THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE

Unit 1 – Introduction to Architecture

Theory of Architecture - I

THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE 1
ARCHITECTURE
• Originated from the Greek word
Architekton
• Archi – great/master. Tekton – builder
• Architecture is the art and science of
building
• It is the conscious creation of
utilitarian spaces with the deliberate
use of material
• Architecture should be technically
efficient and aesthetically pleasing.

THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE 1
Types:
DESCRIPTIVE-simply explains events or phenomena.
PRESCRIPTIVE- prescribes guidelines.
THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE 1
MARCUS VITRUVIUS POLIO
Roman architect, engineer, and author of
the celebrated treatise De architectura (On
Architecture), a handbook for Roman
architects.
 FIRMITAS-VENUSTAS

Heydar Alivey Center (Azerbaijan), Zaha Hadid

 DID YOU KNOW?
DAME ZAHA
MOHAMMAD HADID
“Zaha Hadid”

-”Queen of the Curves”

- First female Pritzker
Architecture Price-Nobel
Prize of architecture
 UTILITAS-FIRMITAS

Center Pompidou (France), Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers

 Other Definitions

THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE 1
 CONTEXT FOR ARCHITECTURE AS SATISFYING HUMAN NEEDS
GEORGE S. SALVAN

PHYSICAL NEEDS
BUILDINGS/
1.GENERAL INFLUENCES SHELTER,

NEEDS OF MAN
INTELLECTUAL
NEEDS EMOTIONAL NEEDS
RELIGION AND ART
AWARENESS,
EDUCATION, SCIENCE RECREATION
 CONTEXT FOR ARCHITECTURE AS SATISFYING HUMAN NEEDS

GENERAL INFLUENCES
ACTIVITIES OF MAN

Desire for PRESERVATION

Desire for Recognition
prestige, pride and ambition, social status

Desire for Response

love, friendship, and sociability

Desire for Self- Expression

CONTEXT FOR ARCHITECTURE AS SATISFYING HUMAN NEEDS

INFLUENCES OF NATURE
A. CLIMATE

NATURE B. TOPOGRAPHY

C. MATERIALS
 CONTEXT FOR ARCHITECTURE AS SATISFYING HUMAN NEEDS

III. INFLUENCES OF SOCIETY movies

1. SOCIAL CONDITIONS: TV
time
radio

2. Man's Personality.

3. Man's Interests.
factory

house church
FUNCTIONal, aesthetic and psychological

Spatial SEQUENCE
spatial FIT

By
Ar.Rajiv Kumar.P.S
FUNCTIONal, aesthetic and psychological

NO Function
NO soul
functional, aesthetic and psychological
functional, aesthetic and psychological
PSYCHOLOGY AS A
BASIS OF ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

Space, form, and light

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals,
were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a universal call to action to end
poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace
and prosperity.
INCLUSIVE AND WALKABLE CITIES.
INCLUSIVE AND WALKABLE CITIES?
functional, aesthetic and psychological

Physical structure has a significant

effect on human behavior.
As humans find themselves spending more time enclosed within
the walls of structure, it becomes valuable to design structures
integrating features of the natural environment and structural
landscape features into the human-made environment (Joye,
2007).
functional, aesthetic and psychological

Space, form, and light are elements that are often

incorporated either purposefully or unconsciously for
aesthetic or practical reasons but more pointedly give
people meaning, purpose and stability amidst an ever
changing physical universe of seeming chaos.
Photos from PMR Architectural Innovations
ARCHITECTURE as a discipline-

• ARCHITECTURE – an ability to organize,

manipulate and articulate the constant and
variable component parts of size, shape,
and treatment.

• ARCHITECTURE - a language of sequential

path, place, and transition spaces in
relationship to site, location, and
orientation.
WE ARE MORE THAN JUST THE AESTHETICS.
WE ARE MORE THAN JUST THE AESTHETICS.
1. We consider the sun - Where's the best place for you to
glance a morning sun.
2. We consider the wind - What buffer should you use when
facing south west monsoon ,what type of window when
facing a shattering storm.
3. We consider the view - How can you maximize the beauty
of a picturesque nature and a developed community.
4. We consider terrain - Should we cut ,or should we ride
along the slope of nature.
5. We consider the noise - The passive and active areas for
you to sleep well and live well.
6. We consider the circulation of space - What are the areas
to keep public and private, the steps from the corridor to your
front door. The rule of thumb exiting to a drastic fire breakout.
ARCHITECTURE
AND SPACES
THREE TYPES OF SPACE

• PLACE - SPACES
• PATH – SPACES
• TRANSTITION - SPACES
THREE TYPES OF SPACE
1.PLACE-SPACES- MAJOR SPACES that
portray a sense of definite location or
position

2.PATH-SPACES- MAJOR TRANSITION

spaces which are directional; corridor,
connector, passageway.
3.TRANSITION-SPACES- MINOR SPACES
which process a change from one condition
to another.
joint spaces (or articulation spaces)
can define a pause between spaces
can juxtapose spaces of contrasting or continuous character
can act as a separator space
can act as fastener, joining or linking space
 PLACE-SPACES
PATH-SPACES
TRANSITION-SPACES
ARCHITECTURE
AND ITS FUNCTIONAL
ASPECTS
 INTRODUCING THE VARIOUS FUNCTIONAL
ASPECTS OF ARCHITECTURE

STRUCTURE

It is an
arrangement and
organization of
interrelated
elements in a
material object
or system, or the
object or system so
organized.
SKIN/BUILDING ENVELOPE
CIRCULATION
APPROACH- The Distant View
ENTRANCE- From Outside to inside
CONFIGURATION OF THE PATH- The
Sequences of Spaces
PATH-SPACE RELATIONSHIPS- Edges,
Nodes, and Terminations of the Path
FORM OF THE CIRCULATION SPACE-
Corridors, Halls, Galleries, Stairways
and Rooms
ARCHITECTURE
AND SPACES
THREE COMPONENTS OF
SPACE
• SIZE AND SHAPE
• TREATMENT
• ORIENTATION
 THREE COMPONENTS OF
SPACE
1. SIZE AND SHAPE
• is self-evident, consisting of an infinite variety of different
sizes of masses or volumes:
• such as squares, rectangles, circles, pyramids, ellipses,
curves, cubes, etc.
 UFO

MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART in Niterói, Oscar Niemeyer (1907-2012)

 SAIL/SHIP

BURJ AL ARAB,
fourth highest hotel building in the world
 ORANGE PEELS

Sydney Opera House (Australia), Jorn Utzon

 THREE COMPONENTS OF
SPACE
2. TREATMENT
WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THE SIZES
AND THE SHAPES?
•how many different ways can you treat it in
a simple way?
•how does that treatment alter or change?
•in what ways can you define or manipulate
the sizes and shapes?
•what is your strategy for detailing and
joinery (articulation)?
treatment is pattern, texture, color, figure,
ground, light, illumination, contrast, opacity,
transparency, translucency, reflectivity,
visual density, thickness or thinness, etc
 THREE COMPONENTS OF
SPACE
3. ORIENTATION
• what is the relative position of
something or someone?
• location - a particular place or
position:
-external - internal - interstitial
-placement and displacement
-edge (periphery) vs. center (core)
or foreground, middle ground,
background
 Unit 2 – Elements of Architecture
Theory of Architecture - I

THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE 1
 Understanding fundamental elements
such as point, line, plane, form and space,
shape, pattern, light, color, surface and
texture with reference to the evolution of
architectural form and space

THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE 1
POINT
• Marks a position in space
• Conceptually, it has no length, width or depth
• It is static, centralized and directionless
• As the prime element in the vocabulary of form, it serves to
mark:

THE TWO ENDS OF A LINE

THE MEETING OF LINES AT THE
THE CENTER OF A FIELD
CORNER OF A PLANE OR VOLUME

THE INTERSECTION OF TWO LINES

To mark a position in space or on the ground
plane, a point must be projected vertically into a
linear form

BECOMES A
LINE WITH
LENGTH,
POINT IS
DIRECTION
EXTENDED
AND
POSITION

POINT
LINE
• A point extended
• A line is a critical element in the formation of any
visual construction
• It can serve to:

JOIN OR LINK OTHER

VISUAL ELEMENTS
LINE
•The orientation of a line affects its role in a
visual construction
•A vertical line can express a state of
equilibrium with the force of gravity,
symbolize the human condition, or mark a
position in space
•A horizontal line can represent stability, the
ground plane, the horizon, or a body at rest
•An oblique line may be seen as a vertical line
falling or a horizontal line rising
PLANE
• A line extended in a direction other than its intrinsic direction
• Conceptually has length and width but no depth
• Planes in architecture define three-
dimensional volumes of mass and
space
• The properties of each plane – size,
shape, color and texture – as well as
their spatial relationship to one another
determine the visual attributes of the
form they define and the qualities of
space they enclose
• In architectural design, we
manipulate three generic types of
planes:
• Overhead plane
• Wall plane
• Base plane
OVERHEAD PLANE

The overhead plane can be either the roof plane that shelters the
interior spaces of a building from the climatic elements, or the ceiling
that forms the upper enclosing surface of the room.
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.
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.
CEILING PLANE

• The ceiling plane is usually out of reach and is almost always a

purely visual event in a space
• It can be raised or lowered to alter the scale of a space or to define
spatial zones within a room
• Its form can be manipulated to control the quality of light or sound
within a space
VOLUME
• A plane extended in a direction other than its intrinsic
direction becomes a volume
• Conceptually, a volume has three dimensions: length, width
and depth
All volumes can be analyzed and understood to
consist of:
Points or vertices where
several planes come
together

Planes or surfaces which

define the limits or
boundaries of a volume

Lines or edges where two

planes meet
SUMMARY
THREE TYPES OF SPACES
1. PLACE-SPACES- Major Spaces
2. PATH-SPACES- MAJOR TRANSITION SPACES-
Directional (Corridor, Passageway)
3. TRANSITION SPACE- "Buffer Space"/Minor
Spaces

THREE COMPONENTS OF SPACES

1. SIZE AND SHAPE- The actual Physical Form of
the space
2. TREATMENT- Solution-Based Approach
3. ORIENTATION- Position of Spaces
REVIEW:
ARCHITECTURE AND ITS FUNCTIONAL ASPECTS
1. STRUCTURE VS BUILDING
Structure- Non-Habitable/Not Occupied by the
Public (Steel Towers,Landmark monuments)
Building- Habitable/Being Occupied by public
(Malls, Houses etch)
2. SKIN- Building Envelope/Outer Shel-
(Doors,Windows,Walls)
3.CIRCULATION- The Flow of the Public (Ingress
and Egress)
REVIEW:
PRIMARY ELEMENTS OF FORM
Conceptual element> Visual element > Architectural design
Point – indicates a position in space (Stable,Centered)
Line – with length, direction and position
Plane – with length, width, shape, surface, orientation and
position
3 General Types of Plane in Architecture:
OVERHEAD PLANE- Ceiling
WALL PLANE- Walls/Partitions
BASE PLANE- Floors
Volume – with length, width and depth, form and space,
surface, orientation, position
LINE
•The orientation of a line affects its role in a
visual construction
•A vertical line can express a state of
equilibrium with the force of gravity,
symbolize the human condition, or mark a
position in space
•A horizontal line can represent stability, the
ground plane, the horizon, or a body at rest
•An oblique line may be seen as a vertical line
falling or a horizontal line rising
Sleep well.
Sleep well.
Sleep well.
HORIZONTALITY- WIDE, STABLE,CALM
VERTICALITY- LENGTH, GROWTH
CURVES-MOVEMENT,DYNAMICS,PLAYFUL
PRIMARY SOLIDS – are volumetric forms
generated by extending or rotating the
primary shapes and which creates a distinct,
regular and easily recognizable forms
 CIRCLE- centralized, introverted figure,
normally stable and self-centering.

Plan of the Tholos at Epidaurus

PRIMARY SOLIDS
 CYLINDER-generated by revolving a rectangle about one of its
sides; centralized about the axis; stable if resting on the
circular sides and unstable if the central axis is incline from
the vertical.

Baptistery at Pisa, Italy

PRIMARY SOLIDS
 PYRAMID – polyhedron having a polygonal base and triangular faces
meeting at a common point or vertex; stable on any of its faces; basically
hard and angular compared to the soft cone.

RYUGYONG HOTEL: THE STORY OF NORTH

KOREA'S 'HOTEL OF DOOM

Still closed to this day, the Ryugyong Hotel is the

world's tallest unoccupied building.
PRIMARY SOLIDS
 SPHERE- generated by revolving semicircle about its diameter and
all points are equidistant from the center; centralized and highly
concentrated; also self-centering and normally stable; retains its
circular shape from any direction.

SPHERICAL ARCHITECTURE-GEODESIC DOME

(BUCKMINSTER FULLER)

PRIMARY SOLIDS
 CUBE- a prismatic solid bounded by six equal square sides with right angles
of intersection; static form without apparent movement.

VILLA SAVOYE, LE CORBUSIER (FRANCE)

Le Corbusier's desire to simplify design- one

of the important houses in the 20th century
PRIMARY SOLIDS
REVIEW:
PRIMARY SOLIDS- generated by extending or
rotating the primary shapes
Sphere – generated by revolving semicircle about its diameter and
all points are equidistant from the center
▪ Cylinder – generated by revolving a rectangle about one of its
sides;
▪ Cone – generated by revolving a right triangle about one of its
sides
▪ Pyramid – polyhedron having a polygonal base and triangular
faces meeting at a common point or vertex
▪ Cube – a prismatic solid bounded by six equal square sides with
right angles of intersection
PERCEPTION AND VISUAL ACQUITY
 PERCEPTION - These principles explain how the
brain processes visual information.
SPATIAL PERCEPTION - These ability to be aware
of your relationships with the environment around
you

VISUAL ACQUITY - The ability to see fine detail

PERCEPTION AND VISUAL ACQUITY

THEORY OF DESIGN
GESTALT THEORY
• Gestalt theory focuses on the mind’s perceptive
processes
• common translations include "form" and "shape"
• the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
GESTALT PRINCIPLE OF DESIGN

THE WANGJING SOHO DEVELOPED BY SOHO CHINA IN BEIJING.

GESTALT PRINCIPLE OF DESIGN
MODEN JAPANESE HOUSE BY TADAO ANDO

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/bc/cb/ca/bccbca2973c61236304816ed0efa3f76.jpg https://i.pinimg.com/236x/df/a5/c3/dfa5c34f2ac1fa95deed1a1c14272836--minimalist-
architecture-architecture-design.jpg
GESTALT PRINCIPLE OF
DESIGN
PMR Architectural Innovations
PMR Architectural Innovations
PMR Architectural Innovations
ARCHITECTURAL ORDERS
• PHYSICAL
• PERCEPTUAL
• CONCEPTUAL
 BASIC COMPOSITIONAL
PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN
A. UNITY
B. BALANCE
C. HIERARCHY
D. DOMINANCE
E. CONTRAST (AND SIMILARITY)
F. RHYTHM
G. REPETITION
A. UNITY

1. The state or quality of being one; singleness, and,

2. The state or quality of being in accord; harmony

In design, unity is the organization of elements into a whole.

A design is considered unified when all elements are in
agreement. No individual part is viewed as more important
than the whole design. Unity adds order to a design. In a
unified design, the elements support each other and all work
together toward a common goal. The elements look like they
belong together and not arbitrarily placed on the design
medium.
UNITY BY REPITITION AND PROXIMITY
 However, too much unity can be dull and lifeless. A good balance between unity and
variety must be established to avoid a chaotic or a lifeless design

SAGRADA FAMILIA by ANTONI GAUDI (Father of Fantastic Architecture) 1882-2026 as its

estimated completion date. (UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE)
B. BALANCE

• Balance is a psychological sense of equilibrium.

• has a unity of composition
3 TYPES OF BALANCE
1. SYMMETRICAL BALANCE-
2. ASYMMETRICAL BALANCE
3. RADIAL BALANCE
B.1 SYMMETRICAL BALANCE
• Weight is equally distributed on both sides of the
central axis.
• Symmetry is the simplest and most obvious type
of balance.

SALK INSTITUTE,LOUIS KHAN (CALIFORNIA)

B.2 ASYMMETRICAL BALANCE
• When both sides of the central axis are not identical and
yet appear to have the same visual weight.
• More complex and dynamic than symmetric balance.

PLAN BEUREU (CONCEPT), KOSTIANTYN KUVIKA, (UKRAIN)

B.2 ASYMMETRICAL BALANCE

GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM, FRANK GEHRY (SPAIN)

B.3 RADIAL BALANCE
• arranged around a central element.
• Elements placed in a radial balance seem to 'radiate' out
from a central point in a circular fashion

ST. PETER’S BASILICA, DOME (RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE)

THE SOLOMON R. GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM, FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT(NEW YORK)
C. HEIRARCHY
• Visual hierarchy is the organization of design elements
into different levels of importance.
• Visually creates prioritization and centers of interest

ST. PETER’S BASILICA, DOME (RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE)

 THE NATIONAL CONGRESS OF BRAZIL,OSCARY NIEMEYER

HEIRARCHY BY SIZE AND POSITION

SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE, JORN UTZON (AUSTRALIA)

D. DOMINANCE
• Stressing a particular area of focus rather giving every design
element the same level of importance.
• Created by contrasting size, positioning, color, style, or shape.
Identical items can’t dominate each other.

ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM, DANIEL LIBSKIND (CANADA)

 However, the dominant elements should not sacrifice the unity of the whole

RUCKSACK HOUSE, LEIPZIG, GERMANY

THE IRON FOUNDRY, BERGEN, NORWAY

E. CONTRAST AND SIMILARITY
• visual principle in which there is distinguishable difference
between objects
• differences in sizes, textures, colors, positions, shapes,
orientation etc. create contrast.
• balance between similarity and contrast.

ANDY FRIESEN FOR SU CASA DESIGN

F. REPITION

• a compositional principle where you basically repeat colors,

objects, etc. throughout the design.
• Pattern is the repeating of an object or symbol all over the artwork.

ST. PETERS SQUARE 284 DORIC COLUMN (VATICAN CITY)

STOA OF ATTALOS , GREECE
G. RYTHM
• Compositional principle where one or more elements of design
are used repeatedly to create a feeling of organized movement.
• What differentiates rhythm from repetition?
the presence of variety in size, relationships etc.

SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE, JORN UTZON (AUSTRALIA)

 RHYTHM BY SHAPES

RHYTHM BY SIZES

RHYTHM BY CHARACTERISTICS

GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM, FRANK GEHRY (SPAIN)

 DID YOU KNOW?
DAME ZAHA
MOHAMMAD HADID
“Zaha Hadid”

-”Queen of the Curves”

- First female Pritzker
Architecture Price-Nobel
Prize of architecture
 VITRUVIAN
TRIAD/PRINCIPLES
WE ARE MORE THAN JUST THE AESTHETICS.
WE ARE MORE THAN JUST THE AESTHETICS.
1. We consider the sun - Where's the best place for you to
glance a morning sun.
2. We consider the wind - What buffer should you use when
facing south west monsoon ,what type of window when
facing a shattering storm.
3. We consider the view - How can you maximize the beauty
of a picturesque nature and a developed community.
4. We consider terrain - Should we cut ,or should we ride
along the slope of nature.
5. We consider the noise - The passive and active areas for
you to sleep well and live well.
6. We consider the circulation of space - What are the areas
to keep public and private, the steps from the corridor to your
front door. The rule of thumb exiting to a drastic fire breakout.
ARCHITECTURE THE TRUE NATURE OF VENUSTAS:
THE BEAUTY OF CHANGING PEOPLE’S LIVES
 DIÉBÉDO FRANCIS KÉRÉ-2022 PRITZKER AWARDEE
architect, educator and social activist

“I am hoping to change the

paradigm, push people to
dream and undergo risk. It is
not because you are rich that
you should waste material. It is
not because you are poor that
you should not try Diébédo
to createFrancis Kéré
quality,” says Kéré.
“Everyone deserves quality,
everyone deserves luxury,
and everyone deserves
comfort. We are interlinked
and concerns in climate,
democracy and scarcity are
concerns for us all.”
ARCHITECTURE THE TRUE NATURE OF VENUSTAS: THE
BEAUTY OF CHANGING PEOPLE’S LIVES
COMMUNITY-BASED ARCHITECTURE BY DIÉBÉDO
FRANCIS KÉRÉ-2022 PRITZKER AWARDEE
RECOGNISING THE NEED: ERGONOMICS AND
ANTHROPOMETRICS IN ARCHITECTURAL
DESIGN
 PROPORTIONING
SYSTEM
(SCALE VS PROPORTION)
PROPORTION The proper harmonious
relation of one part to another or to the whole.
SCALE- The size of something compared to a
reference standard or to the size of something else.
Creates visual drama and can attract attention to a
focal point
THE YELLOW BOX IS BIGGER THAN THE
RED BOX IN SCALE
ANTHROPOMETRY refers to
the measurement of the size and
proportions of the human body.

forms and spaces in architecture are either

containers or extensions of the human body
and should therefore be determined by its
dimensions.

STATIC ANTHROPOMETRY DATA

-gathered/measured at rest.
DYNAMIC ANTHROPOMETRY DATA
-gathered/measured in motion/task in many
different.
 ERGONOMICS—the applied
science that coordinates the design of
devices, systems, and environments with
our physiological and psychological
capacities and requirements.

KINESTHETICS—quality of
space refers to the ability of a
person to move freely in a
particular space.
PRINCIPLE OF DESIGN:

Around 1490, Leonardo da Vinci drew the image of the Vitruvian Man
in a work titled Canon of Proportions or The Proportions of Man where
he attempted to bring natural and mathematical harmony into the
human form.
The circle represents the The circle represents the
heavenly world. earthly world.

Unification and harmony of man and

physical world and immaterial world.
ALPHONSE BERTILLON (1800-1900)
FRENCH POLICE OFFICER, RESEARCHER,PHOTROGRAPHER
The Father of Anthropometry
father of anthropometrics based on his classification system known as
the “anthropometric system” or “judicial anthropometry”. In modern
practice- “Mugshot”
ANTHROPOMORPHIC MEASUREMENTS INVOLVE:
1. SIZE (e.g., height, weight, area, and volume)
2. STRUCTURE (e.g., height, width, length of various body parts), and
3. COMPOSITION (e.g., the percentage of body fat, water content, and body
mass) of humans.
APPLICATION OF
ANTHROPOMETRY
IN BUILDING DESIGN
1. BASIC RESIDENTIAL APPLICATION
2. PWD FOR PUBLIC SPACES
BP344- Accessibility Law
BP344- Accessibility Law
BP344- Accessibility Law
BP344- Accessibility Law
 PRELIMENARY EXAMINATION- LABORATORY
ANTHROPOMETRY AND ITS APPLICATION IN THE ACTUAL PRACTICE