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Architecture
Unit-01
Introduction
• During the fifty years since the second world war , a paradigm shift has taken place
that should have profoundly affected architecture; this was the shift from mechanical
paradigm to the electronic one.
• Architecture has traditionally been a structure of reality, Metaphors such as house and
home, bricks and mortar, foundations and shelter attest to architecture's role in
defining what we consider to be real .“clearly, a change in the everyday concepts
of reality should have had some affects on architecture”.
• An example is established between a physical photo and a fax. Human vision controls
the photo, while the fax no longer requires a subject to interpret it. There is also a
blurring of boundaries between original and copy for the electronic paradigm; the
original fax is no longer distinguishable. Ultimately this questions the role of site as a
natural or given phenomena.
VISION UNFOLDING- PETER EISENMANN
• Piranesi created similar effects with his architectural projections. Piranesi diffracted
the monocular subject by creating perspective visions with multiple vanishing points
so that there was no way of correlating what was seen into a unified whole.
• Equally cubism attempted to deflect the relationship between a monocular subject
and the object. The subject could no longer put the painting into some meaningful
structure through the use of perspective. Cubism used a non monocular perspective
condition : it flattened objects the edges, it upturned objects, it undermined the
stability of the picture plane. Architecture attempted similar dislocations through
constructivism and its own, Albeit normalizing , version of cubism- the international
style.
TECHNOLOGY and ARCHITECTURE
INTRODUCTION
The architect has to possess the faculty of scientific knowledge with that of imaginative
thought. He has to know all about building materials, their occurrence, characteristics,
treatment and use as well as the relative construction methods.
EGYPT
•The earliest civilization is attributed to Egypt and it was in this land that rectangular
architecture had its origin. They fashioned lumps of clay into bricks to build a wall.
• The great pyramid at Gizeh has been described as the greatest and most accurate
structure ever built. Each of its four sides is almost a perfect equilateral triangle, with its apex
481 feet above the base.
•This monument which is more like a mountain of stone would not have been possible, if the
Egyptians were not well up in their knowledge of menstruation and geometry to execute
such a huge and accurate structure confidently.
•In the Egyptian era and methods of construction alone imposed themselves as the basis of
design. In Egyptian architecture, we find the exposition of the post and lintel principle, with
a large margin of safety.
TECHNOLOGY and ARCHITECTURE
GREECE
•In the architecture of ancient Greece, we find the post and lintel principle as that of the
Egyptians but on account of their higher cultural standards and technical knowledge.
•Refinement in the proportion of every member which was further enriched by sculptural
decorations, Since life was lived out of doors, the Greeks designed for external rather than
internal effect of their structures.
•They employed the beam as a dominating clement in construction. Here was beauty
recognized as an adjunct of building called for in every structure.
ROMANS
•The achievement of Romans consisted in covering large spans. Inspired by the demands
for huge spaces where crowds could assemble, they evolved the arch and the vault.
•From the engineering standpoint the Romans made a wonderful discovery in concrete
and their concrete which was derived from volcanic products was exceptionally strong.
This enabled them to build cheaply and rapidly on a vast scale
TECHNOLOGY and ARCHITECTURE
Without technological development, the architectural requirements of Romans might
have remained unachieved .
MEDIVAL AGES
•The medieval engineers invented the domes as their new system of roofing over large
spaces. The arts of stone carving and glass painting were perfect with the sole aim of
enriching their structures. The medieval engineers showed better understanding of the
mechanics of construction than the Romans.
•The Gothic structural system was based upon a thorough knowledge of engineering
principles in general and their application to masonry practice in particular.
•Out of medieval structure emerged the important suggestion of skeleton framing, which
reappeared as a principle of building technique, which we find today in the practice of
modern architecture.
TECHNOLOGY and ARCHITECTURE
NINETEENTH CENTURY- INDUSTRIAL ERA
•There were huge requiring demand to enclose large space ,the concept of cast iron
and rolling sheet was introduced during industrial era to construct new structural
facilities, Factory buildings, warehouses and railway stations.
•Joseph Paxton, in his crystal palace built in the year 1851, showed how iron framing and
sheets of glass could produce a marvel of airy grace and speciousness by the use of
factory-produced building components. Through the Swiss Engineer Robert Maillart was
found reinforced concrete as a structural material of great elegance and plasticity.
TODAY
Today, we have structural systems, which can exercise complete control over space.
We can span huge voids, we can enclose vertical space to any height. New methods
of analysis have shown the way of designing structures as live structures, in which each
member contributes its share to the stability of the whole and this is made with the
minimum expenditure of material, without depriving modern architecture of its
expression.
TECHNOLOGY and ARCHITECTURE
•Modern trend in architecture is to give face treatment as a means to express the
purpose for which the building is created.
•In the olden days, the system of ornamentation, that was employed to cover up the
massive structure, was the result of the efforts of craftsmen, carving and modelling for the
enrichment of surfaces which otherwise looked depressing on account of the huge inert
masses, considered so essential for strength. With increased technological knowledge
and consequent decreased factors of ignorance, the structures have less inert masses
and therefore less need for such decoration. This is the reason why the modern buildings
are plainer and depend upon precision of outline and perfection of finish for their
architectural effect.
•There is a saying that necessity is the mother of invention. In Britain, during the second
world war, numerous prefabricated houses were put up to meet housing shortage. Even
in India, production of prefabs was given a trial to meet a similar situation.
TECHNOLOGY and ARCHITECTURE
SUMMARY
1. Technological progress has always influenced the architecture of any period.
2. Such technological progress has consisted in the periodical advent of:—
(a) new materials of construction—either natural or artificial
(b) new methods or processes or construction including finishing, etc.,
(c) new conceptions, theories, calculations and design principles, as a result of
the continuous research,
(d) new demands made by almost every sphere of human activity, from simple
protection for residential purposes to the most complex of industrial and other structures of
modern times.
3. Without the utilization of the results of technological development, the architectural
requirements of strength, permanence, beauty, economy and efficiency could not have
been secured in architectural work.
TECHNOLOGY and ARCHITECTURE
4. Architecture, without technological progress, would have stayed stagnant,
stereotyped and incapable of the many artifices, which impart truth, beauty and
goodness to structures.
5. Technology holds architecture in its grip and every architect has, therefore, to
remain abreast of all technical developments in the matter of design, construction
and materials, if he has to keep himself professionally up to date.
Technology and architecture
• Technology follows design demand, rather than design adjusting to available new
technology.
• The use of technologies in the designing process adds a new dimension to the
architectural product, which enables us to materialize our ideas that are not fully
expressed. However, the challenge enables us to hold on to our human identity and
not allow the technology to distance the architect from performing his/her original role,
which is the construction of Earth and making human existence on it safe and
constructive.
• When the architect uses the computer in the process of design and representation, he
connects to it creating a coupled cognitive system, where the man and the machine
exchange ideas and information. The elements of the system affect one another that
each changes by the change of the other. Thus, any change that occurs on the
computer or the designer leads to a change in the outcome of the design
Technology and architecture
• In Contemporary process- where the word “Process” implies a particular mode of
taught as well a particular technology or material method of production, to which it is
inextricably linked.
• Modern technology has shaped the world in which we live, For many architects,
modern technology is till indelibly associated with the architecture of the FIRST
MACHINE AGE.
• Architectural technology, or building technology, is the application of technology to
the design of buildings. It is a component of architecture and building engineering and
is sometimes viewed as a distinct discipline or sub-category.
Technology and architecture
• New materials and technologies generated new design challenges and construction
methods throughout the evolution of building, especially since the advent of
industrialization in the 19th century. Architectural technology is related to the different
elements of a building and their interactions, and is closely aligned with advances
in building science.
• Architectural technology can be summarized as the "technical design and expertise
used in the application and integration of construction technologies in the building
design process."The ability to analyses, synthesize and evaluate building design factors
in order to produce efficient and effective technical design solutions which satisfy
performance, production and procurement criteria.
Digital technology and architecture
•The digital design technology has facilitated the representation of the design and
architectural drawing which were accomplished manually before providing these
means. However, the major effect of this technology was on the design process itself.
•Nowadays, most of the architectures use programs not only to develop ideas but also
to draw and represent them. These programs can coordinate between several data
and different types of information with which the program is provided to form
streamlined and regular shapes without defining specific functions of them.
• They allows creating organic and dynamic in a precise and organized way, which
helps in transferring the ideas from the architect’s imagination to reality.
•The shapes are generated from information on the environment or any other source of
factors which could affect the design through converting them into formulations and
charts, then applying them on the design to change the shape. This leads to generating
new architectural patterns which have never existed before such as Folding,
Deconstruction, and Digital.
Digital technology and architecture
• For several years, many architects have been famous for being biased towards
computers and excellent in manipulating them to highlight their distinctive design ideas.
• For example, Zaha Hadid who has been very famous for her designs which gained
international acknowledgement and appreciation, and at an early stage of her
professional career, she could not use the computer in her designs as modern design
software was not available at that time.
•Zaha Hadid was expressing her ideas through drawings and works of art. However, by
developing design software and the possibility of its use in the design process, she has
been able to represent her designs more realistically through digital solids. This has
enabled her to transform her paintings into architectural designs including schemes,
sections, and all of the engineering drawings required for construction.
Digital technology and architecture
•Example; Architect Frank gehry, the famous designer of the Guggenheim Museum in
Spain, whose career path has been greatly influenced by the design technology in his
career.Gehry started by building models using cartoon, wood, and different materials.
Then, advanced devices scan the models and turn them into digital images. Images are
transferred to CATIA Program which is developed to manufacture aircrafts in Dassault Hall
Company in order that the design team are able to turn them into a digital models, and
then translate then into engineering drawings.
Digital technology and architecture
IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY
•One of the major impacts of technology on the digital design is the distance created
between the designer and the architect. Thus, the design becomes more and more
visual. Architecture as a profession has the implicit ability to create this distance as it
consists of drawing but not constructing buildings.
• However, the manual drawing and the building of solids help to build a bridge
connecting the architect and their building. Nevertheless, using computers limits the
interaction between the architect and their building to just moving the mouse and
pressing the keys of the keyboard.
Digital technology and architecture
RESULT OF TECHNOLOGY
•One of the major results of using the computer in architecture is that these programs
encourage the selfishness of the designer
• The architect use their designs and buildings as means to express themselves.
According to Fraud, the human being uses external tools to expand their Narcissistic
control over the world.
•The new tools have expanded the architects’ ambition to the extent that this becomes
sometimes at the expense of the design requirements.
• Many of the architects realize these risks but unfortunately not all of them do.
TECHNOLOGY AS RHETORIC
INTRODUCTION
Rhetoric is the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing , especially the exploitation of
figures of speech and other compositional techniques.
Following are few buildings which are rhetoric
•Jewish Museum –Berlin- Danial Libeskind
•Imperial War museum – Manchester – UK
•Portugal ;MAAT museum- A monument for Corporate ego
•National Holocaust monument- Canada – Daniel Libeskind
The descent leads to three underground axial routes, each of which tells a different story. The first
leads to a dead end – the Holocaust Tower. The second leads out of the building and into the
Garden of Exile and Emigration, remembering those who were forced to leave Berlin The third
and longest, traces a path leading to the Stair of Continuity, then up to the exhibition spaces of
the museum, emphasizing the continuum of history.
TECHNOLOGY AS RHETORIC JEWISH MUSEUM BERLIN-
DANIEL LIBESKIND
•The Air Shard serves as a dramatic entry into the museum, with its projected images,
observatories and education spaces;
•The Water Shard forms the platform for viewing the canal, complete with a restaurant, cafe,
deck and performance space.
TECHNOLOGY AS RHETORIC MAAT Muesum- “A monument
for corporate Ego”- Portugal
•During the 1960s, a record number of people—120,239—left Portugal and headed
east, to central Europe. young rural workers who left the country in search of better
living conditions, to escape a situation of social oppression and colonial war.
Male emigrants mostly took up construction jobs in their destination countries.
Emigrants were able to return to Portugal for summer vacation.
• During these stays, they started building houses in the same style as they built in their
destination lands, showing a complete disregard for the different local building
traditions and identities.
•The built “maisons” dramatically changed the rural landscape of the whole country,
to the point where whole villages in central Portugal came to look like suburban
developments on the outskirts of Paris, Frankfurt, or Geneva.
Migrants made use of the identity they had absorbed in central Europe, They built
these “maisons” as their own monuments to their achievements abroad. It is with this
history in mind that I see the new building of the Museum of Art, Architecture and
Technology (MAAT) in Lisbon: a sort of corporate “maison.” It is a building that exists, in
isolation, as the proud attempt to borrow an identity from an international sphere.
TECHNOLOGY AS RHETORIC MAAT Muesum- “A monument
for corporate Ego”- Portugal
Blending structure into landscape, the
kunsthalle is designed to allow visitors to
walk over, under and through the building
that sits beneath a gently expressed arch
– one of the oldest forms in western
architecture.
•The Monument is conceived as an experiential •The triangular spaces are representative of the
environment comprised of six triangular, concrete badges the Nazi’s and their collaborators used to
volumes configured to create the points of a star. label homosexuals, Roma-Sinti, Jehovah’s
The star remains the visual symbol of the Holocaust Witnesses and political and religious prisoners for
wear by the Nazi’s to identify them as Jews, •Original, large scale monochromatic
exclude them from humanity and mark them for photographic landscapes of Holocaust sites –