INTRODUCTION TO ARCHITECTURE Page no2

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INTRODUCTION TO ARCHITECTURE

1. INTRODUCTION TO ARCHITECTURE

Architecture is the mother of arts of sculpture, painting and allied decorative crafts. Architecture is the symbol of power and glory. It is a record of continuous evolution and adapted to meet the changing needs of nations in their religious, political and domestic development.

Meaning of the architecture is well understood with the study of built environment. How environment, culture, religion, social values and norms influence to create built environment. However, there are some basic elements which can be helpful to understand the exact meaning of the architecture.

The fundamentals of architecture, in general, are Introduction , creativity, architectural design, context & architecture and architecture & society .

Architecture has no meaning without context. Lahore can be served as a case study to develop the understanding of the built environment. The historical background of the Lahore can support to clear the concepts of the students about architecture.

There are systems which define the meaning of architecture.

1. Architectural systems and orders

2. Spatial systems

3. Structural systems

4. Enclosure system

5. Circulation system

6. Context

1: ARCHITECTURAL SYSTEMS

The architecture of space, structure and enclosure can be defined with the help of following elements.

· Organizational pattern, relationships, clarity, hierarchy

· Formal image and spatial definition

· Qualities of shape, color, texture, scale, proportion

· Qualities of surfaces, edges and openings.

Architecture is experienced through movement in space-time by

· Approach and entry

· Path configuration and excess

· Sequence of spaces

· Light, view, touch, hearing and smell

It is achieved by means of technology considering

· Structure and enclosure

· Environmental protection and comfort

· Health, safety and welfare

· Durability and sustainability

Accommodating a program of

· User’s requirements, needs, aspirations

· Socio-cultural factors

· Economic factors

· Legal constraints

· Historical traditions and precedents

Compatible with its context

· Site and environment

· Climate, sun, wind, temperature , protection

· Geography, soils, topography, vegetation, water

· Sensory and cultural characteristics of the place

2: SPATIAL SYSTEMS

The three dimensional integration of program elements and spaces accommodates the multiple functions and relationships of a house.

3: STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS

A grid of columns supports horizontal beams and slabs. The cantilever acknowledges the direction of approach along the longitudinal axis.

4: ENCLOSURE SYSTEMS

Page no3

INTRODUCTION TO ARCHITECTURE

2012-07-13T08:44:00.002-07:00

INTRODUCTION TO ARCHITECTURE

1. INTRODUCTION TO ARCHITECTURE

The fundamentals of architecture, in general, are Introduction , creativity, architectural design, context & architecture and architecture & society .

INTRODUCTION TO ARCHITECTURE Page no3

2012-07-13T08:40:00.000-07:00

Four exterior wall planes define a rectangular volume that contains the program elements and spaces. It includes inside order and outside order. Inside order accommodates the multiple functions of any building and it inherent a sense of privacy. Its outside order expresses the utility of the idea of any building at any easy scale appropriate to the green field.

5: CIRCULATION SYSTEMS

· The stair and ramp penetrate and link the three levels and heighten the viewer’s perception of forms in space and light.

· The curved form of the entrance foyer reflects the movement of the automobile.

6: CONTEXT

· A simple exterior form wraps around a complex interior organization of forms and spaces.

· Elevating the main floor provides a better view and avoids the humidity of the ground.

· A garden terrace distributes sunlight to the spaces gathered around it.

1.1 MEANING /DEFINITION OF ARCHITECTURE.

Architecture is a relationship between form & space and the principles that guide their ordering in the built environment.

Form & Space are the critical means of architecture that comprises a design vocabulary that is both elemental and timeless. FORM & SPACE are inter-related and organized to shape up of our environment. The fundamental elements and principles of architectural design manifest themselves over the course of human history and adds an electronic component to introduce the aspects of time and movement to the exposition of elements and principles.

Architecture is a visual art, so it require graphic representation both abstract and simple. Architecture is an art for all to learn because all are concerned with it.

Architecture depends upon order, arrangement, symmetry, propriety and economy. All of these must be built with due reference to durability, convenience and beauty. Durability will be assured when foundations are carried down to the solid grounds and materials wisely and liberally selected. Convenience, when the arrangements of the apartments is faultless and presents no hindrance to use, and when each class of building is assigned to its suitable and appropriate exposure and beauty, when the appearance of the work is pleasing and in good taste and when its members are in due proportion according to correct principles of symmetry. ( John Ruskin )

Architecture is the masterly, correct and magnificent play of masses brought together in light. ( Vitruvius )

Built environment has various purposes; to shelter people and their activities and possessions from the elements, from human and animal enemies, and from supernatural powers; to establish place, to create a humanized, safe area in a profane and potentially dangerous world; to stress social identity and indicate status .

( Louis Kahn )

1.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF ARCHITECTURE

Characteristics of any building always relate with the period in which it has been constructed. To understand the philosophy behind the design, we have to study the other factors also which are affecting the architecture e.g. social values, economical values, cultural values and even religious values. We have to study user requirements, needs, aspirations also. Some of the time, legal constraints play an important role to define the character of a building. Character of any building is defined by the use of elements to derive the form, relationship of form with the function and the technology available at that time. Function covers the user’s requirements, needs and aspirations. Legal constraints play an important role to define the character of the built environment. Historical traditions provides the basis in the development of the built environment. Climate , sun, wind, temperature and precipitation defines the context of any building.

How building styles are identified hugeness, spacious, darkness, monumental scale etc.

According to Vitruvius, a good building should satisfy the three principles of firmitatis utilitatis venustatis, which translates roughly as -

Durability - it should stand up robustly and remain in good condition.
Utility - it should be useful and function well for the people using it.
Beauty - it should delight people and raise their spirits.

According to Vitruvius, the architect should strive to fulfill each of these three attributes as well as possible. Leone Battista Alberti, who elaborates on the ideas of Vitruvius in his treatise, De Re Aedificatoria, saw beauty primarily as a matter of proportion, although ornament also played a part. For Alberti, the rules of proportion were those that governed the idealised human figure, the Golden mean. The most important aspect of beauty was therefore an inherent part of an object, rather than something applied superficially; and was based on universal, recognisable truths. The notion of style in the arts was not developed until the 16th century, with the writing of Vasari. The treatises, by the 18th century, had been translated into Italian, French, Spanish and English.

The Parthenon, Athens, Greece, "the supreme example among architectural sites." (Fletcher).

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS of any area specifies that either building is friendly with nature.

· Love for nature

· True monumental scale

· Human scale

· Monumental gateways

· Geometric patterns & surface decoration

· Material used

The character of any building is defined by the use of the building.

· Buildings used for the religious activities

· Buildings used for the residential purposes

The architecture of different parts of Asia developed along different lines from that of Europe, Buddhist, Hindu, Mughal and Sikh architecture each having different characteristics. Buddhist architecture, in particular, showed great regional diversity. In many Asian countries a pantheistic religion led to architectural forms that were designed specifically to enhance the natural landscape.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

The architecture has attractive appearance. Main entrance are more dominant part of the buildings. One can judge in his first eye that entrance is there.

HUGE AND MASSIVE

Massiveness is one of the characteristics of colonial period. The buildings give the feeling of massiveness because of thicker walls and more heights.

HUGE AND IMPRESSIVE

The building heights and beautiful brickwork give the feeling of impressiveness.

DARK

Long central corridors along the both sides of the rooms without any break create the effects of darkness.

SPACIOUS

Although the architecture of British periods is massiveness and dark but it has also the characteristics of spaciousness. There are bigger rooms having more heights to strengthen the effect of spaciousness.

SYMMETRY

Symmetry is the most common characteristics of BRITISH PERIOD in plans, elevation of buildings. It gives the balanced feeling.

1.3 ARCHITECTURE AS A SCIENCE

Architecture is dynamic, not static. It is physical. Construction of building is science, not art, it involves calculations and method.

The 19th century English art critic, John Ruskin, in his Seven Lamps of Architecture, published 1849, was much narrower in his view of what constituted architecture. Architecture was the "art which so disposes and adorns the edifices raised by men ... that the sight of them" contributes "to his mental health, power, and pleasure".

On the difference between the ideals of "architecture" and mere "construction", the renowned 20th C. architect Le Corbusier wrote: "You employ stone, wood, and concrete, and with these materials you build houses and palaces: that is construction. Ingenuity is at work. But suddenly you touch my heart, you do me good. I am happy and I say: This is beautiful. That is Architecture".

The National Congress of Brazil, designed by Oscar Niemeyer.

Architects such as Mies van der Rohe, Philip Johnson and Marcel Breuer worked to create beauty based on the inherent qualities of building materials and modern construction techniques, trading traditional historic forms for simplified geometric forms, celebrating the new means and methods made possible by the Industrial Revolution, including steel-frame construction, which gave birth to high-rise superstructures. By mid-century, Modernism had morphed into the International Style, an aesthetic epitomized in many ways by the Twin Towers of New York's World Trade Center.

Architecture is the practice of design buildings and other physical structures. It is often considered a form of art and science due to the massive amount of technical knowledge required to implement a design that has been created from nothing.

Architects have many factors to consider when constructing a building such as mass, texture, materials, light/shadow, cost, construction and technology. All of these factors are manipulated in order to create an end design that appears both functional and aesthetically pleasing.

A very important part of modern architecture is that it is not merely a visual art form. Complete architecture takes into account all of the human senses as well as the environment around the structure, and management of power, water and other utilities. There is also a common concept among architects that the art cannot exist in a vacuum and that it must have context, surroundings and contrasts to be complete.

The history of architecture is also extremely interesting, as human technology and scientific and mathematical understanding increases, so to did our ability to build wonderful buildings. Architecture was born out of a combination of needs, such as shelter, security and worship and means, mainly the local building materials and physical ability. Early architecture was mainly vernacular architecture, a special type of architecture which is based around local needs and means. As it evolved the classic civilizations were born and great time and effort put into crafting areas of religious or political significance and even back in these times architecture was more than just a visual product. The roman Coliseum was designed so that all of the thousands of crowd members could see and hear the action at the centre and the way it amplifies sound was no accident.

As time passed architecture developed more and more with medieval structures like the castle and fort proving architecture had a place on the battle field as well as on city floor. During this period architects, especially in Europe, began to form guilds (as many craftsman did then). These guilds were design to help architects work together and achieve more monumental things, a practice that is still in society today in the form of architect partnerships.

In the renaissance architecture became a very personal affair and moved quickly away from war and religion. Many famous architects are from this period as this marked the start of buildings recognizing their architects with individuals such as Palladio and Brunelleschi going down in history.

Today architecture is everywhere, almost any public building is professional designed and many compete for recognition inside their respective cities. There is massive emphasis on certain elements such as energy efficiency, environmental blending and the use of environmentally friendly construction materials. Design is also becoming increasingly advanced with superstructures like the Burj Al Arab 7 star hotel.

1.4 ARCHITECTURE AS AN ART

Architecture, the art and science of designing and erecting buildings, is a vast subject -- every culture since the dawn of time has had its own distinct style of making shelters for people to live in, work in, and store things in. These shelters have since evolved to become the house that we know today.

Architects provide care in the shaping of our built environment. A wider definition would include within its scope the design of the total built environment, from the macrolevel of town planning, urban design, and landscape architecture to the microlevel of furniture.

The earliest Architects were definitely not specialists, but someone who erects basic dwellings using simple tools and materials found adjacent to the site. Today, architects

are licensed by the a jurisdiction to provide design services to the public through the practice of architecture.

Architectural works are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art. Historical civilizations are often identified with their surviving architectural achievements.

Architecture sometimes refers to the activity of designing any kind of system and the term is common in the information technology world

There are systems which define the meaning of architecture.

1. Architectural systems and orders

2. Spatial systems

3. Structural systems

4. Enclosure system

5. Circulation system

Context

ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING

The Concertgebouw (concert hall) in Amsterdam, by Adolf Leonard van Gendt, illustration published 1888.

An architectural drawing or architect's drawing is a technical drawing of a building (or building project) that falls within the definition of architecture. Architectural drawings are used by architects and others for a number of purposes: to develop a design idea into a coherent proposal, to communicate ideas and concepts, to convince clients of the merits of a design, to enable a building contractor to construct it, as a record of the completed work, and to make a record of a building that already exists.

Architectural drawings are drawn according to a set of convictions, which include particular views (floor plan, section etc.), sheet sizes, units of measurement and scales, annotation and cross referencing. Conventionally, drawings were made in ink on paper or a similar material, and any copies required had to be laboriously made by hand. The twentieth century saw a shift to drawing on tracing paper, so that mechanical copies could be run off efficiently.

The development of the computer had a major impact on the methods used to design and create technical drawings,making manual draughting almost obsolete, and opening up new possibilities of form using organic shapes and complex geometry. Today the vast majority of drawings are created using CAD software.

SKETCHES AND DIAGRAMS

Sketch of a building.

Diagram of an arch.

A sketch is a rapidly executed freehand drawing, a quick way to record and develop an idea, not intended as a finished work. A diagram may also be drawn freehand but deals with symbols, to develop the logic of a design. Both may be worked up into a more presentable form and used to communicate the principles of a design.

In architecture, the finished work is expensive and time consuming, so it is important to resolve the design as fully as possible before construction work begins. Complex modern buildings involve a large team of different specialist disciplines, and communication at the early design stages is essential to keep the design moving towards a coordinated outcome. Architects (and other designers) start investigating a new design with sketches and diagrams, to develop a rough design that provides an adequate response to the particular design problems

SIZE AND SCALE

Paper size, Engineer's scale, Architect's scale, and Metric scale

The size of drawings reflects the materials available and the size that is convenient to transport – rolled up or folded, laid out on a table, or pinned up on a wall. The draughting process may impose limitations on the size that is realistically workable. Sizes are determined by a consistent paper size system, according to local usage.

Architectural drawings are drawn to scale, so that relative sizes are correctly represented. The scale is chosen both to ensure the whole building will fit on the chosen sheet size, and to show the required amount of detail. At the scale of one eighth of an inch to one foot (1/96th) or the metric equivalent 1 to 100, walls are typically shown as simple outlines corresponding to the overall thickness. At a larger scale, half an inch to one foot (1/24th) or the nearest common metric equivalent 1 to 20, the layers of different materials that make up the wall construction are shown. Construction details are drawn to a larger scale, in some cases full size (1 to 1 scale).

Scale drawings enable dimensions to be 'read' off the drawing, i.e. measured directly. Imperial scales (feet and inches), while lacking the simple logic of the metric system, are equally readable using an ordinary ruler. On a one-eights inch to one foot scale drawing, the one-eighth divisions on the ruler can be read off as feet. Architects normally use a scale ruler with different scales marked on each edge. A third method, used by builders in estimating, is to measure directly off the drawing and multiply by the

This section deals with the conventional views used to represent a building or structure. See the Types of architectural drawing section below for drawings classified according to their purpose.

FLOOR PLAN

Principal floor plans of the Queen's House, Greenwich (UK).

A floor plan is the most fundamental architectural diagram, a view from above showing the arrangement of spaces in building in the same way as a map, but showing the arrangement at a particular level of a building. Technically it is a horizontal section cut though a building (conventionally at three feet / one metre above floor level), showing walls, window and door openings and other features at that level. The plan view includes anything that could be seen below that level: the floor, stairs (but only up to the plan level), fittings and sometimes furniture. Objects above the plan level (e.g. beams overhead) can be indicated as dotted lines.

Geometrically, plan view is defined as a vertical orthographic projection of an object on to a horizontal plane, with the horizontal plane cutting through the building.

SITE PLAN

Site plan of the proposed Chicago Spire by Santiago Calatrava.

A site plan is a specific type of plan, showing the whole context of a building or group of buildings. A site plan shows property boundaries and means of access to the site, and nearby structures if they are relevant to the design. For a development on an urban site, the site plan may need to show adjoining streets to demonstrate how the design fits in to the urban fabric. Within the site boundary, the site plan gives an overview of the entire scope of work. It shows the buildings (if any) already existing and those that are proposed, usually as a building footprint; roads, parking lots, footpaths, hard landscaping, trees and planting. For a construction project, the site plan also needs to show all the services connections: drainage and sewer lines, water supply, electrical and communications cables, exterior lighting etc.^[10]^[11]

Site plans are commonly used to be used by jan represent a building proposal prior to detailed design: drawing up a site plan is a tool for deciding both the site layout and the size and orientation of proposed new buildings. A site plan is used to verify that a proposal complies with local development codes, including restrictions on historical sites. In this context the site plan forms part of a legal agreement, and there may be a requirement for it to be drawn up by a licenced professional: architect, engineer, landscape architect or land surveyor.^[12]

ELEVATION

Elevation of the principal façade of the Panthéon, Paris

An elevation is a view of a building seen from one side, a flat representation of one façade. This is the most common view used to describe the external appearance of a building. Each elevation is labelled in relation to the compass direction it faces, e.g. the north elevation of a building is the side that most closely faces north.^[13] Buildings are rarely a simple rectangular shape in plan, so a typical elevation may show all the parts of the building that are seen from a particular direction.

Geometrically, an elevation is a horizontal orthographic projection of a building on to a vertical plane, the vertical plane normally being parallel to one side of the building.

Architects also use the word elevation as a synonym for façade, so the north elevation is literally the north wall of the building.

CROSS SECTION

Section drawing of the Observatorium at Potsdam.

A cross section, also simply called a section, represents a vertical plane cut through the object, in the same way as a floor plan is a horizontal section viewed from the top. In the section view, everything cut by the section plane is shown as a bold line, often with a solid fill to show objects that are cut through, and anything seen beyond generally shown in a thinner line. Sections are used to describe the relationship between different levels of a building. In the Observatorium drawing illustrated here, the section shows the dome seen from the outside, a second dome that can only be seen inside the building, and the way the space between the two accommodates a large astronomical telescope: relationships that would be difficult to understand from plans alone.

A sectional elevation is a combination of a cross section, with elevations of other parts of the building seen beyond the section plane.

Geometrically, a cross section is a horizontal orthographic projection of a building on to a vertical plane, with the vertical plane cutting through the building.

ISOMETRIC AND AXONOMETRIC PROJECTIONS

18th century axonometric plan, Port-Royal-des-Champs.

Isometric and axonometric projections are a simple way of representing a three dimensional object, keeping the elements to scale and showing the relationship between several sides of the same object, so that the complexities of a shape can be clearly understood.

There is some confusion about the terms isometric and axonometric. “Axonometric is a word that has been used by architects for hundreds of years. Engineers use the word axonometric as a generic term to include isometric, diametric and trimetric drawings.” This article uses the terms in the architecture-specific sense.

Despite fairly complex geometrical explanations, for the purposes of practical draughting the difference between isometric and axonometric is simple (see diagram above). In both, the plan is drawn on a skewed or rotated grid, and the verticals are projected vertically on the page. All lines are drawn to scale so that relationships between elements are accurate. In many cases a different scale is required for different axes, and again this can be calculated but in practice was often simply estimated by eye.

An isometric uses a plan grid at 30 degrees from the horizontal in both directions, which distorts the plan shape. Isometric graph paper can be used to construct this kind of drawing. This view is useful to explain construction details (e.g. three dimensional joints in joinery). The isometric was the standard view until the mid twentieth century, remaining popular until the 1970s, especially for textbook diagrams and illustrations.^[15]^[16]
Cabinet projection is similar, but only one axis is skewed, the others being horizontal and vertical. Originally used in cabinet making, the advantage is that a principal side (e.g. a cabinet front) is displayed without distortion, so only the less important sides are skewed. The lines leading away from the eye are drawn at a reduced scale to lessen the degree of distortion. The cabinet projection is seen in Victorian engraved advertisements and architectural textbooks, but has virtually disappeared from general use.
An axonometric uses a 45 degree plan grid, which keeps the original orthogonal geometry of the plan. The great advantage of this view for architecture is that the draughtsman can work directly from a plan, without having to reconstruct it on a skewed grid. In theory the plan should be set at 45 degrees, but this introduces confusing coincidences where opposite corners align. Unwanted effects can be avoided by rotating the plan while still projecting vertically. This is sometimes called a planometric or plan oblique view, and allows freedom to choose any suitable angle to present the most useful view of an object.

Traditional draughting techniques used 30-60 and 45 degree set squares, and that determined the angles used in these views. Once the adjustable square became common those limitations were lifted.

The axonometric gained in popularity in the twentieth century, not just as a convenient diagram but as a formal presentation technique, adopted in particular by the Modern Movement Axonometric drawings feature prominently in the influential 1970's drawings

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