THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE - LECTURE NOTES - SYMBOLISM

THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE
UNIT 1
MEANING IN ARCHITECTURE

• INTRODUCTION
• ARCHITECTURE- is both the process and the product of
planning, designing, and constructing buildings and
other physical structures.
• Architecture has to do with planning, designing and
constructing form, space and ambience to reflect
functional, technical, social, environmental and
aesthetic considerations.
• ATTRIBUTES
• Durability – a building should stand up robustly and
remain in good condition.
• Utility – it should be suitable for the purposes for which
is it used.
• Beauty – it should be aesthetically pleasing.
• MEANING IN ARCHITECTURE
• Value added
• Sense of purpose attached
What
Why
How
Where
When

• What- value attached.
• Why – to explain , convey , to
give specific importance.
• How - expression through
symbolism,style,character,scale,
rules etc.
• Where- building elements.

• What is a symbol- a thing representing
something else.
• A mark or a character used as a standard
representation.
• What is a symbolism- use of symbols to
represent ideas or qualities.
• Symbols in architecture- visual clues to
convey
 Functionality of the building [social needs]
 Uniqueness of design
 Political power
 Religion and culture
 Art
SYMBOLISM IN ARCHITECTURE

• SYMBOLISM IN ARCHITECTURE
•
" Symbolic architecture is an architectures that utilizes
symbol manipulations in a fixed manner to represent its
processing.The advantages of symbolic architectures are:
-much of human knowledge is symbolic, so encoding it
in a computer is more straight-forward
-how the architecture reasons may be analogous to how
humans do, making it easier for humans to understand
-they maybe made computationally complete (e.g.
Turing Machines)"

• THE PREHISTORIC PERIOD-Menhir
• A menhir- standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a
large upright standing stone.
• Menhirs may be found singly as monoliths, or as
part of a group of similar stones.
• Their size can vary considerably, but their shape
is generally uneven and squared, often tapering
towards the top.
• Menhirs are widely distributed across Europe,
Africa and Asia, but are most numerous in
Western Europe; in particular in Ireland, Great
Britain and Brittany.
• There are about 50,000 megaliths in these areas,
[2]
while there are 1,200 menhirs in northwest
France alone
• have been used by Druids for human sacrifice,
• used as territorial markers or elements of a
complex ideological system,
• or functioned as early calendars.[5

• EXAMPLES:
• Bahai Temple in India/ Lotus Temple in Delhi
• symbol of a United India. -- one of the most beautiful
examples in symbolist architecture.
• The temple was built in the shape of lotus which
symbolizes the best human ideals and concepts.
• Lotus is a symbol of peace, purity, love and immortality.
• Lotus flower an important icon in Indian culture and
society.
• This is why the design of Lotus temple has been inspired
by lotus flower.
• 27 giant white petals of marble in a lotus shape, spring in
from nine pools and walkways indicative of the nine
unifying spiritual paths of the Bahai’s faith.
Location: New Delhi
Total Site area: 24 acres
Climate: Tropical with great variations in
temperature
Building Type: Worship Place
Architect : Fariburz Sabha
Time of Construction: 1979-1986
Cost of Project: Rs 10 000 000

•The structure of the House is
•composed of three ranks of nine petals;
each springing from a podium elevating the
building above the surrounding plain.
•The first two ranks curve inward,
embracing the inner dome; the third layer
curves outward to form canopies over the
nine entrances.
•The petals, constructed of reinforced white
concrete cast in place, are clad in white
marble panels, performed to surface
profiles and patterns related to the
geometry.
•Nine arches that provide the main support
for the superstructure ring the central hall.
•Nine reflecting pools surround the
building on the outside, their form
suggesting the green leaves of the lotus
flower.
The Baha’i faith -embodies in itself the
nine major faiths of the world and in
order to symbolise this, each component
of the temple is repeated nine times.

• Regarding the use of water, the
• nine pools around the building form
the principal landscaping.
• they represent the green leaves of the
lotus plant, thus completing the
picture of a lotus afloat on water.
• Moreover, the pools with fountains in
them help to cool the air that passes
over them into the hall.
THE CREATIVE PROCESS

• Cybertecture Egg in India,
Designed by James Law
Cybertecture International
• An egg is the symbol of birth, life and
imminent development
• used here as the basis to create a
revolutionary Indian office environment.
• Located in –Mumbai
• Designed by -James Law Cybertecture
International,
• claim -that the shape is even sustainable
as it reduces building surface area,
therefore reducing temperature loss-
gain.
Details
Location : India
District : Mumbai
Use : Office
Site Area : 6676 sq.m.
Bldg. Area : 4025sq.m.
Gross Floor
Area
: 32,000 sq.m.
Bldg. Coverage
Ratio
: 60%

SYMBOLISM IN ARCHITECTURE`
• The form of the architecture is one that
symbolizes with optimism about the future
and of the 21st Century.
•
• The symbolic "planet" form is further
stretched to cater for 13 levels of office space
derived a "Egg" shaped building.
• This "Egg" is further orientated and skewed
at an angle to create both a strong visual
language as well as to alleviate the solar gain
of the building.
• By using this "E"Egg" shape, compared to a
conventional building, this building has
approximately 10-20% less surface area.
The egg shape is also supposed to
represent a planetary object, a shining light
representing hope and life.

• Concept
• to create a structure in the form of a shell that is able
to support floor plates that does not need any
columns.
• This will allow commercial space to have no
obstructions to tenants to use the space...truly
affording 100% flexibility.
• The structure solution came from a study of
geometry and nature,
• organic symmetrical forms allows for exceptionally
stable and interesting...and embodies a level of
beauty more akin to nature than architecture.
• the Cybertecture Egg will gather some of its energy
from solar panels and wind turbines; an indoor
garden will provide natural cooling.

• Torre Bicentenario in Mexico City
•
Dutch uber-firm OMA, headed by Rem Koolhaas,
has created this concept in Mexico City to
symbolize
• the coming two hundred years of Mexico’s
independence.
• There are many layers of symbolism in this
building, from Mayan pyramids to which part of
the building controls the park and which part
controls the city, to the fact that the bulge of the
building is below the centre height, and that it
all happens on a relatively small footprint. Most
of all, in this building there is a barely contained
energy that seems near to release and it may be
that this is what Torre Bicentenario represents.
The tower is envisaged as a symbol of the
Bicentenario, 2010, the 200th anniversary of
Mexico’s Independence and the 100th
anniversary of the Mexican Revolution.

• Form and Function
• The form of the Torre Bicentenario creates
a dynamic relationship between the
building and its surroundings. Public
programs are located where the two
pyramids meet.
• Context
• The junction of the two pyramids occurs at
100m, the datum of the buildings that
surround it, creating a dramatic new
gateway to the park. The building bulges
toward the park and the historic city center
along the axis of the Reforma.
• While two sides stretch in the direction of
the park, towards Los Lomas, the building is
respectful and sober.

• Atrium
• Skyscrapers tend to internalize their features.
• Atriums typically create dramatic spaces within,
hidden from the city around them.
• Here, a void cuts through the building’s widest
point, providing access to light and natural
ventilation and creating a relationship between
the floors within.
• A pattern of reflective glass panels covering 50%
of the interior surface maximizes light
penetration. The void twists at its midpoint,
opening at the bottom toward the park and at
the top toward the city.
• Facade
• The facade is a structural curtain wall system.
• At the point where the two pyramids meet, the
facade is compressed, providing greater
transparency at the building’s most public levels.

• Matrimandir,Pondichery -
• A very good example of Symbolism in
Architecture.
• The concept of human unity and one’s
consciousness is well executed
as Matrimandir.
• The path to consciousness is through the
realization of the inner self and ultimately
that supreme power- the Mother.
• The Mother here doesn’t mean mother as a
person. It means the Supreme Power-
Shakti.
• Shri Aurobindo’s concept of mother also
referred to that ultimate power.-the divine
eternal source of energy – omnipresent.
•
Architect Roger Anger.

• Auroville's vision and endeavour has a range
of symbolic aspects.
• some of the most evident symbolic aspects are
listed below.
• SITE SELECTION
• [FIG .1] This was the site chosen for the
structure. One thing to mention here that this
was the only green creature [symbol of life]on
that land that time.
• CITY PLAN
• [FIG.2] .Emerged as symbolic of cosmos.
• THE TEMPLE
• It is the soul of the city and is situated in a
large open space called Peace.

TEMPLE LAYOUT
•A huge sphere placed within a oval representing-the
sun/ultimate energy in the galaxy path.
• The encircling oval with its different
elements was conceived as a symbol of the fundamental
unity of creation.
TEMPLE FORM
•A circle to represent mandala symbolically includes
the notions of symmetry, harmony and totality.
•The three main elements of the temple complex are
•the Matrimandir and its petals,
•encircled by the Park of
Unity with twelve gardens,
• the Banyan Tree, and
•finally the amphitheater with
the white marble lotus bud–shaped vase which contains
handfuls of soil from many nations of the world.
• The matrimandir

THE SPHERE
Basically built with four sets of pillars.
The four Pillars
The four pillars that support the structure of Matrimandir, and carry the Inner Chamber,
have been set at the four main directions of the compass. symbolically talking about the
four aspects of mother god.
Maheshwari
(south pillar)
Mahakali
(north pillar)
Mahalakshmi
(east pillar)
Mahasaraswati
(west pillar)

• The Mother's symbol and the Petals
• The meditation rooms inside the twelve stone-clad 'petals' surrounding the Matrimandir
carry the names and colours of the 'petals' in the Mother's symbol:
• These are:
• Sincerity
• Humility
• Gratitude
• Perseverance
• Aspiration
• Receptivity
• Progress
• Courage
• Goodness
• Generosity
• Equality
• Peace
• "The first eight concern the attitude towards the Divine, and the last four towards
humanity." (Mother's symbol)

Meaning of colours
red - physical
yellow - thinking mind
blue - higher mind
orange -
supramental in
the physical
violet -
divine
compassion or
grace
gold - divine Truth
green - life
white -
the light of the
Mother, or the
Divine
Consciousness
Sincerity - light blue
Peace - deep blue
Equality - blue violet
Generosity - pure violet
Goodness - reddish violet
Courage - red
Progress - orange red
Receptivity- orange
Colours of meditation rooms
The above mentioned names and
colours have been integrated into the
sequence of the meditation rooms
which are being completed inside each
of the twelve petals surrounding the
structure in the following order:

SYMOLISM OF THE GREAT PYRAMID
• FORM –As aspect of symbolism
• Originally, The Great Pyramid of Giza was
built as a symbol of Egypt’s wealth and
power.
• Now, the pyramids are a symbol of Egypt
and its rich history and culture.
• According to Egyptologists, the true
pyramid (i.e. the smooth-sided pyramid)
was a solar symbol,
• Its shape signifying the rays of the Sun
falling to the earth.
• In keeping with this theory, the pyramid’s
capstone, benbenet, symbolised the
insemination of the sky.
Its size and precision symbolising the
idea of perfection that its shape
represented.
the body to earth, the spirit to the sky’
•Pyramids are tombs of Kings and
Queens of ancient Egypt.
•They symbolize the power of the King,
the King was considered the son of the
supreme god Ra ( the sun).
•The shape of the pyramid symbolizes
the ascending and descending of
the spirit of the King to the sky.

SYMOLISM OF THE GREAT PYRAMID
location of the pyramids.
• placement of the pyramids represented
the most important middle stars in the
constellation.[orion belt]
• their apparent size,
corresponded with the
intensity of the stars
Orion Correlation Theory -

THE EGYPTIAN PERIOD
‘The pyramid signifies strength and duration’
• A 40 storey building built on 13 acres site
• The number 13 symbolises the reunification of
the 12 tribes of Israel plus the tribe of Levi
• The size of Pyramid denotes the length of the
reign of the Monarch by whom it was constructed.
• It transpired that the supposed ’air shafts’ in
the pyramids actually pointed directly
towards Orion, apparently with the aim of
projecting the soul of the deceased king out
towards the constellation.
• The Subterranean Chamber, this cave-like
room symbolised the abyss and the underworld,
and would have made a most suitable tomb
chamber.
The Unique Interior Architecture of the Great Pyramid

THE EGYPTIAN PERIOD
•Ascending Passage was a secret
passage that provided access to the
upper chambers for the funeral of
the king.
•three granite plugs were lowered
into the passage mouth after the
funeral.
•The use of three plugs, made of
granite, probably had a religious
significance.
THE GREAT PYRAMID - ASCENDING PASSAGE

THE EGYPTIAN PERIOD
• THE GREAT PYRAMID - GRAND GALLERY
• Grand Gallery was a glorious passageway to
the king’s tomb chamber, but functioned
also as a slipway for the granite plugs that
would block the mouth of the passage
below.
• The Great Step was a platform for a statue of
the Great God in geometric form,
symbolising the mystery of creation.
• The corbelled architecture would indeed
have had a high spiritual symbolism, and
might encode the mystery of the
creation, viewed from a mathematical or
geometrical perspective.

THE EGYPTIAN PERIOD
• THE GREAT PYRAMID - THE KING'S
CHAMBERS
• the King’s Chamber was the king’s final resting
place
• The two ‘airshafts’ in the King’s Chamber may have
provided fresh air
• Symbolically believed as soul-shafts’ on the
assumption that the king’s soul used them for a
direct ascent into the northern and southern skies.
• The King’s Chamber symbolize ‘chamber of
creation’

THE EGYPTIAN PERIOD
• THE GREAT PYRAMID - ANTECHAMBER TO THE KING’S
CHAMBER
• The Antechamber was a room for the protection of the burial chamber.
• The grooves in the south wall resemble the pattern of a fluted column,
• The granite leaf resembles the rolled-up reed-mat curtain design which
was used from Old Kingdom times to symbolise the entrance to the
‘other world’.
• it is proposed that the Antechamber was
an initiation room in which a representative
of a future generation, or
or race, of men would experience an
insight into the physics and metaphysics
of the Universe.

THE EGYPTIAN PERIOD
• THE GREAT PYRAMID - WELL SHAFT
• The Well Shaft may have originally been cut to
supply air to workers in the Subterranean
Chamber.
• To provide an escape route for the workmen
who became trapped in the Grand Gallery when
they released the granite plugs into the
Ascending Passage, immediately after the king’s
burial in the King’s Chamber.
• It is more likely, to convey that the lower
section of the Well Shaft, B-C-D-E, was cut to
provide access from the Descending Passage to
the Grotto, this room having been sacred for
centuries prior to the construction of the
Pyramid.
• The Grotto -place of burial of the king –
conveys religious axiom ‘the body to earth, the
spirit to the sky’,

THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE - LECTURE NOTES - SYMBOLISM

More Related Content

Similar to THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE - LECTURE NOTES - SYMBOLISM

Recently uploaded

THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE - LECTURE NOTES - SYMBOLISM