43,99 €
Mehr erfahren.
- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Sprache: Englisch
ARCHITECTURE THE GOLD STANDARD IN INTRODUCTORY ARCHITECTURE TEXTS, FULLY UPDATED TO REFLECT THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN THE FIELD For more than forty years, the beautifully illustrated Architecture: Form, Space, and Order has served as the classic introduction to the basic vocabulary of architectural design. In this fifth edition, more recent additions to the architectural panoply illustrate how contemporary digital and building technologies have influenced the development of architectural forms and spaces and how architectural siting and design have responded to the call for more environmentally responsible buildings. It is designed to encourage critical thought and to promote a more evocative understanding of architecture. * The fifth edition is updated with many new urban design and building precedents from a diverse range of cultural and geographic areas * New content focuses on the latest technology and trends in structure, construction, materials, and sustainability * Includes more than 800 illustrations, many hand-drawn, which demonstrate the foundations and concepts every architect must master Architecture: Form, Space, and Order distills complex concepts of design into a clear focus and brings difficult abstractions to life. It explains form and space in relation to light, view, openings, and enclosures and explores the organization of space, and the elements and relationships of circulation, as well as proportion and scale. In addition, the text's detailed illustrations demonstrate the concepts presented and reveal the relationships between fundamental elements of architecture through the ages and across cultures.
Sie lesen das E-Book in den Legimi-Apps auf:
Seitenzahl: 250
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023
Ähnliche
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Preface
ABOUT THE COMPANION WEBSITE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Introduction
1 Primary Elements
PRIMARY ELEMENTS
POINT
POINT ELEMENTS
TWO POINTS
LINE
LINEAR ELEMENTS
FROM LINE TO PLANE
LINEAR ELEMENTS DEFINING PLANES
PLANE
PLANAR ELEMENTS
VOLUME
VOLUMETRIC ELEMENTS
2 Form
FORM
PROPERTIES OF FORM
SHAPE
PRIMARY SHAPES
CIRCLE
TRIANGLE
SQUARE
PRIMARY SOLIDS
REGULAR & IRREGULAR FORMS
TRANSFORMATION OF FORM
DIMENSIONAL TRANSFORMATION
GEOMETRIC TRANSFORMATION
SUBTRACTIVE FORM
SUBTRACTIVE & ADDITIVE FORM
ADDITIVE FORM
CENTRALIZED FORM
LINEAR FORM
RADIAL FORM
CLUSTERED FORM
GRID FORM
FORMAL COLLISIONS OF GEOMETRY
CIRCLE & SQUARE
ROTATED GRID
ARTICULATION OF FORM
EDGES & CORNERS
CORNERS
SURFACE ARTICULATION
3 Form & Space
FORM & SPACE
FORM & SPACE: THE UNITY OF OPPOSITES
FORM DEFINING SPACE
HORIZONTAL ELEMENTS DEFINING SPACE
BASE PLANE
ELEVATED BASE PLANE
DEPRESSED BASE PLANE
OVERHEAD PLANE
VERTICAL ELEMENTS DEFINING SPACE
VERTICAL LINEAR ELEMENTS
SINGLE VERTICAL PLANE
L‐SHAPED CONFIGURATION OF PLANES
L‐SHAPED PLANES
PARALLEL VERTICAL PLANES
PARALLEL PLANES
U‐SHAPED PLANES
FOUR PLANES: CLOSURE
FOUR PLANES: ENCLOSURE
OPENINGS IN SPACE‐DEFINING ELEMENTS
OPENINGS WITHIN PLANES
OPENINGS AT CORNERS
OPENINGS BETWEEN PLANES
QUALITIES OF ARCHITECTURAL SPACE
DEGREE OF ENCLOSURE
LIGHT
VIEW
VENTILATION
4 Organization
ORGANIZATION OF FORM & SPACE
SPATIAL RELATIONSHIPS
SPACE WITHIN A SPACE
INTERLOCKING SPACES
ADJACENT SPACES
SPACES LINKED BY A COMMON SPACE
SPATIAL ORGANIZATIONS
CENTRALIZED ORGANIZATIONS
LINEAR ORGANIZATIONS
RADIAL ORGANIZATIONS
CLUSTERED ORGANIZATIONS
GRID ORGANIZATIONS
5 Circulation
CIRCULATION: MOVEMENT THROUGH SPACE
CIRCULATION ELEMENTS
APPROACH
ENTRANCE
CONFIGURATION OF THE PATH
PATH–SPACE RELATIONSHIPS
FORM OF THE CIRCULATION SPACE
STAIRWAYS
6 Proportion & Scale
PROPORTION & SCALE
MATERIAL PROPORTIONS
STRUCTURAL PROPORTIONS
MANUFACTURED PROPORTIONS
PROPORTIONING SYSTEMS
GOLDEN SECTION
REGULATING LINES
CLASSICAL ORDERS
RENAISSANCE THEORIES
MODULOR
KEN
ANTHROPOMETRY
SCALE
VISUAL SCALE
HUMAN SCALE
A SCALAR COMPARISON
7 Principles
ORDERING PRINCIPLES
AXIS
SYMMETRY
HIERARCHY
DATUM
RHYTHM
REPETITION
TRANSFORMATION
CONCLUSION
A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
GLOSSARY
INDEX OF BUILDINGS
INDEX OF DESIGNERS
INDEX OF SUBJECT MATTER
End User License Agreement
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Preface
Introduction
Begin Reading
CONCLUSION
A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
GLOSSARY
INDEX OF BUILDINGS
INDEX OF DESIGNERS
INDEX OF SUBJECT MATTER
WILEY END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT
Pages
ii
iii
iv
vii
viii
ix
x
xi
xii
xiii
xiv
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
459
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
482
ARCHITECTURE
Form, Space, & Order
Fifth Edition
Francis D. K. Ching
Copyright © 2023 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per‐copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750‐8400, fax (978) 750‐4470, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748‐6011, fax (201) 748‐6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permission.
Trademarks: Wiley and the Wiley logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Further, readers should be aware that websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read. Neither the publisher nor authors shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
For general information on our other products and services or for technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (800) 762‐2974, outside the United States at (317) 572‐3993 or fax (317) 572‐4002.
Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic formats. For more information about Wiley products, visit our website at www.wiley.com.
Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data:
Names: Ching, Francis D. K., 1943‐ author.
Title: Architecture : form, space, & order / Francis D.K. Ching.
Description: Fifth edition. | Hoboken, New Jersey : Wiley, [2023] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2023007033 (print) | LCCN 2023007034 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119853374 (paperback) | ISBN 9781119853398 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781119853381 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Architecture—Composition, proportion, etc. | Space (Architecture)
Classification: LCC NA2760 .C46 2023 (print) | LCC NA2760 (ebook) | DDC 720—dc23/eng/20230222
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023007033
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023007034
Cover Design: Wiley
Cover Illustration: Francis D. K. Ching
Preface
The original edition of this study introduced the student of architecture to form and space, and the principles that guide their ordering in the built environment. Form and space are the critical means of architecture comprising a design vocabulary that is both elemental and timeless. The second edition continued to be a comprehensive primer on the ways form and space are interrelated and organized in the shaping of our environment while being refined by editing the text and incorporating diagrams for greater clarity; adding selected examples of architectural works; expanding the sections on openings, stairways, and scale; and finally, by including a glossary and an index to designers. The third edition persisted in illustrating the ways the fundamental elements and principles of architectural design manifest themselves over the course of human history but added an electronic component to introduce the aspects of time and movement to the exposition of elements and principles. The fourth edition added more than two dozen contemporary examples, selected to illustrate the new forms that go beyond the timeless elements of basic statics—the columns, beams, and load‐bearing walls of stable constructions that are fixed in time and space. Five more modules were added to the electronic component to animate certain design decisions regarding scale and proportion, the type of visual, often subtle judgements that designers face in the development of a project.
In this fifth edition, more recent additions to the architectural panoply illustrate how contemporary digital and building technologies have influenced the development of architectural forms and spaces—and how architectural siting and design have responded to the call for more environmentally responsible buildings.
The historical models in this book span time and cross cultural boundaries. While the juxtaposition of styles may appear to be abrupt at times, the diverse range of examples is deliberate. The collage is intended to persuade the reader to look for likenesses among seemingly unlike constructions and bring into sharper focus the critical distinctions that reflect the time and place of their making. Readers are encouraged to take note of additional examples encountered or recalled within the context of their individual experiences. As the design elements and principles become more familiar, new connections, relationships, and levels of meaning may be established.
The illustrated examples are neither exhaustive nor necessarily the prototypes for the concepts and principles discussed. Their selection merely serves to illuminate and clarify the formal and spatial ideas being explored. These seminal ideas transcend their historical context and encourage speculation: How might they be analyzed, perceived, and experienced? How might they be transformed into coherent, useful, and meaningful structures of space and enclosure? How might they be reapplied to a range of architectural problems? This manner of presentation attempts to promote a more evocative understanding of the architecture one experiences, the architecture one encounters in literature, and the architecture one imagines while designing.
ABOUT THE COMPANION WEBSITE
This book is accompanied by a companion website
www.wiley.com/go/ching/architecturefso5e
This website includes:
Animations
Flashcards
Google Earth Coordinates/Downloadable Content
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I will always be indebted to the following people for their invaluable contributions to the original edition of this work: Forrest Wilson, whose insights into the communication of design principles helped clarify the organization of the material, and whose support made its initial publication possible; James Tice, whose knowledge and understanding of architectural history and theory strengthened the development of this study; Norman Crowe, whose diligence and skill in the teaching of architecture encouraged me to pursue this work; Roger Sherwood, whose research into the organizational principles of form fostered the development of the chapter on ordering principles; Daniel Friedman, for his editing of the final copy; Diane Turner and Philip Hamp, for their assistance in researching material for the illustrations; and to the editorial and production staff at Van Nostrand Reinhold, for their exceptional support and service during the making of the first edition.
For the second edition, my appreciation extends to the many students and their teachers who have used this book over the years and offered suggestions for its improvement as a reference and tool for study and teaching. I want to especially thank the following educators for their careful critique of the first edition: L. Rudolph Barton, Laurence A. Clement, Jr., Kevin Forseth, Simon Herbert, Jan Jennings, Marjorie Kriebel, Thomas E. Steinfeld, Cheryl Wagner, James M. Wehler, and Robert L. Wright.
In preparing the third edition, I am grateful to Michele Chiuini, Ahmeen Farooq, and Dexter Hulse for their thoughtful reviews of the second edition. While I attempted to incorporate much of their wise counsel, I remain solely responsible for any deficiencies remaining in the text. This edition was the first to be published by John Wiley & Sons, and I therefore want to acknowledge Wiley's editorial and production staff for their invaluable support, and to Nan‐Ching Tai for his creative contributions and technical assistance in preparing the electronic component.
Dr. Karen Spence, Gary Crafts, Lohren Deeg, and Dr. Ralph Hammann contributed valuable insights and suggestions for the fourth edition, while Paul Drougas and Lauren Olesky of John Wiley & Sons provided editorial assistance and helped bring the work to a successful conclusion.
For this fifth edition, I want to recognize Todd Green, Amy Odum, and the rest of the Wiley team for their continuing editorial assistance and support, which made this publication not only possible but also an enjoyable endeavor.
To Debra, Emily, and Andrew.
Introduction
Architecture is generally conceived (designed) and realized (built) in response to an existing set of conditions. These conditions may be purely functional in nature, or they may also reflect in varying degrees the social, political, and economic climate. In any case, it is assumed that the existing set of conditions—the problem—is less than satisfactory and that a new set of conditions—a solution—would be desirable. The act of creating architecture, then, is a problem‐solving or design process.
The initial phase of any design process is the recognition of a problematic condition and the decision to find a solution to it. Design is above all a willful act, a purposeful endeavor. A designer must first document the existing conditions of a problem, define its context, and collect relevant data to be assimilated and analyzed. This is the critical phase of the design process since the nature of a solution is inexorably related to how a problem is perceived, defined, and articulated. Piet Hein, the noted Danish poet and scientist, puts it this way: “Art is solving problems that cannot be formulated before they have been solved. The shaping of the question is part of the answer.”
Designers inevitably and instinctively prefigure solutions to the problems they are confronted with, but the depth and range of their design vocabulary influence both their perception of a question and the shaping of its answer. If one's understanding of a design language is limited, then the range of possible solutions to a problem will also be limited. This book focuses, therefore, on broadening and enriching a vocabulary of design through the study of its essential elements and principles and the exploration of a wide array of solutions to architectural problems developed over the course of human history.
As an art, architecture is more than satisfying the purely functional requirements of a building program. Fundamentally, the physical manifestations of architecture accommodate human activity. However, the arrangement and ordering of forms and spaces also determine how architecture might promote endeavors, elicit responses, and communicate meaning. So while this study focuses on formal and spatial ideas, it is not intended to diminish the importance of the social, political, or economic aspects of architecture. Form and space are presented not as ends in themselves but as means to solve a problem in response to conditions of function, purpose, and context—that is, architecturally.
The analogy may be made that one must know and understand the alphabet before words can be formed and a vocabulary developed; one must understand the rules of grammar and syntax before sentences can be constructed; one must understand the principles of composition before essays, novels, and the like can be written. Once these elements are understood, one can write poignantly or with force, call for peace or incite to riot, comment on trivia or speak with insight and meaning. In a similar way, it might be appropriate to be able to recognize the basic elements of form and space and understand how they can be manipulated and organized in the development of a design concept, before addressing the more vital issue of meaning in architecture.
In order to place this study in proper context, the following is an overview of the basic elements, systems, and orders that comprise a work of architecture. All of these constituents can be perceived and experienced. Some may be readily apparent while others are more obscure to our intellect and senses. Some may dominate while others play a secondary role in a building's organization. Some may convey images and meaning while others serve as qualifiers or modifiers of these messages.
In all cases, however, these elements and systems should be interrelated to form an integrated whole having a unifying or coherent structure. Architectural order is created when the organization of parts makes visible their relationships to each other and the structure as a whole. When these relationships are perceived as mutually reinforcing and contributing to the singular nature of the whole, then a conceptual order exists—an order that may well be more enduring than transient perceptual visions.
This graphic analysis of Villa Savoye (Poissy, east of Paris, 1923–31, Le Corbusier) illustrates the way architecture embodies the harmonious integration of interacting and interrelated parts into a complex and unified whole.
1Primary Elements
“All pictorial form begins with the point that sets itself in motion… The point moves . . . and the line comes into being–the first dimension. If the line shifts to form a plane, we obtain a two‐dimensional element. In the movement from plane to spaces, the clash of planes gives rise to body (three‐dimensional) . . . A summary of the kinetic energies which move the point into a line, the line into a plane, and the plane into a spatial dimension.”
Paul Klee The Thinking Eye: The Notebooks of Paul Klee (English translation) 1961
PRIMARY ELEMENTS
This opening chapter presents the primary elements of form in the order of their growth from the point to a one‐dimensional line, from the line to a two‐dimensional plane, and from the plane to a three‐dimensional volume. Each element is first considered as a conceptual element, then as a visual element in the vocabulary of architectural design.
As conceptual elements, the point, line, plane, and volume are not visible except to the mind's eye. While they do not actually exist, we nevertheless feel their presence. We can sense a point at the meeting of two lines, a line marking the contour of a plane, a plane enclosing a volume, and the volume of an object that occupies space.
When made visible to the eye on paper or in three‐dimensional space, these elements become form with characteristics of substance, shape, size, color, and texture. As we experience these forms in our environment, we should be able to perceive in their structure the existence of the primary elements of point, line, plane, and volume.
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:
The two ends of a line
The intersection of two lines
The meeting of lines at the corner of a plane or volume
The center of a field
Although a point theoretically has neither shape nor form, it begins to make its presence felt when placed within a visual field. At the center of its environment, a point is stable and at rest, organizing surrounding elements about itself and dominating its field.
When the point is moved off‐center, however, its field becomes more aggressive and begins to compete for visual supremacy. Visual tension is created between the point and its field.
POINT ELEMENTS
Piazza del Campidoglio, Rome, c. 1544, Michelangelo Buonarroti.
The equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius marks the center of this urban space.
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:
Mont St. Michel, France, 13th century and later.
The pyramidal composition culminates in a spire that serves to establish this fortified monastery as a specific place in the landscape.
TWO POINTS
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.
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.
LINE
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.
Vertical linear elements can also define a transparent volume of space. In the example illustrated to the left, four minaret towers outline a spatial field from which the dome of the Selim Mosque rises in splendor.
Selim Mosque, Edirne, Turkey, 1569–1575, Mimar Sinan
A line can be an imagined element rather than a visible one in architecture. An example is the axis, a regulating line established by two distant points in space and about which elements are symmetrically arranged.
Villa Aldobrandini, Italy, 1598‐1603, Giacomo Della Porta
Although architectural space exists in three dimensions, it can be linear in form to accommodate the path of movement through a building and link its spaces to one another.
Buildings also can be linear in form, particularly when they consist of repetitive spaces organized along a circulation path. As illustrated here, linear building forms have the ability to enclose exterior spaces as well as adapt to the environmental conditions of a site.
Cornell University Undergraduate Housing (Project), Ithaca, New York, 1974, Richard Meier
Town Hall, Säynätsalo, Finland, 1950‐1952, Alvar Aalto
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. How these linear elements affect the texture of a surface will depend on their visual weight, spacing, and direction.
Crown Hall, School of Architecture and Urban Design, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, 1956, Mies van der Rohe
Seagram Building, New York City, 1956‐1958, Mies van de Rohe and Philip Johnson
FROM LINE TO PLANE
LINEAR ELEMENTS DEFINING PLANES
Altes Museum, Berlin, 1823‐1830, Karl Friedrich Schinkel
A row of columns supporting an entablature–a colonnade–is often used to define the public face or facade of a building, especially one that fronts on a major civic space. A colonnaded facade can be penetrated easily for entry, offers a degree of shelter from the elements, and forms a semi‐transparent screen that unifies individual building forms behind it.
The Basilica, Vicenza, Italy.
Andrea Palladio designed this two‐story loggia in 1545 to wrap around an existing medieval structure. This addition not only buttressed the existing structure but also acted as a screen that disguised the irregularity of the original core and presented a uniform but elegant face to the Piazza del Signori.
Stoa of Attalus fronting the Agora in Athens
Cary House, Mill Valley, California, 1963, Joseph Esherick
Trellised Courtyard, Georgia O'Keefe Residence, Abiquiu, northwest of Sante Fe, New Mexico
The linear members of trellises and pergolas can provide a moderate degree of definition and enclosure for outdoor spaces while allowing filtered sunlight and breezes to penetrate.
Vertical and horizontal linear elements together can define a volume of space such as the solarium illustrated to the right. Note that the form of the volume is determined solely by the configuration of the linear elements.
Solarium of Condominium Unit 1, Sea Ranch, California, 1966, Moore, Lyndon, Turnbull, Whitaker (MLTW)
PLANE
Planes in architecture define three‐dimensional volumes of mass and space. The properties of each plane–size, shape, color, texture –as well as their spatial relationship to one another ultimately determine the visual attributes of the form they define and the qualities of the space they enclose.
In architectural design, we manipulate three generic types of planes:
PLANAR ELEMENTS
Exterior wall planes isolate a portion of space to create a controlled interior environment. Their construction provides both privacy and protection from the climatic elements for the interior spaces of a building, while openings within or between their boundaries reestablish a connection with the exterior environment. As exterior walls mold interior space, they simultaneously shape exterior space and describe the form, massing, and image of a building in space.
As a design element, the plane of an exterior wall can be articulated as the front or primary facade of a building. In urban situations, these facades serve as walls that define courtyards, streets, and such public gathering places as squares and marketplaces.
Piazza San Marco, Venice.
The continuous facades of buildings form the “walls” of the urban space.
Concert Hall (Project), 1942, Mies van der Rohe
Interior wall planes govern the size and shape of the internal spaces or rooms within a building. Their visual properties, their relationship to one another, and the size and distribution of openings within their boundaries determine both the quality of the spaces they define and the degree to which adjoining spaces relate to one another.
