THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE IN

HISTORY

Arch. Ma. Theresa M. Austria PRC 10440

Architectural theory 

What is architectural Theory?

Architectural theory 

is the act of thinking, discussing, or most importantly writing about architecture

Architectural theory is taught in most architecture schools and is practiced by the world's leading architects

architecture theory takes are the lecture or dialogue, the treatise or book, and the paper project or competition entry

Architectural theory is often didactic As a result, styles and movements formed and

dissolved much more quickly than the relatively enduring modes in earlier history. It is to be expected that the use of the internet will further the discourse on architecture in the twenty first century

Architectural theory 

RESEARCH OF ARCHITECTURE – Research contributes to Design Theory

NATURE OF DESIGN THEORY

– Design Theory states facts -- Design Theory aids design

SCOPE OF ARCHITECTURE THEORY -- Includes all that is presented in the

handbooks of architects -- Includes legislation, norms and

standards, rules and methods -- Includes miscellaneous and

“unscientific” elements

Architectural theory 

WHY DESIGN THEORY? To aid the work of the architect and

improve its product Proven theory helps designers do work

better and more efficiently “Skill without knowledge is nothing”

(architect Jean Mignot, 1400 AD) UNDERSTANDING DESIGN THEORY

Theory does NOT necessarily PRECEDE design

PARADIGM = every new or established theory applied = STYLE

Architectural theory 

PHASES OF ARCHITECTURAL THEORY IN HISTORY

ANTIQUITY MIDDLE AGES RENAISSANCE NINETEENTH CENTURY TWENTIETH CENTURY CONTEMPORARY

Antiquity 

the first century BCE, works of Vitruvius was the first evidence of theory in architecture.

De Architecture or Ten Books of Architecture dedicated to the emperor Augustus

covers almost every aspect of Roman architecture, from town planning, materials, decorations, temples, water supplies

famous orders of architecture gathers three fundamental laws

that Architecture must obey, in order to be so considered: firmitas, utilitas, venustas:

influence on architects of the Renaissance period, rise of the Renaissance style

Antiquity 

Classic OrdersTuscanDoricIonicCorinthianComposite

Antiquity 

Renaissance Style

TEMPIETTO DI SAN PIETRO IN MONTORIO, ROME, 1502, BY BRAMANTE.

RAPHAEL'S UNUSED PLAN FOR ST. PETER'S BASILICA

Sant'Agostino, Rome, Giacomo di Pietrasanta, 1483 Façade of Santa Maria

Novella, 1456–70

Influenced as Niccoli, Brunelleschi and Leon Battista Alberti

Middle Ages

architectural knowledge was passed by transcription, word of mouth and technically in master builders' lodges

works that from this period were theological, and were transcriptions of the bible

The Abbot Suger's Liber de rebus in administratione sua gestis emerged with gothic architecture.

Villard de Honnecourt's portfolio of drawings from about the 1230s.

In Song Dynasty China, Li Jie published the Yingzao Fashi in 1103, which was an architectural treatise that codified elements of Chinese architecture

Middle Ages

SUGER OF SAINT-DENIS ON A MEDIEVAL WINDOW

THE PORTFOLIO OF VILLARD DE HONNECOURT (ABOUT 1230)

PERPETUUM MOBILE OF VILLARD DE HONNECOURT (ABOUT 1230).

PARTS OF THE GOTHIC CATHEDRAL (NOTRE-DAME DE CHARTRES)

Middle AgesREVOLVING-BUDDHIST SUTRA CASE, YINGZAO FASHI (1103)

DIAGRAM OF CORBEL WOOD BRACKET SUPPORTS ("DOUGONG") HOLDING UP A MULTI-INCLINED ROOF, FROM THE ARCHITECTURAL TREATISE YINGZAO FASHI(1103 AD)

TIMBER FRAME PAIFANG IN YINGZAO FASHI

YINGZAO FASHI  - 'TREATISE ON ARCHITECTURAL METHODS' OR 'STATE BUILDING STANDARDS') IS A TECHNICAL TREATISE ON ARCHITECTURE AND CRAFTSMANSHIP WRITTEN BY THE CHINESE AUTHOR LI JIE 

Renaissance

first great work of architectural theory of this period belongs to Leon Battista Alberti, De Re Aedificatoria. Alberti includes a wide variety of literary sources,

including Plato and Aristotle, presenting concise version of sociology of architecture.

De re aedificatoria is subdivided into ten books

Vitruvius, the core of the most profound theoretical tradition

Alberti, good architecture is validated through the Vitruvian triad, which defines its purpose.

Renaissance

HUMANIST ORIGINS OF CREATIVE ARCHITECTURE - Prof. Giuliana Limiti Universita’ di Roma III, Italyhttp://www.generativedesign.com/asialink/de22.htm

Nineteenth century

Marc-Antoine Laugier's seminal Essai, provided the foundation for two generations of international activity around the core themes of CLASSICISM, PRIMITIVISM AND A "RETURN TO NATURE.“

Reaction against the dominance of neo-classical architecture came to the fore in the 1820s with Augustus Pugin providing a moral and theoretical basis for GOTHIC REVIVAL ARCHITECTURE, and in the 1840s John Ruskin developed this ethos.

Nineteenth centuryNeo Classicism, Gothic Revial

THE SCHERMERHORN SYMPHONY CENTER IN NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE WAS BUILT IN 2006.

ESSAI SUR L'ARCHITECTURE, FRONTISPIECE.

NOTABLE NEO-GOTHIC EDIFICES: TOP: PALACE OF WESTMINSTER, LONDON;LEFT: CATHEDRAL OF LEARNING, PITTSBURGH;RIGHT: SINT-PETRUS-EN-PAULUSKERK, OSTEND.

Nineteenth century

Horatio Greenough published the essay American Architecture in August 1843 in which he rejected the imitation of old styles of buildings and outlined the functional relationship between architecture and decoration. Theory that anticipated FUNCTIONALISM in modern architecture.

 FUNCTIONALISM - in building can be traced back to the Vitruvian triad. Functionalism is the principle that architects should design a building based on the purpose of that building.

Twentieth CenturyFunctionalism Architecture

THE TOWER OF THE HELSINKI OLYMPIC STADIUM (Y. LINDEGREN & T. JÄNTTI, BUILT IN 1934-38)

AUDITORIUM, AARHUS UNIVERSITY.

THE BAILEY HOUSE, CASE STUDY HOUSE #21

THE SEAGRAM BUILDING, NEW YORK CITY, 1958. REGARDED AS ONE OF THE FINEST EXAMPLES OF THE FUNCTIONALIST AESTHETIC AND A MASTERPIECE OF CORPORATE MODERNISM.

Nineteenth century

the end of the century – “blossoming of theoretical activity”

ART NOUVEAU - is characterized by organic, especially floral and other plant-inspired motifs, as well as highly stylized, flowing curvilinear forms. is an approach to design according to which artists should work on everything from architecture to furniture, making art part of everyday life.

 VIENNA SECESSION. - focused on bringing purer geometric forms into the designs of their buildings

Nineteenth centuryArt Nouveau & Viena Secession

SZEGED, HUNGARY REÖK PALACE

THE CASA BATLLÓ, ALREADY BUILT IN 1877, WAS REMODELLED IN THE BARCELONA MANIFESTATION OF ART NOUVEAU, MODERNISME, BY ANTONI GAUDÍ AND JOSEP MARIA JUJOL IN 1904–1906

ART NOUVEAU IS RARELY SO FULLY IN CONTROL OF ARCHITECTURE: DOORWAY AT PLACE ETIENNE PERNET, 24 (PARIS 15E), 1905 ALFRED WAGON, ARCHITECT

THE SECESSION BUILDING AT VIENNA, BUILT IN 1897 BY JOSEPH MARIA OLBRICH FOR EXHIBITIONS OF THE SECESSION GROUP

Nineteenth century On the Continent - theories of Viollet-le-

Duc and Gottfried Semper provided the springboard for enormous vitality of thought dedicated to architectural innovation and the renovation of the notion of style – REALISM IN ARCHITECTURE

THE THOMASKIRCHE IN LEIPZIG BY CONSTANTIN LIPSIUS

FEDERAL PALACE OF SWITZERLAND BY HANS AUER

Twentieth century   Camillo Sitte published

the City Planning According to Artistic Principles which was not exactly a criticism of architectural form, but more precisely an aesthetic criticism of the nineteenth century's urbanism. For Sitte, the most important is

not the architectural shape or form of each building, but the inherent creative quality of urban space, the whole as much more than the sum of its parts.

Camillo Sitte’s sketche on his theories in city plannning.

Twentieth century

 MODERNIST MOVEMENTS – rejected Sitte’s theory and members of this movements are Le Corbusier and Louis Sullivan who penned his famous adage "form forever follows function“ these criticsm eventually resulted in the International Style Movement.

The typical INTERNATIONAL STYLE high-rise usually consists of the following:

Square or rectangular footprint Simple cubic "extruded rectangle" form Windows running in broken horizontal rows forming

a grid All facade angles are 90 degrees.

Twentieth century

famous chair designed by Marcel Breuer

The 'Glass Palace' (1935) in the Netherlands - functional and open

Modern architecture is usually characterized by:an adoption of the principle that the materials and functional requirements determine the resultan adoption of the machine aesthetican emphasis of horizontal and vertical linesa creation of ornament using the structure and theme of the building, or a rejection of ornamentation.a simplification of form and elimination of "unnecessary detail"an adoption of expressed structureForm follows function

 Another influential planning theorist of the modernist was Ebenezer Howard, who founded the GARDEN CITY MOVEMENT.

This movement formed communities with architecture in the Arts and Crafts style at Letchworth and Welwyn Garden City and popularised the style as domestic architecture.

Utopian Cities

Twentieth century

 Ebenezer Howard's 3 magnets diagram which addressed the question 'where will the people go?', The choices being 'town', 'country' or 'town-country'

Twentieth century

Frank Lloyd Wright contradicts the tenets of International style, an industrialized architecture to reshape society,

 Wright promoted organic architecture, was a leader of the PRAIRIE SCHOOL MOVEMENT of architecture 

Twentieth century

Twentieth century

Towards the end of the century POSTMODERN ARCHITECTURE reacted against the austerity of High Modern (International Style) principles, viewed as narrowly normative and doctrinaire.

Postmodern architecture has also been described as "neo-eclectic", where reference and ornament have returned to the facade, replacing the aggressively unornamented modern styles. This eclecticism is often combined with the use of non-orthogonal angles and unusual surfaces.

Twentieth Century

BANK OF AMERICA CENTER IN HOUSTON BY JOHN BURGEE AND PHILIP JOHNSON. IT COMBINES ARCHITECTURE ELEMENTS OF PRE-WWII SKYSCRAPERSWITH ELEMENTS OF MODERN AESTHETICS.

METROPOLITAN THEATER MANILA DESIGNED BY JUAN ARELLANO 

Contemporary theories notion of AVANT-GARDISM rapid rise of urbanism and globalization employing high technology tied into the

general concerns such as ecology, mass media, and economism.

resurgence of the old "organic design" theories, but in a much more scientific setting.

BIOMIMICRY which is the explicit copying of forms and structures found in biological organisms for buildings. Architects design organic-looking buildings in the belief that by copying nature – organic architecture reaching a more attractive form

Contemporary theoriesOrganic Architecture & Biomimicry

Contemporary theories COMPUTATIONAL

CREATIVITY in architecture - Genetic algorithms developed in computer science are applied to evolve designs on a computer, and some of these are proposed and built as actual structures.

There exists, however, a controversy as to whether all such evolved designs through Design computing are truly appropriate for buildings, or are merely attractive forms that may be too complex for habitation

http://architectural-forms.com/Scripting_Presentation/History.html

Contemporary theoriesComputational Creativity

Contemporary theories

BIOPHILIA developed by E. O. Wilson suggests the advantages of forms inspired by biological structures, but in a more profound way than simple mimicry.

Wilson's original idea is extended by Stephen R. Kellert in the Biophilia hypothesis, and applied to architectural design in the book "Biophilic Design". Mathematical features of biological forms such as fractals, Scale-invariance

witnessing a growth of new ideas that are generating an entirely new type of architectural theory. It bears little resemblance to the dominant school of architectural theory based on linguistic analysis, philosophy, post-structuralism, or cultural theory.

Contemporary theories

Architectural theoriesSub classification of Architecture:

Religious architecture Domestic architecture Modern architecture Responsive architecture Sustainable architecture

Architectural theoriesRegional Architecture Australian architectural

styles Canadian architecture Georgian architecture Iranian architecture Islamic architecture New York City architecture Portuguese architecture Spanish architecture United States architecture

Architectural theoriesHistory and Style

1. Architectural mythology2. Neolithic architecture3. Ancient Egyptian

architecture4. Pyramids5. Armenian architecture6. Coptic architecture7. Dravidian architecture8. Maya architecture9. Sumerian architecture10. Classical architecture11. Mesoamerican

architecture12. Architecture of ancient

Greece13. Roman architecture14. Incan architecture15. Sassanid architecture16. Byzantine architecture17. Islamic architecture

18. Newari architecture19. Buddhist architecture20. Medieval architecture21. Iranian architecture22. Romanesque architecture23. Gothic architecture24 Hoysala architecture25. Vijayanagara Architecture26. Renaissance architecture27. Ottoman architecture28. Baroque architecture29. Neoclassical architecture30. Victorian architecture31. Neo-Renaissance32. Gothic Revival

architecture33. Modern architecture34. Postmodern architecture

Architectural theoriesBy Building Types

Amphitheatre  

Apartment building

Aquarium   Bank Bar Pub Basilica   Casino   Castle   Church Concert

hall   Conservato

ry  

Courthouse Fire station Fortification   Forum Gas station Green

building Hotel House Library   Market Mosque   Motel Museum  

Observatory   Office

building Opera

house   Palace   Railway

station   Restaurant Shopping

mall Skyscraper   Stock

exchange Supermarket Temple Terminal

station Warehouse

Architectural theoriesStructural Elements

Arch Atrium Beam Buttress Cantilever Column Dome Facade

Pier (architecture) Post and lintel Span Truss Vault Wall

THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE IN

HISTORY

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