26 Architectural Principles:
The Exploration Between Principal and Precedent Ella Petry
Thought Process
Table of Contents Concept Representation Analysis Trope Environment Mass Structure Surface Design Development
Plane Material Space Solid & Void Light & Shadow
Elements of Design
Scale Movement Color Transformation Balance Datum Order
Final Design
Grid Geometry Symmetry Part to Whole Fabrication Presentation
Concept
The concept is the center of a design that is meant to be adjusted and clarified as the project furthers. Most times, visuals of a concept include abstract drawings to showcase particular design aspects that are most helpful to the designer. While the design will get more complex as time goes on, the concept will always be the starting point.
For the Dunes House, the architects used concept sketches to communicate ideas such as the house being on the top of a hill with a ramp and glass on all sides to make the top half of the building appear to float. In the design of my continuous plane, my concept sketch meant to show the wing-like design with multiple slits for light to pass through.
Jarmund/Vignæs Architects, Dune House, Suffolk, England
Concept Sketch of Dunes House by Jarmund/Vignæs Architects
Representation
Le Corbusier, Villa at Carthage, Tunis, Tunisia
The Villa at Carthage represents a concept that Le Corbusier used frequently in his designs which is creating spaces that are layered in a way that by being in one space you are actually in three. The elevation of Casa de Fascio shows how the facade is transparent and opens up into interior spaces. Giuseppe Terragni, Casa de Fascio, Como Italy
A design draws many representational ties to its original concept and other major inuences from the design process. Representation can be shown through hand sketches or digital models of sections, elevation, oor plans or axonometrics.
Analysis
Analysis is the act of abstracting to make an argument of a design or composition. This can be used to decipher the architects design process and find strategies for the design. The most common systems found in an analysis are structure, solid vs void, circulation, and the geometric order of the design.
In Le Corbusier’s Unité d’habitation different geometries can be abstracted from the exterior. The presence of a grid throughout the building provides a guideline for separate colors and private balconies.
Le Corbusier, Unité d’habitation, Marseille, France
Tropes The trope found in the collage is methaphor as the pieces deconstructed from the Denver Central Library are meant to be seems as layers of different buildings or like a city skyline. The “Dancing House” uses metaphor as the building is meant to mimics a dancing duo.
Frank Gehry, Nationale-Nederlanden “Dancing House”, Prague
Tropes are architectural elements that are based off of rhetorical figures. This includes metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, hyperbole, irony, and personification. Tropes are meant to be a grounding force that connects many parts of the world.
Environment
The environment is a key factor to consider when creating a structure as architecture very closely interacts with its surrounding environment. Architects have to examine environmental conditions such as temperature, precipitation, wind, and sun exposure when designing a structure.
The Observatory House interacts with the environment in many ways. Not only does the pool mimic the ocean that the house sits by but the materials used make it so house blends into the landscape. The Hi-Fi incorporates the environment in a dierent way as it was made out of biodegradable bricks
The Living (David Benjamin), Hi-Fi, MoMA PSI
Mass
The Notre-Dame du Haut has a prevalence of dierent massings with the main building, roof, and columns. Similarly, the composition of rocks and ping-pong balls shows the idea of separate masses being connected by an overlapping action.
Le Corbusier, Notre-Dame du Haut, Rollchamp, France
In architecture, mass is meant to describe the volumetric density of a structure. Mass can come from the carving of spaces from a solid form or from the repeated use of materials to create a new form. By subtracting from a mass, the dimensions and thickness become apparent while the additive action emphasizes the sense of mass.
Structure
In a design, structure is the element that osets the force of gravity and relocates the load of the forces and materials used into the ground. The structure allows for the intended shape of the design to be safely used. Common forms of structure include walls, columns, beams, and slabs.
Both the Parthenon and the Denver Central Library include columns in their facade to provide structural supports. The Burgo Paper Factory also uses structural elements at the forefront of the design by showcasing the suspension bridge-like structure in order to create a column free interior. Iktinos and Callicrates, The Parthenon, Athens, Greece
Pier Luigi Nervi, Burgo Paper Factory, Mantua, Italy
Surface
The surface of the Disney Concert Hall consists of curved planes to deďŹ ne the interior spaces and create a unique facade. Planes were also used to create surface on the wooden model and highlight the repeated shapes used throughout the design
Frank Gehry, Disney Concert Hall, Los Angles, CA
The surface of a structure is meant to protect the interior while also portraying the identity of the building to the public. In certain designs, the surface of a building can display the function of the interior space. Surfaces also protect occupants from varying weather conditions, control light and sound, and provide privacy from the outside.
Planes
The plane can have many dierent uses in architecture from structural to purely aesthetic. While simple in their form, planes can be manipulated to create or transform a ďŹ gure. When applied properly, a continuous plane can provide motion and depth to the space that it occupies.
The TWA Hotels planar inspired design is meant to create a modern and sleek design that imitates ight. The continuous plane model was inspired by the curvature and overall look of the TWA Hotel.
Eero Saarinen, TWA Terminal at JFK Airport, NY
Materials
In Niamey 2000, the building was made from locally sourced earth bricks which were cheaper and more sustainable than other imported items. In the massing project, rocks were used as they come in many shapes and can be easily layered and portray many shapes.
Atelier Masomi, Niamey 2000, Niger
The type materials used in a design can have many meanings in terms of its connection to the site, the performance of the material for a particular action, and symbolism it carries through dierent cultures. Materials can also deďŹ ne how a space is perceived due to acoustic, permeability, and textural elements.
Space
Space is the place were all human activity takes place and can contain what is in our physical grasp or the grasp of our memories and imagination. Space can also be understood as the nothingness that is present. In order to grasp a space it is necessary to have sense of boundary.
The models from Moretti’s editorial help show the concept of space by taking the floor plans of different churches and giving them dimension. The models also show space can be broken up by different shapes which can also be seen in the way that the pool interacts with the house in the Observatory House
Luigi Moretti, From “Structures and Sequences of Space”
Solid & Void
Aurelio Galfetti, Castelgrande Museum, Bellinzona, Switzerland
The Castelgrande entrance takes a solid material, stone, and cuts out a void for a pass way and also begins to show the depth of the natural element the opening cut into. The Jantar Mantar takes an empty space and adds various walls and staircases. Void spaces can also be seen in the center of the structure. Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, India
Solid and void can be characterized by the absence or presence of space. The juxtaposition between the two elements can create a dynamic design. As opposed to being for structural reasons, the use of solid and void is mostly seen as a way to create a more interesting design.
Light & Shadow
Being so closely connected, light and shadows are dependent on one another yet can produce such varying eects to a particular form. While light can often change the way that spaces are articulated, shadows are the ones that construct a space. Overall, whether light changes a persons distortion or perception of a space, the presence of light can transform a space.
As seen below, the Church of Giovanni Battista plays with the notion of how light enters a space and uses its shadows to deďŹ ne separate spaces. In both my charcoal drawings and the church, it is shown that shadows can produce new forms in a structure.
Mario Botta, Church of San Giovanni Battista, Mongo, Switzerland
Scale
In the House on a Curved Road a tool that can be used to deďŹ ne the scale of the space is the door. Doors are most commonly a standard height and can help ground the dimensions of a space. In the massing model, ping-pong balls are used to provide scale because the rocks that are pictured could be any size.
Kazuo Shinohara, House on a Curved Road, Tokyo, Japan
Unlike size, the dimensions of an object, scale is the perception of an object relative to surrounding elements. Context is very important to consider when ďŹ nding scale. The human body a useful tool when ďŹ nding scale. The scale of a structure can change due to their view or perception of the building.
Movement
Movement though a space can be a transformative time for the viewer as the space becomes more complex and changes as they m0ve. Movement can either be very articulate with dierent paths and stairways or it can be made from spatial relationships.
UID Architects, Pit House, Okayama, Japan
In both the Pit House and the Palais Garnier, movement is distinguished by staircases. On the other hand, the movement and circulation of the Observatory House is in a circular motion due to the inner geometries that make can be found in the design.
Charles Garnier, Palais Garnier, Paris, France
Color
In Casa Gilardi, the split complementary palette is used to make the red wall in the pool stand out from the blue background. The massing model used the triadic palette to distinguish between different materials and dierent hues were meant to show the shadows in the form.
Luis Barragan, Casa Gilardi, Mexico City, Mexico
Color can transform a space or building and is a big part in setting the environment or tone of design. Using an analogous color palette can create continuity and unity while a triadic or split complementary color palette create contrast and can help showcase a certain element.
Transformation
While architecture is mostly made of very static elements, dierent transformative elements can be brought into the design to change how the building interacts with outside elements or how surfaces or viewed. Transformation can eect appearance, program, and function of the building.
Ernst Giselbrecht, Dynamic Facade, Bad Gliechenburg , Austria
In the Dynamic Facade, the building transforms in order to control the amount of light that enters the interior. In both the clay models and the Dynamic Facade, transformations not only change how the structure is viewed but also change how light and shadow interact with each design.
Balance
Moussafir Architects, La Luciole, Alençon, France
In La Luciole the two different forms are at different angles but are balanced since they are both at the same sized masses and they have very similar exteriors. The color diagram has balance because since the larger form is the shadow of the wooden model, all of the sides are scaled in the same way.
While balance and symmetry can appear to be very similar, balance is focused on the even distribution of objects and masses. A balanced design should feel stable and visual equilibrium will occur.
Datum
Datum is a design element that uniďŹ es a design or form based on a similar point of reference. Datum can organize dierent random elements and make them visually connect. Examples of datum include surfaces, spaces, a horizon line, an axis and grid, and mass.
In Villa Savoye a unifying feature is the planar surfaces that appear in the design. These surfaces connect the foundation, columns, and main living space. In the massing model, the datum is radial because even as rocks are added they keep in the same radial path as the original form.
Le Corbusier, Villa Savoye, Poissy, France
Order Order can be found in the Vitrahaus due to the repetition of the same facade at dierent angles and levels. The order of the National Congress of Brazil has a more cultural inuence as the building holds the main bodies of the Brazilian government. The two spheres in the design reect the two main governing bodies and provide privacy while the main form is intended for public use.
Oscar Niemeyer, National Congress of Brazil, Brazilia
Herzog & de Meuron, Vitrahaus, Rhein, Germany
The order of a building can provide lots of insight into the function and purpose of a design while also showing what details the designer prioritized. Order can be found from repetition, aggregation, and hierarchy.
Grid
Grids can help bring harmony and repetition to a building. It can deďŹ ne a sense of order to the human eye. This type of organizational system can represent an idealized vision of a building or site. In addition to creating order, grids can help establish proportions and create rhythm.
At the Lovell Beach House, repetitive and non-repetitive grids can be extracted from the facade. Both the model and the sketch show that the use of lines in the building can help highlight the implied Volumes of the structure. Rudolph Schindler, Lovell Beach House, Orange County, CA
Geometry
Carlo Scarpa, Villa Ottolenghi, Italy
The geometry of the Observatory House consists of the main circle in the center and four rectangles that are connected to it. Villa Ottolenghi has a range of geometries that can be found such as circles, rectangles, and parallelograms.
Finding the geometries of a space can serve the function of breaking down the design choices of the architect but can also be used during the construction process to provide details for the fabrication of certain forms.
Symmetry
Symmetry is when similar forms and shapes are reection over a central line or axis. In architecture, symmetry is commonly used to create balance and unify a structure. Symmetry can be cylindrical, translational, spiral, and bilateral.
In the collage, I rearranged the original building iso that it highlighted the symmetry that appears within the design. The Villa La Rotunda inspired this choice, as this oor plan creates order through its perfectly symmetrical design which is commonly found in 16th century architecture.
Andrea Palladio , Villa La Rotunda, Vincenza, Italy
Part-to-Whole
Wilkinson Eyre, Gasholder Apartments, London, UK
The Denver Central Library can be broken down into many parts which can be distinguished by different shapes and colors. The Gasholder Apartments also have different circular forms that overlap with one another to create the final structure.
In many designs, the overall structure can be broken down into multiple parts. This technique can be used to make a building that consists of many forms yet has all of the pieces work seamlessly with one another.
Fabrication
In architecture, the design of a structure can be heavily inuenced on how it will be ultimately fabricated and put together. Fabrication includes the equipment, tools, and assembly methods used. The fabrication of a building is a group eort between the designers and builders.
The fabrication of my wooden model consisted of taking drawings of each sides of the cubes and making the individual pieces out of the wooden dowels. The pieces were then glued together to take each side. The fabrication of the Bruder Klaus Chapel was integral to its design as the interior is textured by the wooden supports that were then burned out.
Peter Zumthor, Bruder Klaus Field Chapel, Germany
Presentation The drawing of the Chanin Building is meant as a marketing tool to showcase the building to potential customers. There was an emphasis on the massiveness of the structure and the shadows it creates. The presentation of the clay models takes many individual photos and arranges them so the process of the transformations are laid out with dierent angles.
Sloan and Robertson, Chanin Building, New York City
The presentation of a designs serves the purpose to educate an audience on the functions of the building and other important ideas that can be taken from a set or sketches or models.
Index The Dunes House - https://in.pinterest.com/pin/222787512792445768/ Villa at Carthage- http://www.cccarchitecture.org/spatial-definition-exercise Casa de Fascio - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casa_del_Fascio_(Como) Unite de Habitacion- https://lecorbusier-worldheritage.org/en/unite-habitation/ Nationale-Nederlanden “Dancing House”- https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/fresh-perspectives/a901-10things-you-did-not-know-about-dancing-house-prague/ Hi-Fi- https://www.dezeen.com/2014/07/01/tower-of-grown-bio-bricks-by-the-living-opens-at-moma-ps1-gallery/ Observatory House- https://www.archdaily.com/41517/observatory-house Denver Central Library- https://www.archdaily.com/91274/ad-classics-denver-central-library-michael-graves-associates Notre-Dame du Haut- https://www.archdaily.com/84988/ad-classics-ronchamp-le-corbusier Parthenon- https://www.greece-is.com/the-optical-illusions-that-make-the-parthenon-perfect/ Burgo Paper Factory- https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-Burgo-Paper-Mill-just-after-its-completion-in1963-BURGO_fig3_50838887 Disney Concert Hall- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Disney_Concert_Hall_by_Carol_Highsmith.jpg TWA Terminal- https://www.wsj.com/articles/twa-hotel-at-kennedy-airport-targets-200-occupancy-11557843164 Niamey 2000- https://www.archdaily.com/875897/niamey-2000-united4design “Structures and Sequences of Space”- http://socks-studio.com/2018/12/09/luigi-morettis-structures-and-sequences-of-spaces/ Jantar Mantar- https://www.beautifulhomes.com/home-decor-ideas/interior-design/icons-jantar-mantar-newdelhi.html Castelgrande Museum- https://www.thisispaper.com/mag/aurelio-galfetti-castelgrande-entrance-simone-bossi
Palais Garnier- https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/a-pair-of-golden-tyres-at-the-opera-garnier-in-parisprovokes-public-ire Church of San Giovani- http://www.botta.ch/en/SPAZIO%20DEL%20SACRO?idx=11 House on a Curved Road- http://hiddenarchitecture.net/house-in-curved-road/ Pit House- https://www.designboom.com/architecture/uid-architects-pit-house-in-okayama-japan/ Palais Garnier- https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/a-pair-of-golden-tyres-at-the-opera-garnier-in-parisprovokes-public-ire Casa Gilardi- https://www.dezeen.com/2016/10/13/movie-luis-barragan-colourful-casa-gilardi-architecture-mexico-city/ Dymanic Facade- https://www.designindaba.com/articles/creative-work/dynamic-solar-shading-kiefer-technic-showroom La Luciole- https://www.archdaily.com/365466/la-luciole-concert-hall-moussafir-architectes-associes Villa Savoye- https://theconversation.com/sublime-design-le-corbusiers-villa-savoye-26625 National Congress of Brazil- https://www2.camara.leg.br/english/the-brazilian-parliament Vitrahaus- https://www.archdaily.com/50533/vitrahaus-herzog-de-meuron Lovell Beach House- https://visuallexicon.wordpress.com/2017/10/09/lovell-beach-house-newport-beach-california-by-rudolph-schindler/ Villa Ottolenghi- http://www.missedlink.org/index.php?file=kop99.php Villa la Rotunda- https://archeyes.com/villa-capra-la-rotonda-andrea-palladio/ Gasholder Apartments- https://www.dezeen.com/2018/02/22/wilkinson-eyre-and-jonathan-tuckey-convert-kings-cross-gasholders-into-luxury-flats/ Bruder Klaus Field Chapel- https://en.wikiarquitectura.com/building/bruder-klaus-field-chapel/ Chanin Building- https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/68766113/