College of Engineering & Architecture

ARC 204 Theory of Architecture I

Elements of Architecture
 ROUTINE:
• Point & Point Elements

• Line & Linear Elements

• Plane & Planer Elements

• Volume & Volumetric Elements

 Drawing tools

Primary Elements:
We can sense
a point at the meeting of two lines,
a line marking the contour of a plane,
a plane enclosing a volume, &
the volume of an object occupying space.

The primary elements of form:

Point, line, plane, & volume
do not exist but we feel their presence.
These elements become form with
characteristics of
Substance, shape, size, color, & texture.
 Point
Point
Point Elements
Point Elements

Tholos of Polycleitos, at Epidaurus, Greece,

350 BC
Point Elements
Point Elements
Point Elements
Point Elements

Baptistery at Pisa, Italy, 1153-1265

Point Elements
Point Elements

Cenotaph for Sir Isaac Newton, 1784

 Two Points (Axis)
Two Points (Axis)
•A line can be an imagined element
rather than a visible one in architecture

•An example is the AXIS, a regulating line

established by two distant points in space
and about which elements are
symmetrically arranged
 Line
LINE
A line has no depth or width, but it has a length that visually expresses direction & movement.

A Line’s orientation is a critical element

with a role that affects the formation of
any visual construction. It can serve to:

- join, link, support, surround, or

intersect other visual elements.

- describe the edges of and give shape

to planes.

- articulate the surface of planes.

Vertical Linear Elements
Vertical Linear Elements
• Columns (type of pillar with structural element) V.S Pillar (no load-bearing function/decorative)

• Obelisks - tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument ending in a pyramid-like shape at the top

• Towers – tall structure / narrow building

Vertical Linear Elements
Vertical Linear Elements

Column of Marcus Obelisk of Luxor, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, 537

Aurelius, 174 1836
Vertical linear elements can
Menir “Stone” Vertical elements have been used also define a transparent
can be found throughout history to volume of space, as in the
individually as commemorate significant events example above, the four
monoliths, or as and establish particular points in minarets outline a spatial
part of a group of space. field which the dome of
similar stones. Hagia Sophia rises in
splendor
 Linear Elements
Linear Elements with structural functions:
• Columns
• Beams
• Girders

In the below examples, linear elements:

• Express movement across space
• Provide support for an overhead plane
• Form a three-dimensional structural frame for
architectural space
Horizontal Linear elements
Horizontal Linear elements
• Axis
• Movement
• Form

Wall House II “Bye House”, John Hejduk

Horizontal Linear elements
Horizontal Linear elements
• Axis
• Movement
• Form
Horizontal Linear elements
Horizontal Linear elements
• Axis
• Movement
• Form
 Linear Elements
• Two parallel lines have the ability to visually describe a plane
• The closer these lines are to each other, the stronger will be the sense of
plane they convey

A row of columns supporting an entablature, Colonnade, is often used

to define the façade of the building
 Linear Elements

In addition to the structural role columns play in

supporting an overhead floor or roof plane, a row of
columns – a colonnade – is often used to define the
public face or façade of a building.

•Two parallel lines have the ability

to visually describe a plane

•The closer these lines are to each

other, the stronger will be the sense of
plane they convey
 Plane
PLANE
Conceptually, a plane has length and width, but no
depth.
The supplementary properties of a plane—its
surface color, pattern, and texture—affect its visual
weight and stability.

Shape is the primary identifying characteristic of a

plane 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 view it frontally.
In the composition of a visual construction, a plane
serves to define the limits or boundaries of a
volume. If architecture as a visual art deals
specifically with the formation of three-dimensional
volumes of mass and space, then the plane should
be regarded as a key element in the vocabulary of
architectural design.
 Planer Elements
1. OVERHEAD PLANE

The overhead plane can be either the roof plane that shelters the interior
spaces of a building from the climatic elements(It shelters the building’s
interior spaces from sun, rain, snow…), or the ceiling that forms the upper
enclosing surface of the room.

Stadio Artemio Franchi (1931), in Florence, Casa da Música, Porto, 2005, OMA - Office for
Italy. Designer Pier Luigi Nervi Metropolitan Architecture
 Planer Elements
A ROOF PLANE

A roof plane can extend

outward to form
overhangs that shield
door and widow openings
from sun or rain, or
continue downward
further still to relate itself
more closely to the
ground plane. In warm
climates, it can be
elevated to allow cooling
breezes to flow across
and through the interior Robie House, Chicago, 1909, Frank Lloyd Wright.
spaces of building.
The low sloping roof planes and broad overhangs are
characteristic of the Prairie School of Architecture.
 Planer Elements
2. WALL PLANE

The wall plane, because of its vertical orientation, is active in our normal field of
vision and vital to the shaping and enclosure of architectural space.

Santa Maria Novella in Florence, Italy Piazza San Marco in Venice Italy
 Planer Elements

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe - Concert Hall project (Interior perspective) 1942
 Planer Elements
3. BASE PLANE

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

Piazza di Spagna ("Square of Spain"), at the bottom of the Spanish Steps, is one of the most
 Planer Elements
3. BASE PLANE
The ground plane may have topographical character influencing the form of the building that
rises from it. The ground plane can be manipulated to establish a podium for a building form.
It can be elevated to honor a sacred or significant place, bermed to define outdoor spaces or
buffer against undesirable conditions; carved or terraced to provide a platform on which to
build; or stepped to allow changes in elevation to be easily traversed

Machu Picchu in Peru Mortuary temple of queen Hatshepsut in Egypt

Planer Elements
 Planer Elements

Reinforced concrete
slabs express the
horizontality of the
floor or roof planes as
they cantilever
outward from a central
core.

Kaufmann House (Falling Water), Connellsville,

Pennsylvania, 1936-37, Frank Lloyd Wright.
Volume
VOLUME
Conceptually, a volume has 3 dimensions: length, width & depth.
A volume can be either a solid—a mass—or a void—space
contained or enclosed by planes.
The volume is primary characterized by its form. It established
by the shapes and interrelationships of the planes that
describe the boundaries of the volume.
 Volumetric Elements
In architecture, a volume can be seen to be either a portion of space contained and defined by
wall, floor, and ceiling or roof planes, or a quantity of space displaced by the mass of building.

Notre Dame Du Haut Ronchamp, France,1950-55, Le Corbusier.

Volumetric Elements

It is important to perceive this duality, especially when reading

orthographic plans, elevations and sections.
Volumetric Elements

Hajia Sophia,Istanbul,537
Volumetric Elements

Villa Savoye, France, 1928-31, Le Corbusier.

Building forms that stand as an object in the landscape can be read as

occupying volume in space.
Points & Linear Summary
Points Elements Vertical Elements

• Marks a position • join, link, support, surround, or intersect

• Creates a focal point
• Creates symmetry
• Creates a 2 point
access when
accompanied with a
linear path
other visual elements.
• describe the edges of and give shape to
planes.
• articulate the surface of planes.

Structural Elements
Horizontal elements
• Provide support for
• Express movement across space an overhead plane
• Provide support for an overhead plane • Form a three-
• Form a three-dimensional structural frame for dimensional
architectural space structural frame for
architectural space
 Planes Summary
Horizontal Planes Vertical Elements
• Supports for a building’s floor and roof planes.

• Control the flow of air, light, noise, through a

Base Plane building’s interior spaces.

• Defines an edge

• Divides the space

Base Plane - Elevated
• Gives a sense of enclosure

Base Plane - Depressed

Volumetric Elements

• Shapes & Configurations

(Eg.L-Shaped, U-Shaped)
Overhead Plane
• Interrelationships to of the planes that describe
Overhead / Depressed base plane the boundaries of the volume.
define a volume of space
QUESTIONS?

Thank You