Designing a building. eight architecture lessons. Ludovico Quaroni (archive)

Ludovico Quaroni

 il link sorgente:http://www-4.unipv.it/aml/bibliotecacondivisa/1060.htm

The book opens with one of the seminars held by Quaroni at the Faculty of Architecture in Rome, also published on Domus, entitled "Words to the students". Organized in the form of a list, it contains tips and tricks that students both at and outside the university will need to keep in mind.

Its goal is to clarify the value that certain operations have in the design and that might seem known to all, but in truth not many are aware of it. The lack of a unified conception of architecture and of the project as an integrated organism in which the Vitruvian components relate, the desire to re-establish the foundations, push him to publish these eight lessons, to be read as a collection of observations:

Lesson one - Integrated design

Second lesson - Analysis and design phases

Third lesson - Organism and structure: analysis and first design approaches

Fourth lesson - The architectural space

Lesson five - The technical dimension of design

Lesson six - The geometry of architecture

Lesson seven - Materials, surfaces, colors

Lesson eight - Design quality and its control

 

He first acquires the various parts of the speech and then unifies and homogenizes the whole.

 

PHASES OF THE PROJECT

 

 

LESSONS

Lesson One - Integrated Design

- Disciplinary Approach

In the first lesson Quaroni explains how architecture must necessarily be formed by the integration of all its parts, both in a broad sense (interdisciplinary culture) and in the detail of the phases and parts of the project.

"In architecture, in addition to the need to relate the disciplinary culture of matter with the broader culture that one possesses - and in which architecture must be placed in the right place - there is a need to avoid reducing architecture to only a part of it. "

Considering the design process, it defines meta- design, that is project design, not as a phase, but as a set of operations that accompany the design from start to finish, and which are necessary for a balanced path that takes into account the needs , possibilities, times, etc. He states that the phase of the design process he deals with is design .

You have to check the project in every scale, every sign and every modification must be consistent when viewed at all scales. Therefore, every level of detail must be pursued in parallel, not starting from the urban scale only and going down into detail, nor vice versa.

The components that must intervene for a correct design have already been clarified and codified in the past in the ten books on architecture by Marco Vitruvio Pollione, in particular the three Vitruvian components necessary in every construction are mentioned: firmitas (solidity), utilitas (utility) and venustas (beauty). Those who design architecture must use the cultural knowledge of venustas to amalgamate the rational knowledge of firmitas and utilitas(succession of rational and irrational operations). We must not consider one of these three components more important than the others and contribute to its achievement at the expense of the rest. Functionalism, "designing a container" and the Eiffel Tower are degenerations. It is very important to always keep in mind the need to integrate everything: “a dialogue that is harmoniously intertwined in the mind”.

Scheme: the design is done by first working separately

 in each vertex and subsequently along the sides of connection between the parts

 

Second Lesson - Analysis and design phases

- Phases of the design process

The first phase is the planning phase: after preventive analysis, the guidelines and the bases that the design must follow are chosen. The client's requests and the characteristics of the place must be taken into account.

The second phase is the design (strictly speaking, design ). This is the phase in which the design of the object is conceived, studied and built. Three sub-phases of design can be identified: setting (project proposals), preliminary project (schematic development of a small-scale proposal) and executive (development, following the approval of the preliminary proposal, of all the drawings necessary for the construction site).

The third phase is implementation: in this phase we move on to the realization of the project. During the implementation problems can arise that force you to change (usually for the worse) the executive.

A good project - he writes - is a “ structure ” that is a whole to which nothing can be added, removed or replaced without causing the loss of unity.

With the third phase the design process ends here, but there is a fourth phase, that of management and use.

- Programming

We understand the need for a close link between the phases: if the work is carried out by a person or by a design team, the link between the first and the second phase will be automatic (so also for the following ones).

Today we tend to make the most of the planning phase, investing much more time than the other phases, in order to push the design phase within well-defined limits so as to "almost lose the character of a cultural operation" that it had in the past and still has today. It is a common problem to fine-tune the way to precede and find a way to maximize the yield that modern methods of scientific control can bring.

For the programming phase, if you want to try to schematize it, you must first define the social objective, formulate the "institutional model", understand the role that the object will have within the context (architectural, landscape, social) in which will be entered. Later it will also be necessary to understand the characteristics of the spaces, the type and the "sign" according to the needs of the future user. Finally, there will be the choice of the construction system, also made in relation to the labor market.

It is then up to the designer to satisfy the client's choices with design interpretations.

- The alternative client

The alternative client, from a futuristic point of view, is a team of specialized technicians and experts for political, social and other contents that will have to lead the planning of a project in the near future. The task will consist in having to interpret the needs of the client (who often will not even know they have them), which will act to respond to the needs of future users (the population). The participation of this and the interventions in the preliminary discussions will be fundamental: the designer will be able to gather a lot of useful information here. However, this participation is still a long way off due to the frequent conflicts between political client and use. The following aspects will then remain to be defined in the planning stage (if not already decided):choice of place for the intervention and acquisition, cost calculation, choice of construction systems and contract for works, choice of financiers.

- Analysis and design

Often it will be the designer who has to take care of collecting all the data necessary for the future design. The analyzes to be carried out are of various kinds: a first series is carried out on the project site and concerns planimetry, regularity, elevation, exposure and orientation with respect to the cardinal points, existing vegetation, hydrogeological qualities, relations with the surroundings, view of the land from external, accesses to the land (both from a functional and visual point of view).

A second group of analysis is aimed at verifying the possibility of carrying out the project, considering the estimated sum, choice of the construction system and materials (also in relation to costs and times), careful study and verification of the regulatory references in force for the area .

A third series of analyzes concerns the character and values ​​of the institution for which one is planning.

When the architect is left alone with the project, he will need “a concentration on the internal meaning of the institution to grasp some fundamental aspect that suggests an idea for the design itself. For this phase of suggestion and illumination he reports the words of Louis Kahn who, speaking of project experiences, says: "This is why I believe it is essential that the architect never follows the list, the program that is given to him, but only considers it as a starting point for what refers to quantity, never to quality. For the very reason that the program is not architecture, it is simply an indication, as could be the prescription for a pharmacist. "

 

Third Lesson - Organism and structure: analysis and first design approaches

- Logic

Usually in the design one should start from the large scales and then go down to the design of the details, that is from the general to the particular (real logic). However, schools are taught first to master the lower scales to make people understand all the problems that might arise, so that then everything can be considered implicit in the higher scales.

- Body and structure

A building is a structure (unitary organism), as already mentioned, when each of its spaces and each of its elements is closely related to all the others. This structure includes both form and content, physical and technological structure. A building can be considered as a unit and part of a larger system to which it belongs, the urban context, thus forming an additional structure. This creates a continuous series of structures.

Several structures can be identified with an analytical breakdown:

o   Structure of spaces: container for carrying out functions

o   Technological structure: materially creates the spaces

o   Figurative structure: represents the image of the building

- Repeated checks

Considering the three Vitruvian components as parameters, at each operation it is necessary to verify what weight it has with respect to the equilibrium of any other parameter. By verifying the behavior, we understand the relationship it has with the choices made. For these checks, a continuous passage on several scales is necessary, each consideration must be made at the scale of adequate perception, which can be classified as follows:

1.     Understanding of parts in their exact structure (formal, technical, functional) - scales 2: 1, 1: 1, 1: 2

2.     Architectural portions, evaluation of relations and congruity of the ensembles - scales 1: 5, 1:10, 1:20

3.     Portions of the building - scale 1:20, 1:50

4.     Facade - scales 1:50, 1: 100, 1: 200

5.     Evaluation of the building and of the immediate ensemble to which it belongs - scales 1: 100, 1: 200, 1: 500

The perception continues, however, and so do the stairs.

- The first steps

Taking up Kahn and what was said in the previous chapters, the most correct course is the direct deductive one, which starts from the analysis, the examination of the activities to be carried out in the building and the evaluation of the necessary spatial dimensions and qualities. After a correct analysis, hypotheses will come up with schematic and alternative drawings for the organization of the rooms or to be placed in a container (as the rationalists did) or to be arranged with different articulations. Having collected a certain number of ideas and alternatives, we move on to the classification of the hypotheses which orientates the designer and helps him to constructive self-criticism. It could happen that at that point you are not convinced of any hypothesis and you start all over again.It could still happen that this happens when you go from diagrams and sketches to scale drawings, when you become more aware of the choices of the general project. However, it is necessary to avoid transforming the logical scheme of the analysis into a project; transforming a model with small changes, correcting and continually improving (persistence) will lead to a good result.

  

Fourth lesson - The architectural space

- The terms "model" and "type"

Quatremère de Quincy, Historical Dictionary on Architecture: “The word type does not represent so much the image of a thing to be copied   or imitated perfectly as the idea of ​​an element that must itself serve as a rule to the model. […] The model understood according to the practical execution of the art, is an object that must be repeated as it is; on the contrary, the type is an object according to which everyone can conceive works that will not resemble each other. "

The model is a unique original and concrete that stands out for its richness and perfection; type is an a posteriori, classificatory and non-creative synthesis. In the design it is possible to refer to a model and choose to use a certain type (building, architectural).

Considering the two structures city and building, it is noted that the repetition and arrangement of a type determines certain morphological aspects and in turn the morphological aspect is compatible only with some typological aspects.

The type has a double meaning: a typological model, which creates completely different architectural realities, and a morphological model, which by varying only the shapes of the terrain creates very different results.

- Space

The realization of a project alters the existing environment the more the greater the differences between the qualities of the existing and those of the project will be, thus creating a spatial alteration. The whole design contributes to create spaces, internal, external and dependent on man. The surfaces of a building divide the spaces to which different and specific qualities of the given space can be attributed (for example the external space will have characteristics of the urban environment while the internal one will have characteristics of the building).

The creation of architecture is therefore a creation and a user of spaces: a spatial set of spatial relationships.

The concept of space is not an absolute concept, but a relative one, in fact it varies with respect to the position and movement of the user. Moving around and through the surfaces of the architectural volumes we perceive different spatial effects, even very different from each other, which Quaroni describes to us through a   walk among volumes, metaphysical solids and the voids that they create both inside and between them. We move from static spaces to dynamic spaces, which invite you to go in one direction rather than another.

In the modern city there is a strong division between the spatial use of the external paths and the spatial use of the internal paths. The external space is rendered as a continuum of spaces external to all the buildings, while each interior is unique.

In the design process, the punctual and precise definition of the spaces is accomplished with the formulation of the actual design scheme, measuring and drawing the exact positions and sizes of each element of the general project.

Urban morphology of Bath

 

Lesson Five - The dimension of design

The space is realized with the combination of architectural elements such as walls, pillars, foundations, floors and roofs. Even Leon Battista Alberti, passing through the concept of unity and integration of the parts, says: "[...] a construction consists entirely of obtaining from different materials, arranged in a certain order and artfully joined, a compact structure and - within the limits of possible - integral and unitary ". Therefore unity and order in the arrangement of the parts, the structure is a set of elements linked together by a logical relationship; developed by a technique that must guarantee resistance and protection requirements. It is up to the designer to choose the most suitable structure, taking into consideration the architectural use, the materials, the technique and the costs.

Quaroni, then, reports an excursus of the structures and their materials in the history of architecture: from freestone, solid and massive in antiquity, passing through the history of iron frames with the first experiments and techniques developed, here he refers to word form; still the steel constructions, up to the reinforced concrete frame. Of each one he analyzes the advantages and problems such as the speed and / or difficulty of implementation, the problem of finding specialized workers and the final rendering of the complete work.

Finally, he classifies the construction systems from an architectural point of view, taking up the concepts of the second and third lessons: he reiterates that it is up to the designer to decide which role to give to the structure within its composition, creating a more or less continuous and uniform system to the rest:

- continuous and homogeneous system: the material is declared and appears prominently

- discontinuous and inhomogeneous system: the difference between the types of members is clear

and in parallel

- framed or reticular structures: horizontal and vertical elements of the same material

- obvious structures: in view, they declare the static, dynamic or protective behavior of the various parts

- hidden structures: hidden by coatings

         

Different types of structures

          The Pompidou Center in Paris, Piano and Rogers 1976 Lion's Gate in Mycenae, 1300 BC                                

 

Lesson Six - The geometry of architecture

Geometry is the tool with which the designer delineates, defines and shapes the space; it is the “economy” of space, it regulates quantity and quality. Knowledge of geometry is necessary for architecture and for architectural design, understood with the dual meaning of design and graphic operation. It is a disciplinary means for the treatment of the composition of spaces. However, it is not sufficient to design an architectural organism,   since the project arises from the comparison of the creative capacity with the analyzes prior to design.

For the human eye to perceive, recognize and distinguish the shapes it is necessary that these are clear and perceptible, so as to be characterizing, recognizable and not confused with others. They must therefore be simple and regular to avoid inducing incorrect visual perceptions.

- Modules, proportions and symmetries

The module is, in architecture, a geometric entity or an element that, repeated or composed, constitutes a whole such as to result, both as a whole and in all its articulations, attributable to the chosen module, taken as a unit. However, it is necessary to distinguish the module-object, element or repeated architectural member, which can be a design matrix, from the module-measure, in which all the measurements can be traced back to a dimension chosen through multiples and submultiples.

From ancient times the analogy of man-formal structure was known, followed by the relative study on the proportions of the parts of the body. Immediately translated into architecture, modules and dimensional relationships closely linked to each other were sought, the first to codify some of these relationships was Vitruvius. Later, especially in the modern movement, the idea of ​​doing things on a human scale is affirmed, such as Le Corbusier's Modulor (module-measure). However, there are numerous buildings that draw beauty from disproportion and oversize, such as sacred spaces that must give a particular sense of relationship between man and divinity. Vignola, author of the treatise on the five orders, also used measures other than those dictated to weight down or lighten his works. It is therefore up to the designer to find the proportions (or disproportions) suitable for the design idea to create static (proportions and harmony) or dynamic (disproportions) atmospheres, always taking into account the real points of view from which the construction will most often be seen in order to correct any perspective deformations.

You can follow a guide path that searches for the “hidden forms of design”: a famous example is Le Corbusier in the villa in Garches , who designs the facade based on geometric constructions of golden harmonic relationships (golden section).

Symmetries, as we know them from classicism and academies, ie equivalence of parts, specular, based on centrality, are today left for "special occasions" and replaced by balances and balanced axialities. As in physics, balance is given by distances (arm) and dimensions (weight) of the individual volumes in composition.

Psychology and perception of form: the five Platonic solids

                         

Harmony and proportions

     Vignola's five orders Le Corbusier                                          's Modulor stairs ,

                                                                                              inferred from the analysis of the human body

The tracé directeur of the work of direct proportioning of the facades of the villa in Garches by Le Corbusier

 

Lesson seven - Materials, surfaces, colors

In addition to all the aspects discussed so far, necessary to complete the architectural organism, other choices must be made, such as technical and functional choices of materials. Each conceived surface must have certain characteristics dictated by the choice of material, which could also be a simple coating, and its qualities: color, workmanship and treatment. These choices can lead the same material to take on very different characteristics. However, every artisan technique is completely lost, replaced by industrial systems.

Quaroni, however, criticizes the scant teachings given to architecture students in the choice of certain colors and materials, subordinate to the teachings given to the choice of forms. No less important is the choice of position and quantity of color, which creates very different volumetric effects based on the shape, volume and portion of the surface on which it is applied. It is also necessary to take into account the light and colors of the territory, which often change the perception of colors, for example the dark skies of northern Europe make the colors stand out rather than the sun of Rome, which activates the volumetric games with shadows.

 

Lesson eight - Design quality and its control

Although sometimes the phases and choices that make up the project may have been described as elements in their own right, on the contrary, when you go to design, from the first experiences, they will be considered all together, obtaining a final organic unity that cancels them as autonomous units.

Someone might ask what is the exact nature of the architectural structure to be achieved: it is necessary to acquire a historical culture of architecture, so as to be able to study all the aspects illustrated in the previous lessons   on works of the past. We must be careful with the use of elements that belong to the past, we must not follow the order codes that could make the projects incomplete, we must adapt the forms and languages ​​to their design ideas, reworking and not simply copying.

In the current construction reality there is a strong proposal of industrialized systems that produce homogeneous, well-worked and high-quality materials, however limited pieces are available for standard shapes and sizes: this should not penalize the project by inducing simplifications or adaptations based on the available cuts. ; even a prefabricated system must integrate and give continuity to the project.

Sometimes, to lighten the unity of the project, a diversifying system can be inserted, aimed at breaking up any monotony and heaviness.

For learning, the global method is preferred (today): instead of giving all the elements and letting the student put them together, the student is left free, so that he can enter directly and, after errors and corrections, possess the complete structure . The method could then become global integrated, after the student is left free to learn all the single elements are analyzed.

Quaroni concludes by denouncing the presence of scams and corruption, which also arise from the bureaucratic system that pushes an architect to follow the economic goal more than the architectural one. It is necessary that the people (also through active participation) control and direct everything in a good direction. This will not be immediate but we will have to wait patiently.

 

GLOSSARY

Design - planning; indicates the central phase of the design process: the compositional process in which the structure of the building is created in all its aspects, expressed and transmitted through drawings.  

Organism and architectural structure - together with which nothing can be added, removed or replaced without the loss of unity. A project can be defined as such only if it is constantly monitored and integrated in all its parts.

Model - sum of values ​​gathered in an object.

Type - idea of ​​an element that should normally serve the model.

Volume - in architectural language it refers only to what is seen from the outside.

Space - is generated by the juxtaposition of volumes and surfaces that give it certain characteristics. It can be external or internal, dynamic or static.

Geometry - basic material for architecture; tool with which the limits of a space are defined which will then be translated into architectural elements.

Module - object, concrete or abstract, which acts as a basic element and unit for the constitution of a whole, which will become part of the architectural organism. In particular, module-measure is defined if the element is a number, module-object if it is one or a set of architectural elements.

Proportion - commensurability of each individual member of the work and of all members in the work as a whole, by means of a certain unit of measurement or module (Vitruvius).