Architectural form

Architectural form & ArchitectsClassical Architecture

Golden ratioIn mathematics, two quantities are in the golden ratio if their ratio is the same as the ratio of their sum to the larger of the two quantities. The figure on the right illustrates the geometric relationship.The golden ratio also is called thegolden meanorgolden section, Other names includeextreme and mean ratio, medial section,divine proportion,divine section, golden proportion,golden cut, andgolden number.Some 20th century artists and architects, including Le Corbusier and Dal, have proportioned their works to approximate the golden ratioespecially in the form of the golden rectangle, in which the ratio of the longer side to the shorter is the golden ratiobelieving this proportion to be aesthetically pleasingPhidias (490430 BC) made the Parthenon statues that seem to embody the golden ratio.Plato (427347 BC), in his Timaeus, describes five possible regular solids (the Platonic solids: the tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, and icosahedron), some of which are related to the golden ratio.The Parthenon's faade as well as elements of its faade and elsewhere are said by some to be circumscribed by golden rectangles.The Architectural Orders are the ancient styles of classical architecture, each distinguished by its proportions and characteristic profiles and details, and most readily recognizable by the type of column employed. Three ancient orders of architecturethe Doric, Ionic, and Corinthianoriginated in Greece.Architect Vitruvian came up with a proportion study on human form in his book dearchitectura.Later Leonardo da vinci gave a form to Vitruvians writing, thus Vitruvian man.Le Corbusier in modern period again revived the concept of relation of human proportion in his Modular man concept.

The Greek concept of form precedes the attested language and is represented by a number of words mainly having to do with vision: the sight or appearance of a thing.The pre-Socratic philosophers, starting with Thales, noted that appearances change quite a bit and began to ask what the thing changing "really" is. The answer was substance, which stands under the changes and is the actually existing thing being seen.

Platos Theory of FormsPlato's theory of Forms or theory of Ideas asserts that non-material abstract (but substantial) forms (or ideas), and not the material world of change known to us through sensation, possess the highest and most fundamental kind of reality.Starting with Plato, the theory of matter and form (today's hylomorphism) was born.The objects that are seen, according toPlato, are not real, but literallymimicthe real Forms.According to Plato, Socrates postulated a world of ideal Forms, which he admitted were impossible to knowVitruvius and ideal formArchitectural bible for the new generation of humanist patrons and architects was the ten books on Architecture, by the roman architect Vitruvius.The ideally proportioned forms described by Vitruvius were derived from the ideal geometric forms discussed by plato in philebusForms generated by straight lines and circles, as well as the solids created by these forms in three dimensions .Plato was convinced that such forms not only had inherent beauty but were eternally and absolutely beautiful.Vitruvius in his 3rd book, (temple design) talked about symmetry and proportion.Ideal systems of proportion can be found in the perfect proportions of the human body.The ideal platonic phileban shapes the square and the circle are incorporated in the proportions of the human body

Medieval Architecture in Europecentralized plans. In 1434 Brunelleschi designed the first Renaissance centrally planned building, Santa Maria degli Angeli of Florence.It is composed of a central octagon surrounded by a circuit of eight smaller chapels. From this date onwards numerous churches were built in variations of these designs.The building was to have an octagonal, domed space at its core, surrounded by eight ancillary spacesHe was one of the foremost architects and engineers of theItalian Renaissance. He is well known for his mathematical rational space design and the construction of dome using that.He is the one to invent the idea of perspective.Although Brunelleschi was considered the main initiator of stylistic changes in Renaissance architecture, critics no longer consider him the "Father of the Renaissance". Brunelleschi died in Florence in 1446.

Original centrally planned Santa Maria degli AngeliArchitect : BrunelleschiPerspective inventionCreating realistic looking 3 dimensional images on a flat surface has challenged artists since paint was first applied to cave walls.Brunelleschi is often given credit for being the first person to create a workable mathematical formula to use in doing so.Medieval painters noted receding lines of architectural features, but couldnt make mathematical sense of them.The placement of figures within architecture was particularly perplexing.Brunelleschis discovery is linked to his architectural work.Presenting realistic images of what his final work would look like helped him win contracts.He explained perspective through The peep- show demonstration.

Santo Spirito photograph

His drawing of Santo SpiritoBrunelleschi drew upon his knowledge of ancient Roman construction as well as lingering Gothic traditions to produce an innovative synthesis.

Employed the Gothic pointed arch cross section instead of a semi circular oneTo reduce dead load, he created a double shell as was done in the PantheonEmployed 24 vertical ribs and 5 horizontal rings of sandstone, as observed in the ruins of Roman constructionThe cupola on top was a temple of masonry acting as a weight on top of the dome.Designed special machines for construction.

The Florence Cathedral dome (1436)Constructional DomeBrunelleschi's design contained two shells for the dome, an inner shell made of a lightweight material, and an outer shell of heavier wind-resistant materials. By creating two domes, Brunelleschi solved the problem of weight during construction because workers could sit atop the inner shell to build the outer shell of the dome.To support the dome Brunelleschi devised an ingenious ring and rib support from oak timbers. Although this type of support structure is common in modern engineering, his idea and understanding about the forces needed to sustain the dome was revolutionary. The rings hug both shells of the dome, and the supports run through them. Other than a few modifications to remove rotted wood, the supports still hold up the entire dome.Another fear that a lot of people observing the construction had was how to actually get the bricks on the dome to stay up in the dome, and not fall to the ground during the construction. He created a herringbone pattern with the bricks that redirected the weight of the bricks outwards towards the dome's supports, instead of downwards to the floor. By observing carefully the curve of the dome as it took shape, Brunelleschi was able to place this bricks in key areas.

Rationally ordered spaceThe Foundling Hospital, 1421-1444 Featured a continuous arcade At the hospital the arcading is three dimensional, creating a loggia with domed vaults in each bay. long loggia would have been a rare sight in the tight and curving streets of Florence, not to mention its impressive arches, each about 8 m high Use of Corinthian columns across its main facade and around an internal courtyard. The design was based in Roman architecture. It was also the first building in Florence to make clear reference - in its columns and capitals - to classical antiquity.

Filippo Brunelleschi used ideal of pure circles squares and cubes to determine the proportions of the arcade across the front of this orphans asylum.He tackles the problem of developing a rational mathematical scheme for accurately depicting on a painted flat surface the arrangement of objects on real three-dimensional space.That is he set out to rediscover the mathematical perspective that roman painters had used.Alberti was also working on this problem at the same time in Rome. RennaisanceIdeal form & centralized plans in Architecture

Renaissance architects sought clearly expressed numerical relationships in their designs recalling the mysticism of Pythagoras and his followers.The circle and square were especially attractive form for renaissance designers symbolizing the perfection of god.Circle and square were not only considered as ideal forms for the church planning but also for the town scheme plans.Antonio Averlino was the first designer to use ideal form on city plan.Ex : town sforzinda .The plan consisted of an octagonal star shaped city with streets radiating from a central market square.Ex; Palmanuova, a fortress city of venice, by Vincenzo Scamozzi with a nine pointed star.Renaissance architects sought to shape space using modular units based on whole number proportional relationships.Antonio Averlino (Filarete)s ideal city of Sforzinda plan.Industrial Revolution and formSir Joseph Paxton(3 August 1803 8 June 1865) Born on Paxton was born in 1803, inMilton Bryan, Bedfordshire Paxton was very much interested in gardening, impressed by his skills and enthusiasm The Duke offered the 20-year-old Paxton the position ofHead gardeneratChatsworth, which was considered one of the finest landscaped gardens of the time.In 1832, Paxton developed an interest in greenhouses at Chatsworth where he designed a series of buildings with "forcing frames" forespaliertrees.

Victoria Regia House Inspired by the huge leaves of the waterlily 'a natural feat of engineering' and tested by floating his daughter Annie on one leaf, he found the structure for his conservatory the Victoria Regia house.The secret was in the rigidity provided by the radiating ribs connecting with flexible cross-ribs. Constant experimentation over a number of years led him to devise his glasshouse design that inspired the Crystal Palace.With a cheap and light wooden frame, the conservatory design had a ridge-and-furrow roof to let in more light and drain rainwater away. Paxton used hollow pillars to double as drain pipes and designed a special rafter that also acted as an internal and external gutter. All of these elements were pre-fabricated and, likemodular buildings, could be produced in vast numbers and assembled into buildings of varied design.

1880-1940. As a reaction to the dirty towns, urbanisation, and mechanisation of this era, movements appeared calling for a return to wholesome living, high-quality craftsmanship, and a connection with nature. Some of this was manifested in a taste for exotic cultures and spirituality.Architects were fascinated by the new materials, the production process, which in turn made them to experiment those on building designs.The Great Conservatory was thetest-bedfor the prefabricated glass and iron structural techniques which Paxton pioneered and would employ for his masterpiece:The Crystal Palaceof theGreat Exhibitionof 1851. This was the first ever time to use extensive glass and steel frames.This was an Exposition Hall, built in Victorian Style.Modular construction system -prefabricated iron sections were used.The Palace was 1,848 feet long, 408 feet (124m) wide and 108 feet (33m) highFloor area of 770,000 sq ft.,1851 ft long, 450 ft wide.It required 4,500 tons of iron, 60,000 cubic feet of timber and needed over 293,000 panes of glass. Yet it took 2,000 men just eight months to build, and cost just 79,800Its novelty was its revolutionary modular, prefabricated design, and use of glass.one man managed to fix 108 panes in a single dayThe Crystal Palace 1851

Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (1832- 1923) He was a French civil engineer and architect. A graduate of the cole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures.He is known for various bridges for the French railway network, most famously the Garabit viaduct. He is best known for the world-famous Eiffel Tower, built for the 1889 Universal Exposition in Paris, France. Most of his works were with wrought iron, since the era was industrial revolution.Eiffel Tower 1887 -1889

Exposition Observation Tower, Victorian Structural ExpressionistEiffel Tower weighs 7,300 tonnes, while the entire structure, including non-metal components, is approximately 10,000tonnes.Eiffel used empirical and graphical methods accounting for the effects of wind rather than a specific mathematical formula. Careful examination of the tower shows a basically exponential shapeThe form is achieved for resisting wind, and the reason it withstands steadily is a nonlinear integral equation based on counterbalancing the wind pressure on any point on the tower with the tension between the construction elements at that point.As proof of the tower's effectiveness in wind resistance, it sways only 67 cm (23 in) in the wind.

William Morris (London, England 1834 -1896)

William Morris was an artist, designer, printer, typographer, bookbinder, craftsman, poet, writer and champion of socialist ideals. He believes that nature was the perfect example of God's creation.He was the founder of Art and crafts movement.

The Arts and Crafts Movement was a reaction against the poor quality of design during the Industrial Revolution. The members of the Arts and Crafts Movement believed that the growth of industry had destroyed traditional skills and had removed the pride that a craftsman could find in his work. The members of the Arts and Crafts Movement formed themselves into crafts guilds, based on the medieval examples, in order to encourage high standards of design and provide a supportive working environment. Arts and Crafts, or Craftsman, houses have many of these features:Wood, stone, or stuccosidingLow-pitched roofWide eaves with triangular bracketsExposed roof raftersPorch with thick square or round columnsStone porch supportsExterior chimney made with stoneOpen floor plans; few hallwaysNumerous windowsSome windows with stained or leaded glassBeamed ceilingsDark wood wainscoting and mouldingsBuilt-in cabinets, shelves, and seating

The red house

ARTS AND CRAFTS MOVEMENTArt Nouveau means for new styles in Frenchstyles developed in response to industrial revolution and art and craft movement.Well known in French, Belgium and Germany.According to the philosophy of the style, art should be a way of life.Iron, Stained glasses, The Curing Door Handles, The Vegetal Curve, Dynamic beauty of the banister, The Slender Iron Pillars, The coiling patterns of the mosaic floors are some the features of its form.

Architects:Victor Horta (Belgian architect, 1861 1947)Victor Horta created buildings which rejected historical styles and marked the beginning of modern architecture. He conceived modern architecture as an abstract principle derived from relations to the environment, rather than on the imitation of forms. Organic forms established by Horta do not meet standard ideas of modern architecture, but Horta generated references ideas of many modernist.Ex : Hotel Tassel - Elegant urban house with facade defined around centered, stacked orielbay windows and balcony.

Henry Van De Velde (Belgian architect, 1863 1957)Borrowing from his own Flemish background and the English Arts & Crafts movement, Van de Velde developed a highly detailed, style. Using concrete as an expressive element, he created ornamental designs and ornate interiors which directly influenced the Art Nouveau movement.Ex - BLOEMENWERF HOUSE

Antonio Gaudi (Spanish architect,1852 1926)Gaudi developed a sensuous, curving, almost surreal design style which established him as the innovative leader of the Spanish Art Nouveau movement. With little regard for formal order, he juxtaposed unrelated systems and altered established visual order.Gaudi's characteristically warped form of Gothic architecture drew admiration from other avant-garde artists. Ex - Casa Batllo, SagradaFamilia - Expressionistic, fantastic, organic forms in undulating facade and roof line. light court.

THE ART NOUVEAU MOVEMENTModernism is a philosophical movement that, along with cultural trends and changes, arose from wide-scale and far-reaching transformations in Western society in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Modernist Architecture; The term is often applied to modernist movements at the turn of the 20th century, with efforts to reconcile the principles underlying architectural design with rapid technological advancement and themodernizationof society.Architectural modernism was adopted by many architects and architectural educators, and continued as a dominant architectural style for institutional and corporate buildings into the 21st century. Modernism eventually generated reactions, most notably Postmodernism which sought to preserve pre-modern elements, while "Neo-modernism" has emerged as a reaction to Post-modernism.Theme of the formthe notion that "Form follows function", a dictum originally expressed by Frank Lloyd Wright's early mentor Louis Sullivan, meaning that the result of design should derive directly from its purposesimplicity and clarity of forms and elimination of "unnecessary detail"materials at 90 degrees to each othervisual expression of structure (as opposed to the hiding of structural elements)the related concept of "Truth to materials", meaning that the true nature or natural appearance of a material ought to be seen rather than concealed or altered to represent something elseuse of industrially-produced materials; adoption of the machine aestheticparticularly in International Style modernism, a visual emphasis on horizontal and vertical linesNotable architects important to the history and development of the modernist movement include Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, Erich Mendelsohn, Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan, Gerrit Rietveld, Bruno Taut, Arne Jacobsen, Oscar Niemeyer and Alvar Aalto.ArchitectsModernism

Form Follows Function!Father of modern architecture - Louis Henry Sullivan (Boston, 1856 1924) Sullivan's designs generally involved a simple geometric form decorated with ornamentation based on organic symbolism. As an organizer and formal theorist on aesthetics, he propounded an architecture that exhibited the spirit of the time and needs of the people.

"Schlesinger-Mayer Store"Form follows function is a principle associated with modernist architecture and industrial design in the 20th century. The principle is that the shape of a building or object should be primarily based upon its intended function or purpose. Considered one of the most influential forces in the Chicago School, his philosophy that form should always follow function went beyond functional and structural expressions. He influenced by Hobson Richardson, whom Sullivan was a great admirer.Louis Sullivan's phrase"form (ever) follows function"became a battle-cry of Modernist architects after the 1930s.However, Sullivan himself neither thought nor designed along such dogmatic lines during the peak of his career.Carson, Pirie and Scott Store", Chicago.

ten floors of offices covered with white terracotta tiles hung on the steel frame punctuated by rows of large windows.Sits on a two-storey base Framed as part of the metal structure Panels above and around the main doorways are filled with Sullivans own luxurious decoration in cast iron.

Deconstructivism

Philip Cortelyou Johnson(July 8, 1906 January 25, 2005) was an influential American architect. He is especially known for his postmodernwork since the 1980s. In 1930, he founded the Department of Architecture and Design at theMuseum of Modern Artin New York City. In 1978 he was awarded anAmerican Institute of ArchitectsGold Medaland in 1979 the firstPritzker Architecture Prize.Philip JohnsonThe Glass House Johnson's early influence as a practicing architect was his use of glass. TheGlass House(1949) that he designed as his own residence inNew Canaan Johnson curated an exhibit ofMies van der Rohework at theMuseum of Modern Artin 1947, featuring a model of the glass Farnsworth House. The concept of a Glass House set in a landscape with views as its real "walls" had been developed by many authors in the German Glasarchitektur drawings of the 1920s, and already realized by Johnson's mentor Mies. The building is anessayin minimal structure, geometry, proportion, and the effects of transparency and reflection.The house sits at the edge of a crest on Johnson's estate overlooking a pond. The building's sides are glass and charcoal-painted steel; the floor, of brick, is not flush with the ground but sits 10inches above. The interior is an open space divided by low walnut cabinets; a brick cylinder contains the bathroom and is the only object to reach floor to ceiling.The house sits at the edge of a crest on Johnson's estate overlooking a pond. The building's sides are glass and charcoal-painted steel; the floor, of brick, is not flush with the ground but sits 10inches above.

The interior is an open space divided by low walnut cabinets; a brick cylinder contains the bathroom and is the only object to reach floor to ceilingLater, Johnson added a painting gallery with an innovative viewing mechanism of rotating walls to hold paintings followed by a sky-lit sculpture gallery.Johnson viewed the ensemble of one-room buildings as a total work of art, claiming that it was his best and only "landscape project.Frank O Gehry Frank Owen Gehry, 28 February 1929 is a Canadian architect born inCanada, currently a United States resident based inLos Angeles. A number of his buildings, including his private residence, have become world-renownedtourist attractions. His works are cited as being among the most important works ofcontemporary architecturein the 2010World Architecture Survey, which ledVanity Fairto label him as "the most important architect of our age Gehry's best-known works include thetitanium-cladGuggenheim MuseuminBilbao, Spain;Walt Disney Concert Hallin downtown Los Angeles;Louis Vuitton FoundationinParis, France;MITRay and Maria Stata CenterinCambridge, Massachusetts. Much of Gehry's work falls within thestyleofDeconstructivism, which is often referred to aspost-structuralistin nature for its ability to go beyond current modalities of structural definition. In architecture, its application tends to depart frommodernism. Deconstructivist structures are not required to reflect specific social or universal ideas, such as speed or universality of form, and they do not reflect a belief thatform follows function Gehry is sometimes associated with what is known as the "Los Angeles School" or the "Santa Monica School" of architecture. Gehrys style at times seems unfinished or even crude, but his work is consistent with the California "funk" art movement in the 1960s and early 1970s, which featured the use of inexpensive found objects and non-traditional media such as clay to make serious art. Gehry has been called "the apostle of chain-link fencing and corrugated metal siding"

Peter Eisenman Peter Eisenman(born 1932) is anAmericanarchitect. He was one among Newyork five.Eisenman become more affiliated with Deconstructivism.

Rem Koolhas Remment Lucas "Rem" Koolhaas born 17 November 1944 Dutcharchitect,architectural theorist,urbanistand Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design at theGraduate School of DesignatHarvard University.In 2000, Rem Koolhaas won thePritzker Prize

Zaha Hadid

Daniel LiebeskindDaniel Libeskind(born May 12, 1946) is aPolish-Americanarchitect,artist,professorandset designerofPolish Jewishdescent.Libeskind founded Studio Daniel Libeskind in 1989 with his wife, Nina, and is its principal design architect.Libeskind's work has been exhibited in major museums and galleries around the world, including theMuseum of Modern Art, theBauhaus Archives, theArt Institute of Chicago, and theCentre Pompidou.Libeskind won the competition to be the master plan architect for the reconstruction of theWorld Trade Center siteinLower Manhattan.Critics often describe Libeskind's work asdeconstructivist

Bernard Tschumi(born 25 January 1944) is an architect, writer, and educator, commonly associated withdeconstructivism.

He does not believe in a building-user relationship in his designs, once saying "Any relationship between a building and its users is one of violence, for any use means the intrusion of a human body into a given space, the intrusion of one order into another." Tschumi in Architecture and disjunctionBernard Tschumi (Form follows Fiction)Swiss Architect.

BrutalismTruth to MaterialsBrutalist architecture is a style of architecture which flourished from the 1950s to the mid 1970s, spawned from the modernist architectural movementThe British architects Alison and Peter Smithson coined the term in 1953, from the French bton brut, or "raw concrete",Brutalist buildings usually are formed with striking repetitive angular geometries, and, where concrete is used, often revealing the texture of the wooden forms used for the in-situ casting. Not all Brutalist buildings are formed from concrete. Instead, a building may achieve its Brutalist quality through a rough, blocky appearance, and the expression of its structural materials, forms, and (in some cases) services on its exterior.Brutalist building materials also include brick, glass, steel, rough-hewn stone, and gabionBrutalism as an architectural philosophy, rather than a style, was often also associated with a socialist utopian ideology, which tended to be supported by its designers, especially Alison and Peter Smithson, near the height of the style. Brutalist Architects Swiss architect Le Corbusier, Ern Goldfinger, Walter Netsch, Marcel Breuer etc.

The building of RIA Novosti, former press-centerof 1980 Summer Olympics

The Roger Stevens Building at the University ofLeeds is the centre piece to a large complex ofBrutalist buildings connected by skyways.

Geisel library

ChandigarhThe Five Points of a New ArchitecturePilotis The replacement of supporting walls by a grid ofreinforced concrete columnsthat bears the load of the structure is the basis of the new aesthetic. Roof gardens The flat roof can be utilized for a domestic purpose while also providing essential protection to the concrete roof.The free designing of the ground plan The absence of supporting walls means that the house is unrestrained in its internal usage.The free design offaade By separating the exterior of the building from its structural function the faade becomes free.The horizontal window The faade can be cut along its entire length to allow rooms to be lit equally.Villa SovoyeHis theoretical studies soon advanced into several different single-family house models.The Villa Savoye is probably Corbusier's best known building from the 1950s, it had enormous influenceOn international modernism. It was designed addressing his emblematic "Five Points", the basic tenets in his new architectural aesthetic:Support of ground-levelpilotis, elevating the building from the earth and allowed an extended continuity of the garden beneath.Functional roof, serving as a garden and terrace, reclaiming for nature the land occupied by the building.Free floor plan, relieved ofload-bearing walls, allowing walls to be placed freely and only where aesthetically needed.

4. Long horizontal windows, providing illumination and ventilation.5. Freely-designed facades, serving only as a skin of the wall and windows and unconstrained by load-bearing considerationsTHE SECRETARIAT, ChandigarhThe secretariat, the longest building in chandigarh, 254m long,and 42m highforms the adminstrative center,with ministeral offices grouped in the center and offices for employees arranged on either side The building was completed in 1958.The building is composed of six eight storey Blocks separeted by expansion joints.The rough concrete again interposes in the fenestration of the two main facades ; more than 2000 units of unique designAppraoch to the building is through roadways below ground level to a large parking area in front of the central block, and a floor is left open at this level to form an entrance hallBlock 1 and 2 rises directly from the ground

Ramp enclocureRough concrete FinishSquare windows

Projected porticosSmall entranceBlock 3,4 and part of 5 face on the excavated area of the parking lot and have the lower storey open between pilotis For the rest part of block 5 and whole of 6 the level goes till plaza height, and lower portion of these blocks are left open to a height of two storyesThe top of the building is developed as a roof garden containing the service blocks and cafeteria for employees