Mass

Mass defines a structure to be just that, massive; heavy, dense, bulky, and solid. Mass is typically found where the design and the material of a building create a force that demands to be felt as inherently thick, or in a way suffocating. Even when a material does not feel fundamentally heavy or thick, it can still make the structure as a whole feel massive in the case that it completely wraps the exterior.

The modeled sculpture photographed on the left has a mass. The volume is completely uninterrupted throughout its entire body. In addition, we know that clay is often dense and somewhat difficult to form. From all of these factors there is a strong force of solidity. The Cottobus Library at BIU, though wrapped in an inherently light material, glass, still feels massive. Why? It's relational to other principles of design. With its amoebic shape, there is a centripetal force demonstrating a pull inwards, specifically towards its center. A common characteristic of mass is that its felt consistently throughout all 3-dimensional planes of space, even at the building core.

Surface

Surface can encompass many things like texture, movement, and shape. It acts as the façade to the world.

In brutalism, surfaces are typically smooth or appear smooth, with little texture or blemishes. There are usually little variations in surface materials and movements. Variety in shape isn't uncommon, but there is also a collectiveness that relates them all together, so as to create order within the chaos.