PRIMARY ELEMENTS
Point indicates a position
A point extended becomes a
Line with properties of:
- length
- direction
- position
A line extended becomes a
Plane with properties of:
- length and width - shape
- surface - orientation
- position
A plane extended becomes a
Volume with properties of:
- length, width and depth
- form and space - surface
- orientation - position
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PLANE
A line extended in a direction other than its intrinsic
direction becomes a plane.
Conceptually, a plane has length and width, but no depth.
Shape is the primary identifying characteristic of a plane.
It is determined by the contour of the line forming the
edges of a plane. Because our perception of shape can be
distorted by perspective foreshortening, we see the true
shape of a plane only when view it frontally.
The supplementary properties of a plane—its surface
color, pattern, and texture—affect its visual weight and
stability.
In the composition of a visual construction, a plane
serves to define the limits or boundaries of a volume. If
architecture as a visual art deals specifically with the
formation of three-dimensional volumes of mass and
space, then the plane should be regarded as a key
element in the vocabulary of architectural design.
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PLANE
Planes in architecture define three-dimensional volumes
of mass and space. The properties of each plane—size,
shape, color, texture—as well as their spatial relationship
to one another ultimately determine the visual attributes
of the form they define and the qualities of space they
enclose.
In Architectural design, we manipulate three generic types
of planes:
Overhead Plane
The overhead plane can be either the roof plane that
shelters the interior spaces of a building from the climatic
elements, or the ceiling plane that forms the upper
enclosing surface of a room.
Wall Plane
The wall plane, because of its vertical orientation, is
active in our normal field of vision and vital to the shaping
and enclosure of architectural space.
Base Plane
The base plane can be either the ground plane that serves
as the physical foundation and visual base for building
forms, or the floor plane that forms the lower enclosing
surface of a room upon which we walk.
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VOLUME
A plane extended in a direction other than its intrinsic
direction becomes a volume. Conceptually, a volume has
three dimensions: length, width and depth.
All volumes can be analyzed and understood to consist of:
- points or vertices where several planes come together
- lines or edges where two planes meet
- planes or surfaces which define the limits or boundaries of a volume.
Form is the primary identifying characteristic of a volume.
It established by the shapes and interrelationships of the
planes that describe the boundaries of the volume.
As the three-dimensional element in the vocabulary of
architectural design, a volume can be either a solid—
space displaced by mass—or a void—space contained or
enclosed by planes.
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PLANAR ELEMENTS
Schroder House, Utrecht, 1924-25, Gerrit Thomas Rietveld.
Asymmetrical compositions of simple rectangular forms and
primary colors characterized the de Stijl school of art and
architecture.
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