THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE 1 OCTOBER 2019 18ARC36…..

Architecture, The Art of Shaping Space

(Excerpt from ‘Understanding Architecture: Its Elements, History and Meaning’, Leland M Roth and
Amanda C Clarke, 2014)

Article Synopsis

In this article, the authors Leland M Roth and Amanda C Clarke illustrate the significance of curating
spaces in architecture and how the design of spaces influence human behaviour and senses. The
article emphasises strongly on the fact that architecture is majorly characterised by the spaces
engirdled in it than just the physical appearance of it. The authors identify several kinds of spaces that
are observed in architecture, like physical, perceptual, conceptual, directional, non-directional, positive,
negative and behavioural spaces. The aspect of how each of the above mentioned spaces influence
the human interaction with architecture is also distinctly discussed.

The spaces in which we live and how we interact in them essentially shapes our deportment passively.
Depending upon how well the spaces are shaped, the repercussions in the immediate responding
surroundings may be positive or negative, and will have an impact on the people.

The authors elucidate this by citing the example of The Pruitt- Igoe public housing of Saint Louis,
Missouri (1952-55). It’s been mentioned in the article that the housing had been designed for low-
income residents by well-trained middle class architects, but designed in such a way that the residents
couldn’t visually supervise either the public spaces or the hallways in their apartment blocks.

The repercussion of such a design was an increase in the number of mugging incidents and other
crimes on the streets outside, and soon, because of this downside of the design, it was demolished in
1972. With this example, the authors Illustrate the importance of keeping in mind the impact that the
designed spaces would have on the surroundings and the people involved.

Throughout the article, the authors lay a strong emphasis on how architectural spaces can play a
major role in shaping human behaviour and discourse. They support their claim, by citing Winston
Churchill and his argument about rebuilding the English Parliament in 1943, as one of their examples.

The English Parliament

The English parliament, since the thirteenth century had been meeting in the Westminster palace,
where the members of the parliament sat in the choir stalls, dividing themselves into two groups- one
side, the government, and the other side, the opposition.

KIRTHANA PL SEMESTER III 1RW18AT057

KETHAN KUMAR BC SECTION B 1RW18AT056
THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE 1 OCTOBER 2019 18ARC36…..

When either of the members crossed the aisle, over to the other side, the change of public allegiance
would be made public. When the chamber had been bombed in 1941, there were advocations for
rebuilding the house in a semicircular form, like the legislative chambers in The United States and
France. But Churchill argued against this notion and stated that the physical setting of The English
parliament, which had been there for years, was the one that formed the core essence of the English
parliamentary procedure, and that changing the physical form would change the very nature of the
parliamentary discourse (p. 3).

Finally, heeding to Churchill’s argument, the parliament was rebuilt to its old form itself. Here, it’s
important to note how the shaping of public spaces might change the working of the entire society.

The article, in its essence, conveys how important its is to study the behavioural impact that
architectural spaces tend to have on people and to keep in mind people’s personal spaces, the
interaction between people and various kind of spaces for the betterment of social mores.

KIRTHANA PL SEMESTER III 1RW18AT057

KETHAN KUMAR BC SECTION B 1RW18AT056