tavi 7

• Rudolf Arnheim: 'Nothing but confusion can result when order is considered a quality that can equally well be accepted or abandoned, something that can be forgone and replaced by something else. Order must be understood as indispensable to the functioning of any organized system, whether its function be physical or mental. Just as neither an engine nor an orchestra nor a sports team can perform without the integrated cooperation of all its parts, so a work of art or architecture cannot fulfill its function and transmit its message unless it presents an ordered pattern. Order is possible at any level of complexity: in statues as simple as those on Easter Island or as intricate as those by Bernini, in a farmhouse and in a Borromini church. But if there is not order, there is no way of telling what the work is trying to say.'
• While Chapter 4 employed a geometric basis for organizing the forms and spaces of a building, this chapter discusses additional principles that can be utilized to create order in an architectural composition.
• Order


  A condition in which each part of a whole is properly disposed with reference to other parts and to its purpose so as to produce a harmonious arrangement
• There exists a natural diversity and complexity in the program requirements for buildings. The forms and spaces of any building should acknowledge the hierarchy inherent in the functions they accommodate, the users they serve, the purposes or meaning they convey, and the scope or context they address.
• Order without diversity can result in monotony or boredom; diversity without order can produce chaos. A sense of unity with variety is the ideal.
• Ordering Principles


  • Axis
  • Symmetry
  • Hierarchy
  • Rhythm
  • Datum
  • Transformation
• Axis


  A line established by two points in space, about which forms and spaces can be arranged in a symmetrical or balanced manner
• Axis


  • It is imaginary and not visible except to the mind's eye
  • It can be a powerful, dominating, regulating device
  • It implies symmetry but demands balance
  • It has qualities of length and direction, and induces movement and promotes views along its path
  • It must be terminated at both ends by a significant form or space
• Axis


  • Florentine street flanked by the Uffizi Palace
  • Teotihuacan, City of the Gods
  • Forbidden City in Beijing
  • Itsukushima Temple in Japan
  • Temple of Amun at Karnak, Egypt
  • Darwin D. Martin House and Estate, Buffalo, New York
  • Northern Palace at Masada, Israel
  • Chinese Courtyard House, Beijing
  • Hôtel de Matignon, Paris
  • W.A. Glasner House, Glencoe, Illinois
  • Imperial Forums of Trajan, Augustus, Caesar, and Nerva, Rome
  • Villa Madama, Rome
• Symmetry


  The balanced distribution and arrangement of equivalent forms and spaces on opposite sides of a dividing line or plane, or about a center or axis
• Types of Symmetry


  • Bilateral symmetry
  • Radial symmetry
• Symmetry


  • Plan of an Ideal Church, 1460
  • Hôtel de Beauvais, Paris
  • Ritual Complex at Fengchu, Shaanxi Province, China
  • Great Stupa at Sanchi, India
  • Mortuary Temple of Rameses III, Medînet-Habu
  • Palazzo No. 52, Andrea Palladio
  • Monticello, near Charlottesville, Virginia
  • Baths (Thermae) of Caracalla, Rome
  • Palace of Diocletian, Spalato, Yugoslavia
  • Nathaniel Russell House, Charleston, South Carolina
  • Unity Temple, Oak Park, Illinois
  • Centrosoyus Building, Kirova Ulitsa, Moscow
  • Husser House, Chicago, Illinois
  • Robert W. Evans House, Chicago, Illinois
  • Palace of the Soviets (Competition), Le Corbusier
  • Church of Christ the Worker, Atlántida, Uruguay
  • Isaac Flagg House II, Berkeley, California
  • A.E. Bingham House, Near Santa Barbara, California
  • Palazzo Pietro Massimi, Rome
• Symmetry


  Multiple symmetries, both major and minor, can add complexity and hierarchy to a composition as well as accommodate programmatic and contextual requirements
• Buildings with symmetry


  • Unity Temple, Oak Park, Illinois, 1905–7, Frank Lloyd Wright
  • Third Floor Plan, Centrosoyus Building, Kirova Ulitsa, Moscow, 1929–33, Le Corbusier
  • Husser House, Chicago, Illinois, 1899, Frank Lloyd Wright
  • Robert W. Evans House, Chicago, Illinois, 1908, Frank Lloyd Wright
  • Palace of the Soviets (Competition), Le Corbusier, 1931
  • Church of Christ the Worker, Atlántida, Uruguay, Eladio Dieste, 1958–60
  • Isaac Flagg House II, Berkeley, California, 1912, Bernard Maybeck
  • A.E. Bingham House, Near Santa Barbara, California, 1916, Bernard Maybeck
  • Palazzo Pietro Massimi, Rome, 1532–36, Baldassare Peruzzi
  • Frank Lloyd Wright Studio, Oak Park, Illinois, 1889
  • Ca d'Oro, Venice, 1424–36, Giovanni and Bartolomeo Buon
  • Villa Garches, Vaucresson, France, 1926–27, Le Corbusier
• Hierarchy


  The principle that in most architectural compositions, real differences exist among their forms and spaces, reflecting the degree of importance of these forms and spaces, as well as the functional, formal, and symbolic roles they play in the organization
• Hierarchy


  • Exceptional size
  • Unique shape
  • Strategic location
• Hierarchy by size


  A form or space may dominate an architectural composition by being significantly different in size from all the other elements
• Hierarchy by shape


  A form or space can be made visually dominant and important by clearly differentiating its shape from that of the other elements
• Hierarchy by placement


  A form or space may be strategically placed to call attention to itself as the most important element
• Buildings with hierarchy


  • View of Florence illustrating the dominance of the cathedral over the urban landscape
  • Heathcote (Hemingway House), Ilkley, Yorkshire, England, 1906, Sir Edwin Lutyens
  • Potala Palace, Lhasa, Tibet (China), 17th century
  • Hôtel Amelot, Paris, 1710–13, Germain Boffrand
  • Institute of Technology, Otaniemi, Finland, 1955–64, Alvar Aalto
  • Lowell Walter House, Quasqueton, Iowa,1949, Frank Lloyd Wright
  • Legislative Assembly Building, Chandigarh, Capitol Complex of Punjab, India, 1956–59, Le Corbusier
  • Town Hall, Seinäjoki, 1961-65, Alvar Aalto
  • Olivetti Training School, Haslemere, England, 1969–72, James Stirling
  • History Faculty Building, Cambridge University, England, 1964–67, James Stirling
  • Plan of an Ideal Church, c. 1490, Leonardo da Vinci
  • S.S. Sergius and Bacchus, Constantinople (Istanbul), A.D. 525–30
  • First Unitarian Church, First Design, Rochester, New York, 1959, Louis Kahn
  • Palace of Charles V, Granada, 1527–68, Pedro Machuca
• Datum


  A line, plane, or volume of reference to which other elements in a composition can relate, organizing a random pattern of elements through its regularity, continuity, and constant presence
• Buildings using datum


  • Mahavihara at Nalanda, India, 6th–7th century A.D.
  • Koshino House, Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, 1979–84, Tadao Ando
  • Social Science Research Center, Berlin, Germany, 1981, James Stirling
  • West Precinct, Horyu-Ji Temple, Nara Prefecture, Japan, A.D. 607–746
  • Durbar Square, Patan, Nepal, renovated 17th century
  • Plan of Safavid Isfahan, Iran
  • Plan of the Agora, Athens
  • Piazza San Marco, Venice
  • DeVore House (Project), Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, 1954, Louis Kahn
  • Marin County Civic Center, San Rafael, California, 1957, Frank Lloyd Wright
  • Cultural Center (Competition Entry), Leverkusen, Germany, 1962, Alvar Aalto
  • Salvation Army Hostel, Paris, 1928–33, Le Corbusier
  • Town Plan of Timgad, a Roman colony in North Africa founded 100 B.C.
  • Plan of Miletus, 5th century B.C.
  • Museum, Ahmedabad, India, 1954–57, Le Corbusier
  • Structural Grid of Main Building, Jewish Community Center, Trenton, New Jersey, 1954–59, Louis Kahn
  • German Pavilion, Montreal World Exposition, 1966–67, Rolf Gutbrod and Frei Otto
  • Centre Le Corbusier, Zurich, 1963–67, Le Corbusier
  • Plan of Huánoco, an Inca Town in central Peru
  • Plan of Peristyle Courtyard Houses on Delos, a Greek island in the Aegean
  • Place Royale, Paris, France, 18th century
  • Plan of Civic Center, Isfahan, Capital of Persia, 1628
  • Humanyun's Tomb, Delhi, 1570, Mirak Mirza Ghiyas
  • Site plan of Shwezigon Pagoda, Pagan, 12th century
  • Piazza Armerina, Sicily, Italy, early 4th century
  • Fire Temple at Sarvistan, Iran, 5th–8th century
  • Library, Philip Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire, 1967–72, Louis Kahn
  • Nuremberg Charterhouse, 1383
• Rhythm


  Any movement characterized by a patterned recurrence of elements or motifs at regular or irregular intervals, organizing forms and spaces in architecture
• Library, Philip Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire

  1967–72, Louis Kahn
• Nuremberg Charterhouse


  1383
• Rhythm


  Any movement characterized by a patterned recurrence of elements or motifs at regular or irregular intervals
• The movement may be of our eyes as we follow recurring elements in a composition, or of our bodies as we advance through a sequence of spaces</b>
• Rhythm incorporates the fundamental notion of repetition as a device to organize forms and spaces in architecture
• Almost all building types incorporate elements that are by their nature repetitive
• Beams and columns repeat themselves to form repetitive structural bays and modules of space
• Windows and doors repeatedly puncture the surfaces of a building to allow light, air, views, and people to enter the interior
• Spaces often recur to accommodate similar or repetitive functional requirements in the building program
• Repetition


  The simplest form of repetition is a linear pattern of redundant elements
• Elements need not be perfectly identical to be grouped in a repetitive fashion
• Characteristics that allow elements to belong to the same family

  • Size
  • Shape
  • Detail Characteristics
• Repetition


  Utilizes concepts of visual perception to order recurring elements in a composition: closeness/proximity, visual characteristics in common
• Structural patterns often incorporate the repetition of vertical supports at regular or harmonious intervals which define modular bays or divisions of space
• Classification of Temples according to the arrangements of the colonnades

  • Pseudodipteral
  • Dipteral
  • Distyle in Antis
  • Prostyle
  • Amphiprostyle
  • Peripteral
• Structural repetition


  • Cathedral at Reims, 1211–1290
  • Cathedral at Salisbury, 1220–60
• Repetition in plans


  • Jami Masjid, Gulbarga, India, 1367
  • Typical Floor Plan, Unité d'Habitation, Marseilles, 1946–52, Le Corbusier