Introduction to Architecture

Reading architecture requires us to allow buildings to speak to us.

But how can inanimate objects speak to us?

Especially if those objects are not representational?

Pentre Ifan Burial Chamber, 2000 BCE

John Portman, Bonaventure Hotel, Los Angeles. 1976.

Richard Neutra, Edgar J. Kaufmann House, Palm Springs, 1946.

According to Vitruvius (Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, 1st cent. BCE), in De Architectura a building must be considered in terms of three elements:

Utilitas Firmitas Venustas

Utilitas

need function plan

Firmitas means structure section Venustas art beauty elevation

Utilitas

need function plan

Firmitas means structure section

Venustas art beauty elevation

Utilitas as Message:

Transamerica Bldg. SF, CA TWA Terminal, JFK

Utilitas by Addition:
Louis Kahns Richards Medical Laboratory, University of Pennsylvania

Utilitas by Division:

Urge towards symmetry:

Firmitas/Stucture will always be a function of: Advances in engineering Availability and strength of materials Cost available for materials Other historical and geographical factors
Architecture is the adaptation of form to resist force. John Ruskin (19th c.)

All structures seek a balance between tension and compression.

Traditionally there were two ways to handle this: through trabeated structures
or through arcuated structures.

Trabeated Structures

CANTILEVER

Milstein Hall, Cornell University (Rem Kolhaas)

Gale House, Oak Partk, IL (Frank Lloyd Wright)

Villa Savoye, Poissy, France. LeCorbusier.

ARCUATED STRUCTURES

Hagia Sophia, Instanbul

Colosseum, Rome.

Venustas
art
beauty elevation

Hertziana, Rome

Gugenheim Museum, Bilbao

What makes architecture good?

Does it express its function in a meaningful, interesting, and appealing way? Does it seem to fit its surroundings (by complementing or contrasting with it in an interesting and meaningful way)? Is its design and execution structurally sound? Does it create a meaningful (interesting, surprising, enjoyable, delightful, disturbing etc.) space? Will it endure? Has it endured?

Analyzing a Building:
Space: Solids and Voids Scale and Proportion Weight & Mass Basic Design Elements

Analyzing a Building:
Space: Solids and Voids Symmetry Asymmetry

Symmetry

Asymmetry

Analyzing a Building:
Weight & Mass:
Materials Massing for Weight Relationship to Ground (high or low?) Texture Color Ornamentation Light Acoustics Context

Basic Elements
Roof Walls Windows Doorways Orientation

Roof Types

Butterfly Roof

Butterfly w/Solar Panels

Barrel Vault Roof

Wall Types

Rusticated

Half-timbered

Clapboard

Board and Batten Siding

Wainscoting

Stucco Wall

Glass Wall

Window Types

Lancet

Palladian

Oeil-de-boeuf (ox-eye)

Double-hung window

Bay window

Ribbon Window

Casement window

Dormer

Doorways

Arched

Pedimented

Venetian Door

French Door

Sliding Door

Orientation

Aesthetic

Cultural

Ecological

The Getty Center Richard Meier