Lec 6 different theoretical approaches

1. DIFFERENT THEORETICAL
APPROACHES
LEC 6
NOV 13,2015

2. • The general function of Theory of Architecture is to
define the relationship between architecture (which
itself is a social institution) and the other institutions
in a society.
• In all cases, however its primary concern is the state of
the architectural language – its capacity to represent
those institutions - how that language expresses or
represses the symbolic and organizational character of
other institutions.
• It also deals with the influence of these other areas on
architecture itself. Theory of Architecture in this way is
a truly interdisciplinary subject.
• For example, theory can analyse the relation between:

3. a)Architecture and Sociology
• Studies how architecture expresses the changing
relationships within society and the emergence of
new social groups. Eg. Urbanization.
• Theory in this case deals usually with URBAN
issues and how the City changes to meet new
social and population developments.
• Other examples of this kind of theory include
the study of how architecture represents gender
issues, minority groups, the disabled, etc. and
ultimately how it reinforces the roles and
stereotypes which prevail in a society.

4. b)Architecture and Technology
Studies the influence and use of new
technologies on the shape of architecture. In
historical terms the use of iron and concrete in
the development of the Modern Movement in
architecture.. New communication or
computer technologies – virtual realities -
suggest the possibility of distributed spaces
rather than specific locations for buildings.

5. c)Architecture and Politics, Wealth,
Power or Class
• Analyses how the social division of society is
reflected in the architecture of a period – the
type of buildings and the type of symbolic
images and forms used to reflect power within
a society. Eg. The architecture of monarchies,
dictatorships or democracies will be different.
• In what way do the relationships of power
within a society affect the architecture? Eg.
The shape of Baroque architecture and the
use of the dominant axis.

6. d)Architecture and Art
• Studies the very close relationship and influences
between the art of a period and its architecture.
Eg. The invention of perspective and new drawing
techniques by Renaissance artists and the work
of Neoclassical and Romantic painters decidedly
influenced the design of buildings during those
periods.
• Modern graphic art and the movies suggest new,
imaginative forms which architects can use in the
design of their buildings.

7. e)Architecture and Philosophy
• Philosophical ideas about meaning, order, ethics, the
ideal, rationalism, the methods of critical thought,
deconstructivism, logic, consistency, the idea of beauty,
harmony, aesthetics, theories of mind, representation
and perception, and so on all have their parallels in the
Theory of Architecture
• Usually these relate to how to organize buildings
according to some non-functional but controlling idea
such as symmetry, hierarchy or multiple axes and how
to integrate the different parts of a building into a
coherent and understandable or meaningful whole

8. f) Architecture and History
• This looks at the uses of history in the pursuit of
architectural form. Eg. The idea of ‘historicism’
where there is a deliberate use of traditional
forms in modern buildings to provide continuity
with the past and increased meaning in the form
of new buildings. This is either by the direct use
of forms from past architectures or as eclecticism
where forms from different past and present
styles are mixed together.
• Theory looks at the function of history in
architectural design and how previous forms are
re-combined to produce the new.

9. g)Architecture and Science
The various branches of science, from physics to
biology to cognitive studies to systems theory
and artificial intelligence (AI), cybernetics and
computer engineering offer examples and
analogies to processes operating within
architecture. These are of essentially two kinds:
those such as AI and computer engineering which
deal with the design process. These are
necessarily abstract examples and attempt to get
a different or ‘outside’ perspective of how the
discipline functions without getting involved in
the languages, history or practices of
architecture.

10. i) Architecture and Human
perception
Theory and practice both suggest that HOW human
beings perceive buildings will affect how buildings are
designed. People get their experience of things
through their five senses: sight, touch, taste, smell &
hearing. There are also psychological factors in how
people perceive space and form – issues of familiarity,
distance, colour and the shape or spatial; definition of
space (narrow, enclosing, open vistas, concentric or
linear, axiality, etc.). Each of these factors – sense and
psychology – can be used to analyze the success or
even just the character of built space.

11. k)Architecture and the City
Theory of architecture deals in many cases with urban
design theories. There is a direct parallel between the
theory of architecture and that of urban design. In both
cases the issue is to represent in built form and in spatial
enclosure the organization of a social institution. The City is
the most complex social institution in history. It has to be
given physical form inspired by or determined by the nature
or character of the many sometimes conflicting institutions
which co-exist within it. Theory of architecture as such
analyses architectural interventions in the City – how they
either reinforce or change its identity. The architectural
basic elements of this urban analysis can be the network of
streets, routes and paths, squares, focal points, neighbour
hoods, domains, symbolic centres, boundaries, public
monuments, vistas, enclosures, the presence of nature
(parks, water), the continuity of street fronts, the
significance of street corners and so on.

12. l) Architecture and Ecology
Ecology deals with the relationship between an organism and its
environment. That is, how well the organism responds (adapts) to
changing conditions in that environment. An ecologically sensible
building will be designed on the basis that it can deal with the local
climate (sunlight or cold) without the need for expensive
importation of energy (electricity), eg. in the form of air
conditioning. The form of a building is dictated by many factors
(programme, site, technology, finance, etc.), ecology is another
factor which constrains (controls) the final shape of a building. For
instance the design of a building can be influenced by the need for
shading from sunlight, thermal insulation of its walls, the use of
natural ventilation techniques, natural air circulation, orientation,
solar panels, re-cycling of its water, low technology construction
techniques, use of traditional or low energy building methods and
materials in certain regions, the use of internal courtyards, compact
layouts or response to the existing topology and landscape features.

13. Boundaries between architecture and design
are unclear.
• ARE THEY SIMILAR CONCEPTS?
• ARE THEY COMPLEMENTARY CONCEPTS
WITH DIFFERENT LEVELS OF ABSTRACTION?