WHAT IS

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

ARCH121- INT. TO ARCHITECTURE

23-24 FALL SEMESTER
• ARCHITECTURE ENGAGES A CULTURE’S DEEPEST SOCIAL VALUES AND
EXPRESSES THEM IN MATERIAL, AESTHETIC FORM. THIS COURSE WILL TEACH YOU
HOW TO UNDERSTAND ARCHITECTURE AS BOTH CULTURAL EXPRESSION AND
TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT.
• WE'LL CONFRONT ARCHITECTURE’S COMPLEX RELATIONSHIP TO ITS SOCIAL
AND HISTORICAL CONTEXTS AND ITS AUDIENCES, ACHIEVEMENTS, AND
ASPIRATIONS. YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT ARCHITECTURE’S POWER OF
REPRESENTATION AND SEE HOW IT CAN PRODUCE COLLECTIVE MEANING AND
MEMORY.

• ARCHITECTURE IS ONE OF THE MOST COMPLEXLY NEGOTIATED AND GLOBALLY

RECOGNIZED CULTURAL PRACTICES, BOTH AS AN ACADEMIC SUBJECT AND A
PROFESSIONAL CAREER. ITS PRODUCTION INVOLVES ALL OF THE TECHNICAL,
AESTHETIC, POLITICAL, AND ECONOMIC ISSUES AT PLAY WITHIN A GIVEN
SOCIETY. JOIN US AS WE EXAMINE HOW ARCHITECTURE ENGAGES, MEDIATES,
AND EXPRESSES A CULTURE’S COMPLEX ASPIRATIONS.
OUTLINE OF THIS LECTURE

• TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IS ARCHITECTURE; WE SHOULD KNOW HISTORY OF

ARCHITECTURE

• CONTENTS OF THE HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE

– BUILDINGS AND OTHER ARCHITECTURAL OBJECTS
– THEORIES OF AESTHETICS AND DESIGN
– SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, POLITICAL, TECHNOLOGICAL AND OTHER
FACTORS

• OUTLINE HISTORY OF HUMAN CIVILIZATION

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• LEARNING OUTCOMES FROM THIS LECTURE

– HAVE A BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE MEANING OF ARCHITECTURE
– UNDERSTAND WHAT CONSTITUTE THE CONTENT OF A HISTORY OF
ARCHITECTURE

– KNOW THE IMPORTANT PERIODS AND EVENTS IN THE HISTORY OF HUMAN

CIVILIZATION
WHAT IS ARCHITECTURE

• WHAT IS ARCHITECTURE ?
• HOW CAN WE DEFINE ARCHITECTURE?
WHAT IS ARCHITECTURE

• DEFINITIONS FROM THREE SOURCES:

– THE ART AND SCIENCE OF BUILDINGS; ARCHITECTS RESEARCH, PLAN,
DESIGN AND ADMINISTER PROJECTS FOR INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS OF PEOPLE
(MARK AND LINA KEAN, AN INTERACTIVE INTRODUCTION TO ARCHITECTURE)
– THE PRACTICE OF BUILDING DESIGN AND ITS RESULTING PRODUCTS;
CUSTOMARY USAGE REFERS TO ONLY THOSE BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES THAT
ARE CULTURALLY SIGNIFICANT (ENCARTA ENCYCLOPEDIA).

– ARCHITECTURE AS THE ART AND SCIENCE OF DESIGNING AND

CONSTRUCTING BUILDINGS (CHING, A VISUAL DICTIONARY OF ARCHITECTURE)
WHAT IS ARCHITECTURE

• • FROM THE DEFINITIONS

– ARCHITECTURE REFERS TO PROCESS OF DESIGNING BUILDINGS AND
ADMINISTERING THEIR CONSTRUCTION

– IT ALSO REFERS TO THE BUILDINGS THAT ARE PRODUCT OF ARCHITECTURAL

DESIGN

IT REFERS THEREFORE TO BOTH THE PROCESS AND PRODUCT OF DESIGN AND

CONSTRUCTION
WHAT IS ARCHITECTURE

• WE MAY BETTER UNDERSTAND ARCHITECTURE BY LOOKING AT THE ROOT OF THE

WORD

– ARCHITECTURE IS DERIVED FROM WORD ARCHI-TECTON; ARCHI MEANS

CHIEF AND TECKTON MEANS BUILDING

– ARCHITECKTON THEREFORE MEANS CHIEF BUILDER

– ARCHITECTS ARE TRADITIONALLY MASTER BUILDERS WHO DESIGN AND
OVERSEE THE PROCESS OF TRANSLATING DESIGN INTO REAL BUILDINGS.
DEFINITION OF ARCHITECTURE ARCHITECTURE COULD BE BASICALLY DEFINED AS ‘THE
ART AND SCIENCE OF DESIGNING AND CONSTRUCTING BUILDINGS’.

• AS A WORD, ‘ARCHITECTURE’ CAN CARRY SEVERAL OTHER MEANINGS, SUCH AS:

1. THE PRODUCT OR RESULT OF ARCHITECTURAL WORK: BUILDINGS, URBAN AREAS AND
LANDSCAPES.
2. A STYLE OR METHOD OF BUILDING CHARACTERISTIC OF A PEOPLE, PLACE OR TIME.
3. THE PROFESSION OF DESIGNING BUILDINGS AND OTHER HABITABLE ENVIRONMENTS
BY ARCHITECTS.
4. THE CONSCIOUS ACT OF FORMING THINGS RESULTING IN A UNIFYING OR COHERENT
STRUCTURE.

SOURCE: CHING, F., VISUAL DICTIONARY OF ARCHITECTURE

IN ITS MOST SIMPLE FORM, ARCHITECTURE IS THE DESIGN AND ORGANIZATION OF
SPACES, AND IN ITS MOST COMMON FORM, IT IS THE DESIGN OF BUILDINGS, THEIR
INTERIORS AND SURROUNDING SPACES. THE ARCHITECT ACTS A DESIGNER, WHO CAN
WORK IN A WIDE RANGE OF SCALES, FROM A SCALE AS LARGE AS THE PLANNING OF
A CITY, UP TO A SCALE AS SMALL AS THE DESIGN OF A CHAIR.

Ching, F., Visual Dictionary of Architecture

Eames Lounge ChaiR

The Eames Lounge Chair and ottoman are furnishings made of molded
plywood and leather, designed by Charles and Ray Eames for the Herman
Miller furniture company. They are officially titled Eames Lounge and Ottoman
and were released in 1956 after years of development by designers.
Chandigarh Master plan by Le Corbusier
 ARCH. & CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
One of the definitions raise the issue that architecture refers to culturally
significant buildings; How do we determine cultural significance?

• DOES ARCHITECTURE REFER TO CULTURALLY SIGNIFICANT BUILDINGS

• HOW CAN WE IDENTIFY CULTURALLY SIGNIFICANT BUILDINGS
• ENVIRONMENT AND BEHAVIOR SCIENTIST DISAGREE AND WOULD CATEGORIZE
ALL HUMAN HABITAT AS ARCHITECTURE.
ARCHITECTURE IS ONE OF THE OLDEST PROFESSIONS IN HUMAN HISTORY. IT
APPEARED WITH HUMAN BEING’S NEED OF SHELTER TO PROTECT HIMSELF FROM
THE WEATHER AND DANGER OUTSIDE.

IT FIRST EVOLVED AS THE OUTCOME OF NEEDS (LIKE SHELTER, SECURITY, WORSHIP

ETC.) AND MEANS (LIKE THE AVAILABLE BUILDING MATERIALS AND SKILLS).

AS HUMAN CULTURES PROGRESSED, BUILDING BECAME A CRAFT AND LATER THE

FORMALIZED VERSION OF THAT CRAFT, WHICH IS PRACTICED BY EDUCATED
PROFESSIONALS, IS CALLED ‘ARCHITECTURE’.
 The main entrance to the Niah Caves at sunset.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/The_main_entrance_to_the_Niah_Caves_at_sunset..jpg
Primitive Maori shelter, New Zeland (Canterbury Museum) (left), Shelter of Chumash and
Ohlone Indians, USA (Photo: Norm Kidder) (right)
Natural form, Man-made form, Architectural artifact

As the famous architect Louis Kahn says “architecture is what nature cannot
make”. Indeed, human beings are one of the few animals that can build
buildings. Structures that some animals
build, such as some birds’, bees’, or white ants’ nests, indeed resemble our
buildings in terms of their structural economy.
For example a certain bird in South America (Rufous-breasted Spinetail) builds a two room nest,
with rooms tied to each other by a tube like structure. Or, white blind ants build structures out of
mud on the ground. Or, the sea mollusk nautilus builds a shell around itself out of calcium
carbonate. As it grows, this nautilus adds a new and bigger volume to its shell, and the small,
emptied part of the shell is filled with nitrogen, which gives the shell the quality of floating in the
water. These older parts of the shell are left as the record or the heritage of the animal’s history.
Nest of Rufous-breasted Spinetail,
South America
(Photo: ProAves Colombia)

White ant nest, Africa

(Photo: unknown

Nautilus shell
ARCHITECTURE IN EVERYDAY USAGE

• ARCHITECTURE MAY BE USED TO REFER TO

– THE PRODUCT OR RESULT OF ARCHITECTURE WORK.
– STYLE OR METHOD OF BUILDING (OR DESIGN) THAT IS CHARACTERISTICS OF
A PARTICULAR PEOPLE, PLACE OR TIME.

– THE PROFESSION OF DESIGNING BUILDINGS AND OTHER HABITABLE

ENVIRONMENTS.

• YOU SHOULD ALWAYS STRIVE TO PLACE THE USE OF THE TERM IN CONTEXT
CONTENTS OF ARCH. HISTORY

• IN ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY, WE SEEK TO

– STUDY BUILDINGS OF A PARTICULAR CIVILIZATION OVER THE PERIOD OF ITS
HISTORY.

– IDENTIFY AND STUDY THE FORCES THAT SHAPE THE BUILDINGS AND
BUILDING PRACTICES OF THE CIVILIZATION.

– UNDERSTAND HOW BUILDING PRACTICES CHANGED OVER TIME AND WHY

THEY CHANGED.
temple of hera

A Pyramide in Egypt

Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral

 Villa Savoye, Le Corbusier

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Frank GEHRY

AXEL SPRINGER MEDIA CAMPUS, OMA

CONTENTS OF ARCH. HISTORY

• HISTORY IS THEREFORE ESSENTIALLY A TOUR THROUGH DIFFERENT LOCATIONS

AND TIME FOCUSED ON THREE THINGS:

– BUILDINGS AND OTHER ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS

– THEORIES OF AESTHETICS AND DESIGN
– FORCES THAT SHAPE BUILDING PRACTICES
• WE WILL EXAMINE EACH IN DETAIL
BUILDINGS & OTHER ARCH ELEMENTS

• BUILDINGS ARE THE MAIN CONTENT OF A HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE COURSE

• IN HISTORY, THE REALITY OF WHAT WAS BUILT IN THE PAST IS CAPTURED
• BUILDINGS ARE STUDIED IN THEIR GEOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT AND TIME PERIOD
• THEY ARE EXAMINED FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF FUNCTION, FORM, SPACE,
APPLICATION OF DESIGN PRINCIPLES AND ADAPTATION TO THE PHYSICAL
ENVIRONMENT
THE AESTHETICS & METHOD

• BUILDINGS USUALLY SYMBOLIZE IDEAS OF AESTHETICS HELD BY A PEOPLE

• IN HISTORY, WE TRY TO UNDERSTAND THE IDEAS
AND BELIEFS OF A PEOPLE ABOUT BEAUTY AND THE RIGHT WAY TO DESIGN

• BY STUDYING SUCH IDEAS IN DIFFERENT BUILDINGS AND TIME PERIODS WE CAN

RECONSTRUCT THEIR THEORIES OF AESTHETICS

• WE CAN ALSO DETERMINE HOW IT HAS CHANGED WITH TIME

OTHER SOCIAL FACTORS

• SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, POLITICAL, TECHNOLOGICAL AND OTHER FACTORS PLAY

A MAJOR ROLE IN THE EVOLUTION OF PARTICULAR ARCHITECTURE OF A PLACE
OR PERIOD

• IN HISTORY, WE TRY TO UNDERSTAND HOW THESE FORCES SHAPE THE

ENVIRONMENT THAT LEADS TO THE PRODUCTION OF BUILDINGS

• HISTORY IN THIS RESPECT IS MORE LIKE A STUDY OF THE CULTURAL

DEVELOPMENT OF CIVILIZATIONS WITH ARCHITECTURE AS A REPRESENTATION OF
THE CIVILIZATIONS

• IN REPRESENTING THE CIVILIZATIONS, ARCHITECTURE REPRESENTS ITS HISTORY

AND ACHIEVEMENTS
Parthenon in Ancient Greece made to honor the Greek goddess Athena (left), Taj Mahal
in India made as a mausoleum to honor the Emperor Shah Cihan’s wife Mumtaz Mahal
(right)
AS OUR EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE DEVELOPS AND AS THE CULTURAL AND
ENVIRONMENTAL CIRCUMSTANCES CHANGE, WE CHANGE AND EVOLVE THIS
ARCHITECTURAL ENVIRONMENT. BUT IF WE WANT TO PROTECT OUR IDENTITY, WE
SHOULD TAKE OPTIMUM CARE IN PROTECTING THE “SHELL” OF OUR PAST.
BECAUSE THAT “SHELL” (OR ARCHITECTURE) OF OUR PAST IS THE PHYSICAL
RECORD OF OUR LIVES, OUR SUCCESSES AND ASPIRATIONS. IT IS THE CULTURAL
HERITAGE THAT IS LEFT TO US.

AS FAMOUS THINKER JOHN RUSKIN SAID: “GREAT NATIONS WRITE THEIR

AUTOBIOGRAPHIES IN THREE MANUSCRIPTS–THE BOOK OF THEIR DEEDS, THE BOOK
OF THEIR WORDS, AND THE BOOK OF THEIR ART. NOT ONE OF THESE CAN BE
UNDERSTOOD UNLESS WE READ THE OTHER TWO; BUT OF THE THREE, THE ONLY
QUITE TRUSTWORTHY ONE IS THE LAST.”

AS RIGHTLY SAID, ARCHITECTURE IS LIKE THE HISTORY AND LITERATURE OF ONE

NATION IN BUILT FORM. IT IS THE RECORD OF THE PEOPLE WHO PRODUCED IT AND
COULD BE “READ” AS THE HISTORY OR LITERATURE OF THOSE PEOPLE. IT IS A
NONVERBAL WAY OF COMMUNICATION AND IT IS THE QUIET RECORD OF THE
PEOPLE WHO PRODUCED IT. WE CAN UNDERSTAND A CULTURE’S HISTORY AND
LITERATURE FROM THEIR ARCHITECTURE AND LIKEWISE IF WE WANT TO
UNDERSTAND THE ARCHITECTURE OF ANY PERIOD OR CULTURE (IN THE PAST OR
TODAY), WE SHOULD UNDERSTAND THE HISTORY AND LITERATURE (DEEDS AND THE
WORDS) OF THAT PERIOD.
• HISTORY EXPOSES STUDENTS TO THE RICHES OF THE PAST
• STUDENTS LEARN ABOUT DIFFERENT BUILDINGS, WHEN THEY WERE
CONSTRUCTED, HOW AND WHY THEY COME TO BE

• AND THE SPECIFIC IDEAS OF BEAUTY THEY PERSONIFY

• BY STUDYING DIFFERENT PERIODS, A STUDENT IS EXPOSED TO A VAST WEALTH OF

INFORMATION ABOUT BUILDINGS AND HOW THEY CAME TO BE

• HE IS THEREFORE EXPOSED TO A RESOURCE BANK TO USE IN SOLVING

CONTEMPORARY DESIGN PROBLEMS
Empire State building, New York (left), Big Donut shop in Los Angeles (right)

THIS WAY FOR EXAMPLE, EMPIRE STATE BUILDING IN NEW YORK (BUILT IN 1932,
SHREVE, LAM AND HARMON ASSOCIATES) TELLS US ABOUT CAPITALISM AND THE
URBAN VALUES OF 20TH CENTURY, AND THE BIG DONUT SHOP IN LOS ANGELES
(BUILT IN 1954, HENRY J. GOODWIN), EVEN THOUGH IT IS A POSTMODERN
ARCHITECTURAL EXAMPLE, TELLS US ABOUT THE LIVING STYLE OF AMERICAN
PEOPLE, THEIR CAR DOMINATED LIFE AND DESIRE FOR SAVORY FAST FOOD.
THEREFORE, ARCHITECTURE IS THE ART THAT WE CANNOT AVOID. WE CAN AVOID
AND NOT SEE OTHER ARTS ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, SUCH AS PAINTING OR
SCULPTURE, BUT ARCHITECTURE, LIKE IT OR NOT, AFFECTS US AND SHAPES OUR
BEHAVIORS ALL TIME, AS WE LIVE IN AND AROUND IT. WE HAVE THE FEELING OF
AWE WHEN WE ARE WALKING IN THE HYPOSTYLE HALL OF KARNAK TEMPLE IN
EGYPT, OR UNDER THE DOME OF SULEYMANIYE MOSQUE IN İSTANBUL, OR WHEN
WE SEE FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT’S FALLING WATER HOUSE WITH ALL ITS BEAUTY
WITHIN THE ENVIRONMENT THAT SURROUNDS IT. OR MORE COMMONLY, WE ARE
AFFECTED BY THE COLOR OF THE ROOM WE ARE IN.

HYPOSTYLE HALL OF KARNAK TEMPLE, EGYPT (LEFT), SULEYMANİYE MOSQUE BY

MİMAR SİNAN, İSTANBUL (RİGHT)
FALLING WATER HOUSE, PENNSYLVANIA, USA BY FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT (LEFT), A
ROOM PAINTED GREEN (RIGHT)