BASIC OBSERVATIONS:

When an architect judges a building its appearance is only one

of several factors which interest him. He studies plans, sections
and elevations and maintains that, if it is to be a good building,
these must harmonize with each other.

Architecture is not produced

simply by adding plans and sections to elevations. It is
something else and something more. It is impossible to explain
precisely what it is�its limits are by no means well-defined. On
the whole, art should not be explained; it must be experienced..

The architect works with form and mass just as the sculptor
does, and like the painter he works with color. But alone of the
three, his is a functional art. It solves practical problems.

Another great difficulty is that the architect's work is intended

to live on into a distant future. He sets the stage for a long,
slowmoving performance which must be adaptable enough to
accommodate unforeseen improvisations. His building should
preferably be ahead of its time when planned so that it will
be in keeping with the times as long as it stands.

Compared with other branches of art, all this may seem quite
negative; architecture is incapable of communicating an intimate,
personal message from one person to another; it entirely lacks
emotional sensitivity. But this very fact leads to something positive.
The architect is forced to seek a form which is more explicit
and finished than a sketch or personal study. Therefore, architecture
has a special quality of its own and great clarity.

Solids and Cavities in Architecture:

In classical architecture, for example, we speak of supporting
and supported members. Many people, it is true, associate nothing
particular with this. But others receive the impression of a
heavy burden weighing down the column, just as it would a
human being.
Portals are often described as "gaping," and the architect of the
Palazetto Zuccari in Rome actually formed an entrance of that
building as the gaping jaws of a giant
FALLING WATER AS EXAMPLE
Scale and Proportion:
GOLDEN RATIO AND LE CORBUSIER EXAMPLE Le Corbusier: Villa in Garches
Colin Rozue's comparison of proportions in villas
designed respectively by Le Corbusier and Palladia
Le Corbusier: The Marseille block. Cross-section and plans of flats.
Rhythm in Architecture:
It may be a
row of houses in an old street where dwellings of the same type
and period were built individually within the framework of a
general plan. These houses, too, are variations on a theme within
a rectilinear pattern.
Textural Effects:
Alvar Aalto: Baker House at M.I.T. Note the characteristic brickwork.

DAYLIGHT IN ARCHITECTURE:
Le Corbusier: Church in Ronchamps, Haute Saone, France

Color in Architecture
PSYCOLOGY EFFECTS OF COLORS DEPENDS

Hearing Architecture:
We see the light
it reflects and thereby gain an impression of form and material.
In the same way we hear the sounds it reflects and they, too, give
us an impression of form and material. Differently shaped rooms
and different materials reverberate differently.