While walking down a narrow lane, you see a repetition of openings in the facades and across the lane you see the same openings, which perforate the plaster façade. You start to wonder, what is the main reason for designing a façade like that? How important are the windows in the façade for the interior spaces behind it? How does light coming through these openings affect the perception of a space? What is its significance in architecture?
Light makes us see everything around us by its reflection- humans, objects, spaces, architecture. Without light, we can see nothing, not even darkness. Louis I Kahn believed that light is an architectural element on par with every other element of a structure. In a 1961 lecture, “ Law and Rule in Architecture”, he explained: “Every space must have natural light, because it is impossible to read the configuration of a space or shape by having only one or two ways of lighting it. Natural light enters the space released by the choice of construction.” In his another article “Silence and Light”, he states: “As soon as I see a plan which tries to sell me spaces without light, I simply reject it with such ease, as though it were not even thoughtfully rejected, because I know that is wrong.”
We can talk about Light in two levels, natural light and artificial light, the latter is created by humans, the former; dynamic daylight created by the sun. As Rasmussen states: “Daylight is constantly changing. The other elements of architecture we have considered can be exactly determined. Daylight alone he cannot control.”
An architect must take into account the design of the space and its approach by daylight through the openings, there should be numerous opportunities to get the desired amount of daylight in t...
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...r now there is to conclude light and shadow belong together. Yet the increasing numbers of artificial light sources on earth are resulting in continuously decreasing zones of shadow and darkness. In architecture, the growing use of glass and other translucent layers questions the very significance of shadows. Light and shadow are a building material, something that needs to be sculpted and to be used.
References- Charles Correa: A Place in the Shade. Penguin (2010) Flagge, Ingeborg: The Secret of the Shadow: Light and Shadow in Architecture. Wasmuth, Tübingen. 2002. Louis I. Kahn : Silence and Light: The Lecture at ETH Zurich, February 12, 1969. Park Books, Zürich. 2013. Pallasmaa, J. (2005) The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses Rasmussen, S.E: Experiencing Architecture, (1964) Ryan Fischer: An Architect of Light : Louis Kahn, November 9, 2010
“Form follows function.” Every great Modern architect thought, designed by and breathed these very words. Or at least, their design principles evolved from them. Modern architects Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright, Pierre Chareau, and Rudolf Schindler to name a few believed that the function determined the space whether the space was solely for a particular purpose or they overlapped to allow for multiple uses. Form didn’t just follow function, function defined the space. By focusing on the relationship between the architecture and the interior elements, Chareau’s Maison de Verre expanded the idea of functionalism to include not only the architecture but also the space it creates and how people function within that space.
...erfect atmosphere to convey speed, efficiency, and technology of the time. This open floor plan not only functions as an efficient visual element but also incorporates the idea of communal work. Customers, store leaders, associates, tech gurus etc. are all free to wander and work together without office walls or boundaries to separate them. The change in the use of light began during the Bauhaus era when lampshades which used to block light and create harsh separations were replaced with broad flood lights evenly spaced to create equal lighting throughout. The use of pure white walls and metal trim also make direct reference to the Bauhaus ideals. Likewise there is an egalitarian principle evoked in the designs. Built to human scale and made clearly for use by people rather than large monumental or overly scaled buildings that often promote power and authority.
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In the short reading, The Cunning of Cosmetics, by Jeffrey Kipnis, he begins by explaining what architecture is reacting to and how it effects the direction it is going in. As a result from explaining this, he starts to ponder on his job on Herzog & de Meuron and question, “When did my infatuation with HdM’s work begin?”(Kipnis 23) he starts to realize that buildings have the “Ability to insinuate itself into my psyche” without forcing itself upon someone. He is able to analyze this in the magazine he was reading Arch- Plus by Nikolaus Kuhnert and see how he separated the magazine into two sections – Ornament and Minimalism, through this he able to explore prime examples such as Signal Box and Ricola Europ, explaining how the use of their materiality and modern ornamentation can give a “Erotic allure…the sirens of the Odyssey”. Overall he is clarifying that
Jencks believes “the glass-and-steel box has become the single most used form in Modern Architecture and it signifies throughout the world ‘office building’” (27). Thus, modern architecture is univalent in terms of form, in other words it is designed around one out of a few basic values using a limited number of materials and right angles. In...
There are parts of the walls that seem to be missing, which creates a flow between the two main spaces. The pavilion’s thin, sweeping roof is supported by eight cruciform columns clad in chrome. This created an open and free space where he lined the outside of the building with glass. He then carefully placed a thin slab of onyx in the middle of the open volume. Mies created established characteristics that became essential for modern architecture.
Architecture is the concept of bringing structure, materiality, form and space together as a whole, provide people with enclosed atmosphere to experience. Considering this, it is important to identify that materiality and the purpose of details has been a key methodology to bringing architectural intentions into the design in an affective manner, more over producing an architectural expression. However, this position is rather declining in architecture, reducing tectonics and materiality to being secondary to form and space. With the start of modernism, the attempt to achieve minimalistic style has caused detailing to increasingly develop into a decorative aspect of a building, neglecting its individual contribution to architecture.
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In comparison to his peers, Renzo Piano was in a way, different, or stood out against the other up and coming architects of the time. Whilst these other architects, Kahn, Gehry, and Ando’s design philosophies are mostly focused on the development of the form and the experience, Piano’s design intent was almost always on the function, could he build a building that functions, while keeping it light, especially in structure.
Deconstructivist Theory – in respect to architectural practice – aimed to create structures that characterised unpredictability and chaos in a controlled environment, distorting and dislocating typical architectural elements such as structure. This design principle focuses primarily on the externality of the building, by pushing and challenging the boundaries of traditional architectural conventions regarding structural practicality. The practitioners of deconstructivism - whilst influenced by Derrida’s philosophy and interests in radical formalism- took their physical i...
Architecture is described as the design of a structure able to house people or objects. The visual appeal, the colors, the building materials, and the dimensions contribute either negatively or positively to human behavior. The most elementary and basic architectural tools may be adeptly manipulated to promote a positive and humane environment even under severe constrictions. Architecture operates as an essential tool in the restoration of positive and healthy human consciousness. Therefore, environmentally conscious architecture is a critical step toward a more progressive understanding of human health (Ouroussoff, 1999).
Interior design is one of the most important professions. When thinking of design and architecture industry, it is necessary to keep in mind that the professionals emphasis on matters of everyday life when commencing a project. Important sectors of interior design consist of: residential, commercial, hospitality, healthcare, education and corporate designs. Thus, the field deals with numerous factors and affects almost everyone in some way. Design is goal-oriented– it strives to achieve a certain purpose. An essential goal of interior design is to create functional spaces that convey a specific mood for an audience using design elements, thus outlining a design for communities versus individuals.
In Laugier’s Essay, he concludes an architectural Order as the following, “…only the column, the entablature, and the pediment may form an essential part of [the building’s] composition. If each of these parts is suitably placed and suitably formed, nothing else need be added to make the work perfect” . Laugier later takes his readers deeper in thought about these three components of an architectural Order. He explains tha...
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