The Voids:
As Taoists are aware, it is the empty space between physical elements that makes a thing useful. Post 15 focused mainly on how physical features guide an individual; however, the empty, walkable, surface defined by these physical features will have almost as much impact. Generally speaking, assuming a walkable surface is even throughout, these empty areas go by a simple formula: the larger the area relative to surrounding areas, the more it will tend to attract individuals to it.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
15
The Plan is the generator.
Without a plan, you have lack of order, and willfulness.
The Plan holds in itself the essence of sensation...
The eye observes, in a large interior, the multiple surfaces of walls and vaults; the cupolas determine the large spaces; the vaults display their own surfaces; the pillars and the walls adjust themselves in accordance with comprehensible reason. The whole structure rises from its base and is developed in accordance with a rule which is written on the ground in the plan... A profound projection of harmony; this is architecture...
The plan is not a pretty thing to be drawn, like a Madonna face; it is an austere abstraction; it is nothing more than an algebrization and a dry-looking thing. The work of mathematicians remains none the less one of the highest activities of the human spirit.
-Le Corbusier; Towards a New Architecture
The movement of individuals through spaces is primarily determined by the plan. Le Corbusier, in his discussion of the plan, was mostly speaking in abstract terms of the importance considering the plan in three aspects: geometric clarity, contemporary construction, and contemporary socioeconomic factors. This blog has concerned itself, so far, with the arguably more abstract study of human circulation through spaces, as analyzed in plan. It may seem at first blush that Le Corbusier and this blog are approaching the plan in completely different ways. However, it may not be stated outright by early modernists such as Le Corbusier, but I believe this blog touches upon underlying concepts which were inspiring these individuals on a more intuitive level. That is, I am simply digging deeper into holes already started.
Architects, generally speaking and where the luxury of financial resources allows, will spend time in the earliest phases of design work using a variety of diagrams or simple tools of analysis as aids in generating a plan. One popular tool is to illustrate where individuals will circulate through a building. This is often done with lines, arrows, or shaded areas placed over a plan. The downside of these approaches, in my experience, is that they primarily serve to communicate the architect's intention, and have less to do with aiding the architect in their design. So far, this blog has focused on circulation in much the same regard; that is, it has illustrated how individuals may move through a space as a reaction to physical features. To move another step towards a dialog between how individuals move through spaces and how to design spaces for individuals to move through, drawing plans from the point of view of how individuals perceive space would be helpful.
As Le Curbusier states, the plan is an abstraction, which it is, though I might also use the word diagram. Like a plan of action can be efficiently abstracted into a flow chart diagram, so can an architectural plan. The flow in this case, human circulation, can be looked at as a reaction to the local physical features within the field of an individual’s vision. These physical features define spaces for an individual based on what the individual sees, and thus a person is attracted to or guided by these physical features from one space, or area, to another, or within a space or area. For diagrammatic purposes, physical features can be abstracted into six primary elements:
Without a plan, you have lack of order, and willfulness.
The Plan holds in itself the essence of sensation...
The eye observes, in a large interior, the multiple surfaces of walls and vaults; the cupolas determine the large spaces; the vaults display their own surfaces; the pillars and the walls adjust themselves in accordance with comprehensible reason. The whole structure rises from its base and is developed in accordance with a rule which is written on the ground in the plan... A profound projection of harmony; this is architecture...
The plan is not a pretty thing to be drawn, like a Madonna face; it is an austere abstraction; it is nothing more than an algebrization and a dry-looking thing. The work of mathematicians remains none the less one of the highest activities of the human spirit.
-Le Corbusier; Towards a New Architecture
The movement of individuals through spaces is primarily determined by the plan. Le Corbusier, in his discussion of the plan, was mostly speaking in abstract terms of the importance considering the plan in three aspects: geometric clarity, contemporary construction, and contemporary socioeconomic factors. This blog has concerned itself, so far, with the arguably more abstract study of human circulation through spaces, as analyzed in plan. It may seem at first blush that Le Corbusier and this blog are approaching the plan in completely different ways. However, it may not be stated outright by early modernists such as Le Corbusier, but I believe this blog touches upon underlying concepts which were inspiring these individuals on a more intuitive level. That is, I am simply digging deeper into holes already started.
Architects, generally speaking and where the luxury of financial resources allows, will spend time in the earliest phases of design work using a variety of diagrams or simple tools of analysis as aids in generating a plan. One popular tool is to illustrate where individuals will circulate through a building. This is often done with lines, arrows, or shaded areas placed over a plan. The downside of these approaches, in my experience, is that they primarily serve to communicate the architect's intention, and have less to do with aiding the architect in their design. So far, this blog has focused on circulation in much the same regard; that is, it has illustrated how individuals may move through a space as a reaction to physical features. To move another step towards a dialog between how individuals move through spaces and how to design spaces for individuals to move through, drawing plans from the point of view of how individuals perceive space would be helpful.
As Le Curbusier states, the plan is an abstraction, which it is, though I might also use the word diagram. Like a plan of action can be efficiently abstracted into a flow chart diagram, so can an architectural plan. The flow in this case, human circulation, can be looked at as a reaction to the local physical features within the field of an individual’s vision. These physical features define spaces for an individual based on what the individual sees, and thus a person is attracted to or guided by these physical features from one space, or area, to another, or within a space or area. For diagrammatic purposes, physical features can be abstracted into six primary elements:
- Impermeable Barrier, such as a solid floor-to-ceiling wall.
- Permeable Barrier, such as low partition, a screen, or furniture. Note, by permeable, I mean visual permeance.
- Magnet, which is a point of interest such as a work of art, sculpture, or a window with a view.
- Precipice, such as window wall or balcony looking out at a spectacular view. This is essentially a hybrid of the magnet and barriers above except in the sense that they are inextricable with one another.
- Zonification, such as a change in height of ceiling or change in floor material. This covers elements which define zones but which do not necessarily prevent passage.
- Occupancy, such as an expected line of people, or clearance for someone’s legs in front of a bench. This will usually affect space in a similar way as a permeable barrier, except that occupancy is dynamic.
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