FORM
&
SPACE
Presented by:
Bhagyashree Praharaj
Tiyasha Maity
Form suggests reference to both internal structure and
external outline and the principle that gives unity to the
whole.
While form often includes a sense of three-dimensional
mass or volume, shape refers more specifically to the
essential aspect of form that governs its appearance—the
configuration or relative disposition of the lines or contours
that delimit a figure or form.
FORM
SHAPES
Shape refers to the
characteristic outline of a plane
figure or the surface
configuration of a
volumetric form.
It is the primary means by
which
we recognize, identify, and
categorize particular
figures and forms.
Our perception of shape Bust of Queen Nefertiti Central Pavilion, Horyu-Ji Suleymaniye Mosque,
depends on the degree of The pattern of eye movement of Temple, Nara, Japan, A.D. Constantinople (Istanbul),
visual contrast that exists along a person 607 1551–58, Sinan
the contour separating a figure viewing the figure, from research
from by Alfred L. Yarbus of the Institute
its ground or between a form for Problems of Information
and its field. Transmission in Moscow.
PRIMARY
SHAPES
Gestalt psychology affirms that
the mind will simplify the visual
environment in order to
understand
it. Given any composition of
forms, we tend to reduce the
subject matter in our visual field
to the
simplest and most regular
shapes. The simpler and more
regular a shape is, the easier it is
to perceive
and understand.
Plan of the Ideal City of Roman Theater according Great Pyramid of Cheops
Sforzinda, 1464, Antonio Filarete to Vitruvius at Giza, Egypt, c. 2500 B.C.
PRIMARY
SHAPES
Bathhouse, Jewish Community Center, Trenton, New Agora of Ephesus, Asia Minor,
Jersey, 3rd century B. C.
1954–59, Louis Kahn
SURFACES
Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles,
California, 1987–2003, Frank O. Gehry & Partners
PRIMARY
SOLIDS
In this context, the term
solid does not refer to
firmness of substance but
rather to a three-
dimensional geometric
body or figure. Maupertius, Project for an Chapel, Massachusetts Project for a Conical
Agricultural Lodge, 1775, Claude- Institute of Technology, Cenotaph, 1784, Étienne-Louis
Nicolas Ledoux Cambridge, Massachusetts, Boulée
1955, Eero Saarinen and
Associates
Pyramids of Cheops, Chephren, Diwan-i-Khas, Fatehpur Hanselmann House, Fort
and Mykerinos at Giza, Egypt, c. Sikri, Wayne, Indiana, 1967,
2500 B.C. Palace Complex of Akbar the Michael Graves
Great
Regular &
Irregular Forms
Regular forms refer to those
whose parts are related to one
another in a consistent and
orderly manner.
Irregular forms are those whose
parts are
dissimilar in nature and related
to one another in an inconsistent
manner.
A Regular Composition of Regular Forms: An Irregular Composition of Regular Forms:
Coonley Playhouse, Riverside, Illinois, Katsura Imperial Villa, Kyoto, Japan,
1912, Frank Lloyd Wright 17th century
Transformat
ion of
Forms
All other forms can be
understood to be
transformations of the
primary solids, variations
which
are generated by the
manipulation of one or
more dimensions or by
the addition or
subtraction of
Dimensional Transformation of a Subtractive Transformation Additive Transformation of a
elements. Cube into a Vertical Slab: Creating Volumes of Space: Parent Form by the
Unité d’Habitation, Firminy-Vert, Gwathmey Residence, Attachment of Subordinate
France, 1963–68, Le Corbusier Amagensett, New York, Parts:
1967, Il Redentore, Venice, 1577–
Charles 92, Andrea Palladio
Gwathmey/Gwathmey
Siegel
Subtractiv
e
&
Additive
Forms
While a subtractive form
results from the removal
of a portion of its original
volume, an additive form
is produced by relating or
physically attaching one Subtractive Form Additive Form
Shodhan House, Ahmedabad, India, 1956, Le Lingaraja Temple, Bhubaneshwar, India,
or more subordinate Corbusier c. A.D. 1100
forms to its volume.
CENTRALISED
FORMS
Centralized forms require the
visual dominance of a
geometrically regular,
centrally located form, such
as a sphere, cone, or
cylinder. Because of their
inherent centrality, these
forms share the self-
centering properties of the
point and circle.
Yume-Dono, Eastern precinct of Horyu-Ji Temple,
Nara, Japan, A.D. 607
LINEAR
FORM
A linear form can Agora of Assos, Asia Minor, 2nd
Century B.C.
Queen’s College, Cambridge,
England, 1709–38, Nicholas
Runcorn New Town Housing,
England,1967, James Stirling
result from a Hawksmoor
proportional change in
a form’s dimensions or
the arrangement of a
series of
discrete forms along a
line.
The Mile-high Illinois, Henry Babson House, Riverside, Illinois, 1907,
Skyscraper Project, Chicago, Louis Sullivan
Illinois, 1956, Frank Lloyd Wright
RADIAL
FORM
Secretariat Building, UNESCO Headquarters,
A radial form consists of Place de Fontenoy, Paris, 1953–58, Marcel Breuer
linear forms that extend
outward from a centrally
located core element in a
radiating manner. It
combines the aspects of
centrality and linearity
into a single composition.
Skyscraper by the Sea, Project for Algiers, 1938, Le Corb
CLUSTURED
FORMS
While a centralized
organization has a strong
geometric basis
for the ordering of its
forms, a clustered
organization groups
its forms according to
functional requirements
of size, shape,
or proximity. A Cluster of Interlocking Forms: Trulli Village, Alberobello, Italy Habitat Montreal, 1967,
G.N. Black House Traditional dry-stone shelters in Moshe Safdie
(Kragsyde), Manchester-by- existence
the Sea, Massachusetts, since the 17th century.
1882–83, Peabody & Stearns
CIRCLE &
SQUARE
The Island Villa (Teatro Marittimo), Lister County Courthouse, Solvesborg,
Hadrian’s Villa, Sweden, 1917–21,
Tivoli, Italy, A.D. 118–125 Gunnar Asplund
CORNERS Everson Museum, Syracuse, New York, 1968, I.M. Pei.
The unadorned corners of the forms emphasize the volume
of their mass.
Einstein Tower, Potsdam, Germany, 1919, Eric
Mendelsohn
SURFACE
ARTICULATIO
N
Palazzo Medici-Ricardo, Florence, Italy, 1444– Fukuoka Sogo Bank, Study of the Saga Branch,
60, Michelozzi 1971, Arata Isozaki.
A grid pattern unifies the surfaces of the three-
dimensional composition.
SPACES
Space constantly
encompasses our being.
Through the volume of
space, we move, see
forms, hear sounds, feel
breezes, smell the
fragrances of a flower
garden in bloom. It is a
material substance like Temple of Kailasnath at Ellora, near The Pantheon, Rome, A.D.
wood or stone. Yet it is an Aurangabad, India, A.D. 600–1000 120–124
inherently formless
vapor.
Form &
Space: The
Unity of
Opposites
Theater in Seinäjoki,
Finland,1968–69,
Alvar Aalto
Form
Defining
Space
Square in Giron, Colombia,
South America
BASE
PLANE
The surface articulation
of the ground or floor
plane is often used in Street in Woodstock, Parterre de Broderie, Palace of Versailles,
architecture to define a Oxfordshire, England France, 17th century, André Le Nôtre Katsura
Imperial
zone of space within a
larger context.
ELEVATED
BASE
PLANE
Fatehpur Sikri, Palace Complex of
Akbar the Great, Mogul Emperor of India, 1569–74.
A special place is established by a platform in an artificial lake
surrounded by the emperor’s living and sleeping quarters.
ELEVATED BASE PLANE
DEPRESSED
BASE
PLANE
Lowering a portion of the
base plane isolates a
field of space from a
larger context.
Theater at Epidauros, Greece, c. 350
B.C., Polycleitos
OVERHEAD
PLANE
Similar to the manner in
which a shade tree offers
a sense of enclosure
beneath its umbrella
structure, an overhead
plane defines a field of
space between itself and
the ground plane.
Glass House, New Canaan, Connecticut, 1949,
Philip Johnson
OVERHEAD
PLANE
Well-defined negative
areas or voids within an
overhead plane,
such as for skylights, can
be seen as positive
shapes that
establish the presence of
spatial fields below their
openings.
Bibliothèque Nationale (project), 1788, Étienne-
Louis Boullée
VERTICAL
ELEMENTS
DEFINING SPACES
( Vertical Linear
Elements)
Vertical forms have a
greater presence in our
visual field than
horizontal planes and are
therefore more
instrumental in defining a
discrete volume of space
and providing a sense of
enclosure and privacy for
those within it.
Piazza of St. Peter, Rome, 1655–67, Giovanni
Bernini
Vertical
Linear
Elements
Taj Mahal, Tomb of Muntaz Mahal, wife of Shah Jahan,
Agra, India, 1630–53
SINGLE A single vertical
plane can define
VERTICAL the principal facade
PLANE of a building
fronting a public
space, establish a
gateway through
A single vertical plane,
which one passes,
standing alone in space,
has visual qualities as well as articulate
uniquely different from spatial zones within
those of a freestanding a larger volume.
column. S. Agostino, Rome, 1479–83, Giacomo da
Pietrasanta
L-Shaped
Planes
An L-shaped
configuration of vertical
planes defines a field of
space along a diagonal
from its
corner outward.
History Faculty Building, Cambridge University, England,
1964–67, James Stirling
PARALLEL
VERTICAL
PLANES
A pair of parallel vertical
planes defines a field of
space between them.
The open ends of the
field, established by the
vertical edges of the
planes, give the space a
strong directional quality.
Arnheim Pavilion, The Netherlands, 1966, Aldo
van Eyck
U-Shaped
Planes
A U-shaped configuration
of vertical planes defines
a field of space that has
an inward focus as well
as an outward
orientation. At the closed
end of the configuration,
the field is well defined.
Toward the open end of
the configuration, the
field becomes
extroverted in nature. Piazza del Campidoglio, Rome, c. 1544,
Michelangelo
FOUR
PLANES:
CLOSURE
Four vertical planes
encompassing a field of
space is
probably the most
typical, and certainly the
strongest, type of spatial
definition in architecture.
Ibrahim Rauza, Tomb of Sultan Ibrahim II, Bijapur,
India, 1615
LIGHT
The sun is the rich source of
natural light for the illumination
of forms and spaces in
architecture. While the sun’s
radiation
is intense, the quality of its
light, manifested in the form of
direct sunlight or diffuse
daylight, varies with the time of
day, from season to season,
and from place to place. As the
luminous energy of the sun is
dispersed by clouds, haze, and
precipitation, it transmits the
changing colors of the sky and
the weather to the forms and
surfaces it illuminates
Notre Dame Du Haut, Ronchamp, France, 1950–55, Le
Corbusier
VIEW
Another quality of space that
must be considered in
establishing openings in the
enclosure of a room is its focus
and orientation. While some
rooms have an internal focus,
such as a fireplace, others
have an outward orientation
given to them by a view to the
outdoors or an adjacent space.
Window and skylight openings
provide this view and establish
a visual relationship between a
room and its surroundings. The
size and location of these
openings determine, of
course, the nature of the
outlook as well as the degree
Hadrian’s Villa, Tivoli, Italy, A.D. 118–125
of visual privacy for an interior
space.
Thank you