Generation of non-functional architectonic spatial forms with geometric transformations

Abstract

In the academic progression of architectural attitude and design competence it is important to give particular attention to the exploration and creative experimentation with spatial forms. In addition to the analysis of historical and contemporary architectural examples, significant role is given to modelling exercises which guide design students in a tentative way to the planar and spatial operation of compositional principles. During this process, a series of personal experiences develop the recognition and confident application of planar and spatial compositional tools and the ability to create tension or to maintain balance. These tools - albeit exerting their effects during subjective experience - are largely based on physical laws and operate according to the principles of visual (possibly tactile) perception, so their understanding and conscious application is a rational goal. In the analysis of architectural compositions, the relationship, location, size, juxtaposition or overlapping of forms - in other words their geometric relationship - is perhaps the primary factor, nevertheless the effects of materials, colours and textures cannot be ignored either. One of the distinctive characteristics of architectonic models is their ability to highlight certain pre-defined properties; in the case of forms made of homogenous materials for example, an enhanced attention to geometry, plasticity, and the impact of light and shadow. The focus of this paper is form-evolution generated through geometric transformations; a process during which a simple plane figure and subsequently a body is transformed (sliced, dragged, distorted, added or subtracted, etc.) resulting in architectonic compositions featuring architectural proportions and characteristics. These form-experiments are intentionally aimed at the generation of "non-functional" spaces, so the goal of the creation is not actual buildings, but rather the composition of pure spatial and volumetric relations in a philosophical sense, which, nevertheless, can provide the conceptual basis (in terms of form, mass, and spatial structure) for subsequent architectural outputs.