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Architectural Principles
Many of us have had an art (drawing or painting) appreciation class or even a music appreciation class of some kind, but very few of us have had any type of architectural appreciation class.
We are all surrounded by buildings our whole lives and we may tend not to look with the same type of "intentionality" that we do when at a museum looking at paintings or at a concert listening to music. In a painting we may try to see how our eye is drawn through the painting and in a piece of music we will listen and recognize themes reintroduced in the music from an earlier movement, etc. What are the corresponding things to look for in Architecture?
The intent is to present some of the basic elements of architecture that may make looking at buildings a little more interesting. The intent is not to learn how to identify "good" architecture and "bad" architecture, but to try to acquaint you with some of the elements of architecture.
Steen Rasmussen's book "Experiencing Architecture" identifies one set of elements of architecture that contribute to the effect a building or structure has on us. Below is a very quick overview of some of the ideas presented in that book which will hopefully be helpful in experiencing buildings.
We believe that it would be useful (and fun) to read this section and then go to the 2006 Design Awards under Programs and review the submittals keeping these principles in mind.
EXPERIENCING ARCHITECTURE
By Steen Eiler Rasmussen
This simple book has served generations of architecture students since its initial publication in 1959. It presents some things to look for in architecture.
The author states, "It is not my intention to attempt to teach people what is right or wrong, what is beautiful or ugly. I regard all art as a means of expression and that which may be right for one artist may well be wrong for another. My object is in all modesty to endeavor to explain the instrument the architect plays on, to show what a great range it has and thereby awaken the senses to its music."
The author also tries to clarify the level of complexity to the arguments and observations in the book by saying.
"But if it can be understood by a fourteen-year-old then certainly it will be understood by those who are older. Furthermore, there is also some hope that the author himself has understood what he has written - which the reader is by no means always convinced of when reading books on art."
Rasmussen breaks his book up into sections where he addresses various elements that contribute to the experience of architecture.
Basic Observations:
The architect's work is to create/assemble a set of instructions rather than a finished object (a painting or sculpture for example).
"Understanding architecture, therefore, is not the same as being able to determine the style of a building by certain external features. It is not enough to see architecture; you must experience it. You must observe how it was designed for a special purpose and how it was attuned to the entire concept and rhythm of a specific era. You must dwell in the rooms, feel how they close about you, observe how you are naturally led from one to the other. You must be aware of the textural effects, discover why just those colors were used, how the choice depended on the orientation of rooms in relation to windows and sun.. You must experience the great difference acoustics make in your conception of space: the way sound acts in an enormous cathedral, with its echoes and long-toned reverberations, as compared to a small paneled room well padded with hangings, rugs and cushions."
Solids and cavities:
It's possible to look at a building as a structure with a floor, roof, walls, etc. It is also equally valid to look at the building as a cavity or space. Examples discussed include the solid constructed elements of the gothic cathedral and the cavities of the cave temples in India. Convex forms can give an impression of mass while concave ones can give an impression of space.
Contrasting Solids and Cavities:
The use of these contrasts can force the viewer to a more active observation between the solids of the building and the cavities. These contrasts are often increased by well-lit surfaces and dark cavities, convex and concave forms, and can be dramatic. They can be used as a simple courtyard or a more complex sequence of spaces and effects.
Architecture Experienced as Color Planes:
Not everything is experienced as either mass or void. Colors can give an appearance of either weight or lightness to a building. Walls themselves can become thin planes of glass, polished stone, shoji screens, etc.
Scale and Proportion:
The author states "That scale and proportion play a very important role in architecture is unquestionable. But there are no visual proportions which have the same spontaneous effect on us as those which we ordinarily call harmonies and disharmonies in music." He does maintain, however, that there are buildings composed of spaces whose dimensions are based on simple ratios (3:4, 4:4, 4:6) that give the observer "an impression of a noble, firmly integrated composition in which each room presents an ideal form within a greater whole."
Scale is not directly addressed by the author. A simple example of the experience of scale is entering through different size doorways; entering through the standard home front door and the larger doors of a church or older public building are not the same. Scale is often something experienced in relationship to the size of the human body.
Rhythm in Architecture:
The example of the simplest rhythm would be "the absolutely regular repetition of the same elements, for example solid, void, solid, void, just as you count one, two, one, two." This is a simple rhythm. The author also maintains that "In the world of architecture you can also experience delightful examples of subtle variation within strict regularity."
In addition to the purely visual rhythm, there can be the experience of walking through or past a series of elements (columns or spaces) that constitute another type of rhythm.
Textural Effects:
Different materials have different feels from a rough brick to a plaster wall to the smoothest steel and glass surfaces. These differences can be experienced visually as well as by actually touching the materials. Differences are often subtle as between a smooth piece of wood and one where the grain can be felt.
Daylight in Architecture:
Daylight gives form to our experience of surfaces. Spaces without uniform lighting which results in shadows are often more interesting than uniformly lit spaces. The changing light can be modulated by the use of shutters/shades to create different effects at different times of day. These devices are important with respect to the quality of light rather than the quantity of light.
Color in Architecture:
The author states that "within the same building a variety of colors may be used to accentuate form, divisions and other architectonic elements. Certain colors can make an object seem lighter, others heavier, than it is. It can be made to appear large or small, near or distant, cool or warm, all according to the color it is given."
Further he writes "When man has reached the stage where he uses color not only to preserve building materials and emphasize structure and textural effects, but to make a great architectural composition more clear, to articulate inter-relations between a series of rooms, then a great new field opens before him."
Hearing Architecture:
We hear architecture in that we can hear the reverberations of sounds in spaces with hard, reflective surfaces as we can experience the quiet in spaces with highly absorbing surfaces. Different types of music have been developed to accommodate different building forms.
Different types of "hearing" experiences are appropriate for different buildings. While we may appreciate the quiet of a meditative space, we all enjoy the strong reverberations in the lion house at the zoo, especially at feeding time!
Conclusion:
Rasmussen sums up his thesis as follows:
"The only result of trying to judge architecture as you would a school paper - A for that building, B for that one, etc., - is to spoil the pleasure architecture gives. It is a risky business. It is quite impossible to set up absolute rules and criteria for evaluating architecture because every worthwhile building - like all works of art - has its own standard. If we contemplate it in a carping spirit, with a know-it-all attitude, it will shut itself up and have nothing to say to us. But if we ourselves are open to impressions and sympathetically inclined, it will open up and reveal its true essence."
This is not to say that there are not more or less successful buildings. All buildings can be looked at as having strengths and weaknesses.
The value of trying to look at buildings in relation to these guidelines is a simply a richer experience and appreciation of architecture.
