THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE

[by alver_remolar]

INTRODUCTION
Greek ‘Architekton’
ARCHITECT (Archi = foremost; Tekton = worker)

explain a phenomenon, basis for future action (e.g. design concept)

Descriptive – explains phenomena

THEORY
Prescriptive – bases or guidelines

Critical – challenges relationships between architecture & society

Art & science of designing Creating places for Reflection of the Self
ARCHITECTURE buildings people, space with
memory & meaning

Space Structure Enclosure

Organizational pattern Form Form
Relationships
Hierarchy

ARCHITECTURAL Experienced through movement in space & time (circulation)

SYSTEMS Achieved by means of technology
Accommodating a program
As part of a context

Approach & Entry Path Configuration Sequence of

Spaces
How does the ordinary person understand architecture?
Physical Systems & Organization
Solids & Voids Space
Interior & Exterior Structure
Enclosure
Machines

Perceptual Qualities of
ARCHITECTURAL Sensory perception Light
ORDERS Color
Texture
View
Sound
Conceptual Images
Meanings Patterns
Signs
Symbols
Context
Point Line
End / intersection / center of a field Point extended
(e.g. welcome rotunda – QC Memorial) Length, direction, position
PRIMARY Plane Volume
Length & width Length, width, depth
ELEMENTS OF
Shape / surface Form & space
DESIGN Orientation Surface
Position Orientation
(e.g. Frank Lloyd Wright) Position
(e.g. Oscar Niemeyer)
 Point of contact between mass & space

PROPERTIES

Shape Color

“edge / contour” of a plane or Texture

silhouette of a volume

Primary shapes Position

(circle, triangle, square)
Orientation
Primary solids
(sphere, cylinder, cone, pyramid, cube)
Visual Inertia
Regular vs irregular forms
FORM
TRANSFORMATION OF FORM
Dimensional Subtractive Additive
Altering one dimension Removing portions Adding portions
but still retaining identity
ORGANIZATION OF ADDITIVE FORM
Centralized Linear Radial
Clustered Grid
ARTICULATION OF FORM
Differentiate adjacent surfaces
Remove corner
Lighting the form
Edges Corners Surfaces

SPACE AS DEFINED BY FORM

HORIZONTAL ELEMENTS DEFINING SPACE

Base Plane Elevated Base Plane

Depressed Base Plane Overhead Plane

VERTICAL ELEMENTS DEFINING SPACE

Vertical Linear Elements Single Vertical Plane
(e.g. columns)
SPACE L-shaped Plane Parallel Planes

U-shaped Plane 4 Planes: Closure

OPENINGS IN SPACE-DEFINING ELEMENTS

Within Planes At corners Between Planes
Centered Along one edge Vertical
Off-Center Along 2 edges Horizontal
Grouped Turning a corner ¾ Opening
Deep-set Grouped Window-wall
Skylight Skylight Skylight
 QUALITIES OF SPACE
Enclosure Space
Dimensions Proportion & Scale
Shape & Configuration Form & Definition
Surfaces & Edges Color, Texture, & Pattern
Openings Enclosure
SPATIAL RELATIONSHIPS
Space within a Space Atrium
Interlocking Spaces
Adjacent Spaces
Spaces linked by a Common Space
SPATIAL ORGANIZATION
Centralized Linear
Radial Clustered
Grid

Movement through Space

ELEMENTS OF CIRCULATION
Approach Entrance
CIRCULATION Configuration of Path Path-space relationships
(e.g. EDSA Shang) (pass-by spaces, pass-through,
terminate in a space)
Form of the circulation space
(enclosed, open on one side,
open on 2 sides)

THEORY OF DESIGN
PROPORTION
Dimensional relationships of elements to each other and to the whole
Bases of Proportion Theories of Proportion

Material (natural) Golden Section

Structural (sizes of members)
Manufactured (commercially available)
Types of Propostion
(a/b = a+b/a) = 1.618 or “Phi”
Regulating Lines
Classical Orders
(e.g. Ionic 9 Diameters High)

Relative Renaissance Theories

PRINCIPLES Absolute 1:sqrt2 3:4 2:3 3:5 1:2 (musical)
OF DESIGN Modulor
Arithmetic (h = l+w / 2)
Geometric (h = sqrt lw) Le Corbusier – anthropometrics
Harmonic (h = 2lw / l+w) Measured average of British
policemen
*Palaggio?
Golden Ratio: Navel Ht-Flr = Full
Ht

Ken
Tatami Mat (1.8 x 0.9 m)

SCALE
Relationships of elements to a standard, usually human dimensions
(e.g. Castel San Angezo, Rome – fortress/dungeon for political prisoners)
 CONTRAST
Juxtaposition of elements to intensify each element’s properties
(e.g. black & white, dominant vs secondary)
by Line by Mass by Color by Character
BALANCE
Apparent state of equilibrium
(around an axis or producing symmetry)
Symmetrical Asymmetrical Gravitational
e.g. Baguio Cathedral e.g. Heart Center Size of dominant
element =
Left = Right Sum of size of
smaller element
HIERARCHY
System of ordered elements
by Size by Shape by Placement
DATUM
Line, plane, volume of reference to which other elements in a composition
can relate

RHYTHM
Patterned repetition of elements at regular or
Irregular intervals in same or modified form
(e.g. nearer = ‘faster’, vice versa)
Line Areas Color Accented Rhythm

Quality of appearance with respect to reflected light determined by

measurement of hue, tonal value, chroma/intensity
DIMENSIONS OF COLOR
Hue Tonal Value Chroma / Intensity
Color itself Lightness or Brightness or
Darkness Dullness
CATEGORIES OF COLOR & COLOR HARMONY

COLOR

Primary Analogous Warm & Cool

Secondary Complementary Triadic, Tetradic,
Tertiary Split Complementary & Square
 COLOR PSYCHOLOGY
Red Strength, warmth, excitement, stimulation
Defiance, aggression
Blue Trust, serenity, logic
Coldness, unfriendliness
Yellow Optimism, friendliness, creativity
Depression, anxiety
Green Harmony, rest, reassurance
Boredom
Violet Spiritual awareness, truth
Introversion, inferiority
Orange Food, sensuality, fun
Frustration, immaturity
Pink Nurture, love, sexuality
Physical weakness
Brown Warmth, reliability
Lack of humor
Grey Neutrality
Lack of confidence, lack of energy
White Purity, simplicity, efficiency
Coldness, elitism
Black Sophistication, security
Oppression

THEORIES FROM ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

BODY
Anthropocentrism Human = center of universe; most important,
center & focus of space (e.g. Ifugao
House)
“dark, warm, cozy, human womb, bed”

Anthropomorphism Human attributes

House = Body (e.g. Tausug House)
9 posts each corresponding to body part
House blessing tie navel post to coconut tree,
symbolic cut
Anthropometrics Le Corbusier

Measurements of Body
Ergonomics Design of devices
Effective & safe

ARCHITECTURE & GENDER

THE SELF Masculine Feminine Gay Androgynous
Aggressive, Social, Both Neither
extroverted, cultural introverted,
than visual nurturing,
gathering
e.g. skyscrapers e.g. multi- e.g. utility room,
e.g. church purpose hall storage

EMOTIONS
Distinct emotions in form & shape
Positivity, fear, sadness, anger

SPIRIT
Concept of oneness in form & space
(e.g. Parish of Holy Sacrifice – first pro work of LVL)
Community = “Commune” = Gather
 Study of spatial separation of people

1960’s psychologist Dr. Robert Sommen: Theory of Personal Space

Invisible psychological human bubble all humans carry

Dr. Edward Hall: experiment

e.g. Canteen of office – socio-petal/fugal?

PERSONAL SPACE
PROXEMICS DISTANCE ZONES Varies
Public 12 ft or more average
Social 4-12 ft
Personal 18-48 in
Intimate 0-18 in

SOCIOPETAL SPACE Triggers behaviors that gather people

together
SOCIOFUGAL SPACE Separate people, discourage
communication

TERRITORY
Delimited space a person/group uses & defends as exclusive
Involves psychological identification with a place
Basic Characteristics
Ownerships & rights to a place
Personalization or making of an area
TERRITORIALITY &
Defense against intrusions
DEFENSIBLE Serve functions ranging from psychological to self-actualization
SPACES DEFENSIBLE SPACE
Easy recognition & control of activities usually through visual access,
adjacency or electronic monitoring (e.g. street furniture)
PERSONALIZATION
SOFT ARCHITECTURE
Personalize without damage (e.g. socialized housing)

Ability to control their visual, auditory, olfactory interactions with others

Have options & to achieve ideal interaction
KINDS
Solitude – state of being free from observation by others
PRIVACY Intimacy – state of being with another person but free from the outside
world
Anonymity – being unknown even in a crowd
Reserve – psychological barriers to control unwanted intrusions
Min. privacy = no eye contact

Feeling of lack of control over environment

SOCIAL
Negative behavior related to social overload
OVERCROWDING Results from overmanning of behavior settings

Abraham Maslow
People make choices according to different levels of needs

HIERARCHY OF Self-actualization – reach one’s full potential

NEEDS Self-esteem – feel good about oneself
Social acceptance – belong to a group
Security – feel & be safe
Physiological – protect & nurture the body
 Cognition Mental process by which knowledge is acquired

Symbol Representation by association, resemblance, or

convention
Semiotics Science of signs
GESTALT
Objects have innate qualities independent of perceiver & environment
Perceive objects as different (you, building, background/foreground)

FIGURE GROUND
Degree to which something stands out
PERCEPTION
GROUPING
Organization into distinct units by shape, number, space

ECOLOGICAL
Conditions in the environment affect the way an object is perceived

TRANSACTIONAL
Role of experience
Dynamic relationship between person & environment
Perception is active rather than passive
Expectancies & pre-disposition

Study of mind & emotions in relation to the sense of beauty

Seek answer to “Why do people consider an image beautiful?”
Aerones – minor behavior that make up major beahavior
SPECULATIVE AESTHETICS
Personal beliefs or ideas
Philosophical Approaches
Interpretation of environment as a text
Hierarchy / Linear / straightforward
Hermeneutic
Base, shaft, crown?

instinct
Intuitive insight into relationships of person &
Phenomenological
environment

Creative act & creative artifact

Existential Unique vs mass-produced
AESTHETICS
Representation of class struggle between opposing
forces
Marxist / Political Das capital – Theory of Socialization
e.g. Church, schools OK not malls

Scientific Approaches
Creation as cathartic act (outburst of emotion)
Freud, Oedipus Complex
Psychoanalytic
Art that moves emotionally than intellectually

Mechanistic: sensation thru single stimulus

Psychological Contextual: beauty from nature, everyday life

Science: Shell + Core, fusion of body & soul

Organismicist
Expressive value of recognizable pattern or forms
Formist
 EMPIRICAL AESTHETICS
Scientific Approaches
Environment as a set of images that act as stimuli
Information-theory
image response to a whole
Semantic meaning of environmental elements
Semiotic cultural, learned meaning
Psychobiological bodily chemicals, neurophysiological process of brain

Stable combinations of activity & place consisting of:

Standing pattern of behavior (What)

Milieu or physical support (Where)
BEHAVIOR
Relationship between SPB & Milieu (How)
SETTING Specific time period (When)

Same physical setting = different standing patterns / more than one

behavior

ARCHITECTURAL CONCEPTS
Metaphors
Abstract relationship
Analogies
Essences
Architecture form with other objects
Deep meaning, symbols
THEMATIC / or processes
SYMBOLIC Direct Response
Biological – Guggenheim (digestive)
CONCEPTS Stated requirements (direct)
Mechanical – “machines”
Gastronomic – “food” Disney? Gehry
Ideals
Linguistic – expression, haiku Ando
Universal values, highest
aspirations

Vitruvius: “Utilitas, Firmitas, Venustas”

FUNCTIONAL
CONCEPTS Architectural Programming – Le Corbusier “what people do”

by Gravity – Egyptian Pyramid tilted slightly inward

Post & Lintel
Arch & Vault – Etruscans, keystone, radiating arch
Flying Buttress
STRUCTURAL
Domes
CONCEPTS Frames – cast iron, French revolution, Crystal Palace
Suspended Systems – MVDR
Prefabrication
Stretched membrane

Light & color – Chapel of ?

ENVIRONMENTAL Le Corbusier “using what is there”
CONCEPTS Flatiron Building – Daniel Burnham

TECHNOLOGICAL
Pompidou Centre – Renzo Piano
CONCEPTS
 PHILOSOPHICAL IDEAS IN ARCHITECTURE
Man over Environment – Ten Books of Architecture by Vitruvius

Environment over Man – The Poetry of Architecture by John Ruskin

ENVIRONMENT &
ARCHITECTURE Ecology – “A harmonious relation to land is of more consequence to
civilization” Aldo Leopold
e.g. Vietnam War Memorial by Maya Lin

“What is a city?” by Doxiadis:

5 Ekistic interactive/interdependent elements that make up human
EKISTICS settlement:
Man, Nature, Shells, Networks, Society

Socialist movement in architecture, it was developed into a school by

Walter Gropius in 1919 in Weimar, Germany

Unify architecture, fine arts, & industrial design to uplift the plight of the
BAUHAUS working class
Forerunner of modernism, “classless”, removed ornament, purified
aesthetic

Frank Lloyd Wright

ORGANIC
Go up from ground just like nature, “A house must not be on a hill but of a
ARCHITECTURE hill.”

th
Social upheaval between 20 century World War
Renunciation of the Old World

Technological determinism & structural rationalism

Belief in the power of form to transform the world

Sleek machined surfaces

Mass production & cost reduction
Emotionless architecture = World Peace
MODERNISM &
“A house is a machine for living in.” – Le Corbusier
INTERNATIONAL
STYLE FLW, Corbu, Gropius, MVDR

International Style 5-Point

Formula
1) Architectural Program
2) Curtain Walls e.g. Villa Savoye – Corbu
3) Pilotis “Less is more.” - MVDR
4) Flat Roof / Garden
5) Free & Open Planning

Reaction to Globalist (‘worldwide’),
Absolutist (‘one idea’), & Inhuman
(‘machine’) excesses of International
Style, it emphasizes a return to
humanistic & pluralist architectural
expression
e.g. Robert Venturi –
complexity & contradiction
Architecture celebrate being
human, complex
e.g. Vana Venturi House (family,
childhood, memory, home)

POST MODERNISM e.g. AT&T Center by Philip Johnson “Less is a bore.” – Venturi
(crown)
Express meaning
Era of Semiotics Memory aids to human history
‘Architecture by humans for humans’ Humor
One little ornament = One big
message e.g. Piazza de Italia by
Charles Moore, New Orleans, USA

Alexander Tzonis, Lliane Lefaure, Kenneth Frampton

Reaction to global trend of architecture in reflecting dominant culture &
creating feeling of placelessness
CRITICAL
REGIONALISM Create cultural/personal identity
Culture + context

Jacques Derrida
Linguistics
Cultural bias
DECONSTRUCTION Architectural language
Unearth hidden biases

th th
Late 19 & Early 20 , Edmund Husserl & Martin Heidegger
Felt experience
Knowing something more than a rational process

Christian Norberg-Schulz
Architecture more than a rational, visual art
Intuitive sense beyond the 5 senses
People assign unconscious meanings to the environment from their felt
experience & memories

PHENOMENOLOGY PLACE
& PLACE Bounded manifestation
Memory + meaning
Built, natural, or both
Designed environment
Spirit of place or genius loci (collective meaning)

TOPOANALYSIS
Study of an area’s place & its spirit of place
Place cannot be intentionally designed
Unique to every locale
 DESIGN BELIEFS
Triangular lots ×
Lot frontage has smaller dimension

Choice of Lots compared to rear (“korteng supot”)
Lots facing east 
Lots on high ground 
Lots where water settles 

Orienting face the east (sun) 

Stairs facing east, nearby mountain,

upstream of river, parallel to shoreline
Windows facing bottom of stairway or
landing ×
Areas under stairways used as
passageway ×
“Oro plata mata” (gold, silver, death) N A
Flooring strips on 2nd floor collinear to
run of the stairway ×
T&B located over kitchen & dining room ×
Kitchen oven or range placed so that
the one cooking faces east or morning 
Architectural Design sun
Septic vault located under roof or
garage ×
Roofs slanted towards front of lot ×
Doors facing each other ×
Front doors/wide windows facing
FILIPINO BELIEFS neighbor’s doors/windows ×
IN ARCHITECTURE Main doors facing sunset ×
Bedroom doors facing foot or head of the
bed ×
Drainage pipies run under a bed ×
House plans shaped like a cross ×
Bedroom higher than living room 

Groundbreaking on a Monday when


moon is growing in size
Groundbreaking on February ×
Initial concrete pouring done when
Construction 
moon is growing in size
Place coins or religious medals in

fountain for prosperity
“padugo” 

Moving-in on a Tuesday or Friday or

13th of the month ×
Saints & religious figures first 
Then symbols of prosperity,

water/rice/salt
Moving-in
Then money 
Open all lights & faucets for a few

minutes
House blessing coins thrown into the

living room from the doorway
 Chinese philosophy of geomancy
QI or CHI (electromagnetic currents)
Harmony with cosmic forces of nature
Sha Qi – forceful chi which might
“Ancient Chinese green architecture”
have negative effects on people
“wind” & “water”
THEORIES
Form Theory Influences of landscape, mountains, water courses
Compass Theory Mathematical, Lo P’an
Yin / Yang Balance, natural flow of Qi
Five Elements
Life, femininity, creativity, organic
Wood material E, SE
Tall cylindrical features (tree trunks)
Energy, intelligence
Fire Sharp peaks (flames) S

Stability, endurance, earth

Earth SW, NE
Flat terrain

Competitiveness, business acumen,

Metal masculinity W, NW
Rounded Hills (coins)

All that flows, transport, communication

Water N
Wavy, undulating ground
Burning wood produces fire which leaves behind
Productive
earth which is source of metal which can be liquefied
Sequence
into flowing substances like water
Wood sucks up nourishment from earth which
Destructive
muddies water which quenches fire which melts
Sequence
metal
FENG SHUI Eight Trigrams
Kan Wheels, danger N
Ken Obstacles NE
Chen Speed, roads E
Sun Trade, growth SE
Li, K’un Fire, heat S
Tui Nourishment, joy, serenity W
Ch’ien Kingship NW
Nine Basic Cures
Reflective objects Mirrors, multi-faceted crystals that reflect light & Qi
Sound Music, wind chimes, bells
Color Bring balance & vitality to sales
Living objects Flowers, plants, aquariums
Electronics Computers, TV
Bamboo items Plants, curtains, flutes
Heavy objects Furniture, statues, stones
Others Meaningful items

Main doors face south or east 

Doors facing each other ×
Main door facing any gate, post, or
dead trees ×
Stairways facing a door ×
Basic Rules Number of steps in a run of stairs
divisible by 4 ×
Kitchen stove facing a stove or sink ×
Faucets & shower heads facing interior
of structure ×
Window on wall above bed headboard ×
Bed facing a door ×
Bed not rest on a wall that has water
closet ×
Exposed beams above bead ×
Water closet facing the door ×
Eating areas located below toilet ×
Round dining > rectangular 
Altar placed under stairway ×
Exposed columns = round 
Columns placed opposite doors ×
Number of columns divisible by 4 ×
8 silver coins wrapped in red cloth =

foundation
Additional Notes

 1418 – a copy of Vitruvian manuscripts found at St. Gallen monastery

 LEON BATTISTA ALBERTI (1404-72)

o person in charge of constructions commanded by Pope
o “On Building” = De re aedificatoria

 SEBASTIANO SERLIO
o “Regole generali di architectura”

 GIACOMO BAROZZI DA VIGNOLA

o “Regola delle cinque ordini”
o concise, fast and easily applicable rules of the five column systems
 idea of Pythagoras (proportions of small numbers meant harmony)
 proportions and other instructions provided by Vitruvius
 example set by earlier buildings
 “general good taste”
 Eugene Viollet-le-Duc (1863)
o the first theorist who set out to create a totally new system of architectural forms independent
of antiquity
o “What we call taste is but an involuntary process of reasoning whose steps elude our
observation. Authority has no value if its grounds are not explained.”
 the foundation of modern architecture

 Owen Jones
o used forms inspired from nature, especially plants

 Mathematical models by Francis Bacon and Galileo Galilei

Robert Hooke, Jakob Bernoulli, Leonard Euier

 Marquis de Vauban founded a building depatment in the French army called “ Corps des Ingenieurs”

 Ecole des Ponts et Chaussees, special school founded in Paris where new profession specializing in
construction was organized (first engineering school)
:
 PHILIBERT DE L’ORME
o One of French theorist who are critical of Italians
o Proved that Pantheon’s Corinthian columns had 3 different proportions
o Rejected the doctrine of absolute beauty of measures

 Printed theories
o Francois Nicolas Blondel: Cours d’architecture (1675)
o Claude Perrault: Ordonnance des cinq especes de colonnes (1683)
o Jean Louis de Cordemoy: Nouveau traite de toute l’architecture (1706)
o Marc-Antoine Laugier: Essai sur l’architecture (1753)
o Jacques-Francois Blondel: Cours d’architecture (1770)
o J-N-L Durand: Precis des lecons (1802-5)
o Julien Guadet: Elements et theories de l’architecture (1902)