Conceptual Limits of Form in Architecture

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Ph.D. candidate in Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran. Lecturer of Department of Architectural Engineering, Faculty of Saba Art and Architecture, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Iran.

2 Professor of Department of History of Architecture and Heritage, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Problem statement: Form is a fundamental concept in the discourse of architecture that has been affected by the evolutions of architectural thinking. The non-systematic accumulation of form concepts results in ambiguity in contemporary discourse. On the other side, disregarding the dynamic nature of form, and poor identification of the factors influencing its evolution, and its application domains have made form a frozen concept and have reduced its effectiveness in responding to today’s architectural issues.
Research objectives: this paper concentrates on clarifying and organizing the diverse concepts of the form. Besides a theoretical framework is provided to guarantee the conceptual dynamism of the form.
Research method: Present research is conducted based on Foucault’s genealogy approach. First, the original conditions of the first appearance of form in philosophical thinking are examined, then based on the results obtained, is referred to revolutionary theories of architecture. The fundamental evolutions of the concept of the form will be analyzed, and finally, a critique of today’s form status is provided.
Conclusion: According to the findings, the evolution of the concept of form is originated from the evolutions of philosophical knowledge of architecture from at least three perspectives: ontology, aesthetics, and epistemology. Among these factors, epistemological approaches have made the most substantial contribution to the evolutions of form, from pre-modern to the contemporary era. The evolution of philosophical knowledge of architecture has led to the formation of six conceptual limits of form, including appearance, idea, type, structure, meaning, and affordance. Each of these concepts has limited the architecture to specific aspects; however, introducing the concept of “form field” helps to gain a comprehensive understanding of architecture while providing a framework for organizing the form concepts. It also ensures the dynamics of this concept in line with the evolutions of philosophical knowledge of architecture.

Keywords


Alexander, C. (1964). Notes on the Synthesis of Form. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Alexander, C. (2003). New Concepts in Complexity Theory arising from studies in the Field of Architecture: A response by Christopher Alexander. Katarxis Nº 3: New Science, New Urbanism, New Architecture?, 3(3).
Arnheim, R. (1977). The Dynamics of Architectural Form: Based on the 1975 Mary Duke Biddle Lectures at the Cooper Union. California: University of California Press.
Barker, R. G. (1968). Ecological Psychology: Concepts and Methods for Studying the Environment of Human Behavior. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Broadbent, G. (1977). Introduction: A Plain Man’s Guide to the Theory of Signs in Architecture. In K. Nesbitt (Ed.), Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture: An Anthology of Architectural Theory 1965-1995 (1996 ed., pp. 122-140). New York: Princeton Architectural Press.
Brown, D. & Williamson, T. (2016). Lancelot Brown and the Capability Men: Landscape Revolution in Eighteenth-century England. London: Reaktion Books.
Carroll, N. (2012). Philosophy of Art: A Contemporary Introduction. London: Routledge.
Carter, S. M. & Little, M. (2007). Justifying Knowledge, Justifying Method, Taking Action: Epistemologies, Methodologies, and Methods in Qualitative Research. Qualitative Health Research, 17(10).
Collins, P. (1996). The History of Architectural Theory: Changing Ideals in Modern Architecture, 1750-1950 (translated from English to Persian by H. Hassan Pour). Tehran: Ghatreh.
Collins, P. (1998). Changing Ideals in Modern Architecture, 1750-1950. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press.
Dewey, J. (2005). Art as Experience. New York: Penguin Group Inc.
Edwards, P. (1972). The Encyclopedia of philosophy. New York: the Macmillan Company & the free press.
Fathi, H. (2006). Estelahat morede estefade-ye Aflatoon dar bab nazariye-ye mosol [Plato’s terms for the theory of Ideas]. Allameh (10), 182-173.
Forty, A. (2000). Words and Buildings: A Vocabulary of Modern Architecture. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd.
Foucault, M. (2008). Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (translated from English to Persian by N. Sarkhosh & A. Jahandideh). Tehran: Nashr-e Ney.
Gibson, J. J. (1979). The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Greeno, J. G. (1994). Gibson’s affordances. Psychological  Review, 101(2), 336-342.
Ingarden, R. (1960). The General Question of the Essence of Form and Content. The Journal of Philosophy, 57(7), 222-233.
Johnson, P. A. (1994). The Theory of Architecture: Concepts, Themes & Practices. New York: Wiley & sons, INC.
Kaplan, S. (1983). A model of person-environment compatibility. Environment and Behavior, 15(3), 311-332.
Koffka, K. (1935). Principles of Gestalt Psychology. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company.
Lewin, K. (1936). Principles of topological psychology. New York: McGraw-Hil.
Madrazo , L. (1995). The Concept of Type in Architecture: An Inquiry Into the Nature of Architectural Form. (the degree of Doctor of Technical Sciences). Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich.
Michelson, W. M. (1976). Man and His Urban Environment: A Sociological Approach (with Revisions). Boston: Addison-Wesley Professional.
Nesbitt, K. (1996). Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture: An Anthology of Architectural Theory 1965 - 1995. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.
Norberg-Schulz, C. (1979). Genius loci: towards a phenomenology of architecture. New York: Rizzoli.
Pallasmaa, J. (2011). The Embodied Image: Imagination and Imagery in Architecture. London: Wiley and Sons Ltd.
Parcell, S. (2012). Four Historical Definitions of Architecture. Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press.
Pazouki, S. (2008). Seir-e tahavol ma’ani-ye vaje-ye Ideh dar tarikh-e falsafe-ye gharb [The evolution of the meaning of the word “idea” in the history of Western philosophy]. Nameh-ye Farhang, (34), 154-160.
Reynolds, P. D. (1971). A primer in theory construction. Indianapolis & New York: Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc.
Schützeichel, R. (2013). Architecture as Bodily and Spatial Art: The Idea of Einfühlung in Early Theoretical Contributions by Heinrich Wölfflin and August Schmarsow. Architectural Theory Review, 18(3), 293-309. DOI:10.1080/13264826.2014.890007
Shaw, R. E., Turvey, M. T. & Mace, W. M. (1982). Ecological Psychology: the Consequence of a Commitment to Realism. In W. W. D. Palermo (Ed.), Cognition and Symbolic Processes (Vol. 2, pp. 159- 226). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Tatarkiewicz, W. (1980). A history of six ideas: an essay in aesthetics. In Jan T. J. Srazednicki (Ed.), Melbourne international philosophy series (Vol. 5). The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers Group.
Turner, B. S. (1992). Max Weber: From History to Modernity. London: Routledge.
Urmson, J. O. U. (1967). Idea. In P. Edwards (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Vol. 4). new york Macmillan.
Vitruvius, P. (1914). Vitruvius, the Ten Books on Architecture (M. H. Morgan, Trans.). Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Worringer, W. (1997). Abstraction and Empathy: A Contribution to the Psychology of Style. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee.