Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Scribd
Upload
60 views

Theory of Architecture I Lecture A

The document discusses the concept of architectural theory, providing a historical timeline of its development from antiquity to contemporary times. It defines architectural theory as both what has been written about architecture as well as the interrelation of principles and doctrines within the field. Examples are given of how architectural theory is manifested through lectures, books, treatises, competitions, and discourse, and how it has guided the formation and dissolution of architectural styles and movements over the 20th century.

Uploaded by

Art Kukusha
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
60 views

Theory of Architecture I Lecture A

The document discusses the concept of architectural theory, providing a historical timeline of its development from antiquity to contemporary times. It defines architectural theory as both what has been written about architecture as well as the interrelation of principles and doctrines within the field. Examples are given of how architectural theory is manifested through lectures, books, treatises, competitions, and discourse, and how it has guided the formation and dissolution of architectural styles and movements over the 20th century.

Uploaded by

Art Kukusha
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 49

Theory of Architecture

Introduction – what is Theory?


• Theory is the analysis of fact.
• The general or abstract principles of a body of facts, a science
or an art.
• It is simply a belief, policy or procedure proposed or followed
at the bases of action.
• In life We use;
- Art to interpret
- Science to decide
- Religion to believe
- Philosophy to understand
Architectural Theory

Introduction
Architectural Theory
• Concerns thinking, writing, discussing and debating about
architecture.
• Made manifest in a number of ways
– By means of lectures, books, treatise, competition
and dialogue (discourse)
– Sometimes it is ‘didactic’ (educational/instructive),
that is theorists tend to follow and work within a
particular school of thought and action – for
example – Bauhaus.
Architectural Theory
•Architectural theory has been around since ancient
times
•20th Century saw a huge amount of work published in
books, magazines and journals by architects and critics
– This speeded up the formation and dissolution of
styles and movements (relative to historical modes
which endured longer)
Architectural Theory

• Overview
– Historical Timeline
• Antiquity
• Middle Ages
• Renaissance
• Enlightenment
• Nineteenth
Century
• Twentieth
Century
• Contemporary

4
Architectural Theory
• Two ways of defining architectural theory:
1 . Architectural theory consists primarily of what people have
said or written about the subject.
2. It consists of the way in which the various principles and
doctrines of the subject are interrelated.
Pompideau Centre Paris
Renzo Piano Architect
The Pantheon, Rome
• Design Process
Design is a cyclical process consisting of

1. Analysis
2. Define the problem/ goals
3. Ideation / identify concept/ themes/ strategies
4. Evaluate ideas and concepts
5. Synthesis
6. Re-evaluate solutions
7. Development of solutions
8. Refinement
9. Communication and presentation

Steps 3- 8 are might repeated several times.


• Analysis
• Understanding the needs of the problem
• Defining the problem
• Examination and study of precedent
( case studies) • Define the problem and goals
• Develop and define the design program
• Determine and define the performance of all spaces
• Make lists of needs, materials, relationships, etc.
• Ideation
• Brainstorm
• Use different design approaches such as analogy, iconic, canonic and pragmatic
• Change roles
• Be a pack rat
• Evaluate ideas and concepts
• Be critical of each design idea.
• Do not be reluctant to discard and idea and start again
• There will be many false starts
• Do not get attached to an idea
• Examine ideas against the definition of the problem and the goals
• Synthesis
• Put various ideas together
• Use ideas and solutions that work to address more than one design issue at a time
• A single solution that responds to and resolves several design issues is better than
solutions that solve only one issue at a time.
Site Analysis
Site Analysis
• Site Location
• Micro climate
• Vegetation coverage
• Road hierarchy and transportation
• Topography
• Environmental issues
• Magnets and linkages
• Social and physical infrastructures
• Land use compatibility
• Mass and void
• Swot Analysis
• Etc.
Goal of site analysis
• To achieve a successful design, site analysis is a must &
should be done carefully
• Site Analysis involves taking an inventory of site elements
and analyzing these factors relative to the clients needs &
aims
• Gather relevant information about the properties of the
site, from topography to climate to wind pattern and
vegetation
• Analyze these features and incorporate them into the
design
• Analyzing the conditions,
ideal location for building can
be established
• High spot might be right for
building & low spot for water
body
• For prevailing hot winds,
trees would act as buffer
• Openings in building could be
placed to absorb cooler
winds
Site Analysis: Inventory List
• Subsurface Features
– Geology: Geological history of the area, bedrock
type & depth etc.
– Hydrology: Underground water table, aquifers,
springs etc.
– Soil Genesis: erosion susceptibility, moisture (pF),
reaction (pH) organic content, bearing capacity etc.
Site Analysis: Inventory List

• Natural Surface Features


– Vegetation: Type, size, location, shade pattern,
aesthetics, ecology etc.
– Slopes: Gradient, landforms, elevations, drainage
patterns
– Wild Life: ecology, species etc.
– Climate: precipitation, annual rain/snow, humidity,
wind direction, solar intensity & orientation,
average/highest/lowest temperature
Site Analysis: Inventory List
• Cultural & Man-made Features
– Utilities: sanitary, water supply, gas, electrical etc.
– Land use: Usage of site, adjacent use, zoning
restrictions, easement etc.
– Historic notes: archeological sites, landmarks, building
type, size, condition
– Circulation: linkages and transit roads, auto &
pedestrian access, mass transit routes etc.
– Social Factors: population, intensity, educational level,
economic & political factors, ethnicity, cultural
typology etc.
Site Analysis: Inventory List
• Aesthetic Factors:
– Perceptual: from an auto, by pedestrian, by bike etc.
– Spatial Pattern: views of the site, views from the site,
spaces existing, potential for new areas, sequential
relationship
– Natural Features: significant natural features of the
site, water elements, rock formations, plant materials
• Deriving Design Ideas

Approaches to deriving design


Pragmatic - function/technology/material
Iconic - symbolic
Canonic - applied rules
Analogy - similarity
Pragmatic
• Driven by practical needs
• Availability of materials
• Trial and error
ICONIC
• Use of an established form/ symbol/ pattern
• Retaining/ continuing an established way of
building
• A fixed image derived over time
• Beliefs in the origin and continuity of a form
CANONIC
• Derived from rules, proportioning systems
Analogy
• Similarity
• Parallel
• Comparison
• Resemblance
• Correlation
Types of Analogy
1. Literal Analogy
Direct imitation or transfer of an idea/ shape/ from

2. Intellectual Analogy
Represent an/ the idea/ essence/ theme/ spirit of something
Literal
Analogy
Science Center
Amsterdam

Metro
entrances
Norman
Foster, Bilbao,
Spain
Intellectual Analogy

TWA Terminal JFK


Eero Saarinen, Architect
Flight
Lightness
The Alhambra, Granada , Spain
Analogy: an oasis
Notre Dame Chapel,
Ronchamp, France
Le Corbusier, Architect
Beijing Olympic Stadium
Herzog & de Meuron, Architects
Bird’s nest
This must be how Frank Gehry got his idea for the concert hall.
Frank Lloyd Wright
• No house should ever be built on a hill or on anything. It
should be of the hill. Belonging to it. Hill and house should live
together each the happier for the other.

46
Frank Lloyd Wright
• The good building is not one that hurts the landscape, but
one which makes the landscape more beautiful than it was
before the building was built.

47
(Image courtesy of the UK Meteorological Office)
Context- Materialist interpretation
• Architectural morphology can be explained by the
geographic and geological conditions of the places where
particular monuments are situated.

49

You might also like