Introduction to Architecture

“Reading” architecture requires us to allow buildings to “speak” to us. But how can inanimate objects speak to us? Especially if those objects are not representational?

Pentre Ifan Burial Chamber, 2000 BCE

John Portman, Bonaventure Hotel, Los Angeles

Richard Neutra, Edgar J. Kaufmann House, Palm Springs, 1946.

According to Vitruvius (Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, 1 st cent. BCE), in De Architectura a building must be considered in terms of three elements: Utilitas Firmitas Venustas

Utilitas  need  function  plan Firmitas  means  structure  section Venustas  art  beauty  elevation

Utilitas  need  function  plan

Firmitas  means  structure  section

Venustas  art  beauty  elevation

Utilitas as Message: TWA Terminal, JFK Transamerica Bldg. SF, CA

Utilitas by Addition: Louis Kahn’s Richards Medical Laboratory, University of Pennsylvania

Utilitas by Division:

Urge towards symmetry:

Firmitas/Stucture will always be a function of: Advances in engineering Availability and strength of materials Cost available for materials Other historical and geographical factors “Architecture is the adaptation of form to resist force.” John Ruskin (19 th c.)

All structures seek a balance between tension and compression. Traditionally there were two ways to handle this: through trabeated structures or through arcuated structures.

Trabeated Structures

CANTILEVER Milstein Hall, Cornell University (Rem Kolhaas) Gale House, Oak Partk, IL (Frank Lloyd Wright)

Villa Savoye, Poissy, France. LeCorbusier.

ARCUATED STRUCTURES Colosseum, Rome. Hagia Sophia, Instanbul

Venustas  art  beauty  elevation Hertziana, Rome Gugenheim Museum, Bilbao

What makes architecture good? Does it express its function in a meaningful, interesting, and appealing way? Does it seem to “fit” its surroundings (by complementing or contrasting with it in an interesting and meaningful way)? Is its design and execution structurally sound? Does it create a meaningful (interesting, surprising, enjoyable, delightful, disturbing etc.) space? Will it endure? Has it endured?

Analyzing a Building: Space: Solids and Voids Scale and Proportion Weight & Mass Basic Design Elements

Analyzing a Building: Space: Solids and Voids – Symmetry – Asymmetry

Symmetry

Asymmetry

Analyzing a Building: Weight & Mass: – Materials – Massing for Weight – Relationship to Ground (high or low?) – Texture – Color – Ornamentation – Light – Acoustics – Context

Basic Elements Roof Walls Windows Doorways Orientation

Roof Types

Butterfly Roof

Butterfly w/Solar Panels

Barrel Vault Roof

Wall Types

Rusticated

Half-timbered

Clapboard

Board and Batten Siding

Wainscoting

Stucco Wall

Glass Wall

Window Types

Lancet

Palladian

Oeil-de-boeuf (ox-eye)

Double-hung window

Bay window

Ribbon Window

Casement window

Dormer

Doorways

Arched

Pedimented

Venetian Door

French Door

Sliding Door

Orientation

Aesthetic

Cultural

Ecological

The Getty Center Richard Meier