Theory of Modern Architecture

Introduction to Theory and History of
Architecture
SBEA 1513
Introduction to Theory of Modern Architecture

&
Theory of Proportion
Dr. Alice Sabrina Ismail l Dr. Hazrina Haja Bava Mohidin

Introduction
THEORY OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE
• Theory of architecture is important as it sets

the basic understanding of design before
architects design a building into reality.
• It is a framework or a process that helps to
answer the meaning and understanding of
architecture vocabulary such as the chosen
element of architecture.
5 MAIN Theory of modern
architecture
a)Theory of Proportion
b)Organic Architecture
c)Form Follows Function
d)Theory of Style
e)Theory of Communication
• Proportion & Scale

• Material Proportions
– All materials have rational proportions
– Inherent strength & weaknesses
• Structural Proportions
– Structural tasks
– Visual indicators of size & scale
• Manufactured Proportions
– manufacturing
Three Proportioning System
• Proportion & Ratio done by comparing two or more elements

(Architecture with its surrounding context) eg: building and site
elements such as human being, trees etc.
• Proportion & Ration done by comparing elements on the

subject ( Architecture and its architectural features) eg:
building and its windows, doors, arch, column to column, floor
levels etc.
• Mathematical ratio.
• Golden Ratio
• Classical Orders
• Renaissance Theories
• Modulor
• Ken
• Anthropometry
• Scale
Golden Ratio
•Originated from Ancient Greek civilization

•A proportion between two dimensions of a plane figure or two divisions of
a line, in which the ration of the smaller to the larger is the same as the
ratio of the larger to the whole: a ratio of approx. 0.618 to 1.000.
A redrawn image of Golden Ratio
The geometric construction of the Golden

Section, first by extension and then by division
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Golden-
ratio-construction.png
• A rectangle whose sides are proportioned according to the Golden Section is
known as a Golden Rectangle.
•If a square is constructed on its smaller side, the remaining portion of
the original rectangle would be a smaller but similar Golden
Rectangle.
A redrawn image of Golden Section

Classical Orders
•To the Greeks and Romans, the Orders represented in their proportioning of
elements the perfect expression of beauty and harmony.
•The basic unit of dimension was the diameter of the column.

From this module were derived the dimensions of the shaft, the capital, as well
as the pedestal and the entablature above, the spacing between two adjacent
columns, down to the smallest detail.
•INTERCOLUMNIATION is the system of spacing between columns, which is

also based on the diameter of the column.
•Standardized by Marcus Vitruvius Polio during the reign of Augustus in his The
Ten Books on Architecture.
Greek orders
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Order_%28PSF%29.png
Roman orders
Composite Capital
https://www.flickr.com/photos/psulibscollections/5833158736
Renaissance Theories
•The architects of the Renaissance, believing that their buildings had to belong
to a higher order, returned to the Greek mathematical system of proportions.
The Pythagorean creed was “ Everything is arranged according to numbers.”
•The Greeks conceived music to be geometry translated into sound,

Renaissance architects believed that architecture was mathematics translated
into spatial units.
•Renaissance architects applied PYTHAGORAS’S THEORY OF MEANS to

the ratios of the intervals of the Greek musical scale, and soon developed an
unbroken progression of ratios that formed the basis for the proportions of their
architecture.
series of interlocking ratios that results form applying Pythagoras theory
of means to the intervals of the Greek musical scale.
By User:Jokes_Free4Me - Image:Illustration to Euclid's proof of the Pythagorean theorem.svg, Public Domain,

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4078806
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_triangle -
/media/File:Illustration_to_Euclid%27s_proof_of_the_Pythagorean_theorem.png
Renaissance Theories
•7 Ideal Plan Shapes for Rooms by Andrea Palladio

•Paladio’s The Four Books on Architecture, he followed the footsteps
of his predecessors, Alberti and Serlio, and proposed the seven “most
beautiful and proportionate manners of rooms.
A redrawn image of 7 ideal plan for rooms by Andrea

Palladio
Modulor
•Le Corbusier’s own proportioning system developed in 1942 published as:

The Modulor: A Harmoniuos Measure to the Human Sale Universally Applicable
to Architecture and Mechanics. : to order “the dimensions of that which
contains and that which is contained.”
•He saw the measuring tools of the Greeks, Egyptians, and other high
civilizations as being “infinitely rich and subtle because they formed part of
the mathematics of the human body, gracious, elegant, and firm, the
source of that harmony which moves us, beauty.”
•He based the Modulor on both mathematics (the aesthetic dimension of the
Golden Section and the Fibonacci Series), and the proportions of the human
body (functional dimensions).
Le Corbusier saw the Modulor
not as a series of numbers with an
inherent harmony, but as a
system of measurements that
could govern lengths, surfaces, &
volumes, & “maintain the human
scale everywhere.”
https://www.flickr.com/photos/eager/5032530784
Ken
•The traditional Japanese unit of measure, the shaku, was originally imported
form China.
•Originally used simply to designate the interval between two columns and
varied in size, it was soon standardized for residential architecture and became
an absolute measurement.
•Aside as a measurement system, it evolved into an aesthetic module that

ordered the structure, materials, and space of Japanese architecture.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tatami_layout_1.jpg
•Two methods of designing with the Ken modular method:
•Inaka-ma Method
The ken grid of 6 shaku determined the center-to-center spacing
of columns.Therefore, the standard tatami floor mat (3 x ^ shaku
or ½ x 1 ken) varied slightly to allow for the thickness of the
columns.
•Kyo-ma Method
The floor mat remained constant (3.15 x 6.30 shaku) and the
column spacing (ken module) varied according to the size of the
room and ranged from 6.4 to 6.7 shaku.
Anthropometrics
•Refers to the measurement of the

size and proportions of the human
body.
•Its applicability to the design process is

seen in the
physical fit, or interface, between the
human body
and the various components of space
• anthro=man, pometry=measure
A redrawn image of anthropometry

Scale
•Refers to how we perceive or judge the size of something in relation to

something else.
•The entity of a space or object is being compared to may be an accepted unit

or standard of measurement.
•In drawing, we use scale to specify the ratio that determines the relationship
between the illustration it represents.
•Mechanical Scale
•The size or proportion of something relative to an accepted standard
of measurement.
•Visual Scale
•The size or proportion an element appears to have relative to other
elements of known or assumed size.
•Human Scale
•Based on the dimensions & proportions of the human body
The Taipei 101, one of the tallest tower in
In the world.
Dominant structure manipulating the skyline of the city with its visual scale
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taipei_101 - /media/File:Taipei_101_from_afar.jpg
References
• Abel, C., & Foster, N. (2012). Architecture and identity. Routledge.
• Ching, F. D. (2014). Architecture: Form, space, and order. John Wiley & Sons.
• Cowan, H. J. (1977). The master builders. A history of structural and environmental
design from ancient egypt to the nineteenth century. John Wiley.
• Farrelly, L. (2012). The fundamentals of architecture. Bloomsbury Publishing.
• Fee, C. V. (1998). The Encyclopedia of Malaysia: Architecture. Archipelago Press
• Fletcher, R. (2006). The golden section. Nexus Network Journal, 8(1), 67-89.
• Frings, M. (2002). The golden section in architectural theory. Nexus Network Journal,
4(1), 9-32.
• Guthrie, K. S., & Fideler, D. R. (1987). The Pythagorean sourcebook and library: an
anthology of ancient writings which relate to Pythagoras and Pythagorean philosophy.
Red Wheel/Weiser.
• Johnson, P. A. (1994). The Theory of Architecture: Concepts Themes & Practices. John
Wiley & Sons.
• Padovan, R. (2002). Proportion: science, philosophy, architecture. Taylor & Francis.
• Steadman, P. (2008). The Evolution of Designs: Biological analogy in architecture and
the applied arts. Routledge.

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Introduction to Theory and History of

Introduction to Theory of Modern Architecture

Dr. Alice Sabrina Ismail l Dr. Hazrina Haja Bava Mohidin

THEORY OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE

• Theory of architecture is important as it sets

• Proportion & Scale

• Proportion & Ratio done by comparing two or more elements

• Proportion & Ration done by comparing elements on the

•Originated from Ancient Greek civilization

A redrawn image of Golden Ratio

The geometric construction of the Golden

A redrawn image of Golden Section

•The basic unit of dimension was the diameter of the column.

•INTERCOLUMNIATION is the system of spacing between columns, which is

•The Greeks conceived music to be geometry translated into sound,

•Renaissance architects applied PYTHAGORAS’S THEORY OF MEANS to

By User:Jokes_Free4Me - Image:Illustration to Euclid's proof of the Pythagorean theorem.svg, Public Domain,

•7 Ideal Plan Shapes for Rooms by Andrea Palladio

A redrawn image of 7 ideal plan for rooms by Andrea

•Le Corbusier’s own proportioning system developed in 1942 published as:

•Aside as a measurement system, it evolved into an aesthetic module that

•Refers to the measurement of the

•Its applicability to the design process is

A redrawn image of anthropometry

•Refers to how we perceive or judge the size of something in relation to

•The entity of a space or object is being compared to may be an accepted unit

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