Unit 1 Architecture, Analysis

UNIT I :
INTRODUCTION TO
ARCHITECTURE

UNIT -I INTRODUCTION TO
ARCHITECTURE
•Origin and definitions of architecture as need based,
cultural, environmental, social, psychological response of
human society. Architecture as phenomenological mediation
of nature.
•Components of architecture: use, means, site, shelter,
relation to nature, structure, skin, materials, services,
circulation, typology, aesthetics, expression, character,
symbolism, experience, etc.,
• History and types of design in architecture- unself-
conscious/ self-conscious design, design through craft/ design
through drawing, pragmatic/ iconic/ canonic/ analogic design.

WHAT ARE THE
PRIMARY PHYSICAL
NEEDS FOR SURVIVAL
?

PRIMARY PHYSICAL NEEDS FOR
SURVIVAL
AIR, WATER

THE PRIMARY
PHYSICAL NEEDS FOR
SURVIVAL

THENATUREOF
ARCHITECTURE
 Primary physical needsfor survival – eg:Air, Water are
available in a ready form in the natural environment
and canbe utilised without any modification.
 Other primary needslike food, clothing and shelterare
deliberately derived from the raw materials in the
environmentand made into a consumableform after
modification and transformation.
 Food–cooked
 Clothing – manufactured
 Shelter– constructed

WHAT IS ARCHITECTURE ?
• The earliest surviving written work on the subject of architecture
is De architectura libri decem, by the Roman architect Vitruvius
• Vitruvius
• Vitruvius was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st
century BC, known for his multi-volume work entitled De
architectura. He originated the idea that all buildings should have
three attributes: firmitas, utilitas, and venustas. These principles
were later widely adopted in Roman architecture
• In the early 1st century AD. According to Vitruvius, a good
building should satisfy the three principles

ORIGIN OF ARCHITECTURE
“In the assembly [...] they were led to the consideration
of sheltering themselves from the seasons, some by
making arbors with the boughs of trees, some by
excavating caves in the mountains, and others in
imitation of the nests and habitations of swallows, by
making dwellings of twigs interwoven and covered with
mud or clay.

ORIGIN OF ARCHITECTURE
VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE
Vernacular architecture is building done outside any academic tradition, and without
professional guidance. This category encompasses a wide range and variety of building
types, with differing methods of construction, from around the world, both historical and
extant, representing the majority of buildings and settlements created in pre-industrial
societies.

THEFUNCTIONAL
COMPONENT
 CLIMATE
 Sun
• Temperature
• Light
 Air
 Rain
 Vegetation
 SITE/SITING
 Topography
 Surroundings
 ORIENTATION
 Orientation of Buildings
 Orientation of Spaces

THEFUNCTIONAL
COMPONENT
 CIRCULATION
 Horizontal circulation patterns
 Vertical Circulation patterns
 Multistoried Circulation patterns
 Miscellaneouscirculation patterns
 STRUCTURAL MATERIALS
 General aimsthat a structuralmaterial hasto fulfill are:
 Astructuralmaterial mustbe economical.
• Cost
• Material/Space Ratio
• Durability
 Astructuralmaterial musthaveadequate strength.
 Astructuremustgenerally ensuresomedegree of climatic control.

functional, aestheticand psychological

THEAESTHETIC
COMPONENT
 Theaesthetic componentmaybe sub-divided into a
numberof basicelements.
• Mass
• Space
• Proportion
• Symmetry
• Balance
• Contrast
• Pattern
• Decoration

THEAESTHETIC
COMPONENT
 Theaesthetic componentsare capable of evoking
responsesonly to the extent that they are seeni.e. they
belong to the realm of vision– it isthrough sight that
webecomeaware of their properties.
 Thisact of seeingisinfluenced by the nature of the
subjectseeingthemaswell asthe nature of the objects
being seen.
 Thehumanmindworksin sucha way that it mentally
createssomekind of order out of the chaosof
impressions.
 Therefore,the act of seeingissimultaneouslyan act of
organization.

THEAESTHETIC
COMPONENT
 When looking at a piece of architecture, it will seekout the principle
visual qualities: mass,form, outline, emphasis,light, shade,texture,
pattern, etc.
 Eachof thesevisualqualities evokesin the observer a corresponding
emotional reaction.
 Thesumof theseimpressionscreates an emotional state. It isthis
emotional state that an architect shouldunderstand and anticipate in
order to succeedasadesigner.
 Inarchitecture, thisorder that iscreated out of the visual
phenomena,ismostconcernedwith form.
 Eg:Sphere,pyramid, cube, etc.
 Mostof the natural objects almostnever havesuchpure forms.
 Humanbeing evaluates objects in relation to himself.

THEAESTHETIC
COMPONENT
 Themosttypical characteristic of humanbeingis
uprightness.
 Anupright personhasan imaginary axis running
through the centre of his body which is at right
angles to the surface
of the ground – thisupright stancegives rise to the
conceptof verticalness.
 Eyesare located at the top of the upright body at
about 160-170 cmfrom the surfaceof the ground.
 Therefore,a personseesthe world from thisconstant
vertical height and thistoo defines verticalness.

THEAESTHETIC
COMPONENT
 Another important characteristic isthat a personseeswith two eyesand not one.At
the sameheight of about 160- 170 cman imaginary horizontal axis runsparallel to
the ground.
 This axis is at right angle to the vertical axis and this gives rise to the concept of
horizontalness.
 Thetwo principal qualities of seeing,verticalness and horizontalness, arise from
the biological structureof humanbeings and it becomesclear why they are at right
angles to each other.
 Thisframework thusproducesthe qualities of height and width.
 However, any thing we seemight be situated at a distance from us.Thisgivesrise to
the third visual quality of depth.
 Horizontalness= Horizontal movementof the eyesor head
 Verticalness= Vertical movementof the eyesor head
 Vertical viewing isaccompanied by muchgreater physical tensionthan horizontal.
 Depth canbe perceived by merely eye movements,without movementof head –
least tension.

THEAESTHETIC
COMPONENT
 Important characteristic of form – dimension.
 Height remainsconstantfrom whichever side it isseenbut the horizontal impression
of humanform doesnot havethesame constancy.
 Vertical dimension isconstant.
 Horizontal dimension hastwo components:Width and depth
 Thesethree principal dimensionsmakeuptheoverall visual impression of the human
form.
 Alsodefines the primary visual character of all external forms.
 Height = Vertical distance of summitof an object from ground level
 Width = Greatest overall horizontal dimension
 Depth = Smallesthorizontaldimension
 Inoneinstantaneousact of perception, theeyesseethe principal dimensionsof form
– Height, width and depth.
 Thesethree dimensionsform a dynamic relationship between eachother giving rise
to a composite quality – proportion.

THEAESTHETIC
COMPONENT
 Innatural objects,like a tree, ananimal, etc.theeye isunable to discover
clearly defined volumes– onearea mergesinto another and there isno
specific area theeyesfocus on.
 Theobserver isaware of thetotal form and nottheindividual elements.
 Inmanmadeor architectural forms,theopposite happens– because
geometrical formsusedin architecture are perceived clearly.
 Ageometrical form - Example:Cube– iscomposedof flat surfaces.
 Junctionof surfaces= Lines
 Junctionof lines= Points
 Acubicform in architecture, dueto itsgreater size,requires time for its
properties to be observed.
 If thearchitectural form ismorecomplex,time becomesmoresignificant
and total awarenessismadeupof a sequenceof partial observations.

MAS
S
 Mass– visual effect of a body
 Masshassomerelation to the sizeof the body but none
to the weight.
 Eg:Alarge canvastent hasmuchgreater visual mass
thana smallbrick building.
 Alarge volumepainted a dull colour– enhancementof
the impressionof mass
 Samevolumepainted a light colour – will appear less
massive.
 Eventhoughthe form issame– sincethe surfacequality
isdifferent there isdifference inmass.

SP
AC
E
 Fora humanbody to perform any activity, a certain minimum
unobstructed volumearound it is needed.
 Thisvolumeisa functionof height and other physical properties of
humanbody and isdetermined purely by the activities to whichthis
volumeserves.Thisspaceiscalled Utilitarian space.
 Asthere isalso emotional requirement. When increasedvolumeis
distributed proportionally to be aesthetically satisfying, sucha
spaceiscalled Aesthetic space.
 When thesetwo spatial requirements exerts an influenceand
modifies the other – it iscalled Architectural space.
 It isthe presenceof massthat makesusexperiencespace.
 Mass– Positive volume
 Space– Negative volume

PROPORTIO
N
 Proportion isthe visual relationship of the three primary
properties of height, width and depth to each other.
FORMANDPROPORTION

PROPORTIO
N
 Designof a Kindergarten.
 Designof anauditorium for 1000 people.

SYMMETR
Y
 Thehumanbody issymmetricalabout animaginary
plane bisecting it vertically and passingbetween
the eyes.

CONTRAS
T
 Contrastin Space

CONTRAS
T
 Contrastin massand space

CONTRAS
T
 Contrastin Surfaces

CONTRAS
T
 Contrastin colour
 Contrastwith light

P
ATTER
N
 Derivative patterns

P
ATTER
N
 Pattern with openings

functional, aesthetic and psychological

Physical structure has a significant
effect on human behavior.
As humans find themselves spending more time
enclosed within the walls of structure, it becomes
valuable to design structures integrating features of
the natural environment and structural landscape
features into the human-made environment (Joye,
2007).
Research suggests the design of residential and
commercial space has pervasive effects on its
inhabitants and is an important consideration in
architectural design.

Space, form, and light are elements that are often incorporated either
purposefully or unconsciously for aesthetic or practical reasons but
more pointedly give people meaning, purpose and stability amidst an
ever changing physical universe of seeming chao

ARCHITECTURE as a discipline-
• ARCHITECTURE – an ability to organize, manipulate
and articulate the constant and variable component
parts of size, shape, and treatment.
• ARCHITECTURE - a language of sequential path,
place, and transition spaces in relationship to site,
location, and orientation.

ARCHITECTURE as a discipline-
The relationship of architecture to other fields and disciplines

THREE COMPONENTS
• SIZE AND SHAPE
• TREATMENT
• ORIENTATION

THREE COMPONENTS
• SIZE AND SHAPE
• is self-evident, consisting of an infinite variety of different sizes of
masses or volumes:
• such as squares, rectangles, circles, pyramids, ellipses, curves,
cubes, etc.

THREE COMPONENTS
• TREATMENT
• what do you do with the sizes and the shapes?
• •how many different ways can you treat it in a simple way?
• •how does that treatment alter or change?
• •in what ways can you define or manipulate the sizes and shapes?
• •what is your strategy for detailing and joinery (articulation)?
• treatment is pattern, texture, color, figure, ground, light,
illumination, contrast, opacity,
• transparency, translucency, reflectivity, visual density, thickness or
thinness, etc

THREE COMPONENTS
• ORIENTATION
• what is the relative position of something or someone?
• •location - a particular place or position:
• -external - internal - interstitial
• -placement and displacement
• -edge (periphery) vs. center (core) or foreground, middle
ground, background
• -relationship of a building to its neighbours
• -relationship of building to sky
• -relationship of building to ground

• •directionality, redirection or reversals:
• -up vs. down
• -left vs. right
• -longitudinal vs. transverse
• -horizontal vs. vertical
• -orthogonal vs. diagonal
• -exposure: north - south - east - west

THREE TYPES OF SPACE
• PLACE - SPACES
• PATH – SPACES
• TRANSTITION - SPACES

• PLACE-SPACES
• major spaces that portray a sense of definite location or position

• PATH-SPACES
• major transition spaces which are directional; corridor, connector,
passageway.

• TRANSITION-SPACES
• minor spaces which process a change from one condition to another.
• •joint spaces (or articulation spaces)
• •can define a pause between spaces
• •can juxtapose spaces of contrasting or continuous character
• •can act as a separator space
• •can act as fastener, joining or linking space
• servant-spaces are transition spaces that act as functional support
(storage spaces, bathrooms, mechanical voids, space occupied by
structural elements, etc.)

INTRODUCING THE VARIOUS
FUNCTIONAL ASPECTS OF
ARCHITECTURE
SITE:
• Location
(geography)a point
or an area on the
Earth's surface or
elsewhere
• Building site, a
place
where construction
takes place

SHELTER
A shelter is a basic architectural structure or building that
provides protection from the local environment. Having a place of
shelter, of safety and of retreat, i.e. a home, is commonly
considered a fundamental physiological human need, the
foundation from which to develop higher human motivations.

ARCHITECTURE
STRUCTURE:
It is an arrangement
and organization of
interrelated elements
in a material object
or system, or the
object or system so
organized

ARCHITECTURE
SKIN:

ARCHITECTURE
CIRCULATION:
APPROACH
The Distant View
ENTRANCE
• From Outside to inside
CONFIGURATION OF THE PATH
• The Sequences of Spaces
PATH-SPACE RELATIONSHIPS
• Edges, Nodes, and Terminations of the Path
FORM OF THE CIRCULATION SPACE
• Corridors, Halls, Galleries, Stairways and Rooms

ARCHITECTURE
SERVICES:
•Structural
•Plumbing
•Electrical
•Fire safety
•Maintenance

Unit 1 Architecture, Analysis

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Unit 1 Architecture, Analysis