT LAWS OF ORGANIZATION Baptistery at Pisa, Italy

IV. SPHERE
I. Proximity - elements tend to be grouped together
according to their nearness
II. Similarity - items similar in some respect tend to be
grouped together
III. Closure - items are grouped together if they tend
to complete some entity
IV. Continuation – the eye is compelled to move
through one object and continue to another
object

Cenotaph for Sir Isaac Newton

UNIT II: ELEMENTS OF ARCHITECTURE V. LINE
I. POINT
• A point extended
• A line is a critical element in the formation of any visual
• Marks a position in space construction
• Conceptually, it has no length, width or depth • It can serve to:
• It is static, centralized and directionless
• As the prime element in the vocabulary of form, it
serves to mark:

JOIN OR LINK OTHER VISUAL

ELEEMNTS

To mark a position in space or on the ground plane, a point

must be projected vertically into a linear form
SUPPORT VISUAL ELEEMNTS
SUPPORT VISUAL
ELEMENTS
POINT EXTENDED

BECOMES A LINE WITH LENGTH,

DIRECTION AND POSITION

SURROUND OR INTERSECT OTHER
VISUAL ELEMENTS

Other point-generated forms that share these same visual DESCRIBE THE EDGES OF AND
attributes are the:
GIVE SHAPE TO PLANES
DESCRIBES THE EDGE OF AND GIVE SHAPE TO PLANES
II. CIRCLE

SQUARE TRIANGLE
SQUARE
Plan of the Tholos at Epidaurus

TRIANGLE
ARTICULATE THE SURFACES OF PLANES • A line can be an imagined element rather than a
visible one in architecture

• An example is the AXIS, a regulating line established

by two distant points in space and about which elements
are symmetrically arranged

• The orientation of a line affects its role in a visual

construction
• A vertical line can express a state of equilibrium with
the force of gravity, symbolize the human condition,
or mark a position in space National Mall, Washington D.C.
• A horizontal line can represent stability, the ground
plane, the horizon, or a body at rest • Two parallel lines have the ability to visually describe
• An oblique line may be seen as a vertical line falling or a plane
a horizontal line rising
• The closer these lines are to each other, the stronger
will be the sense of plane they convey
Vertical elements have been
used throughout history to
commemorate significant events
and establish particular points in
space

Column of Marcus Aurelius

Vertical linear
elements can also
define a transparent Colonnade
volume of space, as
VI. PLANE
in the example
above, the four
• A line extended in a direction other than its intrinsic
minarets outline a
direction
spatial field which
• Conceptually has length and width but no depth
the dome of Hagia
Sophia rises in
splendor. Hagia Sophia, Constantinople

• Linear members that possess the necessary material

strength can perform structural functions

• Linear elements express movement across space

• Planes in architecture define three-dimensional volumes of

mass and space
• The properties of each plane – size, shape, color and
texture – as well as their spatial relationship to one another
determine the visual attributes of the form they define and
the qualities of space they enclose

In architectural design, we manipulate three generic

types of planes:

Salginatobel Bridge, Switzerland ▪ Overhead plane

▪ Wall plane
• Linear members provide support for an overhead ▪ Base plane
plane

1. OVERHEAD PLANE

The overhead plane can be either the roof plane that shelters
the interior spaces of a building from the climatic elements, or
the ceiling that forms the upper enclosing surface of the roo

Caryatid Porch,The Erechtheion, Athens

2. WALL PLANE • The ceiling plane is usually out of reach and is almost always
a purely visual event in a space
The wall plane, because of its vertical orientation, is active in our • It can be raised or lowered to alter the scale of a space or to
normal field of vision and vital to the shaping and enclosure of define spatial zones within a room
architectural space.
• Its form can be manipulated to control the quality of light or
sound within a space

3. BASE PLANE

The base plane can either be 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 • The roof plane is the essential sheltering element that protects
upon which we walk the interior of a building from climatic elements
• The form and geometry of its structure is established by the
manner it spans across space to bear on its supports and slopes
to shed rain and melting snow
• As a design element, the roof plane is significant because of
the impact it can have on the form and silhouette of a building
within its setting

Falling Water, Frank Lloyd

Wright
• The ground plane ultimately supports all architectural Slabs express the
construction horizontality of the roof
planes as they cantilever
• It can be manipulated to establish a podium for a building outward from a central
form vertical core

• It can be elevated to honor a sacred or significant place;

bermed to define outdoor spaces or buffer against undesirable Schroder House, Gerrit
conditions; carved or terraced to provide a suitable platform Rietveld
on which to build; or stepped to allow changes in elevation to The overall form of the
be easily traversed building can be endowed
with a distinctly planar
quality by introducing
openings which expose the
Acropolis, Athens edges of vertical and
Elevated to honor a sacred, horizontal places
significant place
VII. 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
Mortuary Temple of Queen
Hatshepsut
Terraces approached by
ramps rise toward the cliffs
where the sanctuary is cut
deep into the rock

• The wall planes isolate a portion of space to create a

controlled interior environment All volumes can be analyzed and understood to consist of:
• Their construction provides both privacy and protection from
the climatic elements for the interior spaces of a building, while
openings within or between their boundaries reestablish a Points or vertices where
connection with the exterior environment
several planes come together

Planes or surfaces which define

the limits or boundaries of a
volume

Lines or edges where two

planes meet
• Form is the primary identifying characteristic of a volume 1. Visual effects
• It is established by the shapes and interrelationships of the
planes that describe the boundaries of the volume • Pure convex form externally
• As the three-dimensional element in the vocabulary of
• Presents impenetrable, uninviting appearance.
architectural design, a volume can be either a solid – space
displaced by mass – or a void – space contained or enclosed • It displays visual quality of repulsion.
by planes • Has no points of interest to focus
• Defined by vague outline of circle, whole mass appears
as immense dot.

UNIT III: ELEMENTS OF ARCHITECTURE - FORM

• In architecture, a volume can be seen to be either a portion
of space contained and defined by wall, floor, and ceiling or
roof planes, or a quantity of space displaced by the mass of a
building
• Plan and Section – space defined by wall, floor and ceiling
• Elevation – space displaced by the mass of a building
Floating Pavilion for Shaghai Sphere Building, Shanghai

2. Emotional effects

FLOOR PLAN • Lack of concentration

space defined by wall, floor and • Restleness
ceiling • Diffuseness
• Total effect on observer is lack of sense of orientation

3. Inside the Sphere

• The bounding surface is continually concave.

ELEVATION • It opens to the observer.
space displaced by the mass of a • Invites attention.
building • Attraction is from all sides
• Centre of equilibrium is Centre of sphere which may be
imaginary if not articulated
• It arouses sensations of Concentration, repose and
orientation
Building forms that stand as objects in the landscape can be read as
occupying volumes in space 4. The Circular Shape in Arhitecture

The Circle symbolizes unity, stability, rationality. It is also the

symbol of infinity, without beginning or end, perfection, the
ultimate geometric symbol. It represents a completeness which
SAN MIGUEL BUILDING, encompasses all space and Time.
Ortigas

Building forms that serve as containers can be read as masses that

define volumes of space

PIAZZA MAGGIORE, Bologna

5. Derivatives of Sphere - Hemisphere

I. SPHERE • Cut horizontally in

half.
Sphere is body that consists of
Regular, continuous surface. • Cut portion forms
It has no lines, edges or corners an edge, circular
in plan.
• Neither horizontal or vertical
emphasis • The dome and
• It is a form which is closed the edge portion
within itself. give the visual
character
6. Hemisphere – Visual Effect & Emmotional Effect • (Both physical and visual tension makes it dominating visual
• Visual Effect entity)
• Diffuse quality in the sphere, but continuity is terminated at • The horizontal internal space stimulates a horizontal
rim. movement which is greater with increasing horizontality. So
• Emotional effect space becomes transformed into a passage , a corridor
• A sense of circular movement set up by the rim. and an internal street.
• While sphere leads to disorientation • Vertical space stimulates vertical movement when filled
• hemisphere leads to circular movement. with stair case, lift or ramp.

7. Internally
• One concave surface and other flat
• Interior is circular in shape.
• The attention to the observer will be to the Centre.
• The sense of movement is associated with the edge.
• Inverted hemisphere
• If the base is flattened it would be horizontal arena towards
the which attention is focused.
• This would be idea for viewing a central activity such as III. PYRAMID
sporting events • Made up of tapering and inclined
surface and gather together to form
an apex, a corner where the whole
II. CUBE
mass culminates.
• The directional quality is stronger than
• Six equal square sides
that of a rectilinear tower.
• Angle between any two
adjacent faces being right angle
• Cube is static form.
• It is very stable unless it stands in IV. CYLINDER
corners • Rounded surface. In far distance it appears in outline as
rectilinear and nearer it appears more like circular.
1. Visual effects
• Curvature and circular movement continue alongside a
• The vertical blank square neither invites nor repulses. strong vertical movement. the resultant is spiral. spiral ramp
visually and physically impenetrable, uninviting and spiral stairs suit a space.
appearance.
• Because the directions are equally emphasized, the mass
as a whole has no directional quality and neutral.
• Visual force is given by edges. UNIT IV: ELEMENTS OF ARCHITECTURE - SPACE
▶ Understanding perceptual effects of specific configuration of
2. Inside the Cube
architectural spaces – Enclosure – Internal and External,
• Space inside cube is bounded in plane surface , lines and
Continuous spaces
corners.
• Corners wont project towards the observer but recede ▶ Spatial relationship and its types, Spatial organization:
away from him. Centralized, Linear, Radial Clustered, Grid – built form and open
space relationships.

I. SPATIAL ORGANIZATION

There are five types of spatial organization:

1. Central Organization
2. Linear Organization
3. Radial Organization
4. Cluster Organization
5. GRID Organization

3. Cuboid 1. CENTRAL ORGANIZATION

• Altering the equal sides of the cube, cuboid is obtained.
• The volume is spread in particular direction either horizontal • It is a stable & concentrated composition
or vertical, irrespective of the surface.
• It consists of numerous secondary spaces that
• Each mass has a longer side and shorter side.
• Surface lines are emphasized than corners. are clustered around a central, dominant &
• Horizontality – urban street. bigger space.
• (because of the continuity one hesitates to stop unless • It presents secondary spaces that are equal in
opening is created)
terms of role, shape & form, which creates a
• Verticality – high rise building
 distribution package that is geometrically
regular to two or more axes. 4. CLUSTER ORGANIZATION
• Those central organizations whose forms are
relatively compact & geometrically regular • This type of spatial organization is used to
can be used to: connect spaces using proximity.
• It can accommodate in its composition spaces
– Establish "places" in space, with different sizes, shapes and functions, as
– Be term of axial long as they relate themselves by proximity and
compositions, some visual element.
– finally act as a form‐object • The connected spaces can
inserted into a field or an be grouped gather around
exactly defined spatial a large area or a well-
volume. defined spatial volume.

2. LINEAR ORGANIZATION 5. GRID ORGANIZATION

• Consist essentially of a series of spaces • It consists of forms and spaces whose position
• These spaces can be interconnected directly, in space and their interrelationships are
or be linked through another linear regulated by a type of plot or a three‐
independent and distinct space. dimensional field.
• Those spaces that are important, functionally • It can be created by establishing a regular
or symbolically within this organization, can scheme of points that define the intersections
take place anywhere in the linear sequence between two groups of parallel lines.
and show their relevance using their size and • Its capacity on organization
shape. is the result of its regularity
• The organization can solve linear different and continuity that includes
conditions at the site. the same elements that
• It can be a straight, distributes.
segmented or curve line and
it can develop itself
horizontally, vertically or II. SPATIAL RELATIONSHIP
diagonally.
• Space Within a Space
3. RADIAL ORGANIZATION

• It combines elements of both linear and

centralized organizations. It consists of a • Interlocking spaces
dominant central space, with many radial
linear organizations.
• While a centralized organization is an
introverted scheme that directs to the interior • Adjacent Spaces
of its central space, a radial organization is an
extrovert scheme that escapes from its
context. • Spaces linked by a common
• The central space of a radial Space
organization has a regular
form, acts as the hub of the
linear arms and maintains
the formal regularity of the
whole organization
III. ELEMENTS OF CIRCULATION V. FORM
Architectural Form is the point of contact between mas and
1. APPROACH space

the distant view; the first phase of the Properties of Form:

circulation system during which we are
• Shape
prepared to see, experience and use the • Size
building • Color
• Texture
• Position
2. ENTRANCE • Orientation
from outside to inside; may be flushed, • Visual Inertia

projected or recessed VI. SPACE DEFINITION

3. CONFIGURATION OF PATH
the sequence of spaces; can be linear, radial,
spiral, grid, network or composite

IV. SPATIAL THEORIES

1. ANTHROPOCENTRISM
the human being is the most important entity in
the universe. The world is perceived according
to the values and experiences of the human
being.

2. ANTHROMORPHISM
human qualities are associated with non-
human entities/ events. Qualities such as form,
values and emotions.

3. ANTHROPOMETRICS
study of measurements of the human body

4. ERGONOMICS
an applied science concerned with the of
characteristics of people that need to be
considered in the design of devices and
systems in order that people and things will
interact effectively and safely.

5. PROXEMICS
The study of the symbolic and communicative
role of the spatial separation individuals
maintains in various social and interpersonal
situations, and how the nature and degree of
this spatial arrangement relates to
environmental and cultural factors.

6. SPATIAL ILLUSIONS
• Changes in levels
• Bringing outside in
• Borrowing views
• Use of glass and light materials
• Multiplicity of functions
• Two-dimensional treatments
• Use of color
VII. FORM TRANSFORMATION PLANE

A line extended becomes a plane with properties of:

1. Dimensional Transformation
• Length and width
• Shape
a form can be transformed by altering one or more of its
• Surface
dimensions and still retain its identity as a member of a family of
• Orientation
forms. A cube, for example, can be transformed into similar
prismatic forms through discrete changes in height, length or • Position
width.
VOLUME

A plane extended becomes a volume with properties of:

• Length, width, depth
• Form and space
• Surface
• Orientation
• Position

2. 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 still retain its initial identity or be transformed into a

form of another family

3. 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.

VIII. FORM AND SPACE

SPATIAL RELATIONSHIPS

• Space within a Space

• Interlocking Spaces
• Adjacent Spaces
• Spaces linked by a
• Common Space

IX. ELEMENTS OF DESIGN

POINT

• 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

LINE

A point extended becomes a line with properties of:

• Length
• Direction
• Position
CONCEPTS AND PHILOSOPHIES
“Architecture is the masterly, correct and magnificent
I. Functional concepts play of masses brought together in light. Our eyes are
II. Environmental concepts made to see forms in light.
III. Structural concepts
Thus, cubes, cones, spheres, cylinders or pyramids are
IV. Cultural concepts
the great primary forms which light reveals to
V. Thematic concepts
advantage; they are not only beautiful forms, but the
VI. Time-based concepts
most beautiful forms.”

CONCEPTS ROCOCO:

I. FUNCTIONAL CONCEPTS Multiplication of real effects of parallax, which is the apparent

displacement of objects caused by an actual change in the
Traditional definition of good architecture:
point of observation. Ex. Use of mirrors
Vitruvius’s Utilitas, Firmitas, Venustas
• Stratification
Architecture is a product of programming

Existing State Future State

The setting
Mission
Cultural, Social, Political, Historical,
Economic Physical Conditions/ Site Goals
Data

Geography, Climate, Archaeology, Performance

Geology Client/User Profile Requirements
Demography, Organizations, Needs,
Behavior
Concepts
Constraints Legal,
Financial,
Technical, Market EVOLUTIONARY ARCHITECTURE

DURAND: • Architecture can create as nature

There are only two problems in architecture : creates
1. in private buildings, how to provide the optimum • A building can be seen as a living
accommodation for the smallest sum of money organism with functional processes
2. in public building, how to provide the maximum • The overriding objective is to reach the
accommodation for a given sum
ultimate evolution of a design so that it
Ornament had nothing to do with architectural beauty, since a is a perfected culmination of function,
building was only beautiful when it satisfied a need. form and purpose within limits of
“Whether we consult our reason, or examine ancient budget, materials, and so forth
monuments, it is evident that the primary purpose of
architecture has never been to please, nor has architectonic
decoration been its object. III. STRUCTURAL CONCEPTS
Public and private usefulness, and the happiness and
preservation of mankind, are the aims of architecture. • Arches

- Light and color as a modifying element of space; artificial

or natural, light can be manipulated by design to identify
places and to give places particular character

II. ENVIRONMENTAL CONCEPTS

• Temperature, ventilation, sound, smell, texture

• Using and modifying things that are already
there
• Stratification and climate responsiveness
• Passive Cooling

Le Corbusier
• Frames IV. CULTURAL CONCEPTS

1. ETHNOCENTRISM

Habitual disposition to judge

foreign peoples or groups by the
standards and practices of one’s
own culture or ethnic groups.

2. CRITICAL REGIONALISM
• Tube Construction
Factoring in cultural variations
and contextual realities.

LEDOUXE

The plan of an edifice was not something resulting from

• Mushroom Construction its function but was deliberately designed to express its
function by association of ideas.

V. THEMATIC CONCEPTS

• Suspended Systems

VI. TIME-BASED CONCEPTS

• Prefabrication

• Stretched Membrane
ARCHITECTURAL PHILOSOPHIES 1. ORNAMENTS

ARCHITECTURE ENVIRONMENT The New Architecture and the Bauhaus by Walter

Gropius
1. MAN, OVER ENVIRONMENT
The ultimate goal of the new architecture was ‘the
The Ten Books of Architecture by Vitruvius composite but inseparable work of art, in which the
old dividing line between monumental and
“The man of learning… can fearlessly look down upon decorative elements will have disappeared forever’
the troublesome accidents of fortune. But he who
thinks himself entrenched in defenses not of learning Bauhaus: Aim was to unite art and technology under
but of luck, moves in slippery paths, struggling though a purified aesthetic that removed all ornament and
life unsteadily and insecurely.” articulation from form and stressed the beauty of
expressed function.

Ornament was considered a bourgeois decadence, if

not an actual crime- Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer
and Josef Albers

“Less is More” – Mies Van der Rohe

“Less is Bore” – Robert Venturi

2. CONTRADICTION

“An Architecture of complexity and contradiction has

a special obligation toward the whole- its truth must
2. ENVIRONMENT, OVER MAN
be in its totality or implications of totality.
The Poetry of Architecture by John Ruskin
It must embody the difficult unity of inclusion rather
“Everything about it should be natural, and should than the easy unity of inclusion”
appear as if the influences and forces which were in
- Venturi
operation around its had been too strong to be
resisted, and had rendered all efforts of art to check
3. DE STIJL
their power, or conceal the evidence of their action,
entirely unavailing… it can never lie too humbly in the De Stijl: pursuit of social renewal through ideal
pastures of the valley, nor shrink too submissively into abstraction;
the hollows of the hills; it should seem to be asking the
storm for mercy, and the mountain for protection; and Close relationship between architecture and the fine
should appear to owe weakness, rather than strength, arts; pristine, geometric but more decorative than the
that it is neither overwhelmed by the one, nor crushed Bauhaus:
by the other.”
Painter Piet Mondrian, Design Critic Theo Van
Architectural Principles in the Age of Humanism by Rudolf Doesburg, Architects J.J.P. Oud, Gerrit Rietveld and
Wittkower Mart Stam

Explores Renaissance use of ideal geometric figures INTERNATIONAL STYLE

and ratios in their designs. Also discusses why they
believed that such figures and ratios were powerful. “The house is a machine to live in.”
Bases are the relationship of the human body with •the program for building a house should be set out
nature. with the same precision as that for building a machine;
•structural frame should be separately
ARCHITECTURE FORM identified from the space-enclosing walls;
•house should be lifted on pilotises so the garden may
spread under it;
Le Corbusier •roofs should be flat, capable of being used
as a garden;
•interior accommodation should be freely planned
“The plan proceeds from within to without; the exterior
is the result of the interior”
 TECTONICS then recognize and respect them in whatever context
they might appear.

4. ROMAN REVIVAL
Tectonics - the art and science of shaping,
ornamenting or assembling materials in building • Influences of the Roman monumental
construction. compositional forms
• The new tendency to fit public buildings into
1. REVOLUTIONARY ARCHITECTURE (1800s) • antique temples
• The tendency to incorporate the compositional
Eclecticism or Indifferentism- designing without forms of Antique temples into public buildings
considering that any matter of principle was involved • Importance of ruins and archaeological studies

The new tendency to plan buildings geometrically or

5. GREEK REVIVAL
symbolically without close reference to functional
• Acknowledgement of the idea of the Parthenon
requirements
as the most perfect building ever constructed; its
ROMANTICISM qualities have been interpreted to justify every
change in architectural fashion, from the servile
duplication of its composition and details to the
1. HISTORIOGRAPHY
most individualistic creations in reinforced
Historicism and Exoticism: Notion of evolution and concrete and steel.
chronology. Passion for Archaeology • Traditional use of plumb lines, squares and levels
• Regard for public buildings as objects in space
2. INFLUENCE OF THE PICTURESUE rather than objects enclosing space.
• Making pediments correspond to the structural
Sculptural and picturesque
reality of the pitched roof
The villa concept- multiplicity, relatively modest
dimensions, unrestricted sites, asymmetry, irregularity 6. RENAISSANCE REVIVAL
of plan, fenestration and silhouette • the renaissance revival allowed an architect to
select and even to invent for himself such
Intricacy defined as the disposition of objects which, compositional and decorative forms as might be
by a partial and uncertain concealment, excites and considered suitable for the occasion.
nourishes curiosity • Introduced common sense into architectural
design.
REVIVALISM • Picturesque and lacked order and symmetry of
classical architecture.
• Skill of architects not to be found in
1. AWARENESS OF STYLE
archaeological accuracy of facades but in the
Style: the fashion which each generation can orderly sequences of accommodation on
promptly recognize as its own; what ties together the awkward sites, skillful combination of different
aesthetic achievements of the creative individuals of and new materials
one age;
7. GOTHIC NATIONALISM
the expression of a prevailing, dominant or • Buildings with pseudo-mediaeval details Ideals
authentically contemporary view of the world by with which to justify Gothic revival were
those artists who have most successfully intuited the immensely varied and often diametrically
quality of human experience peculiar to their day, opposed.
and who are able to phrase this experience in forms • Neglect of practical comforts and functional
deeply congenial to the thought or matter expressed planning; spaces were planned more with an eye
to their scenic effect than to their workability
2. PRIMITIVISM AND PROGRESS
8. POLYCHROMY
Issues of birth, growth and decay were tackled the
• Introduction of variegations into the exterior
value of historical study was that it showed by what
design of facades.
gradual steps the transition had been made from the
• Exteriors should display colors of various hues.
first simple efforts of uncultivated nature to a state of
• Structural Coloration: architectural form was
things which was ‘so
necessarily structural form, and hence, effects of
wonderfully artificial and cultivated’ Glorification of color should result from the structural materials by
the ‘noble savage’ which an edifice was actually built.

3. ECLECTICISM (1830s) FUNCTIONALISM

A composite system of thought made up of views

selected from various other systems. SYMBOLS OF FUNCTION

Eclectics claim that no one should accept blindly from • BIOLOGICAL ANALOGY
the past the legacy of a single philosophical system to • MECHANICAL ANALOGY
the exclusion of all others but each should decide • GASTRONOMIC ANALOGY
rationally and independently what philosophical facts • LINGUISTIC ANALOGY
used in the past were appropriate to the present and
1. BIOLOGICAL ANALOGY HOUSING AND URBAN CONCEPT
• Architecture based on
anatomy 1. EKISTICS
• Concept of Organic
Architecture Doxiadis:
• Parts of a whole
• Morphology: science of “A human settlement is made up of five ekistic elements,
form which are interactive and interdependent with each other.
• Form follows function These are man, nature, shells, networks and society.”
• Influence of the
environment
URBAN DESIGN CONCEPT
2. MECHANICAL ANALOGY
• Scientific evolution and
Linear and Nodal City- Le Corbusier Broadacre City- Frank Lloyd
artistic evolution follow the
Wright Chandigarh – Le Corbusier
same laws
• Movement and function The Freestanding Building/ Functionalism- Sigfried Giedion
• Collaboration in the (Space, Time and Architecture)
progressive accumulation
of technical knowledge The Ideal City- Ludwig Hilberseimer
• Precise destination and
City of Setback Skyscrapers- Louis Sullivan Garden City-
expression of potentialities
Ebenezer Howard

MODERNISM
3. GASTRONOMIC ANALOGY
• Demands the
combination of materials of A series of discontinuous movements in the
strength, ideal sequence or
19th and 20th centuries;
plan, analysis and testing of
efficacies opposes both the Zeitgeist and the Single Strand theories that
• Goes beyond scientific propose continuous evolution of styles.
analysis; requires intuition,
imagination, enthusiasm, Modernism is characterized by
immense amount of
organizational skill multi-valence or by the presence of multi-valued levels of
meaning

ISSUES:
4. LINGUISTIC ANALOGY
• Relativity
• Eloquence and • Evolutionary
expression • Diversity

COMMON NOTIONS:
• Emotions and
experiencing emotions
• soulless container
• absence of relationship with the environment
• arrogant
• Vocabulary and • unarticulated
composition • monstrous
• speculative
• mass-produced

INFLUENCE OF ENGINEERS ASSOCIATED TERMS:

• Importance of mathematical studies in • Functional

constructional design • Industrial
• Straightforward, unadorned building unless • Innovative/ Novel
needs of decorum demanded ornament • Technology
• Revolutionary and Opposing
• Classical proportions were modified in
accordance with new materials Modernism is marked by the following:
• Architecture of iron
• Renunciation of the old world
• Addressed mass housing
INFLUENCE OF THE ALLIED ARTS • Explored potentials of materials and new forms
• Technological determinism and structural rationalism
• Decorations and ornaments • Aesthetic self-expression
• Abstract patterns on space layout • Belief in the power of form to transform the world
• Furniture design on Architectural • Sleek machined surfaces
composition • Mass production and cost reduction
• Skyscrapers and capitalism
• Grand urban projects
Van Doesburg:

“Every machine is a spiritualization of an organism…

the machine is par excellence, a phenomenon of
spiritual disciplines… The new spiritual artistic sensibility
of the 20th century has not only felt the beauty of the
machine but also taken cognizance of the unlimited
expressive possibilities for the arts.”

The Metaphysical School of Architecture- the quasi-mystical

spirit of ‘what the building wants to be’.

Les Corbusier: DECONSTRUCTION

“The frame of a building or buildings is like the laws that Jacques Derrida- the founding
govern society. Without these laws there is anarchy father of Deconstruction
and without the frame there is visual anarchy.”
“Something has been constructed, a philosophical
Thomas Ava Edison system, a tradition, a culture, and along comes a de-
constructor (who) destroys its stone by stone, analyzes
experimented with Portland concrete and the structure and dissolves it… One looks as systems…
subsequent mass production of pre- fabricated and examines how it was built, which keystone, which
houses made of concrete. angle… supports the building; one shifts them and
Then came the technology of casting with the use of thereby frees oneself from the authority of the system.
scaffolding that allowed for variation and alteration.

POST-MODERNISM

A diverse and unstable concept that started in the United States

after 1965 then spread to the rest of the industrialized world.

Post-modernists focused on the differences and brought to fore

that which had been marginalized by dominant cultures. In
other fields, the movement is characterized by a rejection of a
unitary world view.
STRUCTURALISM AND POST-STRUCTURALISM

1. Structuralism- study of relationships between say, words in

a language, etc.

2. Post-structuralism- was concerned with questions of

meaning and how individuals order the world. In
architecture, PS focused on meaning rather than process.
• Architecture came with cartoon- like trivialization and
packaging FORDISM AND POST-FORDISM
• Urban planning under post- modernism celebrated
heterogeneity in place of central, grand statues 1. Fordism- refers to the state- regulated system of mass
production and mass consumption which,
Venturi:
undergirded by welfare and security, dominated
“An Architecture of complexity and contradiction has advanced capitalist societies in the west, roughly from
a special obligation toward the whole- its truth must
be in its totality or implications of totality. It must the Depression to the crisis of the 1970s.
embody the difficult unity of inclusion rather than the
easy unity of inclusion”
2. Post-Fordism- characterized by:

• flexible communication
• niche market consumption
• flexible machinery equipment that can be
adapted to different tasks relatively quickly
• flexible accumulation of goods in order to
respond quickly to demand
• more temporary and part-time labor
Venturi and Scott Brown: • geographical clustering of information,
“the architect’s task was to express meaning to the
transnational cultural and population flows
general public, whether in the design of a house or a
civic building; people became mobile bearers of • information superhighways.
meaning.”
 ENVIRONMENTAL CONCEPT ESSENCE OF ARCHITECTURE

ELEMENTS OF CLIMATE NEEDED IN DESIGN ARCHITECTURE & ARTS

Greek words
• Dry-bulb Temperature (DBT): This is the ARCHI = first or original
measurement of the temperature of the air and TECT = the ability to put things together
as far as possible excludes any radiant
temperature Sanskrit root
• Relative Humidity (RH): The amount of water in ARTS = everything in its right
the air Place
• Precipitation: This is mainly rainfall but could also
be dew
• Sky: Cloud cover THEORY IN GENERAL
• Wind: The direction, frequency and force
of the wind throughout the year • Analysis of a set of facts in relation
• to one another
• Belief, policy or procedure proposed or followed as basis of
COMFORT ZONE: The range of conditions under which most
people feel comfortable; action
It is a function of many variables, among which is the annual • An ideal or hypothetical set of facts, principles or
mean temperature. circumstances of a body of fact on science or art
• A plausible or scientifically accepted general principle or
CHARACTERISTICS OF TROPICAL CLIMATE body of principles offered to explain phenomenon

Warm Humid: High Temperature; High RH; Heavy rains

esp. during monsoon
I. Forms/types of Theory
Hot Dry: Very high DBT; low humidity; low precipitation;
little or no cloud; sparse/bare ground • Descriptive: Explains phenomenon or events; they’re
neutral and do not lean towards any ideology
Composite: mixture of warm, humid and hot/dry
• Prescriptive: Prescribes bases or guidelines
Macro and Micro: region and site.
• Critical: Challenges relationships between architecture &
society

ARCHITECTURAL THEORY

I. Essence and Composition

• A collection of thoughts, view, ideas

• Organized by theme or topic
• Evolution of thoughts
• There is not a grand theory or unified theory of architecture;
it is a combination of various thoughts, speculations,
concepts

II. Form

• In a conceptual form
• Needs to be translated
• From concepts to reality
• Discussed, tested, developed

ESSENCE OF ARCHITECTURE

Architecture is the process that we instinctively recognize as the

genius of growth and creation

It gives form to the invisible pulses and rhythm of life

The physical manifestation of the power is a consequence of

the desire for the invisible to be made visible

ARCHITECTURAL SYSTEMS

The Architecture of
Space Structure Enclosure
Organizational pattern, relationships, hierarchy
Qualities of shape, color, texture, scale, proportion
Qualities of surfaces, edges and openings
Experienced through IV. CONTEXT
Movement in Space-time
Approach and entry
Path configuration and access
Sequence of spaces
Light, view, touch, hearing and smell

Achieved by means of
Technology
Structure and enclosure
Environmental protection and comfort THE ARCHITECTURE OF:
Health, safety and welfare
• Space
Durability • Structure
• Enclosure
Accommodating a
Program
• Organizational pattern, relationships,
User requirements, needs, aspirations
hierarchy
Socio-cultural factors • Qualities of shape, color, texture, scale,
Economic factors proportion
Legal restraints • Qualities of surfaces, edges and openings
Historical tradition and precedents

Compatible with its EXPERIENCED THROUGH:

Context
Site and environment • Movement in Space- time
Climate: sun, wind, temperature and precipitation
Geography: soils, topography, vegetation and water
Sensory and cultural characteristics of the place • Approach and entry
• Path configuration and access
• Sequence of spaces
ARCHITECTURAL SYSTEMS • Light, view, touch, hearing and smell

I. SPATIAL SYSTEMS II. STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS

ACHIEVED BY MEANS OF:

• Technology

• Structure and enclosure

• Environmental protection and comfort
• Health, safety and welfare
• Durability

ACCOMMODATING A:

• Program

• User requirements, needs, aspirations

• Socio-cultural factors
• Economic factors
• Legal restraints
• Historical tradition & precedents

III. ENCLOSURE SYSTEMS IV. CIRCULATION SYSTEM

COMPATIBLE WITH ITS:

• Context

• Site and environment

• Climate: sun, wind, temperature and
precipitation
• Geography: soils, topography, vegetation
and water
• Sensory and cultural characteristics of the
place
 ARCHITECTURAL ORDERS THE 20TH CENTURY ARCHITECTS
ARCHITECTURAL ORDERS ▪ WALTER GROPIUS (1883- 1969)

▪ Physical • German Architect

• Worked under Peter Behrens
▪ Perceptual • Influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright
• FOUNDED THE BAUHAUS
▪ Conceptual • Migrated to the US and taught at the Harvard School
of Architecture
Form And Space
“Architects, sculptors, painters, we must all return to the crafts!
Solids and Voids For art is not a ‘profession.’ There is no essential difference
Interior and Exterior between the artist and the craftsman.
The artist is the exalted craftsman.”
• Sensory perception and recognition of the physical -GROPIUS
elements by experiencing them sequentially in time
CHARACTER OF WORKS:
• Comprehension of the ordered and disordered
relationships among a building’s elements and systems • Simple geometry, often rectangular
and responding to the meanings they evoke • Use of modern materials like steel and glass
• Smooth surfaces
Systems and Organizations of: • Primary colors
• Linear and horizontal elements
Space
Structure
Enclosure
Machines
Approach and Departure
Entry and Egress
Movement through the order of spaces
Functioning of and activities within spaces
Qualities of light, color, texture, view and sound
Images
Patterns
Signs
Symbols Walter Gropius, The BAUHAUS BUILDING, Dessau, Germany,
Context (Space, Form, Function, Technics) 1926
ARCHITECTURAL FORM & SPACE SYSTEMS &
ORDERS ORGANIZATION
Sensory • Approach &
perception & Departure
recognition of the • Entry & Egress
physical elements • Movement
PHYSICAL by experiencing through the
them sequentially order of spaces
in time • Functioning of
activities within
Walter Gropius, GROPIUS RESIDENCE, Massachusetts, 1937
spaces
• Qualities of
light, color,
texture, view & ▪ LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE (1886- 1969)
sound
Sensory • Approach & • German Architect
perception & Departure • No formal training in architecture
recognition of the • Entry & Egress • Worked under Peter Behrens
physical elements • Movement • Succeeded Gropius as Bauhaus Director
PERCEPTUAL by experiencing through the • Migrated to the US and taught architecture at the
them sequentially order of spaces Illinois Institute of Technology
in time • Functioning of
activities within • Designed SKYSCRAPERS OF STEEL AND GLASS
spaces • which became models of skyscraper design
• Qualities of • throughout the world
light, color,
• texture, view &
sound “Less is more.”
Comprehension • Images -Van der Rohe
of the ordered • Patterns
CONCEPTUAL and disordered • Signs
relationships • Symbols CHARACTER OF WORKS:
among a • Context
building’s (space, form, • Simple rectangular forms
elements and function, • Open, flexible plans and multi-functional spaces
systems and techniques) • Widespread use of glass to bring the outside in
responding to the • Mastered steel and glass construction
meanings they • Exposed and very refined structural details
evoke
 Frank Lloyd Wright,
Mies van der Rohe, SEAGRAM BUILDING KAUFMANN HOUSE or THE FALLING WATER,
LAKE SHORE DRIVE APTS. & NewYork, 1958 Bear Run, Pennsylvania, 1937

Frank Lloyd Wright, GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM,

New York, 1956-59
Mies van der Rohe, FARNSWORTH HOUSE,
Illinois, 1946-51

▪ LOUIS KAHN (1901- 1974)

• important figure in the transition from International

Style Modernism to Postmodernism
• first convincing rebel against the dull, glass boxes
produced by modernists
• designed contemporary and monumental
architecture of massive geometrical forms in contrast
to the usual rectangular glass and steel designs
during his time.
• taught architecture at Yale University and at the
University of Pennsylvania
• Influenced postmodernists Robert Venturi & Charles
GERMAN PAVILION Interior, FARNSWORTH HOUSE Interior, Moore
Barcelona Expo, 1929 Illinois, 1946-51
CHARACTER OF WORKS:
• simple, Platonic forms and compositions
• use of brick and poured-in place concrete
▪ FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT (1867- 1959) • dramatic spaces
• use of natural light
• American Architect
• Worked under Louis Sullivan Several elements of Kahn's architecture came together in
• Influenced by the British Arts and Crafts Movement the RICHARDS MEDICAL RESEARCH BUILDING, elements that
and traditional Japanese Architecture were used before, independently of each other:
• Influenced European modern architects
• created the philosophy of ORGANIC ARCHITECTURE, • a clear articulation of servant and served spaces;
which maintains that the building must develop out of • the problem of light;
its surroundings. • the integration of spatial, structural, and utility elements;
• known for the Prairie Houses, characterized by and,
asymmetrical plans and low, wide overhanging • the integration of form, material, and process.
eaves.
As a result, this building represents a significant turning point in
contemporary architecture.
“study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never
fail you.”
― Frank Lloyd Wright

CHARACTER OF WORKS:
• strong eastern influences
• use of natural materials like bricks, stone and wood
• use of textured concrete
• designs that blend well in its environment
• focused more on residential designs

Louis Kahn, KIMBELL ARTS MUSEUM, Texas, 1966-72

 Eero Saarinen,
T.W.A. TERMINAL, J.F.K. INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT,
New York, 1962

Louis Kahn,
SALK INSTITUTE FOR BIOLOGICAL STUDIES
California, 1959-65

▪ RICHARD BUCKMINSTER FULLER (1895-1983)

• American inventor of the Geodesic Dome and the

principle of “Synergetics, ”who influenced High Tech
leaders, especially Norman Foster

• “MORE WITH LESS” – a philosophy concerned with the Eero Saarinen, DULLES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT,
Washington, 1962
efficient use of materials and technology for energy
and cost-efficient designs, for the benefit of
humanity.
▪ PHILIP JOHNSON (1906-)

• controversial architect who worked in the modern

and, later, in the postmodern style
• together with Henry Russell-Hitchcock, curated an
exhibition entitled “Modern Architecture: An
International Exhibition” from which the “International
Style” came from
• for his master’s thesis, built the Glass House whose
concept was borrowed from van der Rohe’s
Buck Fuller, DYMAXION HOUSE, Farnsworth House
Wichita, Kansas, 1946
• worked with Mies van der Rohe and together they
designed the Seagram Building
• designed the AT& T Headquarters, considered as the
• first postmodern skyscraper

“The only cardinal sin in building is boredom.”

- JOHNSON
Buck Fuller, U.S. PAVILION –
1967 Exposition, Montreal, Canada

THE GLASS
HOUSE,
▪ EERO SAARINEN (1910-1961) Connecticut,
1949

• Finnish architect
• noted for his highly expressionist work reflected in the
sculptural forms of his buildings using reinforced
concrete
• studied architecture and sculpture
(Left)THE
• influenced by Mies van der Rohe and Antonio Gaudi SEAGRAM
BUILDING, New
York, 1958
(with Mies van
der Rohe)

(Right)AT&T
HEADQUARTERS,
New York, 1979

Eero Saarinen, M.I.T. AUDITORIUM, Massachusetts, 1962

▪ MICHAEL GRAVES (1934- )

• one of the New York Five or The Five Whites, together

with Richard Meier, Peter Eisenman, Charles Gwathmey
and John Hejduk, known for their white, modernist designs

• in the mid-70s, abandoned modernism and became

a famous figure in the postmodern camp

• successfully brought the postmodern style from the

academe to the public through the design of the
controversial Portland Building in 1983.

• diverted architecture from modernist abstraction to

restore literacy to readers and users of the building
THE PINK HOUSE,
“I believe that people make natural associations with form, Miami, Florida
color, and the composition of elements while decoration and
detailing help communicate a building’s purpose.”
-GRAVES

HANSELMANN HOUSE, SNYDERMAN HOUSE,

Indiana, 1967 Indiana, 1972 ATLANTIS CONDOMINIUM,
Miami, 1982

PLOCEK HOUSE, 1982

WORLD TRADE EXCHANGE BLDG., PORTLAND BUILDING, ATLANTIS CONDOMINIUM,

Binondo, Manila Oregon, 1983 Miami, 1982

▪ ARQUITECTONICA

• Miami-based firm composed of Bernardo Fort- Brescia

and Laurinda Spears
• works are influenced by both Modernism and
Postmodernism
• pursued the style of an unconventional modernism,
both abstract and romantic, playful as well as
BANCO DE CREDITO, PACIFIC PLAZA TOWERS
dramatic and forceful Peru, 1988 Fort Bonifacio Global City,
Philippines
▪ PETER EISENMAN (1932- ) “Every building is by nature a sculpture. Sculpture is a three-
dimensional object and so is a building.”
• one of the New York Five or The Five Whites, -FRANK GEHRY
together with Richard Meier, Michael Graves,
Charles Gwathmey and John Hejduk
• became influenced with the Deconstruction
philosophy of Jacques Derrida and is now well-
known for his Deconstructivist architecture
• seeks for meaning in architecture not through the
use of historical elements but through the
manipulation and transformation of the
architectural forms themselves

“I am looking for ways of conceptualizing space that will place

the subject in a displaced relationship because they will have
no iconographic reference to traditional forms of organization.
That is what I have always been trying to do, to displace the
subject, to oblige the subject to reconceptualize
architecture.”
-EISENMAN
Frank Gehry, GEHRY HOUSE, Santa Monica, CA , 1978

▪ TADAO ANDO (1941- )

• Japanese minimalist architect

• self- taught in architecture
• influenced by Le Corbusier
• works are characterized by geometrical forms,
dramatic use of natural elements like light and
water and the use of bare reinforced concrete as
Peter Eisenman, chief building material
Model for the GARDIOLA WEEKEND HOUSE
Spain, 1988

“ I do not believe architecture should speak too much. It

should remain silent and let nature, in the guise of light and
wind, speak.”
- ANDO

Peter Eisenman,
WEXNER CENTER FOR THE VISUAL ARTS,
Ohio State University, 1989

Tadao Ando, KOSHINO HOUSE, Tokyo, 1981

Peter Eisenman, COLUMBUS CONVENTION CENTER, Ohio

1992

▪ Frank Gehry (1929- )

• Canadian-born American architect
• known for his distinctive architectural style
characterized by a collage-like composition out of
found materials like plywood, corrugated metal and
chain-link fences
• inspired by the rich and varied culture of Southern Tadao Ando, CHURCH OF THE LIGHT, Japan, 1981
California
 ▪ IEOH MING PEI (1917- )

• Chinese-American architect
• studied under Walter Gropius at Harvard University
• noted for the use of highly geometrical forms for his designs,
most especially the triangular elements constantly found in his
more important project

“Geometry is the key to all architecture.” - PEI

Tadao Ando, CHURCH ON WATER,

I.M. Pei, THE GLASS PYRAMID at the LOUVRE, Paris, 1983-93

Tadao Ando, WATER TEMPLE, Japan, 1990

ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME, BANK OF CHINA,

Cleveland, Ohio, 1993-95 Hongkong, 1989-90

John Pawson, PAWSON HOUSE, London, 1995

▪ RICHARD MEIER (1934- )

• one of the New York Five or The Five Whites

• continued to work with the Corbusian 5 points
• designs are easily recognizable by his white neo- Corbusian
forms, the hierarchy of building elements, sleek industrialized
skins, and greater complexity in planning and massing

I. M. Pei, ESSENSA TOWERS,

Fort Bonifacio Global City, Philippines

▪ RICHARD ROGERS (1933- )

• British architect
• educated at the Architectural Association in London & at
Yale University
Richard Meier, THE ATHENEUM, Indiana 1979
• started his career working with Norman Foster in the group,
Team 4
• rose to international recognition with the design of the “high-
tech” museum, The Pompidou Center, in Paris
• known for designs exposing the skeleton and services of
buildings, and the use of state-of-the art materials like
stainless steel and glass

HIGH MUSEUM OF ART,

Atlanta, 1980-83
 ▪ RENZO PIANO (1937- )

• Italian architect
• rose to international recognition with the design of the
• high-tech building, The Pompidou Center, w/ Richard
Rogers
• in his later work, moved to a more subtle kind of “high-
tech” by designing context-sensitive buildings and
using technology only where appropriate

Richard Rogers, HOUSE FOR HIS PARENTS, Wimbledon, 1968-69

MENIL COLLECTION GALLERY,

Houston, Texas, 1981-86

THE POMPIDOU CENTER, THE LLOYD’S BUILDING,

Paris, 1991-97 London, 1978-86 Renzo Piano,
KANSAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT,
Osaka, Japan, 1988-94

▪ NORMAN FOSTER (1935- )

• British architect
• educated at the Manchester University & at Yale University
• has worked under, was influenced by, Buckminster Fuller
• known for his high-tech buildings characterized by structural
• lightness and low-energy designs

Norman Foster,
SAINSBURY VISUAL ARTS
CENTER, Univ. of East Anglia,
1974-78

Renzo Piano, TJIBAOU CULTURAL CENTER,

New Caledonia, 1991-97

Norman Foster,
RENAULT DISTRIBUTION CENTER,
Swindon, 1980-82
▪ KEN YEANG (1948- )

• Malaysian architect
• educated at the Architectural Association School in
London
Norman Foster, • developed the “bioclimatic theory,” a design of
STANSTED INT’L AIRPORT, structures defined by climate and context
Essex, 1980-91 • designed sustainable skyscrapers, where wind
direction and solar
• orientation are prime considerations
• common design features include fragmented floor
plans, sky courts, windwalls, balconies and vertical
Norman Foster,
landscaping
CHEK LAP KOK AIRPORT,
Hongkong, 1997
 Le Corbusier’s 5 Points of a New Architecture:

1. Pilotis
2. Roof Garden
3. Free Plan
4. Ribbon Windows
5. Free Façade

TOKYO-NARA TOWER, MENARA MESINIAGA BUILDING,

Japan, 1997- Malaysia, 1992

▪ CHARLES EDOUARD JEANNERET (1887-1965)

The VILLA SAVOYE Poissy, France 1929-31

• Swiss-French architect
• 1908-10 – studied in Paris with August Perret
• 1910 – worked in the studio of Peter Behrens with Mies
van der Rohe and Walter Gropius
• turned to painting and founded Purism with Amedee
Ozenfant
• 1923- published a collection of essays, Towards A New
Architecture, and adopted the name Le Corbusier
• 1920s-30s- became concerned with urban planning
and published plans of ideal cities especially the Ville
Contemporaine ( A Contemporary City) and the Ville
Radieusse (The Radiant City)
• designed the famous Villa Savoye in France, the
model for what is to be known as the International
Style.
• After World War II, moved away from Purism and Le Corbusier, Unité d’ Habitation, Marseilles, France 1946-52
toward a more
• “brutalist” aesthetic “Living architecture is that which faithfully expresses its time.
• 1946-52- The Unite d’ Habitation was built in France, We shall seek it in all domains of construction.”
from his prototype of The Vertical City.
• 1950-51- commissioned by the Indian Government to -AUGUST PERRET (1923)
plan the
• city of Chandigarh, the new capital of Punjab.
• 1950s and onwards- moved to a more humanistic “Economic, technical and cultural conditions have changed
phase and designed poetic, handcrafted buildings radically.”
reflected in the
• Church of the of the Notre Dame du Haut at -MIES van der ROHE (1928)
Ronchamp (1954-59).
• accidentally drowned in the Mediterranean on Aug.
27, 1965. “For the first time perhaps, the pressing problems of
architecture, were solved in a modern spirit. Economy,
sociology, aesthetics: a new solution using new methods.”

-LE CORBUSIER (1923)

“Let us guide our students…

from materials, through function to creative work…
We must understand the motives and forces of our time and
analyze their structure from three points of view: the material,
the functional, and the spiritual.”

- MIES van der ROHE (1938)

“Form is not the aim of our work, only the result.”

- MIES van der ROHE