Using things that are there - analysing architecture page 43

USING
THINGS
THAT ARE
THERE
prepared by :Dania albanna ---- Dana al qottob----- Mohammed al-lozi

architecture is
always an activity of a mind,
it does not follow that architecture
always entails building something
physically. As identification of
place, architecture may be no
more than a matter of recognizing
that a particular location is
distinguishable as ‘a place’—the
shade of a tree, the shelter of a
cave, the summit of a hill, the
mystery of a dark forest the
mystery of a dark forest
the shelter of a
cave
the
shade of a tree
the summit of a hill
“as a hiding place”
“a brief rest on a long and
arduous walk”
“survey the surrounding
countryside” “for some spiritual ritual”

shelter from the wind
a fine view
the
warmth of the sun
are associated with a particular
event: falling off a bicycle,
fighting with a friend,
making love, witnessing a miracle,
winning a battle
• Some places however stick in the mind.They are
remembered because of some particular distinction:

Places in the world
The cave in Mount Dikti on the island of
Crete, believed to have been the birthplace
of the Greek god ,Zeus.
the route of the Muslim pilgrimage—
the hajj—in and around Mecca
the mount from which Christ
delivered his sermon

Places in the world
the stretch of boulevard in Dallas, Texas,
where President Kennedy was shot
The places in the Australian outback which are
identified and remembered in the ‘songlines’ of
aborigine culture…

Simeon the Stylite lived in a cave
dwelling within one of the volcanic
cones of the valley of Göreme in
Anatolia.The caves were extended
and refined by carving into the rock. Castle builders through
history have built their
fortifications on sites which,
though often powerfully
dramatic,
were chosen primarily for
their defensibility. Even if
identically rebuilt
somewhere else, such
buildings would not be
architecturally the same on
another site.prepared by :Dania albanna ---- Dana al qottob----- Mohammed al-lozi

Important factors in
architecture.
1-The irregular shape of the ground
2- together with the courses of the water that flows
through it
3- the wind that blows across it
4- and the things that grow on it, all under the sun
**We should Deal with them, taking advantage of
them, mitigating their effects, exploiting their
character

Definition of
‘provide by
nature’
Doing architecture can
involve using hills, trees,
rivers , caves , cliffs ,
breezes , from the sea
Development of
living things
People have lived in caves
since time immemorial;
they have altered them,
flattened their floors,
extended them by
excavation, enclosed their
entrances, built outwards
from them…

How to
express
themselves
• People have used the walls of
caves and of cliff-faces as
places for the display of
images—wall paintings and
carvings.
Cliff-faces

How nature
provides
safe places
• frightened people have chosen
hills and craggy rocks as places
for fortresses or defensible
villages.The constant need for
water and food has led people
to build near rivers and adjacent
to fertile land.And so on.

Each of the major buildings on the acropolis
in Athens identifies a place that was already
there:
the Parthenon identifies
the highest point,
dominating
the city around

The Erectheion an ancient
sacred site.
the Propylon the easiest access onto the
summit; and each of the theatres an
accommodating bowl of land where spectators
probably watched performances even before
they were provided with formal performance
places and stepped seating

the Parthenon
the Propylon
The Erectheion

African baobab trees have
thick trunks and soft wood.
With space carved out inside,
they can be made into
dwellings.
The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is
built over a rock which is sacred to
Jews, Christians and Muslims.

Ayer’s Rock
At the base of Ayer’s Rock in central
Australia there are some natural alcoves,
apparently carved out by wind erosion.
Each provides a place of shade, stones to
sit on, and also a surface on which to
draw. Some of them appear to have been
used as schoolrooms

**helps decrease time of building
because the things already
existing from nature
Using the natural things that are already there is an
ingredient
in what has been termed, by Christopher Alexander,
the ‘timeless way of building’.

Using things that are there - analysing architecture page 43

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