SPACES AND VOIDS Perceiving Solids and Voids We have a faity clear sense of haw we per ceive solids Solids are the material part, the io the environment, They are the paris we bump into. hey are the things the radar bounces off, ut what about the other pat the empty space? How do we perceive that? This is not an easy question to answer be: cause emply space generates no sensation, Ieempty T once lived in Siena, aly, for several months. city where the buildings are closely packed and the steels quite narraw—so nar ‘ow ia fact that I emember many times hav Jing to quickly back up flat against the build {ngs facing the steet whenever a bus passed bby Most ofthe streets are not straight they are laid cut to conform tothe shape ofthe land ‘They follow level contouts oF the spines af Siene’s multiple ridges and valleys. Noverthe Jess, though it didn’t follow the ailiar American grid pattern, the environment seemed very readable. Most puzzling of al the empty spaces inthe tavn, the streets and piazza, seemed to have discernible shapes of theirown. How did they? ‘One thing we can say inmedlately about space in Sena is that there's less of Owing to the close packing of the houses, empiy space is much rarer commodity than in a ‘ypical American envionment such 35a sub- urban housing development or strip mall. In 48 the United States empty space abounds, Most bulidings ae objecebuila ings made of relative thin members such as ‘wood, steel, and precast ccncrete. They tend to be freestanding on individual plots, with lots of space beteen, Looking tthe plan of Siena and noticing how densely packed it is, we right state as law of sos that where space és rare it tends to be more readable as space. An 8: footwide bus racing to ward us on 8 Loot wide retin Siena provides us with a spatial experience that is vivid indeed, The samme bus on an American boulevard driving past a Strip. tall is scarcely RAW 1A8 Rah vw of he Remand eaceton DOA, We camnotsne ere {use for alarm, For simi: lar reasons (arty of space versus prevalence of space) a mariner sailing through a narrow passage such asthe Swit of Magellan proceeds with much ‘greater caution than on the open acean. In sich situations the dimensions of space are lnderstood, even felt, heeause they simply must be attended to Spoce as Figure Nature is replete with circumstances where space is rarer and the solid more prevalent, Like the strait mentioned above, harbors, bays.sounds,channels and seas are all condi tions where a body of water is shaped by the surrounding and more prevalent dry land.Even more compelling.empty space takes on particulary powerful read when we are also Able to perceive it as the missing part of 2 Solid. One reason the Grand Canyon inspires sich awe is that we ate still aware ofthe flat plateau that was ance there But while consideration of the relative rar iy ofspace and pace as the missing part of solid may help us understand the streets in Siona, what ofthe piazzas? They are at times vast The central plaza, the Campa, measures some SUM) fet across. But readable i 50 readable in fact that people often name it ‘ith comparative words. Germans call it Der -Muschetpiatz (the clam-shaped piazza). Amer icans compart toa fan. I isinteresting that both of these words reer to solids. And this facts precisely the point. Where the shape of a space is so distinc that it may be corapared toa solid, empty space takes on a peculiar quality Though it eannot be sensed as a thing. it is nevertheless understood as a thing {nits own right. In what we may characterize as a tue figure-ground reversal, we come to Understand space as the inverse of asoli The exercises that follow are ditect a figural element. To accomplish th ‘ut ourselves in unliliar territory As th Sectional drasing in Figure 1.70, we will draw the space instead of the sold. oe oni 49SPACE? Drow the spaces between. ie mane scien ip ‘View a skeleton fom a direction that has in teresting and articulate spaces among the bones. Compose your view ina way that sup- ports understanding volume asthe figural eb fement in the drawing. For example, avoid centering the skeleton on the page. That ‘would emphasize your sense of it as an ob- ject ‘Then, with white colored pencil draw the spaces between the bones. Where the bones gee 175 Netto are leave the paper blank While you draw, pay attention to the marks on the paper. Try to make them contribute toa figural reading ‘of space. Though its more dificult, do. not generate the voids by drawing their outlines fis, Build them outward rom their centers, Comments:Oneofthe more interesting inten {ions pusueinthisererciesto giveth daw ing asens of mute depths despite tito tion tonlytwo variables —spaceor slid The ‘wo examplesin gues 1.74and 1.75harve taken ‘to very diferent appreaches.Theane at thelet Shows te skeletons diferent stances ond ses the elaivesicesof the spaces berween the bones andthe skeleton therselesto establish depth. The other. nan approachimpying at- ‘mosphericpespective defines the edges of nearer ‘spaces more precisely than the edges of futher spaces.” This is called size perspective A sense of depth arises om the rain projected sles of objects at ! pamosphere perspective: The arias an elect on the al acuity of objects at various ances om the bere Closer objets seem clearer Further ob ects scem her Seo tn Fngeoina the Vieni World SIspaces Give the spaces depth. Giga nant [Now we can begin to give dept to the spaces Jn between. We will make distinctions be- tween their deeper and shallower areas. ‘Walk into a deep forest or go to a plant conservatory Find an array of foliage that has wellarticulated depth and interesting spaces between the leaves. Me scene wil ikely have tinct layers of foliage that dacument sever al postions of depth. With conté crayon oF soft charcoal, de seribe the spaces in between as deeper and shallower Where the volume between ou and the foliage is deeper, your drawing Should become darker where the volume be tween you and the foliage is shallower, your drawing should remain lighter Inthe end you should seek to achievea murky and high- Iyatmoepheric sense of depth, not unlike that ofan extremely foggy day. 52 chaperone Comments: Therearetwo dstnct way tostrt thisexecsethatcome immediate toring 1) Start with the spaces furthest away 2) strtwith the closest spaces fndit better to stat with the space that seems the most prominent giving the Sceneshape. This space maybe closer or further (more key sin the mide ground), buttsmost Imporcontatibutes thar torganizesand gives location ta thescenes many subparts. Forthesenseoffeling the space asyou drawtis importenttowork rom thegenerltothespeci ‘Thesmelldrawing in gure 1.80 sony party ‘complteand ishistny fem its eorlestmarksto itsmestcomplere tote ssi evident. Notethearea attheleft This ishow you should work —vaguely, rancomrntaly tentatively atthe star alivays readyto ody shape andvelueasneeded.Fie 0 Lane sre awe Gc Neshe, space a Moke the volume between. (he (et eet Find a broad building fagade that has avari- ey of openings, Pick a diagonal view. ‘Then, with charcoal, describe the depth of the volume between you and the facade. Where the volume between you and the fagade is deop, draw darker; where the vol lume between you and the fagade is shallow, draw lighter Comments: As you daw, ry tobelve that you ‘are aking the atmospherethat ls the distance between you and thefagade.Justos inthe prev ‘userecse yourdrawing should giveth volume ‘amaterelchracter. should seem murky and soupy hea foggy day. Engoging the Vial World SBFore Rete See space s ae thevolume within (aaa oa esr. Pickan architectural subject that hasa domi nant internal space. A good subject might be 2 grouping of columas, such as the pulpit shown in Figure 1.1, the space beneath a heavy and omate table, ora lange hall with 54. cnoper One ee 182 thon Ye multiple structural bays. I you cant find a suitable architectural subject.a skeleton or an arrangement of bieyles would do. ‘Then, with chareoal, deseribe the thick: ness ofthe space within the subject. In the sense that you strive fo give the space mater ial quality you should draw as you did in the previous exercise, make the volume between, butin this instance,consclousy ty to aceupy the Internal space with your charcoal while youd Comments: ifndhatomarkongiing fromupper righ rolowerlefas i Figure 181 forrom upper lettolowerright.fyouarelef- handed portcu- lady effective giving asensofatmospherto thespacegeek pn aren, SPACES Draw espace within asevon ‘This exercise and the two that follow aim to bulld a more spatial understanding of plans, sections, and elevations, the conventional drawings that architects and designers use In them we use the same atmospheric sense of space we have been using in the preceding In asectional view deseribe the depth of the space within a building with charcoal tome, Where the space is deeper draw darker Where the space is shallower, draw lighter Try to bring to this exercise wo characteris ties from your earlier work: a sense of the steps between yous and the distant suntan ofthe building and a sense that you ae occu pying the space with your charcoal a you draw Ik is important to pick an appropriate building for this exereise. lt should have a dominant central space and recognizable overlapping elements in the background sch as areas and stairways In the sprit ofthe highly rendered draw ings ofthe Beaux Ars, this exercise also lene ise to watereolor ‘Comments: nce again note how te lnework contutestothe drawings atmosphere eeling ng the Visual Wold 58sPace7 Draw the depth non elevtion ay ped wie pera pdt ‘This exercise, which l conduct as a group ex excise, has the same objective asthe previous ‘ne, hough it represents depth somewhat dir ferently In the previous exercise, you dark ened only those areas that were father away. Inelfect, you considered the white page as a foreground of sors, Me surface forts exer cise is neutal gray.and you use itas a middle ground, From that midleground you operate in two directions, both forward and back. You use ebony pencil to depress certain areas and you use white prismacolor to pull ther Areas forward Begin by just aying out all the chipboard pieces on the floor and roughing in the loca- tion of major elements, Choreograph the processso that groups of students work in sub- {rouse an then muster back together to con- ‘der the drawing asa whole once more. There is much tobe gained from this experience. It closely parallels the thought process of an i dividual working alone—working the parts back to the whole—but i does so in a way thar physically acts out the cognitive process. ‘The panels and the participants disperse, and thon they eome back togetior again. Doing it asa group (L have used groups a8 large as 50) brings another important side benefi:the students teach each athe imply through the adjacency of sionger students to weaker students stronger and more focused thinking guides the work of the weaker stu lenis as they ty to maintain a seamless ap- pearance across the whole drawing, This ex frcise is a ease of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. Its an enormous ‘confidence builder for the weaker students, ‘who would never imagine they could con: tribute toa process tha results in such an in pressive work!Comments havetorase on important rote of carton herewith respect to this andthe previous ‘exoreseson space. Although thiskind of volume: tiedrowing doesnot adress theisve filming ‘dont about giving amatere property to epth-— because of tendered appearane it often gives the impression that itdoes.Staders ‘may therefore mistakenly conclde thr asa con ‘vention ef rowing iis obwaysbetterto darken ‘ores that ar freer rom the viewer Aion ‘ersilumintion,sometinesitisindeed the case that ereos tho are further are dr they ‘aka sometimes apperighteror neutral gure 3 Face of cil Fe er Gnu jc ota wit il on ls de ai Ada Me re ‘Nan en ain eae han than ai eh ape ames Ky ae aera Aan Wh, ‘eter anos ian Sao aco earn ro Serer a FEnaooing the Viet Word 87gee 16 Grr Copa Pai Stn SPACE a ‘A design projectfocusing on volume nan From time to time. have taught architectural sign projects that have used the same vole tumetric representations as the previous exer flaes, Like those exercises, these projects treated volume as the figural element ofthe ‘composition fom the star. They fstered un Cerstanding of plans, sections and elevations that went beyond an understanding of a building's materia; they addressed the build- ings space as wel. In all ofthe projects It ‘was assumed thatthe buildings were to be carved out oF eroded out of a preexisting ronalith 5B chapterOve | want to highlight several important char acteristics ofthese projets: ‘Space is rare. With the beginning concition ‘ofa monolith occupying the entre potentlat volume of the ste atthe ousset, slid materiat is maximized. Ii everywhere, More impor tantly, emply space Is minimized. [eis nowhere tobe found. Thisis the exaet oppo- site ofthe beginning condition of most de- sign problems. As a consequence, volumes are generated from the direction oftheir min imal possible sizes, rather than, as snormal, ftom their maximum, In this way iseasier to 1address the important question of the mini- ‘mal volumes required for the aces within ‘an architectural program. ‘Volume is figure. Since form is generated by making volume, rather than by making mater- ial volume naturally becomes the more abyi- fous figure of the design. Drawing is analo- gous to the act of building, In the manner of the previous exercises, pressing harder into the papor is mechanically parallel to depres Ing surfaces inthe building, ‘The project. The project shown in Figure 1.86 used a ceramics cooperative for is pro gam. It assumed a limestone monolith 30) high % 120’ wide % 160' deep in a warebouse district in Los Angeles.‘SPACE IN PRACTICE My good friend, New York architect Andrew Tesoro, has long made use of drawings that show space as afigual element of design. Drawings he completed as notes in an archi- 60. craper One aur 88 Pon nacre eon Ano so 17 tecture history Ieeture course show this early fascination (Figure 1.87). Later travel skette «5,such as that ofthe superimposed pl section ofthe Pantheon (Figure 188) carried this understanding further As a practioner today. he often makes drawings such as the fone shown in Figure 1.89 to present to him sell the"shape of space’ even ashe accounts In other drawings for the material facts of ‘what hes proposing,ce 199 Sudo en ous re Teo 18 Engosing the Vu Word 61