PRINCIPLE OF ARCHITECTURAL

DESIGN
DAAT 1043

CHAPTER 3:

FORM
PART 01/03

SUBTOPICS>>
1.Properties Of Form
2.Shape
3.Primary Shapes
4.Primary Solids
5.Regular & Irregular Forms

Introduction
Form includes a sense of 3-dimensional mass or
volume
It has the properties of length, width & depth
Its appearance is govern by the configuration of shape
Form suggests reference to both internal structure
and external outline of architectural elements

Shape
The characteristics outline or surface configuration
of a particular form
It is the principal aspect by which we identify and
categorize forms
In addition to shape, form has the visual properties of
size, colour and texture

Size

Physical dimensions:
Length
width
Depth
Determine the proportion of form

Colour

A phenomenon of light and visual perception

based on hue, saturation tonal value
Affects the visual weight of a form

Visual and tactile quality on surface by:

Size
Shape
Arrangement
Proportions of the parts

Texture

1. Properties of Form
Position

Location of a form relative to its

environment which it is seen

Orientation

Direction of form relative to:

-

The ground plane

The compass points

Other forms

The person viewing the form.

Visual Inertia
The degree of concentration and
stability of a form
Depends on:
-

its geometry

its orientation relative to the ground plane

the pull of gravity

our line of sight.

2. Shape
In architecture, we are concerned with the shapes of:
floor, wall, and ceiling planes that enclose space
door and window openings within a spatial enclosure
silhouettes and contours of building forms

These examples illustrate how shaping

between mass and space expresses the
manner in which the contours of a
building mass rise from the ground plane
and meet the sky

Yakushi-Ji Temple
Nara, 7th century

Suleymaniye Mosque,
Constantinople, 1151-58, Sinan

3. Primary Shapes
The simplest and most significant shapes are
circle, triangle and square.

A plane curve every point of which is

equidistant from a fixed point within
curve

A plane figure bounded by three sides

and having three angles

A plane figure having four equal sides an

four right angles

 Circle

neutral

stable

stable

Selfcentered

unstable

dynamic

equilibrium

Fixed in
place

Compositions of circles and circular segments

Plan of the Ideal City of Sforzinda 1464, Antonio Filarete

 Triangle
The triangle signifies stability

Compositions of triangles and triangular segments

Modern Art Museum, Caracas, Venezuela, 1955,

.Oscar Niemeyer

Great Pyramid of Cheops at

.Giza, Egypt, c. 2500 B.C

Vigo Sundt House, Madison, Wisconsin,

.1942, Frank Lloyd Wright

 Square
The square represents pure and
rational
Static and neutral figure having no
preferred direction
Stable when resting on one of its
sides
Dynamic when standing on one its
corners.

Compositions resulting from

the rotation and
modification of the square

Bathhouse, Jewish Community Center,

Trenton, New Jersey, 1954-59,
.Louis Kahn

4. Primary Solids
Generated primary shapes (extended or rotated) which are distinct, regular and
easily recognizable
Circles generate spheres and cylinders
Triangles generate cones and pyramids
Squares generate cubes.

Sphere
Self centering and stable in environment
A solid generated by the revolution of a semi-circle about its diameter.
It is a centralized and highly concentrated form.

Maupertius, Project for an Agricultural Lodge,

1775, Claude-Nicolas Ledoux

4. Primary Solids
Cylinder
Generated by the revolution of a rectangle about one of its sides.
It is centralised about the axis passing through the centers of its two circular faces.
the cylinder is stable if it rests on one of its circular faces;
but becomes unstable when its central axis is inclined from the vertical

Chapel Massachusetts Institute of technology,

Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1955, Eero Saarinen

4. Primary Solids
Cone
Generated by the revolution of a right triangle about one of its sides.
like a cylinder, a cone is highly stable when resting on its circular base.
unstable when its vertical axis is tipped or overturned.
can also rest on its apex in a precarious state of balance.

Project for a Conical Cenotaph, 1784, Etienne.Louis Boulee

4. Primary Solids
Pyramid
polygonal base and triangular faces meeting at a common ground
similar properties to those of cones.
because all surfaces are flat planes, the pyramid however can rest in a stable
manner on any faces.
while cone is a soft form, pyramid is relatively hard and angular.

.Pyramids, Giza, Egypt, c. 2500 B.C

4. Primary Solids
Cube

a prismatic solid bounded by six equal square sides, the angle between any two
adjacent faces being a right angle.
it is static and lacks apparent movement or direction.
it is stable except when it stands on one of its edges or corners.

Hanselmann House, fort Wayne,

.Indiana, 1967, Michael Graves

Identify the volumetric forms of the

following buildings with the characteristics
of primary solids.

5. Regular & Irregular Forms

Regular Forms
Refer to the parts which are related to one another in a consistent and orderly manner
Stable in nature and symmetrical
Primary examples: sphere, cylinder, cone, cube, and pyramid

Irregular Forms

Irregular forms refers to the parts which are dissimilar in nature and related to one
another in an inconsistent manner
They are asymmetrical and more dynamic than regular forms.

In architecture, regular forms can be contained within irregular forms and irregular
forms can be enclosed by regular forms.

Irregular Forms :
Philharmonic Hall, Berlin, 1956-63,
Hans Scharoun

Regular Composition of Regular Forms:

Coonley Playhouse, Riverside, Illinois, 1912,
Frank Lloyd Wright

Irregular Composition of
Regular Forms:

Katsura Palace, Kyoto, Japan, 17th century

Irregular Forms within Regular Field:

Courtyard House Project,
Mies van de Rohe

Regular Forms within

Irregular Composition:
Masjed of Sultan Hasan,
Cairo, Egypt, 1356-63

End of Form Part 01/03

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