UNIT - 3
FORM AS GEOMETRIC ELEMENTS AND THEIR EFFECTS
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• Form as embodied in and/or constituted by geometric elements such as
point, line, plane, volumes.
• Attributes, generation and interrelationships among elements.
• Perceptual effects and use of specific manifestations of the elements-
planes as shapes and volumes as geometric forms/space such as
sphere, cube, pyramid, cylinder, cone and their sections/ derivatives.
• Architectural use of elements.
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Point
• A point marks a position in space.
• Conceptually, it has no length, width, or depth, and
is therefore static, centralized, and directionless.
• As the prime element in the vocabulary of form, a
point can serve to mark:
Line
• A point extended becomes a line with properties of:
Plane
• A line extended becomes a plane with properties of:
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Volume
• A plane extended becomes a volume with properties of:
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POINT
• A point has no dimension. To visibly mark a position in space or on the ground plane, a point must
be projected vertically into a linear form, as a column, obelisk, or tower.
• Any such columnar element is seen in plan as a point and therefore retains the visual
characteristics of a point.
• Other point-generated forms that share these same visual attributes are the:
• Two points describe a line that connects them.
• Although the points give this line finite length, the
line can also be considered a segment of an
infinitely longer path.
Piazza del Campidoglio, Rome, c. 1544, Michelangelo Buonarroti.
The equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius marks the center of this
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urban space.
• Two points further suggest an axis perpendicular to the line they describe and about which they are symmetrical.
• Because this axis may be infinite in length, it can be at times more dominant than the described line.
• In both cases, however, the described line and the perpendicular axis are optically more dominant than the infinite number of lines that may
pass through each of the individual points.
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LINE
• A point extended
becomes a line.
• Conceptually, a line has
length, but no width or A line can serve to:
depth.
• Whereas a point is by
nature static, a line, in
describing the path of a
point in motion, is capable
of visually expressing
direction, movement, and
growth.
• A line is a critical element
in the formation of any
visual construction.
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PLANE
• A line extended in a direction other than its intrinsic direction becomes a plane.
• Conceptually, a plane has length and width, but no depth.
• Shape is the primary identifying characteristic of a plane.
• It is determined by the contour of the line forming the edges of a plane.
• Because our perception of shape can be distorted by perspective foreshortening, we see the true
shape of a plane only when we view it frontally.
• The supplementary properties of a plane—its
surface color, pattern, and texture—affect its
visual weight and stability.
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Cherchell, Algeria, 1942, Le Corbusier
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Form as embodied in and/or constituted by geometric elements such as
point, line, plane, volumes.
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PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
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PHYSICAL RELATIONS
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LINEAR ELEMENTS
• Vertical linear elements, such as columns, obelisks, and towers, have been used throughout
history to commemorate significant events and establish particular points in space.
Obleisk of Luxor - Place de la Concorde,
MENHIR - a prehistoric Column of marcus Aurellus -
monument consisting of an Paris. The obelisk, which marked the
Piazza Colonna, Rome, A.D. 174.
upright megalith, usually entrance to the Amon Temple at Luxor, was
This cylindrical shaft commemorates
standing alone but sometimes given by the viceroy of Egypt, Mohamed Ali,
the emperor’s victory over Germanic
aligned with others. to Louis Phillipe and was installed in 1836.
tribes north of the
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Linear members that possess the necessary material strength can perform structural functions.
In these three examples, linear elements:
At a smaller scale, lines articulate the edges and surfaces of planes
and volumes.
These lines can be expressed by joints within or between building
materials, by frames around window or door openings, or by a
structural grid of columns and beams.
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Two parallel lines have the ability to visually describe a plane.
A transparent spatial membrane can be stretched between them to
acknowledge their visual relationship.
The closer these lines are to each other, the stronger will be the sense of plane
they convey.
A series of parallel lines, through their repetitiveness, reinforces our perception
of the plane they describe.
As these lines extend themselves along the plane they describe, the implied
plane becomes real and the original voids between the lines revert to being mere
interruptions of the planar surface.
The diagrams illustrate the transformation of a row of round columns, initially
supporting a portion of a wall, then evolving into square piers which are an integral
part of the wall plane, and finally becoming pilasters—remnants of the original
columns occurring as a relief along the surface of the wall.
The column is a certain strengthened part of a wall, carried up perpendicular from
the foundation to the top.
A row of columns is indeed nothing but a wall, open and discontinued in several
places.” Leon Battista Alberti
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MORE ABOUT PHYSICAL RELATIONS
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VOLUME
Form is the primary identifying As the three-dimensional element in
characteristic of a volume. It is the vocabulary of architectural
established by the shapes and design, a volume can be either a
interrelationships of the planes that solid—space displaced by mass—or
describe the boundaries of the volume. a void—space contained or enclosed
by planes.
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• The primary shapes can be extended or rotated to generate volumetric forms or solids that are distinct, regular, and easily
recognizable.
• Circles generate spheres and cylinders; triangles generate cones and pyramids; squares generate cubes.
• In this context, the term “solid” does not refer to firmness of substance but rather to a three-dimensional geometric body
or figure.
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