Architecture

Line

Frank Gehry Concept Sketch

Final Drawing of Walt Disney Concert Hall

Line is the primary tool of architects when they begin the process of design. They use these drawing to quickly get their ideas from the imagined and thought stagers into a palpable and representative idea for others to see. At the beginning stages these ideas can be extremely rough and hard to interpret, Frank Gehry is famous for his erratic and sometimes childlike sketches. Yet even his simple beginning sketches translate to his final products. Arching lines and sumptuous curves are the dominant factor in both his sketches and final works. Instead of focusing on the details or textures of the building Gehry uses the lines of his sketches to translate the most basic ideas; shapes, contours, scale, layout. Line in this case is simplified to its most basic elements. Lines for final drawings on the other hand are used to provide detailed and extact information on shape, texture, materials, objects, and other information in a concrete manner.

Shape

Le Corbusier's Villa Savoie

Le Corbusier Chaise Lounge

Le Corbusier was famous for designing with the simple shapes in mind, circles, squares and triangles. As he believed these were the basic builing blocks of architecture and design. you can see in his designs that they are very representative of those basic shapes. By taking elements of each and combining them in a new and innovative way. Unlike Gehry who designs from the abstract Le Corbusier used the basic elements to build structure and order, Curves and abrupt angles were used with restraint while squares and rectangles were used to build scale and pattern. The use of these basic elements as building blocks lends itself to a more subdued and "modern" "minimalist" feel. His designs utilize the most simple elements to their maximum potential and shed superfluous elements.

The Dot

House with Crest, by Anna Nakamura

House with Crest by Anna Nakamura

Ellipse Sky by Keiko Mana

The Humble dot has found its way into modern architecture via poured concrete. While building the forms in which to pour concrete metal bars are strung across the mold to support the massive pressure inside. These "dots" are a result of the framing and pouring process. Once these molds are removed you are left with small circular voids along the surface. These dots themselves can be very boring and utilitarian on large massive industrial buildings. But, when used purposefully with the characteristics of the material they can be quite beautiful and expressive. The different patterns that form as they are used in different ways and shapes can depict motion and define different surfaces. In the Ellipse Sky building you can see that these dots ascend and compress as they go up and around the turn of the staircase, implying motion and serving as a visual representation of the surface, much like the dots on a vector based drawing convey the intricacies of what is being represented. In this case these dots provide you with a layered view of the building with different patterns defined by shape and angle.