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PRINCIPLES MARK BENEDICT AGUNIAS
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37 In this book, you will find explanations for 26 different architectural principles. The guiding concept that organizes these principles is the movement between abstract to material. At the level of abstraction, principles and ideas are in there most abstract and simplest form. Essentially, these are ideas taken from a complex, material form and broken down to an idea or form that is typically not seen with one glance. At the level of interpretation, principles and ideas are in the middle of their most abstract form and their most complex form. Here, ideas and principles can be seen to exist in either the material or abstract world - based on interpretation. At the level of material, ideas and principles are in their most complex and realistic form. Principles such as color and surface exist and cannot be argued against.
I.
II.
ABSTRACTION
5 7 9 11 13 15 17
ABSTRACTION CONCEPT DATUM REPRESENTATION PARTI GRID GEOMETRY
21 23 25 27 29 31 33
DIALOGUE 35 TROPES DEFAMILIARIZATION TRANSFORMATION CONTEXT PART TO WHOLE SPACE
MOVEMENT
39 41 43 45 47 49 51
ENVIRONMENT 53 LIGHT + SHADOW 55 SCALE 57 COLOR 59 MASS SOLID + VOID SURFACE
PLANE STRUCTURE FABRICATION MATERIALS
INTERPRETATION
III. MATERIAL
3 // ABSTRACTION
“Abstraction allows man to see with his mind what he cannot see physically with his eyes.... It is the emancipation of the mind. It is an exploration into unknown areas” - Arshille Gorsky
4 // ABSTRACTION
I. ABSTRACTION ab·strac·tion / noun the act of considering something as a general quality or characteristic, apart from concrete realities or specific objects
5 // ABSTRACTION
Abstraction, by definition, is the process of deriving general concepts from a concrete object or a specific instance. In other words, abstraction is the process of breaking down an object or an idea into a series of general bits that is easier to understand. Diagrams such as the one to the right, abstracts the facade of the Rietveld-Schroder House and breaks it down into simple lines found within the facade. In a similar way, drawings by David Adjaye, a Ghanian-British architect, makes use of abstraction within his drawings in order to compress a multitude of ideas into one plane. His drawing of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, a building Adjaye himself contributed in the design, starks greatly from the drawing below. In real life, the museum is defined by its combination of numerous interlocking pieces that create a sense of texture whereas in his drawing below, Adjaye simplifies the facade into one singular plane.
David Adjaye / 2010 / Sketch of Smithsonian National Museum of African American Arts and Culture [2]
ABSTRACTION
(Top) Abstracted Elevation of RietveldSchroder House (Bottom) Gerrit Rietveld / 1924 Rietveld Schroder House Elevation
6 // ABSTRACTION
7 // ABSTRACTION
A concept is a general, laregely basic plan formed to create a design. In architecture, a concept can often be seen as the beginning of a design; the founding idea. At this point, a concept is at its most malleable. It can be changed repeatedly, restrict certain ideas, or narrow down to a singular idea. In the decomposition and recomposition of Walden 7, a Spanish apartment building, the foundational concept was symmetry and verticality. Walden 7 is already a fairly symmetrical and vertical structure. Through this exercise, I sought to reflect symmetry and verticality but through another means. In the Slough Bus Station sketch by Buro Happoland, notes are made to help continue to develop the overall concept: a fluid, tube-like structure.
Diagram of Walden 7 decomposition
CONCEPT
(Architects) Bblur, (Sketch/Engineer) Buro Happoland / 2013 Slough Bus Station Sketch
8 // ABSTRACTION
Recomposition of Walden 7, focusing on symmetry and verticality
As one of the guiding principles of architecture, datum is an abstracted guide that serves as an anchor that ties seperate elements of a design together. Examples of datum could be a central axis or point that the elements of a structure revolve around. The use of datum is as old as the Roman Empire, as Roman military colonies would anchor their towns on two bisecting lines: the cardo line that runs from north to south and the decumanus line that runs from east to west. In the Roman city of Timgad, the cardo line and the decumanus line were used as a reference point for how the city would grow. Aerial pictures of Timgad show an outward spread from these two bisecting lines. Similarly, in a present day structure such as the Gasholder Apartments, the central circle seems to be the central point in which the rest of the structure is based off. The School in Paspels uses a reoccuring plane to anchor the different elements down, all of which seem to be windows.
9 // ABSTRACTION
George Steinmetz (Photographer) Unknown Aerial view of Roman military colony Timgad
DATUM
10 // ABSTRACTION
Drawings of the plan of the Gasholder Apartments and facade of the School is Paspels
Representation, in the architectural process, can be used to funnel ideas and visualize them in a way that allows designers to continue developing them up to their final form. The exploration of ideas through the representation of physical models as well as two-dismensional drawings. Characteristics such as landscape or fluidity can call be tinkered with through representation. In the model of the Dominion Office Building created by Zaha Hadid Architects, the use of a deep red plastic-like material in combination with a single stainless steel element drives the idea of a reoccuring element that is simply repeated with a change in its orientation. Multiple iterations of this model could have led to the final building design. In the plane model process, the first plane model is created with a similar style of paper and is done to explore curvature and flow. These qualities are then carried over into the finished product where multiple elements carry over and some are left out.
11 // ABSTRACTION
Zaha Hadid Architects 2015 Model of Dominion Office Building and Dominion Office Building
REPRESENTATION
12 // ABSTRACTION
(Top) Process model of plane model (Bottom) Finished plane model
13 // ABSTRACTION
Parti, in architecture, is the primary or organizing concept that drives a design. In essence, it is the foundation for what will be the the final product later in the design process. Parti is completely abstract, it is simply an idea and as the design process continues, the idea starts to form its concrete and material form. To the right is a parti diagram of a floor plan of the Wa Shan Guesthouse designed by Amateur Architecture Studio. Here, the diagram breaks the floor plan into its most fundamental idea: large rectangular spaces seperated by thick walls. In the parti diagram drawings by Mark Gerwing, Gerwing begins with rough basic ideas for what will drive his project and what will eventually be developed into its concrete form.
PARTI
14 // ABSTRACTION
15 // ABSTRACTION
Grid, within architecture, is often used as an organizing system to inform a designer’s decision in the placement of different structural or decorative elements. From one’s person’s perspective, a grid within a building may not always be present to just the naked eye. Often, it takes analysis and observation to start to make out and understand an underlying grid system within the structure of a building. In the Lovell Beach House designed by Rudolph Schindler, the grid may not be easy to point out. Through analysis of the house’s facade, however, one can start to understand how the supports , windows, and balconies start to form lines that intersect one another and eventually form a grid-like system. In the analysis of the Glass House’s floor plan designed by Lina Bo Bardi, a grid-like system is formed from the intersection of walls and windows within the house. This gridded system would typically not appear to those who were to simply walk into the building nor to those who would simply glance at the flloor plan but instead, the grid is abstracted from the floor plan.
Rudolph Schilndler / 1926 / Lovell Beach House
GRID
16 // ABSTRACTION (Lef) Lina Bo Bardi / 1951 / Glass House Floor Plan (Right) Grid Diagram of Glass House Floor Plan
Geometry is a common sight within architecture. Whether outright visible or segments of a larger structure broken down into its most simplest geometric forms, geometry helps to inform the quality and make of a building. Similar to the aformentioned principle of grid, geometry is often invisible to the naked eye and only starts to become visible through abstraction. In the geometry diagram of the Glass House, simple geomertric shapes can be formed in the interior space of the house with the intersection of walls, floors, and roof lines. In the Evans House, similar triangular and rectalinear shapes can be abstracted from the structure of the building.
17 // ABSTRACTION
James Evans / 1961 The Evans House
GEOMETRY
18 // ABSTRACTION
Geometry diagram of Glass House section cut, designed by Lina Bo Bardi, 1951
19 // INTERPRETATION
“Art is in the eye of the beholder, and everyone will have their own interpretation.” - E.A Bucchianeri
20 // INTERPRETATION
II. INTERPRETATION in·ter·pre·ta·tion / noun the act of conceiving in the light of individual belief, judgement, or circumstance
21 // INTERPRETATION
With architecture comes dialogue. With every designed and built structure, there is always a range of values and meanings assigned to said structure by those who use and experience a structure. This dialogue between man and structure helps to create the precense and perception of said structure. Originally opended in 1897 and later reopened in 2011 with a new structure added to the facade of the building, the Bundeswehr Military History Museum is able to form a new dialogue in large part to contrasting styles. Architect Daniel Libeskind abruptly interrupts the facade of the original museum with a contemporary arrow-like addition that seemingly creates a new building. To many, Libeskindcreates a new dialogue in which a modern era is contrasted against a past often characterized by conflict in the context of a military history museum. Similarily, the combination of the facade of the Spanish apartment building, Walden 7, with elements found in the 8th-9th century Chand Boari stepwell. Here, the similarities between the use of a stair-like structure forms a new dialogue of the continutation of ideas throughout the centuries.
DIALOGUE
22 // INTERPRETATION
Daniel Libeskind 1897, 2011 Bundeswehr Military History Museum
Combination of Walden 7 facade + Chand Baori stepwell
A trope, in the context of literature, is the figurative use of a word or expression. In architecture, tropes employ this same definition however, in the context of design and structure. Tropes within architecture help to create a general understanding of a building along with its use and setting. These literary devices are not meant to give the full definition or understanding of a building, but to hopefully leave an interpretation that follows its form. In the Lotus Temple designed by Fairborz Sabha, the temple takes the form of a lotus flower, as the name suggests. As an example of metaphoric architecutre, the Lotus Temple is not literally a lotus flower, but instead the structure of the building is explained through the idea of a lotus flower. Similarly, drawings of the Big Duck, a duck-shaped building designed by Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, employ this same use of tropes. The Big Duck lets its use as a duck and duck egg vendor explain its form instead of becoming a literal duck.
23 // INTERPRETATION
Lotus Temple / 1986 Fariborz Sahba
TROPES
24 // INTERPRETATION
Drawings of concept art by Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown
Defamiliarization in architecture is the process of creating a new perception of an entity that has already been perceived countless of times before through the addition or subtraction of an unknown. Defamiliarizing a structure is more than simply renovating a structure, but rather it is to give it new meaning in a way that is unfamiliar to its original. In De Petrus, a church now converted into a library/exhibition hall/meeting space/ restaurant, defamiliarization takes the original meaning of the church building and shakes it up. Here, the building is now a modern library as well as a place to study, gather, and eat; a stark contrast from its conservative origin. In the decomposition and recomposition of Walden 7, defamilirazation takes place by creating a composition that reflects the inverse of the original composition. Walden 7, an apartment complex characterized by symmetry and verticality, is given a new meaning in the recomposition that focus on assymmetricality and horizontality.
25 // INTERPRETATION
Decomposition of Walden 7
DEFAMILIARIZATION
26 // INTERPRETATION Recomposition of Walden 7, focusing on asymmetry and horizontality
Molenaar & Bol & van Dillen Architects 2018 De Petrus
27 // INTERPRETATION
Architecture is never static. As time progresses, structures transform thanks to their general environment, providing new appearances and inhabitations. In the Genevieve and Wayne Gratz Center designed by Gensler, Chicago, the material of the structure changes over time, altering the structure’s color and precense. Copper in facade oxidizes over time and gives the center a new bluish-green color compared to its original brownish metallic color. Transformation is also played out in the transformation process of a clay cube. In this process, the actions of compress and stretch are used to alter the state of the clay. Originally, compact and somewhat cubic, the clay cube slowly expands outward and upward, leaving a form that looks as if it were smashed in. Although unchanged materially, the clay cube now holds a new precense.
TRANSFORMATION
Gensler, Chicago / 2013 Genevieve and Wayne Gratz Center
28 // INTERPRETATION
Transformation process using compress to stretch
Context, in architecture, refers to the surrounding area a structure finds itself in as well as the type of relationship it shares with said area. The Opera Village designed by Kere Architecture is heavily informed by its context. Located within Burkina Faso in West Africa, the material of the structure calls to the area’s use of mudbricks in nearby strctures and practically blends into its context. The climate of the area has also influenced the final design of the structure with the inclusion of a low building with an open roof structure. In the Wa Shan Guesthouse, the surronding area of rising topography helps to inform the roof structure of the guesthouse. The up and down change in elevations is seemingly reflected in the structure of the roof.
29 // INTERPRETATION
Kere Architecture / 2012 Opera Village
CONTEXT
Amateur Architecture Studio / 2013 Wa Shan Guesthouse
30 // INTERPRETATION
Symmetry and Balance diagram of Wa Shan Guesthouse elevation
31 // INTERPRETATION
In the Festival Hall of the Tiroler Festspiele Erl designed by Delugan Meissl Associated Architects, one singular piece interlocks with another. This interlocking of parts thus builds up to the whole structure. In the mass exercise, the end mass is made of individual blocks of styrofoam, thus the part builds up to the whole.
PART TO WHOLE
32 // INTERPRETATION
33 // INTERPRETATION
.In architecture, the manipulation of space can create different experiences. At Oxygen Park designed by AECOM, space is manipulated in order to better suit the needs of a public space within the desert. In the plane + grid model, space is created thanks to the convergence of different lines and planes.
SPACE
34 // INTERPRETATION
Movement is the way in which a person may orient themself in the flow of a building. In architecture, the overall design of a building can influence and essentially form the overall experience one may find in their orientation within the greater context of the building. Within the High Museum of Art designed by Richard Meier, a spiraling ramp through each level of the museum helps define the way in which a person may move throughout the museum. A wide range of different interpretations can be formed from this style of movement: a slow, spiraling ascent that may allow users to carefully and experience the art found within without haste. In comparison, the circulation and use diagram of the Wa Shan Guesthouse suggests a more linear movement that is frequently being interrupted by a vaious intersection of walls. The movement one may experience in this building is informative of a more private, secluded setting where movement is only reserved for guests at the guesthouse.
35 // INTERPRETATION
Richard Meier / 1983 High Museum of Art
MOVEMENT
36 // INTERPRETATION
Circulation & Use Diagram of Wa Shan Guesthouse Floor Plan
37 // MATERIAL
“You can’t be suspicious of a tree, or accuse a bird or a squirrel of subversion or challenge the ideology of a violet.” - Hal Borland
38 // MATERIAL
III. MATERIAL ma·te·ri·al / adjective relating to or concerned with physical rather than spiritual or intellectual things
39 // MATERIAL
The environment in which a structure finds itself in can play a pivitol role in the formation of its final design. At all times, a building is interacting with its environment. In the Glass House designed by Lina Bo Bardi, the house finds itself amongst the forests of Brazil. In the Garden & House, the urban environment provides an opportunity for the structure to accomodate for the natural.
ENVIRONMENT
40 // MATERIAL
Light and shadow within architecture is a mutli-faceted tool that can help reinvent and define the overall experience of a structure. A byproduct of a structure’s environment, light and shadow can create various shapes and lines in both the interior and exterior of a building. In a building such as the Visual Arts Building designed by Seteven Holl, light is used to help guide the eyes of a user and create an impression of what is the focal point or the area of most importance. Here, one can infer that this brightly lit atrium-like area within the Visual Arts Building is of great use in comparison to the darker areas. In the charcoal drawings of the two planes model, light and shadow create depth within the two models and help define the contrast between light and shadow.
41 // MATERIAL
Steven Holl / 2016 Visual Arts Building at the University of Iowa
LIGHT + SHADOW
42 // MATERIAL (Top) Charcoal drawing of planes model (Bottom) Charcoal drawing of planes + grid model
43 // MATERIAL
In the sketch of the Church of the Administrative Center of Bahia, human figures are used to help indicate the scale of the human body in comparison to the interior of the church.
SCALE
44 // MATERIAL
Transformation process using the acions of split and rotate
Color within a structure has a wide variety of functions . From highlighting certain aspects of a building to creating stark contrasts between two elements, color can help develop the make and quality of a structure. The color which is used in a structure can also make a large impact on the type of effect color has on a structure. In the Pacific Design Center designed by Cesar Pelli, this structure does just that and uses color in order to create three distinct buildings that can easily be differentiated from one another. The colors of red, green, and blue do not follow any color schemes found within the color wheel and therefore, according to the color theory, do not mix well. As a result, the three buildings seem to collide with one another and stick out from one another. In the two images to the right, color is once again used to create constrasting elements but in this case, it is used to create distinctions between areas of varying light and shade in the photographed model. Here, the photographed model uses different shades of color from a split color scheme of blue, green, and red-orange to create heavy distinctions between light and shadow.
45 // MATERIAL
Cesar Pelli / 1975 Pacific Design Center
COLOR
46 // MATERIAL
(Top) Plane and grid model with differentiating colors to represent light and shadow (Bottom) Planes + grid model
47 // MATERIAL
The new Los Angeles US District Courthouse designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrit (SOM) can be read as a singular mass. In comparison, the massing exercise demonstrated below shows individual pieces come together to form what can be read as a singular mass.
MASS
Skidmore, Owings & Merril 2018 Los Angeles US District Courthouse
48 // MATERIAL
Mass exercise taking the actions of expand and interlock
49 // MATERIAL
The interaction between what is considered solid and what is considered void creates a distinct contrast in architecture that can often suggest and create shapes through what is added and subtracted. The 2002 Serpentine Pavilion by Toyo Ito, Cecil Balmond, and Arup uses its structure to emphasize the contrast between solid and void. In the additve and subtractive diagram of the Glass House, the void in combination with what is solid combines to create a rectangular shape.
SOLID + VOID
50 // MATERIAL
Additive and subtractive diagram of Glass House section cut
Toyo Ito + Cecil Balmond + Arup 2002 Serpentine Pavilion
51 // MATERIAL
Los Angeles art museum, The Broad, is defined by its porous yet private surface that serves as a veil for what is inside. In order to truly find out what’s behind the surface, one must go in. In comparison, the planes model is defined by a relatively smooth, white surface with occasional sharp and abrupt edges.
Diller Scofidio + Renfro / 2015 / The Broad
SURFACE
52 // MATERIAL
Planes model
53 // MATERIAL
Plane, in architecture, refers to the elements that help to define a three dimensional volume. In the National Center for Civil and Human Rights designed by Phillip Freelon, the use of planes helps to define the overall shape of museum and give it its shell-like structure. In the planes model, the intersection of planes helps create the given shape.
Phillip Freelon 2014 National Center for Civil and Human Rights
PLANE
54 // MATERIAL
Planes model
55 // MATERIAL
Structure within architecture can be described as the interaction between elements in compression and those in tension. Through a building’s design, this interplay between these two actions can be identified or be hidden. In the Qiangdao Cruise Terminal designed by Mozhao Studio & Jing Studio, the design of the overhang with its triangular supports seems to hide this interplay and give a feeling of lightweightedness. In comparison, the make of the grid model is purely structural, with its structural elements easily identified.
STRUCTURE
56 // MATERIAL
57 // MATERIAL
Fabrication in architecture is an all encompassing process that includes the tools and methodolgies utilized to form a structure. With no singular solution in architecture, the different processes taken to create a structure undoubtedly affects the final structure itself. Aguahoja, a pavilion designed by the Neri Oxman led Mediated Matter Group at MIT, is a direct result of the meticulous fabrication process that involved the observation and replication of the structures the natural world has to offer. The end result is a structure that holds an organic and sophisticated quality to it. In comparison, the fabrication process of the grid model is much more crude and is informed by a human-built structure rather than a natural one. As a result, the end result can be characterized by a grid-like structural system reminiscent of its precedent builidng.
FABRICATION
58 // MATERIAL
Process photo of grid model creation
Neri Oxman / 2018 Aguahoja
The materials used in architecture has a massive influence on the final form of any design. It also affects the perception created by the structure. Kilden, a theater and concert hall designed by ALA Architects, pushes the boundaries of material and its capabilities. Wood is typically seen as a static material but within the Norwegian building, the physical properties are pushed and bended, both literally and figuratively. This can come off as awe-inspiring and curiousity. Within the grid model however, the wood used is bounded to its static physical properties. The varying sizes of wooden dowels also comes with varying levels of strength, with thicker dowels being stronger and thinner dowels being much weaker.
59 // MATERIAL
ALA Architects 2012 Kilden
MATERIAL
60 // MATERIAL
Process photo of grid model creation
