What is Architecture?

is the art and science of designing buildings and other physical structures. A wider definition often
includes the design of the total built environment from the macro level of town planning, urban design,
and landscape architecture to the micro-level of construction details and sometimes, furniture.

The term Theory of Architecture originally came from and has an accepted translation of the Latin word
"ratiocinatio" which means "reasoning", as used by Marcus Vitruvius Polio, a Roman architect, and
engineer of the 1st century, to differentiate intellectual knowledge to practical knowledge in
architectural education.

INFLUENCES ON ARCHITECTURAL DESIGNS

This is related to the desire for a response, although this is more personal and tends to express oneself
towards a certain situation, like a personal opinion, expression in fashion, self-preservation, self-
improvement, character assessment. This can be seen in designs; choosing colors, furnishings, finishes,
chosen concepts, furniture, in a bedroom, living room, kitchens, even in the lobby of an office, color of
the tables and chairs, etc..

II. INFLUENCES OF NATURE

Nature's elements that Architecture needs to consider:

1. Climate
2. Flora and Fauna
3. Bodies of Water
4. Natural Disasters

How a Climate can influence architecture?

Climate is the change of weather with an average time frame of 30 years and it affects everyone,
everything, and everywhere. It has a great influence on architecture because this is a natural
phenomenon that happens every year, structures and materials should be adaptable to any changes of
the weather, if not considered there will be a great risk on health, comfort, and safety.

Flora and Fauna

Men cut trees to clear the land in preparation for new development, workers cover the marshland with
rocks and soil to extend the land formation to be used in the construction. we acquired lands to
construct our house, our business, and some important facilities for the sake of people. We flattened
and paved the soil to create a road for transportation of our goods, we put railways in the field, we dig
up the soil and obtain their minerals and many more. These activities that people do for the sake of men
create a disastrous effect on flora and fauna. Driving animals away from their home and killing plant
species that is home for many insects and birds. Man controls their lands and they can't do anything
about it.

Bodies of water
Like flora and fauna, bodies of water greatly influence architecture, in our melting world sea level should
be anticipated 5 to 10 years from now that designs should adopt to this possibility. In other land
formation, like for example in highlands and desert area, bodies of water is greatly needed for the
supply. Going back to history, all of the great cities to build their empire at the edge of the river,
seashores, and lakes for supply, transportation, trades, and conquering.

Natural Disasters

Natural disasters influenced architecture greatly for years of study, creating designs, millions of money
used for development within just seconds gone. That is how treacherous nature is, designs should be
resilient, sustainable, if possible unbreakable, transferable, transformable, and collapsible. With modern
technologies and new inventions from scientists and engineers, all architectural designs are possible.

What are the elements that need to consider in designs?

1. Plans - plans should adapt to the characteristics of climate that the area has if the area is located in
warmer climates ventilation should be observed and solar orientation, color also has an effect. If the
area is located in the colder climate, the design should anticipate the temperature ranges and can add
features in the designs such as a heater, fireplace, and insulating materials.

2. Sustainable Eco-friendly designs - protecting the ecosystem is a must, if possible, all designs should
be sustainable to lessen the use of commercialized energy and water source for they abusing the
environment burning fossil fuel that makes the air polluted. Water harvesting is necessary for the area
where rain is abundant, using precast should be practiced to avoid disturbing the peace, avoiding a cut
and fill in sloping terrain to avoid disturbing the soil that resulted in a landslide. Design that goes along
with nature to minimize the cutting and disturbing of vegetation.

3. Protective elements - with the anticipation of climatic data and element, natural disaster risks
monitoring, designs should be resilient to most of the possible scenario, with the help of engineers and
inventors, architects must equip or include to their analysis of plans the protective elements needed by
the structures.

4. Structural elements - together with protective elements, structural elements should play a big role to
design along with the study done for a specific area for all the necessary elements needed.

5. Materials - Materials should be assessed properly for the availability of it, depending on the design
and what is the needed materials that are specified by the designer. In accordance with the concerned
elements present during the survey and study.

SUMMARY

The theory of architecture is the way for a designer to think logically and apply it to architectural design.
It can come to signify the total basis for judging the merits of buildings but such reasoned judgments are
an essential part of the architectural creative process.

Human beings and Nature are the two significant factors that influence the architectural design and they
are constantly changing throughout time.
VIRTUES OF AN ARCHITECT “May the Architect be high-minded; not arrogant, but faithful; Just, and easy
to deal with, without avarice Not let his mind be occupied in receiving gifts,mBut let him preserve his
good name mwith dignity...”mMarcus Vitruvius Pollio

Building systems make a building operate and be a functioning and livable structure, if one of these
aspects are not fully designed well, there may be negative effects to the people using the building or the
building itself.

STRUCTURAL - The Foundation and the framework of a building, this make the building stand.

LIGHTING - Provides Lighting that the users need in order to provide a clear and uninterrupted vision
inside the building.

PLUMBING - The pipes, water, and waste circulation system of the building. It provides water to the
users inside the building as well as to properly dispose of human waste materials outside of the building.

MECHANICAL - This system is the ventilation system of a building, it provides users fresh breathable air
inside the building especially if space or room has no windows.

AESTHETICS/BUILDING - This is the Finished Building. Architects are the ones in charge of providing
beauty to the building to make it interesting to the people around it and its users.
Point also means "focus" and sometimes "mark or point of identification"

Architectural form is the point of contact between mass and space

Architectural forms, textures, materials, modulation of light and shade, color, all combine to inject a
quality or spirit that articulates space. The quality of this architecture will be determined by the skill of
the designer in using and relating these elements, both in the interior spaces and in the spaces around
buildings.

FORM - Form often includes a sense of three-dimensional mass or volume, while space refers more
specifically to the essential aspect of form that governs the appearance - the configuration or relative
disposition of the lines or contours that delimit a figure or form.

SHAPE - The characteristics outline or surface configuration of a particular form. The shape is the
principal aspect by which we identify and categories forms.

SIZE - The physical dimensions of length, width, and depth of form, while these dimensions determine
the properties of a form, its scale is determined by the size relative to other forms in its contents.

COLOR - A phenomenon of light and visual perception that may be described in terms of an individual's
perception of hue, saturation, and tonal value. Color is the attribute of most clearly distinguishes a form
from its environment. It also affects the visual weight of a form.

TEXTURE-The visual and especially tactile quality given to a surface by the size, shape, arrangement, and
proportions of the parts. Texture also determines the degree to which the surface of a form reflects or
absorbs incident light.

POSITION - The location of a form relative to its environment or the visual field within which it is seen.
ORIENTATION - The direction of a form relative to the ground plane, the compass points, other forms, or
to the person viewing the form.

VISUAL INERTIA-The degree of concentration and stability of a form. The visual inertia of a form depends
on its geometry as well as its orientation relative to the ground plane, the pull of gravity, and our line of
sight.

[1] CIRCLES - The circle is a centralized, introverted figure that is normally stable and self-centering in its
environment. Placing a circle in the center of a field reinforces its inherent centrality. Associating it with
straight or angular forms or placing an element along its circumference, however, can induce in the
circle an apparent rotary motion.

[2] TRIANGLES - The triangle signifies stability. When resting on one of its sides, the triangle is an
extremely stable figure. When tipped to stand on one of its vertices, however, it can either be balanced
in a precarious state of equilibrium of being unstable and tend to fall over onto one of its sides.

[3] SQUARE - The square represents the pure and rational. It is a static and neutral figure having no
preferred direction. All other rectangles can be considered variations of the square - deviations from the
norm by the addition of height or width. Like the triangle, the square is stable when resting on one of its
sides, and dynamic when standing on one of its corners.

Transformation of Form

[1] ADDITIVE Transformation - A form can be transformed by the addition of elements to its volume. The
nature of the additive process and the number and relative sizes of the elements being attached
determine whether the identity of the initial form is altered or retained,
 Spatial Tension

This type of relationship relies on the close

Edge to Edge Contact

In this type of relationship, the forms share

Face to Face Contact - This type of relationship requires that the two forms have corresponding planar
surfaces that are parallel to each other.

Interlocking Volumes - In this type of relationship, the forms interpenetrate each other's space. The
forms need not share any visua

[2] SUBTRACTIVE Transformation

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. For example, a cube can retain its identity as a cube even though a portion of it is removed, or be
transformed into a series of regular polyhedrons that begin to approximate a sphere.l traits.

[3] DIMENSIONAL Transformation

A form can be transformed by altering one or more of its dimensions and still retain its identity as a
member of a family of forms. A cube, for example, can be transformed into similar prismatic forms
through discrete changes in height, width, or length. It can be compressed into a planar form or be
stretched out into a linear one.

Organization of Forms

Centralized Form - A number of secondary forms clustered about a dominant, central parent-form.

Linear Form - A series of forms arranged sequentially in a row.

Radial Form - Composition of linear forms extending outward from the central form in a radial manner

Clustered Form - A collection of forms grouped together by proximity or the sharing of a common visual
trait

Grid Form - A set of modular forms related and regulated by a three-dimensional grid.

Principles of Design

Principles of Design are the fundamental elements or ideas that can be applied to achieve a successful
and satisfactory design in architecture, it is the foundation for proper composition in creating designs,
that includes contrast, balance, emphasis, movement, white space, proportion, hierarchy, repetition,
rhythm, pattern, unity, and variety. These principles work together to create an aesthetically pleasing
design in accordance with other elements in architecture.

BALANCE

A sense of equilibrium. When establishing balance in design, consider visual weight created by size,
color, texture, and the number of objects. Balance is the concept of visual equilibrium and relates to our
physical sense of balance. It is a reconciliation of opposing forces in a composition that results in visual
stability. Most successful composition achieve balance in one of two ways: [1] Symmetrical and [2]
Asymmetrical

[1] Symmetrical Balance can be described as having equal "weight' on equal sides of a centrally placed
fulcrum. It may also be referred to as formal balance. When the elements are arranged equally on either
side of a central axis, the result is Bilateral Symmetry.

The axis may be horizontal or vertical. It is also possible to build formal balance by arranging elements
equally around a central point, resulting in radial symmetry. This is called Radial Balance.

{2} Asymmetrical balance, also called informal balance, is more complex and difficult to achieve. It
involves the placement of objects in a way that will allow objects of varying visual weight to balance one
another around a central point.

It just means that there are no mirror images in a composition. The term, however, is usually used to
describe a kind of balance that does not rely on symmetry

RHYTHM

A visual tempo or beat. The principle of design that refers to a regular repetition of elements of art to
produce the look and feel of movement. It is often achieved through the careful placement of repeated
components which invite the viewer's eye to jump rapidly or glide smoothly from one to the next.

[1] Rhythm by Repetition - A rhythm created by duplicating (repeating) shapes, colors, patterns, lines,
and textures. Repeated window panes, repeating stripes on the wall, and the design and color of the
glass.

2] Rhythm by Gradation - A Rhythm created by a gradual change in size or color. It can also be
graduation in light.

[3] Rhythm by Radiation - A Rhythm created by identical objects cunning from a central axis. The glass
frames are shown in the image on the side "radiate" from the center of the path.

4] Rhythm by Opposition - A rhythm created by direct placement of lines, shapes, or color to create
opposition through abrupt visual change

[5] Rhythm by Transition - A rhythm created by curved lines that carry your eye across a straight
surface.
EMPHASIS

Emphasis creates a focal point in a design composition. It is how we bring attention to what is important
in it. It is the focus of attention and interest within a composition. In Architecture, it is the feature that
commands attention and makes a design visually interesting.

CONTRAST (VARIETY)-Contrast is simply defined as a difference. Difference between elements or

MOVEMENT- Movement is the visual flow of your design. It is the path that you intend your viewer's
eye to follow. You can create this by purposefully placing art elements in a way that creates a path for
the eye to follow.

Harmony in virtual design means all parts of the visual image relate to and complement each other.
Harmony pulls the pieces of a visual image together. Harmony can be achieved through repetition and
rhythm.

[1] Harmony by Unity - Unity occurs when all the parts of a design or composition are related by one
idea.

[2] Harmony by Variety - When multiple elements of design are used to add interest to a design

Variety can be created using different elements and materials, as long as they are compatible with each
other.

PROPORTIONS AND SCALES

Scale refers to the size of an object (a whole) in relation to another object (another whole).