Transcript chapter 15 architecture

CHAPTER 15
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ARCHITECTURE
Philip Johnson and John Brugee, College of Architecture, University of
Houston, 1983-85.
This building is considered postmodern, because it celebrates many different
architectural styles. A structure resembling a Greek temple rests on top. The
main building resembles an Italian villa from the Renaissance.
Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, House of Education, 1773-79.
This drawing represents a plan for a House of Education building in France,
which was never built. This drawing provided the inspiration for the College
of Architecture at the University of Houston.
The atrium that sits underneath
the colonnade on the roof
provides a cool space to escape
the hot Texas sun. It exemplifies
how architecture is largely a
product of its environment.
Buildings and spaces are
designed to work with the
surrounding climate and terrain.
Topography and Technology
• Each example of architecture depends on two different
factors and their interrelation: topography and technology.
• Topography is the distinct landscape characteristics of the
local site. For example, a building designed to work well in
the winters of Alaska must take a very different topography
into account than a building designed for the South American
Amazon.
• Technology refers to the materials and methods available to a
given culture. We have an expansive list of choices for
technology today, but this was not always the case. Different
types of structures become possible with different
technologies.
Thomas Coram, View of Mulberry House and Street, c. 1800. Oil on paper.
This painting represents slave housing in South Carolina in the 18th century.
These houses are very similar to ones found from the same time period in
West Africa. The similar climate of the two areas required a similar structure.
The tall roofs trap hot air, so the living space is filled with cooler air.
Walls that will hold up a roof…
• The basic technological challenge faced by architecture is to
build upright walls and put a roof over the empty space they
enclose. Walls may use one of two basic structural systems:
the shell system or the skeleton-and-skin system.
• The shell system is when one basic building material provides
both the structural support and the outside covering of the
building.
• The skeleton-and-skin system consists of basic interior frame
(the skeleton) that supports the more fragile outer covering
(the skin).
• Examples of load-bearing construction. The
material that we see on the outside of the buildings
is directly responsible for holding the buildings
together, and supporting them.
• Top left: Pyramids at Menkaure (c. 2470 BCE),
Khafre (c. 2500 BCE), and Khufu (c. 2530 BCE).
• Top right: The Lion Gate, Mycenae, Greece, 1250
BCE.
• Bottom: Corner of the First Temple of Hera,
Paestum, Italy, c. 550 BCE.
Examples of skeleton-and-skin construction. It would be
impossible for glass walls to hold up such large buildings. The
fragile glass exterior is the skin that surrounds the skeleton of (in
this case) reinforced concrete and steel.
Tensile strength and technology…
• The span between the elements of the supporting structure
(walls or columns, for example) is determined by the tensile
strength of the roof material.
• Tensile strength is the ability of a building material to span
horizontal distances without support and without buckling in
the middle. The greater the tensile strength of the material, the
wider its potential span.
• Almost all technological advances in the history of architecture
depend on either the invention of new ways to distribute
weight or the discovery of new materials with greater tensile
strength.
- The tensile strength of the stone used in the ancient
Greek temple is fairly weak. Note how short the span
of the lintel is in between each column.
- The Roman Pantheon, with it’s large concrete dome
(top left) distributes the weight differently, allowing
for a far greater span on the ceiling, and more uninterrupted space on the interior.
- The Houston Astrodome uses more newly discovered
materials along with superior weight distribution to
achieve an amazing span across the interior of the
space.
We will examine the following technologies…
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Load-bearing construction
Post-and-lintel construction
Arches, vaults, and domes
Cast iron construction
Frame construction
Steel and reinforced concrete construction
Load-bearing construction…
• Load-bearing: In architecture, this is a construction method
where the walls bear the weight of the roof. This is achieved
by piling or stacking any material (for example: stones, bricks,
mud, and straw) right up to the roof level. Taller buildings
that use this method (such as the ancient Egyptian pyramids)
would require incredibly thick walls at the bottom of the
structure, in order to support the weight of the building.
Pyramids at Menkaure (c. 2470 BCE), Khafre (c. 2500 BCE), and Khufu (c. 2530 BCE).
The architecture of early civilizations was mainly designed to imitate natural forms.
The true meaning of the pyramids in Egypt is unknown, but many scholars believe
they imitate the sun’s rays coming down to Earth, and would serve as a connection to
the Egyptian Sun God Re.
The stone blocks used to build the Great Pyramid weigh around 2.5 to 15 tons
each. The pyramid is made of an estimated 2.3 million blocks. (In order for
this building to have been completed when it was, workers would have had to
set a block in place every 2.5 minutes!) This piece of architecture is using an
enormous amount of weight to build itself up.
This image shows a diagram with a cross-sectional view of the Great Pyramid’s
walls. Note how thick the walls are, in order to hold up such a great weight of
stone, and not cave in, in load bearing construction.
Ziggurat, Ur, c. 2100 BCE.
The shapes of these buildings in ancient Mesopotamia are wider and flatter
than the Egyptian pyramids, suggesting the foothills that lead up to
mountains. Mountains held special significance, as the Sumerians believed
that mountaintops were the source of water, as well as the dwelling place of
the gods.
Post-and-Lintel Construction…
• Post-and-lintel construction: In architecture, this is a system
of building in which two posts support a crosspiece, or a
lintel, that spans the distance between them.
• Post-and-lintel construction is fundamental to all Greek
architecture.
• The posts are known as columns, and the rows of columns set
at regular intervals around their buildings are known as
colonnades.
The Lion Gate, Mycenae, Greece, 1250 BCE.
The walls are built with load-bearing technology, but the gateway is made
with post-and-lintel construction.
Corner of the First Temple of Hera,
Paestum, Italy, c. 550 BCE.
The temple was built with post-andlintel construction. A row of columns
is called a colonnade.
Notice how the columns are not solid
pieces of stone. They are made of
several chunks, called drums. The
grooves that are carved into the
stone are called fluting.
The slight swelling of the columns is
referred to as entasis.
Parthenon (temple to the goddess Athena), Athens, Greece. 438 BCE.
Notice the colonnades holding up the lintels to form the “roof.”
Arches, Vaults, and Domes…
Round arches, barrel vaults, and domes: innovations by the
ancient Romans…
• Ancient Romans used colonnades in much of their architecture, which
they learned from the ancient Greeks, but they perfected the use of the
arch.
• Round arch: A round arch is a curved, often semicircular architectural
form that spans an opening or space built of wedge-shaped blocks, with a
keystone centered at the top. A row of continuous arches is called an
arcade.
• Barrel vault: A barrel vault is a masonry (stone) roof constructed on the
principle of the arch. It is essentially a long series of arches stacked
against one another, like a tunnel.
• Dome: This is a roof that is generally in the shape of a hemisphere, or halfglobe. The Romans perfected the use of the dome.
Pont du Gard, near Nîmes, France. Late first century BCE – early first century
CE. Height 180 ft.
Romans revolutionized built environments with their perfection of the round
arch. Several arches lined up against one another, as seen here, is called an
arcade.
The Colosseum, Rome, 72-80 CE.
We can see rows of arcades from the outside, but barrel vaults help expand
the space inside. This is an example of an amphitheatre, or double theatre,
which refers to two half-round theatres that have been combined into one
large one. The Romans invented this type of building.
Pantheon, Rome, 117-125 CE. Interior view, left. Exterior view, right.
The Romans were the first to perfect the dome. Note how the front of the building uses
post-and-lintel as its entrance. The original street entrance to the building made it
impossible to see the sides and top of the building. Foreign dignitaries would think they
were entering a traditional Roman forum building, which consisted largely of post and lintel.
Upon entering the Pantheon, the unexpected and gigantic dome was both impressive and
disorienting.
Pointed arches in Gothic architecture…
• The architectural innovations of the Romans were used for large public
buildings for centuries. In Europe, about 1150 CE, the Gothic architectural
style began to develop.
• The use of pointed arches appeared, rather than rounded ones. The
pointed arch is not semicircular, but rather it rises more steeply to a point
at its top.
• The height of a rounded arch is determined by its width, but the height of
a pointed arch can readily be extended by straightening the curves
upwards into a point, with the weight of the ceiling descending much
more directly down the wall.
• Pointed arches produced an effect of amazing height and space inside
Gothic churches.
Amiens Cathedral, France, begun 1220.
Look at the incredible sense of height
achieved by using the pointed arch.
Pointed arches were primarily used in
Gothic architecture, both in arcades, and
in long complicated barrel vaults, as
seen here.
This type of vaulting in Gothic
architecture is referred to as rib vaults.
The need for flying buttresses…
• All arches tend to spread outward, creating the risk of
collapse. Early on, Romans learned to support the sides of the
arch to counteract this lateral thrust.
• In the great French cathedrals, the support was provided by
building a series of arches on the outside of the building,
whose thrusts would balance out and counteract the outward
force of the large interior arches.
Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Paris, 12111290.
Look how the flying buttresses support
the outside Cathedral walls, but at the
same time they appear light and delicate.
They do not let the viewer focus on how
heavy the stone is, because they do not
appear bulky.
Flying buttresses also allow for more
windows to be used, because there is
more open space on the outside walls.
This results in stone churches, with stone
roofs that have an incredible sense of light
inside.
Sainte-Chappelle, France, 1239. The use of light through the enormous
windows, and color, through the stained glass, help to transform the interior
of this building into a transcendental experience.
Cast Iron Construction…
• Until the 19th century (1800s), the history of architecture was
determined by innovations in the ways to use the same
materials (mostly stone).
• In the 19th century, iron, a material that had been known for
1000s of years, but had never been used in architecture,
absolutely transformed the way building was done.
• Engineers discovered that by adding carbon to iron, they
could create a much more rigid and strong material: cast iron.
Gustave Eiffel, Eiffel Tower, 1887-89.
Height of the tower is 1,051 feet.
This famous structure shows off the
capabilities of cast iron. The
incredible strength of cast iron allows
for maximum rigidity with minimum
weight.
This structure does not use any load
bearing walls to support its great
height. It marks the beginning of
skeleton-and-skin systems of building.
Frame Construction…
• Wood frame construction: A true skeleton-and-skin building
method, commonly used in domestic architecture.
• The mass production of the common nail, together with
improved methods and standardization in the process of
milling lumber, led to a revolution in home building
techniques.
• Truss: In architecture, a triangular framework that because of
its rigidity, can span much wider areas than a single wooden
beam.
These are diagrams of wood-frame construction, which is the basis for most
domestic architecture. The diagram on the right shows a truss. The
triangular structure is very rigid, and can span a much wider area than a
single wooden beam.
Wood frame construction is the foundation for American domestic
architecture. Note how the doors and windows are built into place using
post-and-lintel building techniques.
Steel and Reinforced Concrete Construction…
• Although urban buildings were using skeleton-and-skin methods with cast
iron as the skeleton, the thick walls, or the skin, still carried their own
weight, just as stone walls had done for centuries.
• Reinforced concrete: Concrete in which steel reinforcement bars, or
rebars, are placed to both strengthen and make concrete less brittle. This,
combined with steel beams, led to the creation of the modern skyscraper.
• The sheer strength of steel makes the modern skyscraper a reality. Walls
no longer have to be incredibly thick at the base in order to support the
building.
• (For example, without the use of reinforced concrete and steel, the walls
at the bottom of a 16-story building would need to be six feet thick!)
Le Corbusier, Perspective drawing for Domino Housing Project., 1914.
The combination of a steel framework with reinforced concrete floors
provided the foundation for the modern skyscraper. The space can be
expanded any number of ways, and the skin can vary greatly. Windows may
be placed anywhere; even the stairway may be moved anywhere.
Ludwig Miës van der Rohe and Philip
Johnson, Seagram Building, New York
City, 1958.
This building demonstrates the
International Style, with its
geometric simplicity.
Euro Saarinen
TWA Terminal, John F. Kennedy Internantional Airport, New York, 1926.
This shows an incredibly different style than the Seagram Building,
emphasizing curves and strong contrasts. It is defined by the strong contrast
of openness, provided by the broad expanse of windows, and the sculptural
mass of the reinforced concrete walls and roof.
Rem Koolhaas and Ole Scheeren,
OMA, New Headquarters, Central
Chinese Television CCTV, Beijing,
China, 2008.
This structure changes from every
view, creating a fantastic and
captivating experience.
Frank Gehry, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain, 1997.
The incredibly sculpted architecture creates fluid surfaces that
make you forget that you are looking at a building.
Adrian Smith and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Burj Khalifa, Dubai, United
Arab Emirates.
The Burj, or central tower, is currently the tallest free-standing structure in
the world, at 2,684 feet (more than twice as high as the empire state
building).
Tom Wills-Wright, Burj Al-Arab, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 1999.
This luxury hotel sits on its own island like an enormous wind filled sail. There
is a cantilevered helipad, that doubles as the world’s highest tennis court,
extends from the font of the building from the 28th floor.