Form in Architecture (IOE)

Seminar on

FORM IN ARCHITECTURE
By
Mallika Shakya
057/BAE/215
Elements of Form

 Point
 Line
 Plane
 Volume
Transformation of Form

1. Subtractive form
2. Additive form
 Centralized form
 Linear form
 Radial form
 Clustered form
Subtractive Form
 A form can be transformed by subtracting a
portion of its volume. Depending on the extent of
the subtractive process, the form can retain its
initial identity or be transformed into a form of
another family.
 Volumes may be subtracted from a form to
create recessed entrances, well-defined private
courtyard spaces or window openings shaded by
the vertical and horizontal surfaces of the
recess.
Subtracted
portions
Additive Form
A form can be transformed by the
addition of elements to its volume.
For unified compositions of form, the

component forms must be related to
one another in a coherent manner.
Central form
Centralized form (Assembly building)

Linear form (Unite’de habitation)
Linear form
(Seagram
building)
Radial form (Kauffman desert
house)
Central
space
Clustered form (Habitat Montreal )
Different aspects of Form
 Shape
 Mass/ size
 Scale
 Proportion
 Rhythm
 Articulation
 Texture and color
 Light
Dominance of cathedral over the urban
landscape
Buildings of different sizes
Library of the University of Virginia
Doric column – diameter
of a column provides a
unit of measurement
Spiral volutes of
Ionic column
capital
Sydney Opera
 Linear patterns
emphasizes the
height of the form
and defines its
textual quality.
Stone rendered Brick patterns in different
smooth, rusticated, or color
intricately carved
 Shadow
defines the
form of the
structure
Comparative study of
Metropolis Museum by Renzo Piano
And
Guggenheim Museum by Frank Gehry
Case studies
The simple building shape with boat like green building is

reinforced by the large literal size, gigantic scale, and
homogenous, light-absorptive copper cladding of the building
exterior.
Complex form and surface articulation is intentionally
avoided in order to heighten the singular form.
This design employs a complex, non-rectilinear shape that uses
form and surface articulation to reduce the building scale.
Use of light reflective titanium exterior cladding dematerializes the building
form and uses light and shadow to continuously to modulate the exterior
surface.
Entry way to museum
House 1
by Peter Eisenman
 The first aspect was an attempt to unload the
existing meaning of the forms dictated by
function
 The second aspect of the initial marking process
involved the structural elements i.e. columns and
beams.
 The third aspect was the shift in focus from an
actual structure to an implied structure and to
the relationship between the two.
White forms are used in House 1
Formal structure here was over articulated so that it
would become a dominant aspect of the building
House 1
by Peter Eisenman
 The first aspect was an attempt to unload the
existing meaning of the forms dictated by
function
 The second aspect of the initial marking process
involved the structural elements i.e. columns and
beams.
 The third aspect was the shift in focus from an
actual structure to an implied structure and to
the relationship between the two.
Villa Savoye
by Le Corbusier
 The first is meaning, which is,
iconographic and symbolic and derives
from the relation of the form to some
reference, which is external to it.
 The second is a potential source of
information, which conditions any
iconographic interpretation; it is derived
from and is in a sense inherent in the
structure of the form.
Relationship of open to closed space
Bronx development center
by Richard Meier
A four-storied shiny aluminum
building was meant to house
mentally deficient children in “warm,
homelike atmosphere”
The structure creates its own

context, with the general layout
opening inward to a realm where the
resident is protected from the
external setting.
Exterior view of the center with shiny aluminum cladding
View of an interior space
View of the “gleaming

aluminum skin”
Milwaukee Art Museum
by Santiago Calatrava
 The Milwaukee Art Museum, Quadracci

pavilion – one of the most captivating
contemporary buildings has become able
to remove all the boundaries between the
engineering, sculptural form and the
architecture itself.
Burke Brise Soleil wings that open and close - the center piece of
the building
Conclusion:
Function is known to be the primary determinant
of form. But, architecture is more than satisfying
purely functional requirements of a building
program. Taking environment as another
determinant of form, considering environment of
the building, its relationship to other buildings
and the site would ease the complexity.
However, the arrangement and organization of
the elements of form and space will determine
how architecture might promote endeavors,
extract responses and communicate meaning.
Seminar on
Form in Architecture

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Seminar on

For unified compositions of form, the

Centralized form (Assembly building)

The simple building shape with boat like green building is

The structure creates its own

View of the “gleaming

 The Milwaukee Art Museum, Quadracci

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