AR3101 Introduction to Architecture Syllabus:

AR3101 Introduction to Architecture Syllabus – Anna University Regulation 2021

OBJECTIVES

 To give understanding of architecture as an outcome of the act of design by human society across history and region.
 To give an introduction to the discipline of architecture and its various facets.
 To introduce importance of form and its relation to design through study of nature and manmade environment.
 To introduce the vocabulary of form and space in terms of elements, principles, attributes and organisation as giving cognitive experience in the realm of architecture.

UNIT I INTRODUCTION TO ARCHITECTURE

Origin and definitions of architecture as need based, cultural, environmental, social, psychological response of human society. Architecture as phenomenological mediation of nature. Components of architecture: use, means, site, shelter, relation to nature, structure, skin, materials, services, circulation, typology, aesthetics, expression, character, symbolism, experience, etc., History and types of design in architecture- unself-conscious/ self-conscious design, design through craft/ design through drawing, pragmatic/ iconic/ canonic/ analogic design.

UNIT II FORM IN NATURE AND MANMADE ENVIRONMENT

Understanding form in all its attributes as the basis of creating architecture. Characteristics of form and its relationship with use/function/evolution as manifested in first hand examples from nature and everyday manmade environment including artefacts, objects buildings, cityscapes. Human body and sensory environment. Cognitive experience of form- ideas of Gestalt, visual perception, proxemics. Tactile, auditory, olfactory senses and human environment.

UNIT III FORM AS GEOMETRIC ELEMENTS AND THEIR EFFECTS

Form as embodied in and/or constituted by geometric elements such as point, line, plane, volumes. Attributes, generation and interrelationships among elements. Perceptual effects and use of specific manifestations of the elements- planes as shapes and volumes as geometric forms/space such as sphere, cube, pyramid, cylinder, cone and their sections/ derivatives. Architectural use of elements. Exercises and architectural case studies.

UNIT IV ATTRIBUTES AND PRINCIPLES OF FORM

Form as manifesting attributes such as pattern, light, colour, surface, texture. Effects of these attributes. Form in its basic state, in combinations, composite organisations and configurations as manifesting characteristics such as proportion, scale, balance, symmetry, asymmetry, rhythm, axis, hierarchy, datum, unity, harmony, dominance, climax, focus. Characteristics acting as principles to generate architectural design. Exercises and architectural case studies.

UNIT V ORGANISATION OF FORM AND SPACE

Cognitive experience of form and space in architecture –enclosure, internal and external spaces, continuous spaces, hierarchy of spaces, spatial organisation (centralised, linear, radial, clustered, grid), built form- open space relationships. Relationship of movement/ circulation/ path with reference to architectural form and space. Haptic experience. Exercises and architectural case studies.

OUTCOMES

 Ability to recognise different facets of architecture.
 Basic understanding of form and design in all aspects and scales.
 Ability to discern the relationship between manifestations of form and its effects on humans.

REQUIRED READING

 Geoffrey Broadbent, ‘Design in Architecture – Architecture and the Human Sciences’, D.Fulton, 1988.
 Francis D.K. Ching, ‘Architecture-Form, Space and Order’, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York, 2007.
 Simon Unwin, ‘Analysing Architecture’, Routledge, London, 2003.
 V.S. Pramar, ‘Design Fundamentals in Architecture’, Somaiya Publications Private Ltd., NewDelhi, 1973.
 Yatin Pandya, ‘Elements of Space Making’, Mapin, 2008.
 Francis D.K. Ching, James F. Eckler, ‘Introduction to Architecture’, Wiley, 2012.
 Robert McCarter, JuhaniPallasmaa, ‘Understanding Architecture’, Phaidon 2012.
 Anthony C. Antoniades, ‘Poetics of Architecture: Theory of Design’, John Wiley and Sons,1992.

REFERENCES

1. Pierre von Meiss, ‘Elements of Architecture: From Form to Place’, Routledge, 1990.
2. Rudolf Arnheim, ‘The Dynamics of Architectural Form’, University of California Press 2009.
3. NeilsPrak, ‘The Language of Architecture’, De Gruyter Mouton,2017.
4. Leland M.Roth, ‘Understanding Architecture, its Experience, History and Meaning’, Routledge, 2018.
5. Hazel Conway, ‘Understanding Architecture: An Introduction to Architecture and Architectural History’, Routledge, 2005.
6. Paul Alan Johnson, ‘The Theory of Architecture – Concepts and Themes’, Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., New York, 1994.
7. Kumar Vyas, ‘Design and Environment- A Primer’, National Institute of Design, 2009.