THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE 1

THEORY

 Theory is a mental construct of how and why things happen, which is often used to predict future
events or actions.
 A design theory is a way to direct design based on a system of beliefs or philosophy.
 Theory is not style.

ARCHITECTURE

 It is the ART of science of designing and constructing buildings

ANTHROPOMETRICS

 Measurements of the size and proportions of the human body

 From the Greek word, “Anthropos” meaning “human” and “metron” meaning “measure”

“10 BOOKS ON ARCHITECTURE” by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio

THE FACE

 From the chin to just under the nostril is 1/3 of the face
 From just under the nostril to the eyebrows is 1/3 of the face
 From the eyebrows to the hairline is 1/3 of the face

THE BODY

 The face, chin to hairline is 1/10 the height of a man

 The head, chin to crown is 1/8 the height of a man
 From the breast to the hairline is 1/6 the height of a man
 From the breast to the crown is ¼ the height of a man
 The length of the foot is 1/6 the height of a man
 From the wrist to the tip of the fingers is 1/10 the height of a man
 The length of the forearm is ¼ the height of a man
 The breadth of the breast is ¼ the height of a man
 From fingertip to fingertip equals the height of a man

“Renaissance Architects saw this as a reaffirmation of mathematical ratios reflecting the harmony of the
universe” (Referring to the pic, don’t have a copy hehe)
“The dimensions and proportions of the human body affects the proportion of things we handle, the height
and the distance of things we try to reach, and dimensions of the furnishing we use for sitting, working,
eating, and sleeping”.

ERGONOMICS

 They applied science that coordinates the design of devices, systems, and environments with our
physiological and psychological capacities and requirements.

“In addition to the elements that we use in the building, the dimensions of the human body also affect the
volume of space we require for movement, activity, and rest.

PRIMARY ELEMENTS OF FORM

 Each element is first considered as a conceptual element, then as a visual element in the
vocabulary of architectural design.
 When made visible or paper or in three-dimensional space, these elements become form with
characteristics of substance shape, size, color, and texture.

“The point, line, plane, and volume are not visible, they are mere conceptual elements that make up form”

POINT

 Indicates a position in space

 Is it dimensional?Is it measurable?
 It has no length, width, or depth
 Static
 Centralized
 Directionless
 Example: St. Peter’s Square, Vatical City | Torii, Ise Shrine, Mie Prefecture, Japan | National
Mall, Washington D.C.

TWO POINTS

 Two points describe a line that connects them

 Two points further suggests an axis perpendicular to the line they describe and about which they
are symmetrical

LINE

 Extend a point to create a line

 One dimensionalobject with the properties of:
 Length
 Direction
  Position
 Expresses movement, direction, or growth
 Ahorizontal line represents stability, rest, calmness, tranquility.
Example: New Trianel Headquarters, Aachen, Germany | Robie House by Frank Lloyd Wright,
Chicago, USA
 Vertical linesdepict equilibrium, uplifting, power, and might
Example: Cologne Cathedral, Cologne, Germany
 Oblique lines translate to activity, dynamicity, unbalanced state
Example: Grand Canal Theater by Daniel Libeskind, Dublin, Ireland | Vitra Fire Station by Zaha
Hadid

“Vertical linear elements create an invisible volume of space”

“The column is a certain strengthened part of a wall, carried up perpendicular from the foundation to the
top… a row of columns is indeed nothing but a wall, open and discontinued in several places” -Leon
Battista Alberti

PLANE

 Extend a line to create a plane

 Two-dimensional object with the properties of:
 Length and width
 Shape
 Surface
 Orientation
 Position
 Shape is the primary identifying characteristic of a plane. It is determined by the contour of the
line forming the edges of a plane. Because our perception of shape can be distorted by
perspective foreshortening, we see the true shape of a plane only when we view it frontally

OVERHEAD PLANE

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

WALL PLANE

 Its vertical orientation, is active in our normal field of vision and vital to the shaping and enclosure
of architectural space
BASE PLANE

 The base plane can either be the ground place that serves as the physical foundation and visual
base for building forms, or the floor plane that forms the lower enclosing surface of room upon
which we walk

“The ground plane itself can be manipulated as well to establish a podium for a building form. It can be
elevated to honor a sacred or significant place (Example: Mortuary Temple pf Hatshepsut, Upper
Egypt); bermed to define outdoor spaces or buffer against undesirable condition; carved or terraced to
provide a suitable platform on which we build; or stepped to allow changes in elevation to be easily
traversed (Example: Machu Picchu, Peru)”

“Exterior wall planes isolate a portion of space to create a controlled interior environment. As exterior
walls mold interior space, they simultaneously shape exterior space and describe the form, massing, and
image of a building in space”

“As a design element, the plane of an exterior wall can be articulated as the front or primary facade of a
building. In urban situations, these facades serve as walls that define courtyards, streets, and such
public gathering places as squares and marketplaces (Example: Piazza di Santa Maria Novella,
Florence, Italy)”

“As a design element, a wall plane can merge with the floor or ceiling plane or be articulated as an
element isolated from adjacent planes. It can be treated as a passive or receding backdrop for other
elements in the space, or it can assert itself as a visually active element within a room by virtue of its
form, color, texture, or material”

Additional note:

 As openings increase in size, they begin to erode the natural sense of enclosures
 While we walk on a floor and have physical contact with walls, the ceiling plane is usually out of
our reach and is almost always a purely visual event in a space.
 As a detached lining, the ceiling plane can symbolize the sky vault or be the primary sheltering
element that unifies the different parts of a space (Example: New Clark International Airport,
Clark, Philippines)

“The overall form of a building can be endowed with a distinctly planar quality by carefully introducing
openings that expose the edges of vertical and horizontal planes. These panes can be further
differentiated and accentuated by changes in color, texture, or material”
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.
 FORM – primary identifying characteristic of a volume
 Established by the shapes and interrelationships of the planes that describe the boundaries of the
volume
 SOLID – space displaced by mass
 VOLUME – space contained
 Example: CCP Theater by Leandro Locsin, CCP Complex, Philippines

“Building forms that stand as objects in the landscape can be read as occupying volumes in space”

“Building forms that serve as containers can be read as masses that define volumes of space”

FORM

 Recognized external appearance

 A condition that something manifest
 In art and design,the manner of arranging and coordinating the elements and parts of a
composition so as to produce a coherent image

 Shape  Position
 Size  Orientation
 Color  Visual Inertia
 Texture

SHAPE

 The characteristic outline or surface configuration of a particular form

 Shape is the principal aspect by which we identify and categorize forms
 In architecture we are concerned with the shapes of:
 Floor, wall, and ceiling shapes
 Door and window openings
 Silhouettes and contours of building forms
 From geometry we know the regular shapes to be the circle, and the infinite series of regular
polygons that can be inscribed within it.

CIRCLE
 a plane curve every point of which is equidistant from a fixed point within the curve
  The circle is centralized, introverted figure that is normally stable and self-centering in its
environment
 Placing a circle in the center of a field reinforces its inherent centrality
 Associating it with straight or angular forms or placing an element along its
circumference, however, can induce in the circle an apparent rotary motion

TRIANGLE
 A plane figure bounded by the three sides and having three angles
 Triangle signifies stability
 When resting on one of its side s, the triangle is an extremely stable figure
 When tripped to stand on one of its vertices, however, it can either be balanced in a
precarious state of equilibrium or be unstable and tend to fall over onto one of its sides.

SQUARE
 The square represents the pure and the rational. It is a bilaterally symmetrical figure
having two equal and perpendicular axes. All other rectangles can be considered
variations of the square – deviations from the norm by the addition of height or width
 Like the triangle, the square is stable when resting on one of its sides and dynamic when
standing on one of its corners
 When its diagonals are vertical and horizontal, however, the square exists in a balanced
state of equilibrium

SOLIDS

 Refers to any figure having only two dimensions, such as a flat plane