Methods and principles in
architecture
Prepared by Ephrem N.
Fantasy imagination and reality
Fantasy - an unrealistic and
impractical idea.
'Let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach
unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be
scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth‟.
Genesis 11:4-5
Archigram
An avant-garde architectural group formed in the 1960s
that was futurist, anti-heroic and pro-consumerist
Draw inspiration from technology in order to create a
new reality that was only expressed through hypothetical
projects.
Committed to a 'high tech', light weight, infra-structural
approach.
Experimented with modular technology, mobility through
the environment, space capsules and mass-consumer
imagery.
Inspired later works such as the High tech 'Pompidou
centre'
The Walking City
Intelligent buildings or robots that are in the form of giant,
self contained living pods that could roam the cities.
The form derived from a combination of insect and
machine
“A house is a machine to live in.” le corbsier
Fantasy, imagination and reality
Imagination - ability to visualize:
The ability to form images and ideas
in the mind, especially of things
never seen or experienced directly.
Imagination
Fantasy imagination and reality
Reality - all that exists or happens: everything that
actually does or could exist or happen in real life.
„Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it,
doesn't go away.‟
REALISABLE
FANTASY (?)
REALITY
Architects as types
The high born types
Those who are born to be
architects.
The likes of Tadao Ando
and F.L. Wright
Architects as types
The Intellectual types
Not necessarily well educated but someone
primarily interested in the cultivation and
analysis of ideas, concepts in history and theory
too.
Marcus Vitruvius
Architects as types
The critique types
Those who pronounce judgment on the work of
others regardless of whether they themselves
can produce such works.
Robert Venturi
Architects as types
The down to earthier
Practical
Get the job done
Focus on reality, on facts, on tangible and
pragmatic results that can be understood and
utilized.
Architects as types
The plodder types
Those who exhibit a willingness to undertake
works that require steady continuous, laborious
and potentially monotonous effort.
Drafting room are full of plodders
Architects as types
Fantasizers
Those who dreamed up and
propose buildings that seems
impossible to construct and
realize.
Architects as types
The manager type
Those who live to run things, those who
love to be in charge, to have power, to
direct people and conduct operations.
Architects as types
The poet philosopher types
Those who think architecture‟s essence resides
in its literary, cultural, symbolic, and
philosophical significance.
John Ruskin – “the seven lamps of architecture”
Creativity
A mysterious ability to find
something original and new in
the essence of talent.
Creativity - capacity to have new
thoughts and to create
expressions unlike any other.
A portrait is a picture in which
there is something wrong with
the mouth.
Type of creativity
Tangible Intangible
History, the past Fantasy, future
The story of precedents Metaphor
(standards) Exotic and multi cultural
Mimesis (imitations) and Primordial and untouched
literal interpretation
The paradoxical and
Geometry metaphysics
Materials Poetry and literature
The role of nature
Tangible creativity
Intangible creativity
Forcing factors of architectural design
as creativity.
Program (the analysis of the project
purpose)….. Content
Natural forces – geo - climatic
variations….. Context
Cultural and historical factors…. Concept
Elements of architectural design as
creativity
Styles and historical significances.
Design vocabulary, form giving
operations (composition).
Form, geometry and theories of
proportion.
Built components and materials.
The role of nature.
Composition
Types of composition
Bonding factors of composition
Operations in composition
Types of composition
Static; court house,
parliaments…
Dynamic; opera
house, stadiums…
Bonding factors of composition
Proximity or adjacency factor
Orientation or direction
Similarity (harmony or contrast)
Hierarchy, infancies or dominance
factor
Datum (regulatory or controlling
factor)
Scale and proportion
Operations in composition
Articulation – attachment
Blending - to make compile
with
Chiaroscuro - effect of shade
and shadow
Ornamentation…
Operations in composition
Progression- descending or
ascending placement
Transformation
Modulation
Orchestration – with material
