ARCHITECTURAL IDEAS
RUDOLF WITTKOWER (1901, Berlin-1971, NYC) scholar and authority on Renaissance/Baroque art&architecture 1949: Architectural Principles in the Age of Humanism
RUDOLF WITTKOWER descriptive analysis: the Reading of a plan or elevation...
ANALYTIC DIAGRAMS ANALYSIS: MAKING ANALYSIS: ANALYTIC DIAGRAM: Detailed examination of the elements or structure of something, typically as a basis for understanding, discussion or interpretation 1. Identify what you are looking at 2. Identify the whole 3. Identify the parts 4. Understand the singularity or collective ideas of the parts 5. Examine A representation of what you understood and examined, reducing an idea to its simplest graphic form
FORMATIVE IDEAS: Concepts which a designer can use to influence or give form to a design. Offers ways to organize decisions, provide order, and consciously generate form. STRUCTURE NATURAL LIGHT MASSING PLAN TO SECTION or ELEVATION CIRCULATION TO USE-SPACE UNIT TO WHOLE REPETITIVE TO UNIQUE GEOMETRY SYMMETRY AND BALANCE ADDITIVE AND SUBTRACTIVE HIERARCHY CONFIGURATION PATTERNS PROGRESSIONS REDUCTION
PARTI The big idea. The chief organizing thought or decision in an architect s design presented in the form of a basic diagram and or simple statement. Francis Ching
PLAN to SECTION or ELEVATION An identifiable correlation between the horizontal and vertical configurations of the building. Decisions in one arena determine or influence the form of the other. Equal or one-to-one: when the delineation of the plan and section are equal (example - a sphere) One to one-half: section or elevation equal in figure and dimension to one-half of the plan (and vice-versa) Proportional: 1:2, 2:3, 1:5, etc...plan and section dimensions related by ratio Analogous: plan and section generally resemble the shape of one another Inverse: when the configuration of one is paralleled with some opposite condition in the other
UNIT to WHOLE Involves the concept of unit and the understanding that units can be related to other units in specific ways to create built form. Unit: a major recognizable component of a building Unit Equals Whole Units Contained in Whole Whole Greater than the Sum of the Units Units Aggregate to Form Whole: Units Adjoin Units Overlap Units Separate
REPETITIVE TO UNIQUE Establishing relationships between components which have singular and multiple manifestations. Unique Surrounded by Repetitive Unique by Transformation of Repetitive Unique in Repetitive Field Unique Added to Repetitive Unique Defined by Repetitive
ADDITIVE and SUBTRACTIVE Involves the assemblage of parts or the removal of pieces to create built form. Subtractive Additive
SYMMETRY and BALANCE The establishment of perceived and conceived equilibrium between components. It follows that elements can be identified as equivalent, and that the nature of the equivalency can be discerned. Balance: A stable state relationship between different elements on either side of an implied line or point. Symmetry: A specialized form of balance, when the same unit occurs on both sides of the line of symmetry. (Axial, rotational, translational) Balance by configuration, geometry, and positive/negative.
GEOMETRY The concepts of plan and solid geometry are used to determine built form. Basic: Circle or Square Circle+Square Rectangle Overlapped by Circle Two Squares Nine-Square Four-Square 1.4 and 1.6 Rectangles Geometric Derivatives Rotated, Shifted, Overlapped Pinwheel, Radial, Spiral Grid
CONFIGURATION PATTERNS The relative dispostion of parts, themes of organization. Linear:Use Linear:Circulation Central:Use Central:Circulation Double Center Cluster Nested Concentric Binuclear
PROGRESSIONS Patterns of incremental change that imply movement from one condition or attribute to another. Hierarchy Transition Transformation Mediation
REDUCTION The miniaturization of the whole or a major part of a building. Large Plus Small Reduction Part of Whole Reduction