Summary ‘Constructing Architecture’
4th edition
Solid and filigree construction
Earthworks – stereotomy – solid construction
Roofworks – tectonics – filigree construction two archetypal forms of construction
Earthworks: all building techniques of solid wall construction(cob, pisé & adobe, clay-and-stone masonry)
Roofworks: stereotomic forms (walls, arches, vaults and domes)
- Open “roofwork” encompasses all structures with linear and rodlike members – textile-like woven
structures
o Span open spaces as “covers”, forming the “roof” (overhead boundary) to the space below
- Includes: Timber engineering (layered, interwoven assembly) and steelwork (1800 onwards)
Filigree constructions: anonymous and traditional timber buildings
- Conical and spherical domes (made: straight and curved individual linear members)
- Vertical solid timber construction
- Two- and three-dimensional frameworks (timber frames, timber studding)
- Horizontal joist floors and roofs
- Roof constructions (purlin and couple roofs, trussed frames)
- Wood: organic and hence not everlasting (fungal attack, rot, fire) in contrast to solid
construction
o lightweight building material, readily available
Principal evolution: extends from simplest round or oval huts to rectangular shelters
- Nowadays still the standard form for dwellings
o more readily, more economically, subdivided and extended, easier to group together into
settlements
Construction systems depend on:
- Which natural resources are available locally
- What importance is granted to durability of a structure
Hans Soeder - Three different types of housing:
- Round domed structures (Euro-African hunter cultures)
- Round tepee-type houses or conical tents (Arctic and Antarctic regions)
- Rectangular, inclined windbreaks (Hot or temperature climate)
Filigree construction: the way in which these forms of construction are put together
- Structure of slender members, a weave of straight or rodlike elements assembled to form a
planar or spatial lattice in which the loadbearing and separating functions are fulfilled by
different elements
- Contains many “voids” > have to close the open framework
- Relationship interior < > exterior is achieved via secondary elements (not loadbearing structure)
- Openings = consequently structural openings (size matched to divisibility of the framework)
Solid construction: heaviness and compactness
- Primary element: massive, 3D wall made up of layers of stones or modular prefabricating
materials, or casting in a mould
- Jointing principle: the techniques of casting and layering
- Can only accommodate compressive forces and cannot handle tensile forces
- Erection of walls creates interior spaces directly, loadbearing and enclosing functions are identical
- Sizes of openings in walls are limited > weaken the loadbearing behaviour of the wall
- All walls have loadbearing and separating functions, no structural hierarchy, all parts of equal
importance
, Solid construction Filigree construction
Body Lattice
Made from walls (vertical) Made from linear members
- Solid, homogeneous (horizontal & vertical)
- Plastic, solid bodies - Open framework (2D, 3D) reduced to essentials
Primacy of the space Primacy of the structure
- Directly enclosed interior space - No direct architectural interior space creation
- Distinct separation between interior & exterior - No separation between interior and exterior
- Plan layout concept - The construction of the framework dominates:
linear members as lattice elements, infill panels
Principle of forming enclosed spaces Principle of forming enclosed spaces
a) Cells Gradual sequence of spaces, from “very open” to
- Additive, starting from the smallest room unit “very enclosed”, depending on the degree of clo-
- Divisive, by subdividing a large initial volume sure of the infill panels
(internal subdivision) c) Skeleton construction
b) Walls - Partial closure of horizontal and vertical
- Hierarchical, parallel loadbearing walls, clear panels between lattice elements: floor/roof or
directional structure (open-end façades) wall as infill structure
- Resolution of the walls: parallel rows of d) Column-and-slab construction
columns (a form of filigree construction) - Solid slab as floor/roof construction in
reinforced concrete
- Walls as infill between columns or
user-defined wall developments
(non-loadberaing)
Loadbearing principle Loadbearing principle
- Horizontal: arches; shells (vault, dome); form- - Horizontal beams (primary), possible more
active loadbearing structures (stressed skins) closely spaced transverse members (secondary)
- For long spans: additional strengthening with ribs - Eccentric nodes; directional hierarchy; layered;
(e.g. Gothic) and downstand beams (T-beams) primarily timber engineering
- Directional systems (truss designs) or non- - Axial nodes; directional and non-directional;
directional systems (waffle designs) primarily structural steelwork
- For long spans: increased structural depth of
primary elements
- Trusses, plane frames (2D), space frames (3D)
Openings as wall perforations Panel as structurally inherent opening principle
- The structural disruption in the wall - The structural opening as a variation of the
- Mediation between interior and exterior panel between lattice elements
- The hole: dependent on the wall-opening - Infill panels: solid; horizontal; vertical
proportions - Non-loadbearing curtain wall, horizontal ribbon
windows
, The perception of architectural space
Tectonics Form Space
Physics of the space Physiology of the perception
Material Mass Sight Light
Massiveness Colour
Heaviness Materiality
Lightness - abstract
Hardness - concrete
Softness
Filigreeness Touch Texture
Compactness - rough
Transparency - fine, smooth
- fibrous
Boundaries Opaque
Transparent Feeling Moist
Translucent Dry
Surface Hot
- flat Cold
- sculpted
Odorous Smell
Structure Tectonic, divided Agreeable
Non-tectonic, homogeneous “neutral”
- amorphous, “without form”
- monolithic - layered Sence of time Movement
- hierarchical - chaotic Permanence
- non-directional - directional Scale effect (feeling)
- “broadness”
Figuration Euclidian - “narrowness”
Mathematical - rational - “depth”
Geometrical
- abstract Hearing Noise
- concrete Resonance, reverberation
Organic Echo
- biomorphic Muffled
- intuitive Harsh
Dimension Scale
- broadness
- narrowness
- tallness
- depth
4th edition
Solid and filigree construction
Earthworks – stereotomy – solid construction
Roofworks – tectonics – filigree construction two archetypal forms of construction
Earthworks: all building techniques of solid wall construction(cob, pisé & adobe, clay-and-stone masonry)
Roofworks: stereotomic forms (walls, arches, vaults and domes)
- Open “roofwork” encompasses all structures with linear and rodlike members – textile-like woven
structures
o Span open spaces as “covers”, forming the “roof” (overhead boundary) to the space below
- Includes: Timber engineering (layered, interwoven assembly) and steelwork (1800 onwards)
Filigree constructions: anonymous and traditional timber buildings
- Conical and spherical domes (made: straight and curved individual linear members)
- Vertical solid timber construction
- Two- and three-dimensional frameworks (timber frames, timber studding)
- Horizontal joist floors and roofs
- Roof constructions (purlin and couple roofs, trussed frames)
- Wood: organic and hence not everlasting (fungal attack, rot, fire) in contrast to solid
construction
o lightweight building material, readily available
Principal evolution: extends from simplest round or oval huts to rectangular shelters
- Nowadays still the standard form for dwellings
o more readily, more economically, subdivided and extended, easier to group together into
settlements
Construction systems depend on:
- Which natural resources are available locally
- What importance is granted to durability of a structure
Hans Soeder - Three different types of housing:
- Round domed structures (Euro-African hunter cultures)
- Round tepee-type houses or conical tents (Arctic and Antarctic regions)
- Rectangular, inclined windbreaks (Hot or temperature climate)
Filigree construction: the way in which these forms of construction are put together
- Structure of slender members, a weave of straight or rodlike elements assembled to form a
planar or spatial lattice in which the loadbearing and separating functions are fulfilled by
different elements
- Contains many “voids” > have to close the open framework
- Relationship interior < > exterior is achieved via secondary elements (not loadbearing structure)
- Openings = consequently structural openings (size matched to divisibility of the framework)
Solid construction: heaviness and compactness
- Primary element: massive, 3D wall made up of layers of stones or modular prefabricating
materials, or casting in a mould
- Jointing principle: the techniques of casting and layering
- Can only accommodate compressive forces and cannot handle tensile forces
- Erection of walls creates interior spaces directly, loadbearing and enclosing functions are identical
- Sizes of openings in walls are limited > weaken the loadbearing behaviour of the wall
- All walls have loadbearing and separating functions, no structural hierarchy, all parts of equal
importance
, Solid construction Filigree construction
Body Lattice
Made from walls (vertical) Made from linear members
- Solid, homogeneous (horizontal & vertical)
- Plastic, solid bodies - Open framework (2D, 3D) reduced to essentials
Primacy of the space Primacy of the structure
- Directly enclosed interior space - No direct architectural interior space creation
- Distinct separation between interior & exterior - No separation between interior and exterior
- Plan layout concept - The construction of the framework dominates:
linear members as lattice elements, infill panels
Principle of forming enclosed spaces Principle of forming enclosed spaces
a) Cells Gradual sequence of spaces, from “very open” to
- Additive, starting from the smallest room unit “very enclosed”, depending on the degree of clo-
- Divisive, by subdividing a large initial volume sure of the infill panels
(internal subdivision) c) Skeleton construction
b) Walls - Partial closure of horizontal and vertical
- Hierarchical, parallel loadbearing walls, clear panels between lattice elements: floor/roof or
directional structure (open-end façades) wall as infill structure
- Resolution of the walls: parallel rows of d) Column-and-slab construction
columns (a form of filigree construction) - Solid slab as floor/roof construction in
reinforced concrete
- Walls as infill between columns or
user-defined wall developments
(non-loadberaing)
Loadbearing principle Loadbearing principle
- Horizontal: arches; shells (vault, dome); form- - Horizontal beams (primary), possible more
active loadbearing structures (stressed skins) closely spaced transverse members (secondary)
- For long spans: additional strengthening with ribs - Eccentric nodes; directional hierarchy; layered;
(e.g. Gothic) and downstand beams (T-beams) primarily timber engineering
- Directional systems (truss designs) or non- - Axial nodes; directional and non-directional;
directional systems (waffle designs) primarily structural steelwork
- For long spans: increased structural depth of
primary elements
- Trusses, plane frames (2D), space frames (3D)
Openings as wall perforations Panel as structurally inherent opening principle
- The structural disruption in the wall - The structural opening as a variation of the
- Mediation between interior and exterior panel between lattice elements
- The hole: dependent on the wall-opening - Infill panels: solid; horizontal; vertical
proportions - Non-loadbearing curtain wall, horizontal ribbon
windows
, The perception of architectural space
Tectonics Form Space
Physics of the space Physiology of the perception
Material Mass Sight Light
Massiveness Colour
Heaviness Materiality
Lightness - abstract
Hardness - concrete
Softness
Filigreeness Touch Texture
Compactness - rough
Transparency - fine, smooth
- fibrous
Boundaries Opaque
Transparent Feeling Moist
Translucent Dry
Surface Hot
- flat Cold
- sculpted
Odorous Smell
Structure Tectonic, divided Agreeable
Non-tectonic, homogeneous “neutral”
- amorphous, “without form”
- monolithic - layered Sence of time Movement
- hierarchical - chaotic Permanence
- non-directional - directional Scale effect (feeling)
- “broadness”
Figuration Euclidian - “narrowness”
Mathematical - rational - “depth”
Geometrical
- abstract Hearing Noise
- concrete Resonance, reverberation
Organic Echo
- biomorphic Muffled
- intuitive Harsh
Dimension Scale
- broadness
- narrowness
- tallness
- depth
