Texture and Light in

Architecture
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
A. Types of texture
Another device that adds variety to architecture is texture. Texture
has various meanings:

a.The optical texture of the building refers to its visual pattern at the
large scale,

whereas,

b. Its tactile texture refers to what can be physically felt with the
human hand.
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
A. Types of texture
a.Optical texture

Optical texture could be given by the organization of

architectural elements, such as windows, doors, solids or
voids. The repetition of elements creates a pattern that is
observed as an optical texture.
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
A. Types of texture
a.Optical texture

Optical texture (pattern): Secretariat Building at

Chandigarh, India, by Le Corbusier
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
A. Types of texture In Unite d’Habitation by Le
Corbusier, we again see a bold
a.Optical texture optical texture, but we also
observe a tactile texture,
because of the use of materials.
Here, Corbusier has
emphasized texture by the
roughness of the concrete
surfaces of the building.
He has used rough timber
molding form (beton kalibi) for
concrete to be poured in and
when the molding form was
removed the bold pattern of the
timber was left on the concrete.
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
A. Types of texture
b. Tactile texture

Tactile texture on the other hand could be

given by building materials, such as concrete, brick,
stone, glass, steel etc.
Smooth materials, such as glass, create a
smooth and soft texture, whereas rough materials
such as stone, brick or concrete, create a rough
and hard texture.
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
A. Types of texture
a.Tactile texture

Tactile texture Unite d’Habitation in Marseilles,

by Le Corbusier
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
A. Types of texture
a.Tactile texture
In Baker House, in addition to a visual rhythm, Alvar Alto has
used rough clinker brick to be able to give the building a tactile texture.
Moreover, he had the bricks laid in a random pattern to add visual texture .

Baker House, MIT, by Alvar Aalto

 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
A. Types of texture
a.Tactile texture
In Baker House, in addition to a visual rhythm, Alvar Alto has
used rough clinker brick to be able to give the building a tactile texture.
Moreover, he had the bricks laid in a random pattern to add visual texture .

Baker House, MIT, by Alvar Aalto

 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
A. Types of texture

Concrete has very much potential to create a tactile

and optical texture, because it takes shape of the molding
form to which it was poured into and it also takes the texture
of the material of that molding form.
In addition to that, between the successive pours of
concrete, there appears joints appear that mark different
pours of concrete.
Architects can give special attention to those joints
and use them to create a texture. In Salk Institute (at La
Jolla) by Louis Kahn for example, the joints of concrete are
used to create texture
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
A. Types of texture

Salk Institute (at La Jolla) by Louis Kahn: The joints of concrete

are used to create texture
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
A. Types of texture

Salk Institute (at La Jolla) by Louis Kahn: The joints of concrete

are used to create texture
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
A. Types of texture
Another attempt of creating texture by the joints
of concrete led to an even rougher texture than
planned. In Art and Architecture Building at Yale
University, the architect Paul Rudolph tried to give
texture to concrete by making a special molding form.
However the molding form was stuck to the
concrete when it was dry and the architect had to
order the workers to hammer of the small concrete
juts that were stuck to the timber molding form.
The end result occurred as a very rough,
abrasive yet impressive surface.
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
A. Types of texture
In Art and Architecture Building at Yale University, the architect Paul
Rudolph tried to give texture to concrete by making a special molding form.
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
A. Types of texture
In Art and Architecture Building at Yale University, architect Paul Rudolph
tried to give texture to concrete by making a special molding form.
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
A. Types of texture

Architects might also make strong contrasts

between very different textures.
In Palazzo Medici in Florence, the architect has
used three different materials with three different
textures in the façade that goes from the roughest to
the smoothest.
By using these texture differences he has
created a visual variation in the façade.
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
A. Types of texture

In Palazzo Medici in Florence, the architect has used three different materials with
three different textures in the façade that goes from the roughest to the smoothest.
By using these texture differences he has created a visual variation in the façade.
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
A. Types of texture

In Palazzo Medici in Florence, the architect has used three different materials with
three different textures in the façade that goes from the roughest to the smoothest.
By using these texture differences he has created a visual variation in the façade.
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
A. Types of texture
Another example of the use of different textured
materials to create contrast is Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling
Water House.
Wright has used here two very contrasting materials,
which are the rough stones of the vertical masonry piers and
the smooth concrete of the floor slabs.
The stone of the vertical masonry piers was attained
from the site of the house and was laid in a very rough and
random fashion, but the concrete of the cantilevering
balconies and floors were made especially smooth to create
that contrast.
There appeared a contrast between the dark and
rough vertical piers and light and smooth horizontal floors.
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
A. Types of texture
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water House.
He has used here two very contrasting materials, which are the rough stones
of the vertical masonry piers and the smooth concrete of the floor slabs.
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
A. Types of texture
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water House.
The stone of the vertical masonry piers was attained from the site of
the house and was laid in a very rough and random fashion, but the concrete
of the cantilevering balconies and floors were made especially smooth to
create that contrast.
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
A. Types of texture
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water House.
There appeared a contrast between the dark and rough vertical piers
and light and smooth horizontal floors.
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
A. Types of texture

Perhaps the most sensitive interplay of

textures is to be found in the traditional Japanese
house and in its surrounding garden.
In these houses, the natural landscape and the
buildings themselves are fused to each other.
There is a play of different textures from rough
to smooth, created by the careful use of plants,
rocks, gravel, water and wood.
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
A. Types of texture
Perhaps the most sensitive interplay of textures is to be found in
the traditional Japanese house and in its surrounding garden.

Ryoanji Temple, rock garden, Kyoto

 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
A. Types of texture
There is a play of different textures from rough to smooth, created by the
careful use of plants, rocks, gravel, water and wood.

Ryoanji Temple, rock garden, Kyoto

 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
A. Types of texture
Kyoto Palace demonstrates the best
example of this use of texture.
In it, we observe a careful play of textures,
created by the pebble walkway, fieldstone
threshold, bamboo timber gate, smooth plaster
surfaces and dark wood members.
The garden is especially important in this
sense. Every part of the garden is a study of the
interplay of plants, rock and water.
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
A. Types of texture
Kyoto Palace demonstrates the best example of this use of texture.
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
A. Types of texture
Kyoto Palace demonstrates the best example of this use of texture.
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
A. Types of texture
In it, we observe a careful play of textures, created by the pebble
walkway, fieldstone threshold, bamboo timber gate, smooth plaster
surfaces and dark wood members..
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
B. Materials and texture

Therefore there are three tendencies in

architecture in terms of the use of tactile texture:

the use of rough textures,

the use of smooth textures and the use of both of
these textures to create contrast.

In all of them however, the texture appears as the

outcome of different materials.
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
B. Materials and texture

Steel and glass: Mies van der Rohe’s S.R. Crown Hall
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
B. Materials and texture

Steel and glass: Mies van der Rohe’s S.R. Crown Hall
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
B. Materials and texture

Steel and glass: Mies van der Rohe’s S.R. Crown Hall
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
B. Materials and texture

Brick: Alvar Aalto, Saynatsalo Town Hall, Finland

 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
B. Materials and texture
It must be noted that every material should be used in
accordance with its character. You cannot use steel as brick or stone
as steel. You should produce the form that the material is naturally fit
to.
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
B. Materials and texture
It must be noted that every material should be used in
accordance with its character. You cannot use steel as brick or stone
as steel. You should produce the form that the material is naturally fit
to. Steel and glass have sharp and smooth surfaces for example
and architects have emphasized this character by using them. Mies
van der Rohe’s S.R. Crown Hall is an example to it.
Brick naturally has modular texture when laid, therefore and
architects have made use of this character by using brick. A good
example to it is Alvar Aalto’s Saynatsalo Town Hall. He has used brick
as it is and exposed it in the facade honestly.
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
B. Materials and texture
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Texture in Architecture
B. Materials and texture

Covering up materials to make them look like something else

or using the materials against their own character is not an honest
thing to do and such a behavior is rejected by good architects.
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Light in Architecture
The most powerful element in our perception of
architecture is light. We perceive architectural spaces by
way of light, we perceive textures by way of light and we
are psychologically effected by the use of light in spaces.
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Light in Architecture
Therefore light is of decisive importance in experiencing
architecture. The same spaces can be made to give very different
spatial impressions just by the change of the size and location of its
openings.
Moving a window from the middle of a wall to a corner would
totally transform the character of the room.
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Light in Architecture
We can exemplify three main methods of using day light in
architectural spaces to explain the effect of light: the bright open hall,
the room with a skylight and the room with light entering from the side.
 Texture and Light in Architecture
Light in Architecture
We can exemplify three main methods of using day light in
architectural spaces to explain the effect of light: the bright open hall,
the room with a skylight and the room with light entering from the side.