26 Analysis
Analysis Analysis is an excellent instrument for understanding architectural precedents and how they convey their ideas and create specific sensations. This usually comes in the form of formal analysis, where a building’s forms, two- or three-dimensional, are outlined and highlighted on various types of drawings of the building to prove a particular point about the organization of the building’s parts. My analysis of the stages of design for St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City shows the prevalence of squares and circles that continues through the stages of the project. This is due to the Renaissance idea that squares and circles were perfect shapes, and this notion spread into the architectural design as well. Thus the perfect church required interlocking circular and square forms. My analysis of Lina Bo Bardi’s Glass House shows the prevalence of triangles and parallel lines, two geometrical concepts, and how they interact with each other on the building’s façade. The angle of the triangles seen here also imitates the angle of the slope the house sits on, which creates a fascinating comparison. Understanding why a building’s forms are the way they are through analysis can help develop new designs’ ideas and concepts.
From top to bottom:
A formal analysis I did of the st for St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican
A formal analysis I did of Lina B House.
