COLLEGE/DEPARTMENT: CEA/DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE

SUBJECT: THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE 01

TIME SCHEDULE: 8 AM- 12 PM

RESEARCH WORK NO.: RSW-01

RESEARCH WORK TITLE: PROPERTIES OF FORM
RESEARCH WORK DUE: OCTOBER 17,2022

Architectural form is the point of contact between mass and space. Architectural forms,
textures, materials, modulation of light and shade, color, all combine to inject a quality or spirit that
articulates space. The quality of an architecture will be determined by the skill of the designer using
and relating these elements, both in the interior spaces and in the spaces around buildings. Edmund N.
Bacon: The Design of Cities (1974).

In art and design, the ordered structure of a work is frequently described by the term “form.”
It might be a chair’s or a person’s body’s recognizable outward appearance, or it could make
reference to a specific circumstance in which something occurs. Form suggests at both internal and
exterior structure, as well as the idea that gives the whole thing unity. Form frequently includes a
sense of three-dimensional mass or volume. It defined by the arrangement or relative placement of its
lines or contours.

Shape
 A given form’s distinctive surface pattern or shape. We distinguish and classify forms mostly
based on their shape.

Size
The length, width, and depth in
terms of physical measurements of a form.
While a form’s proportions are established
by these measurements, its scale is
determined by how big it is in relation to
other forms in the context.

Color
The attribute that most clearly
distinguishes a form from its environment,
and also affects the visual weight – or
weight – of a form. An aspect of color that
may be described in terms of individual’s
perception of hue, saturation, and tonal
value.

Texture
The appearance and, in particular, the feel
of a surface as determined by the arrangement, size,
shape, and ratio of its components. A form’s
surfaces’ ability to reflect or absorb incident light
depends on their texture.

Properties of the Form

Relational properties of Form that govern the pattern and composition of elements:

Position
The position of a shape
with relation to its surroundings
or the viewing field which it is
perceived within

Orientation
The direction of a form in
relative to the compass points, the
ground plane, other forms, or the
person observing the form.

Visual Inertia
A form’s degree of
concentration and stability. A
form’s visual inertia is determined
by its geometry as well as its
orientation relative to the ground
plane,
gravity’s
pull, and our line of sight.
All of these form properties are affected by the conditions under which we view them.

• A changing perspective or angle of view reveals to our eyes different shapes or aspects of a
form.
• The apparent size of a form is determined by our distance from it.
• The clarity of a form’s shape and structure is affected by the lighting conditions under which
we view it.

The visual field around a form affects our ability to read and
recognize it. Sighting is a method of eye-based measurement.
Viewing distance and angle inevitably change or distort the
perceived shape of an object. This
could be a straightforward size shift or
a more intricate alteration.

SHAPE

Shape refers to the characteristics outline of a plane figure

or the surface configuration of a volumetric form. It is the primary means by which we recognize,
identify and categorize particular figures and forms. Our perception of shape depends on the degree of
visual contrast that exists along the contour separating a figure form from its ground or between a
form and its field.

Examples
The Pantheon of Rome
 The Great Pyramid of Giza

World Trade Center Tower in

New York

Shapes arguably form the most elemental

structure of commercial design. The shapes of walls, roofs, floors, doors, and windows work together
to complement and enhance one another while contributing to a visually exciting end product.   

From the Pyramids of Giza to the Roman arches and domes to the new, World Trade Center
Tower in New York, great architecture is predominantly about shapes. The mathematical attribute of
shapes are top considerations in the design of any standing structure.

In architecture we are concerned with the shapes of:

 Planes (walls, floors, ceilings) that enclose the space

 Opening (windows and doors)
 The silhouettes of the building form
Primary Shapes

The human mind has a tendency to reduce the objects we see, with respect to understand it better is to
view them in simpler forms. Thus, Gestalt psychology stated that the mind will simplify the visual
environment in order to understand it. In fact, it is easier to perceive and understand a shape when
it’s simpler and more regular.

From geometry, we know that circle is a regular shape as it has the ability to where a series of
regular polygons can be inscribed within it. The most important of these are the primary shapes: the
circle, the triangle and the square.

Circle. A plane curve every point of which

is equidistant from a fixed point within the
curve.

Triangle. A plane figure bounded by three

sides and having three angles.

Square. A plane figure having four equal

sides and four right angles.

Circle
The circle is centralized and helps create stability. It is self-centering within its environment, when
place within the center of a field, its centrality is reinforced. A sense of rotary motion can be created
with straight or angular forms in its circumference.

Example:

Triangle

It signifies stability when resting one of its side. However, once it is rotated of one
of its vertices, the state of its equilibrium becomes more dynamic and decreased
stability.

Examples:
Square

The square represent purity and rationality. It is a bilaterally symmetrical figure having to
equal and perpendicular axes. Because of equal sides, it is inherently neutral whatever the direction
is. As such, it is stable when resting with one of its side.

Examples:
Surfaces

In transition from the shapes of planes to the forms of volumes is situated the realm of surfaces.
Surface refers to any figure containing only two dimensions, such as flat plane. The term however can
also refer to a curve two-dimensional locus of points defining the boundary of three-dimensional
solids. They can also be bound by curve surfaces. Curve surfaces are classified into the following:

 Cylindrical Surface are generated

by sliding at a straight line along a
plane curve, or vice versa.
Depending on the curve, there is a
possibility that it might be circular,
ellipse or parabolic.

 Translational surface. It is
generated by sliding a plan curve
along a straight line or over another
curve.

 Ruled surface. They are generated

by the motion of a straight line. A
ruled surface is generally easier
because of its straight line
geometry.

 Rotational surface. They are

generated by rotating a plane curve
about an axis.

 Paraboloids. Are surfaces all of

whose intersections by plane are
either parabolas and ellipse or
parabolas and hyperbolas.
 Hyperbolic Paraboloids are
surfaces generated by sliding a
parabola with downward curvature
along a parabola with upward
curvature.

Saddle surfaces. It is a smooth

surface containing one or more
saddle, a form having anticlinal
fold. It has an upward curvature in one direction and a downward curvature in the perpendicular
direction.

The geometric basis for these curved surfaces can be effectively utilized in digital modeling, as well
as in the description, fabrication and assembly of curvilinear architectural elements and components

Symmetrical curved surfaces, are intrinsically stable, while asymmetrical curved surfaces, conversely,
can be vigorously and expressively numerous in nature. Their shapes change dramatically as we view
them.

PRIMARY SOLIDS

Primary shapes can be rotated or extended to create volumetric forms that are 3-dimensional. The
most significant solids are: sphere, cylinder, pyramid, cone, and cube.
Sphere

A sphere is a solid generated revolution of a circle around an axis or by a semicircle about its
diameter. Similar to circle, its primary shape, a sphere is self-centering and usually stable unless on a
sloped area.

Cylinder

Cylinder is the extrusion of a circle along a central axis, but can also be viewed as a rectangle
revolving around one of its sides. Along of its two circular faces, it can be easily extended. The
cylinder is stable when tilted from a perpendicular axis to an angle, but unstable if tilted from an angle
to an vertical one.

Cone

A cone is the product of evolved right triangle about its side. It has a singular circular face
that tapers down to a single point at the opposite end. When resting on its circular face it is entirely
stable. However, when tipped to the side it becomes more dynamic, especially on a slope area.

Pyramid

A pyramid is made up of a polygonal base on one side and a point (vertex) on the opposite
end. Since a pyramid has only flat sides, it is resting on. However, when resting to one of its corner is
creates a sense of instability and uncertainty.

Cube

A cube is creation by the extrusion of a square along a vertical axis. It is composed of six
equal sides but because of this, a cube is a static form as well as it lacks dynamic direction and
movement. However, when resting of one of its side, the stability is highly demonstrated.

Examples:
Regular and Irregular Forms

A regular form is a form that is consistent and orderly. They are generally symmetrical about
one or more axes. The sphere, cylinder, cone, and cube are examples of regular forms. These forms
can be changed by the addition or subtraction of elements but can remain regular.

Many variations of a form can be

generated from the primary solids, by
manipulating dimensions of the solids, or
adding or subtracting elements.

An irregular form is one whose parts

are dissimilar and generally inconsistent and
asymmetrical. A regular form can be
contained within an irregular form.

Regular forms can be

included within irregular forms
since solid masses and spatial
voids are both things we deal
with in building. Similar to how
regular forms can be used to
encapsulate irregular forms.

Examples
Examples:

References
 Ching, F.D.K.,(1979). Architecture: Form, Space and Order.
Ching, F.D.K.,(2010). Design Drawing Second Edition.

https://www.firstinarchitecture.co.uk/architecture-design-basics-form/#:~:text=The%20primary
%20solids%20are%20the,%2C%20cone%2C%20pyramid%20and%20cube.

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