LECTURE III

Shape&Form
Shape
The characteristic outline or surface configuration of a
particular form. Shape is the principal aspect by which
we identify and categorize forms.
Shape refers to the characteristic outline of a plane figure or
the surface configuration of a volumetric form.It is the
primary means by which we recognize,identify and
categorize particular figures and forms.Our perception of
shape depends on the degree of visual contrast that exists
along the contour seperating a figure from its ground or
between a form and its field.
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
 Central Pavilion,Japan

Süleymaniye mosque,Turkey
 KINDS OF SHAPES

Natural Shapes Shapes as we know them from the

world of nature.These are familiar to us.In other
references,you may see them called organic or biomorphic
shapes.

These shapes can be altered, simplified, distorted, enlarged,

half-hidden… anything that changes them… and their
subject may still be recognized; the essence remains. They
are then called abstracts, since they are “abstracted” or
pulled from the original.
Pablo Picasso said “There is no abstract art-you must
always start with something.”

Sometimes circles,squares, and triangle are used to create

an abstraction of a natural shape. These are called
geometric shapes and are usually thought of as man-made
shapes,being more precise and even than shapes in nature.

Buildings,for instance,are usually designed from geometric

shapes.

If we were to enlarge just one portion of our original shape

(maybe a rose),it would no longer be recognizable as a rose-
just some weird shapes.These new shapes are often called
invented,found, or nonobjective shapes.
Naturel shape The line drawing represents the The enlarged portion produces
rose Shapes that do not represent any
object or shape.They become
Nonobjective shapes.

This rose is seen as a rose but is not “realistic”.It is slightly abstract.

 POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE SHAPES

When we place any of the shapes we have been discussing

in our empty space (negative space),we call it a positive
shape.

If we place at least two shapes together in this

space,touching or almost touching,we create an illusion of a
third(or more) shapes.This illusionary shape is called a
negative shape.
 PRIMARY GEOMETRIC SHAPES

Gestalt psychology affirms that the mind will simplify the visual
environment in order to understand it.Given any composition of
forms, we tend to reduce the subject matter in our visual field to
the simplest and most regular shapes.The simpler and more regular
a shape is,the easier it isto perceive and understand.

Form geometry we know the regular shapes to be the circle, and

the infinite series of regular polygons that can be inscribed within
it.Of these, the most significant are the primary shapes:the circle,
the triangle, and the square.
Circle A plane curve every point
of which is equidistant from a
fixed point within the curve

Triangle A plane figure bounded

by three sides and having three
angles

Square A plane figure having

Four equal sides and four right
angles
Circle

Some compositions of circles and circular segments.

Roman theatre according to Vitruvius
Palladio's plan,section and elevation of Villa La Rotonda,1570 Italy
How can we use circular forms in architecture?

A circular pool can be an example !

A circular ceiling detail A facade covered with circular elements
A circular eaves detail Circular windows
 Circular windows

A facade covered with circular elements

Interior views of a shop and a meeting room
which detailed with circular elements
A table designed by circular forms
 Triangle

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 or be unstable and
tend to fall over onto one of its sides.
Litexpo Exhition Pavilion design by Paleko
Archstudija in Vilnius Lithuania

Facade detail of The Hearst Tower in New

York City, designed by Foster + Partners.
 Herzog & de Meuron's Towering Triangular
Triangle shaped tower
Skyscraper
Unique triangle facade house
Triangle roof detail
Square
The square represents the pure and
the rational.It is a bilaterally
symmetrical figure having two
equal and perpendicular axes.All
other rectangles can be considered
variations of the square-deviations
from the norm by 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.When its diagonals are
vertical and horizontal, however,
the square exists in a balanced
state of equilibrium.
Villa Savoye,Le Corbusier,France, PARIS

Plan of Villa Savoye

Bathhouse,Jewish Community Center,New Jersey,Louis Kahn
Origlio home, Tessino, Switzerland. 1981,Mario Botta
Form
Form is an inclusive term that has several meaning.It
may refer to an external appearance that can be
recognized, as that of a chair or the human body that
sits in it. It may also allude to a particular condition in
which something acts or manifests itself, as when we
speak of water in the form of ice or steam. In art and
design, we often use the term to denote the formal
structure of a work-the manner of arranging and
coordinating the elements and parts of a composition so
as to produce a coherent image.
Form suggests reference to both internal structure and external
outline and the principle that gives unity to the whole.

In addition to shape, forms have visual properties of:

●Size
●Color
●Texture
●Position
●Orientation
●Visual Inertia
All of these properties of form are in reality affected by the
conditions under which we view them.

●A changing perspective or angle of view presents different

shapes or aspects of a form to our eyes.
●Our distance from a form determines its apparent size.
●The lighting conditions under which we view a form affects the
clarity of its shape and structure.
●The visual field surrounding a form influences our ability to
read and identify it.
1.PRIMARY SOLIDS
1.1 Sphere

A solid generated by the revolution of a semicircle about its

diameter, whose surface is at all points equidistant from the
center.

A giant soccer ball building in the Labor Park, downtown Dalian, China.
The Parc de la Villette is the largest park in the The Globe Arena in Stockholm, the
city of Paris, and is said to be the most largest spherical building in the world.
perfectly spherical building in the world.
A glass sphere building in Monterrey, Mexico.

A spherical church
The sphere observation deck at the Fuji TV The most famous, in the USA at least, Disney's
Building in Odaiba, Tokyo, Japan. Epcot center
A house. Not perfectly spherical, but a part of The Hotel Full Moon in Baku, Azerbaijan
a sphere. is a design from Heerim Architects of
Korea, to be built on a peninsula
overlooking Full Moon Bay. The luxury
hotel will have 382 rooms in its 35
stories.
1.2 Cylinder

A solid generated by the revolution

of a rectangle about one of its sides.

BMW's headquarter in Munich, Germany.

Probably the largest four cylinder of the world!
Nehru Centre is a cylinder shaped building that
achieves unity dispite depicting multiple forces
pulling it in different directions.

The building was designed by the

american architect Cossuta, that prefered
the cylinder rather than classical
rectangular shape. The pyramid at the
top the building was built by Stéphane
du Chateau.
Stockholm Library IMAX Cinema Building
1.3 Cone
A solid generated by the revolution
of a right triangle about one of its
sides.

Modern Cone Building, Sydney, Australia

 Front façade of the BMW Welt showing the
glass double cone under construction

Modern cone building behind old church

Cone building
At the Museum of Glass in Tacoma
Oval and Slightly Cone-Shaped Office Building in Southern Germany
1.4 Pyramid
A polyhedron having a polygonal base and triangular
faces meeting at a common point or vertex.
A bank building in Manchester. Pyramid buildings in Indianapolis,USA
 Louvre Pyramid, Paris

Pyramid building in the financial district of

San Francisco, California
1.5 Cube
A prismatic solid bounded by six equal square sides,the angle
between any two adjacent faces being a right angle.

The 'Cube' Building - Amsterdam

TED CUBE Building in Taiwan Taipei Performing Arts Center like a giant
cube,CHINESE
Cube shaped house in Amsterdam The use of cubic shapes in architecture
 CREATING OF FORMS
1. DEDUCTIONS IN THE PROCESSING OF BASIC FORMS

Deduction is removing a single portion or several portions from the solid body of the
basic form by chipping. This process can affect only the lateral surfaces, the top
surface or both surfaces of the basic form.

1.1 Lateral Deductions

These applications are done by removing the desired part of the form without affecting
the top surface.

Some examples for lateral deductions in square prisms

 Some examples for lateral deductions in square prisms

Some examples for lateral deductions in polygonal prisms and pyramids

Some examples for lateral deductions in cylinders and cones
Whitney Art Museum,New York (Marcel Bruer)

Kanchanjunga Apartments,Bombay
(Charles Correa)
 Agigantic window obtained by lateral deduction
La Grande Arche,Paris

The continuity of the street in the form

by means of lateral deductions
Ransila Building,Lugano,Mario Botta)
1.2 Deductions From The Top
The deductions made merely from the top surface and in vertical direction preserving
the lateral surfaces,stay within the form, and can not be perceived from the outside.
 Model of proposal scheme for a Trade Center in Karlsruhe
1.3 Comprehensive Deductions
In comprehensive deductions lateral and top surface deductions are used
together.Lateral and top surface deductions can be applied indepently but mostly (as in
the examples below) they are applied in an integrated manner.
Palace of the Soviets (Walter Gropius)
Alasaka Prince Hotel,Tokyo (Kenzo Tange)
2. ADDITIONS IN THE PROCESSING OF BASIC FORMS
The addition, being the opposite of deduction, is adding another pure or processed
basic form to the main form. The most effective factor in the addition is the size of the
added part in comparison to the main form and its partial effect.

2.1 Lateral Additions

Concerning the lateral additions to the basic form, adding another three-dimensional
form onto the top surface is out of consideration. The parts can only be added to the
lateral surfaces.

Some examples for lateral addition to square prisms

Some examples for lateral addition to polygonal prisms and cylinder
The addition of oriel windows onto the lateral surfaces.
Amsterdam apartment building
2.2 Additions Onto The Top
The additions onto the top are applied by placing another basic form onto the top
surface of the main form.
Dome of Sultanahmet mosque,İstanbul Roof of Atatürk Library,İstanbul
2.3 Combined Additions
The lateral additions to geometrical basic forms are mostly applied together with the
top surface additions and sometimes in an integral manner.
The applications of the additions both on the top and lateral surfaces
3. THE COMBINED APPLICATION OF DEDUCTIONS AND
ADDITIONS
While processing geometrical basic forms, the deductions are generally used together
with the additions.These combined applications increase the number of alternatives but
they also lead to balance problems related to composition.
Örnek Hotel,Ankara (Nuran- ITU Taşkışla ,İstanbul
Merih Karaaslan)

Additions and deductions,applied both on the top and lateral surfaces

Villa Savoye,Le Corbusier Origlio House,MarioBotta
4. DIVISION OF BASIC FORMS
Division aims to obtain more parts from a whole by dividing the geometrical basic
form.At the end of the division two or more partial forms come into being. The
function of building should be appropriate for the division of the basic form.
Lambruschini House,Genoa
5. INTEGRATION OF BASIC FORMS
In the creation of an architectural form, besides pure or processed uses of a basic form,
it is also possible to create a new whole by using several basic forms.

Some examples for the integration of various forms by attachment

Husaby Church,Sweden Synagogue of Marıo Botta,Tel Aviv,Israel