Architecture is the thoughtful making of space
Louis Kahn searched for the essence of a building by looking back to the initial human desires that demanded its creation. He believed that design developed naturally from these basic instincts, grounded in an understanding of the function that each room would serve. It was the mind of the architect that translated the ideal of the room into physical form. In a 1971 speech, “The Room, the Street, and Human Agreement,” Kahn elaborated this concept: “The room is the beginning of architecture. It is the place of the mind . You in the room with its dimensions, its structure, its light respond to its character, its spiritual aura, recognizing that whatever the human proposes and makes becomes a life.” The room of the mind can also be interpreted as a place inhabited by the mind. It encourages thought and reflection, and from this, the ideas for new buildings evolve. Kahn accommodated the realm of the intellect—learning, commemoration, and appreciation—in his innovative designs for libraries, memorials, and museums.
Source: http://www.arthistory.upenn.edu/themakingofaroom/catalogue/section4.htm
Date accessed:
2022-09-23
• of
•
Concept
A concept, establishes an order, a field of inquiry, a limited principle. - Steven Holl – The strength of a concept could be linked to its clarity. – It should direct and manage a design scheme. – A strong concept remains evident throughout the design process and influences a variety of design choices. • The concept is a general notion, an abstract idea, a mental picture, it expresses the idea underlying a design and functions as a signpost to guide the direction
the ensuing design journey.
The concept could be generated by the brief, the location, or the site of the proposed building, or from a disassociated but parallel line of thinking. • The concept should inform, shape and advance the decision making process. • The concept should marshal thoughts and precedents and provide focus.
A concept can take on many forms. • an embryonic sketch, • an object, • an image, • a word, or a • text. When realized, a good concept or network of concepts gives direction and guidance to the designer at every level, from the global to the detail; it provides a framework for innovation.
Black
shadow of red bird on blue water. [Walter Battiss, 1985: p118.]
Fook award. [Walter Battiss, 1985: p147.]
The Fook alphabet.[Walter Battiss, 1985: p122.]
Fook Island stamp.
[Walter Battiss, 1985: p144.]
Tribute to Walter Battiss by Nils Burwitz.
[Walter Battiss, 1985: p208.]
Standard Möbel GmbH’s “Das Neue Möbel” by Marcel Breuer, 1928. [Design, 1999: p660.]
Standard Möbel GmbH’s “Das Neue Möbel” by Marcel Breuer, 1928. [Design, 1999: p660.]
Drawing of chair profiles showing various prototypes.
[Design, 1999: p214.]
Pictograms designed for the Munich Olympic Games, 1972. [Design, 1999: p27.]
time is a commodity
/ˌstɛrɪˈɒtəmɪ; ˌstɪər-/ the art of cutting three-dimensional solids into particular shapes British Dictionary
Concrete cube by Stephanie Myburburg. [Design IV Assignment, circa 2019.]
Concrete cube by Stephanie Myburburg. [Design IV Assignment, circa 2019.]
Concrete cube by Stephanie Myburburg. [Design IV Assignment, circa 2019.]
San Bernardo Chapel
Stereotomic architecture is characterized by two strong themes: the continuity of the forces of gravity to the ground, into the soil; and the search for natural light, which drills through the massive, solid walls to illuminate and allow habitation by the human being. It’s from these themes that this project takes its power. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOdF7EqshKY
The main idea of the project is the horizontal light wash and the interior projection of the cross
– l Nicolas Campodónico, Architect
Tectonic The term tectonic refers to the art and science of construction. It comes from the Greek word tekton, meaning builder or carpenter, from which architekton, or master builder evolved. Tectonic:Topologic:Typologic Kenneth Frampton considers tectonics one of the three sources of legitimacy for architecture. The other two are topos (site) and typos (type). Origin Tectonics has been associated with the artistic expression of construction since the time of Homer. In keeping with its earliest association with carpentry, Gottfried Semper, in Die Vier Elemente der Baukunst (Four Elements of Architecture, 1851), uses tectonics to refer to the lightweight spatial frame of a building reaching into the sky, contrasting it to the stereotomics of the massive form of load bearing masonry rooted in the earth.
Tectonics
Today tectonics, and its derivative, technology, apply to all forms of architectural construction, and to human production in general.
Since the end of the 19th Century the primacy of tectonics (in establishing the poetic basis or architecture) has been challenged by an increased emphasis on architecture as space, and on art and literature as sources of inspiration. Consequently, there is now a diversity of attitudes toward the making and critique of architecture in relation to poetic expression generally, and tectonic expression in particular.
Approaches range from the suppression of tectonic form and the logic of assembly in favour of scenographic and iconographic imagery (post-modernism, for example) to an overriding emphasis on tectonic expression (Santiago Calatrava, for example).
Casa de Blas
De Blas House : Alberto Campo Baeza
De Blas House : Vertical relationship
De Blas House : tectonic - stereotomic
De Blas House : Plans
Concept A concept, whether a rationally explicit statement or a subjective demonstration, establishes an order, a field of inquiry, a limited principle. - Steven Holl The strength of a concept has to do with the clarity of its mandate to manage design of the scheme in a particular direction, how long the concept can continue to sustain this potency throughout the design process and how many kinds of design choices the concept can influence. - Edward T. White Traditionally, during or following the act of digesting and interpreting the programme of requirements, or brief, the designers next undertaking leads to the formation of a concept
ConceptA concept is a general notion, an abstract idea, a mental picture that forms in the soup of all the related aspects.
An initial concept expresses the idea underlying a design and functions as a signpost to guide the direction of the ensuing design journey.
While possibly feeding from the issues thrown up by the brief, or from the location or site of the proposed building, or deriving from a disassociated but parallel line of thinking, a concept can, depending upon its efficacy, inform, shape and advance a process of decision making, it can marshal thoughts and precedents and bring the field of opportunity into focus.
–
–
–
–
–
references • K Skawran & M Macnamara: 1985, Walter Battiss • Bauhaus archiv & M Droste: 1990, Bauhaus 1919 – 1933 • Charlotte & P Fiell: 2005, Design of the 20th centure • NC Manganyi: 2004, Gererd Sekoto, I am an African • M Cavendish: 1970, The Graphic arts • http://www.archdaily.com/789162/project-of-the-month-sanbernardo-chapel • http://www.arthistory.upenn.edu/themakingofaroom/catalogu e/section4.htm • Architecture Estonia Saaremaa island - KAHN 120 (louiskahn.org)
Department of Architecture & Industrial Design
Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment Tshwane University of Technology
