Compositions in Architecture

Front Cover
John Wiley & Sons, Mar 23, 2009 - Architecture - 336 pages
Architecture

Use the patterns of architectural composition to inspire creative design

In Compositions in Architecture, Don Hanlon offers students an excitingly original path to dis-covering architectural composition, one that avoids the traditional either/or choice between theory and practice. By exploring the underlying patterns of organization in architecture, this book enables the reader to connect architectural theory with the design process. And by relating what happens in the design studio with how the architect thinks about architectural composition, the approach spurs creative thinking.

With examples that range across diverse cultures and historical periods—from the famous to the obscure—the author reveals the universal compositional strategies that can be used to solve particular architectural problems. Readers will explore:

  • The five formal properties of composition—number, geometry, proportion, hierarchy, and orientation

  • How the plan conveys the central organizing strategy of a building

  • Typological similarities of architectural forms that cut across cultural, social, historical, and geographic boundaries

Enriched by a graphic approach that will appeal to visual learners, Compositions in Architecture reveals the formal structures in architecture throughout the world as well as through the ages and inspires architects to turn abstract ideas into real-world design.

 

Selected pages

Contents

CHAPTER
21
CHAPTER FOUR
53
CHAPTER FIVE
79
CHAPTER
110
CHAPTER SEVEN
141
CHAPTER EIGHT
157
CHAPTER NINE
178
CHAPTER
242
CHAPTER ELEVEN
258
CHAPTER TWELVE
280
CONCLUSION
318
Copyright

Common terms and phrases

20th century Aalto al-Fustat Al-Hakim Mosque allows Alvar Aalto ambulatory appears architects architectural axis brick bricolage Cairo cells centerline central space chapels church colonnade columns complex composition construction Corbusier core and shell corner court create culture deep wall deformation dome elevation enclosing entirely entrance entry Erik Gunnar Asplund example exterior facade figures formal four frame functions galleries geometry grid Hagia Sophia hall hierarchy interior spaces irregular Isfahan Kahn landscape layers of space Le Corbusier living spaces madrassa Mamluk medieval mihrab module Monastery mosque nine-square diagram organization orientation orthogonal outer palace Palazzo pattern Pavilion poché principal produce proportion qibla quincunx rectangle rectangular regular grouping relation roof rooms Saint salamlik Sanahin scale segmental service spaces shape side similar skin spatial spine square stair stoa street structure surrounding symmetry Temple tion town traditional Turpan underlying urban variations vernacular Villa Savoye Yeşil Cami

About the author (2009)

Don Hanlon is Professor of Architecture at the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee. He is the recipient of the UWM Alumni Award for Teaching Excellence and the AIA-UWM Student Chapter Educator Award, both in 2001. Professor Hanlon is a registered architect working on residential, commercial, and institutional projects.

Bibliographic information

TitleCompositions in Architecture
AuthorDon Hanlon
Editionillustrated
PublisherJohn Wiley & Sons, 2009
ISBN047005364X, 9780470053645
Length336 pages
Subjects › 

Architecture / General
  
Export CitationBiBTeX EndNote RefMan