Introductory presentation by Prof. Louis Sauer to Graduate Architecture students considering taking his course in Urban Housing Design, July 2011. Cultural values are essential to understanding architectural aesthetics. Prof. Sauer gives students a brief introduction to these ideas, using "poetry" as a metaphor for architectural aesthetics.

1. Can one design
poetry in
Can one design
Can one design
poetry
poetry in
in
t ht e ea r cr h Iht Iet c tcut r e eof of
h a c e ur hh o u s I n g? ?
ousIng
a brief introduction
a brief introduction
Louis Sauer Visiting Professor RMIT 26 July 2011
China Two Lions 1957 Cai Gui-Qang Louis Sauer Visiting Professor RMIT 26 July 2011

2. Architectural
poetry
“... is a form of … building art
in which … architecture
is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities
in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning.”
LS edit Wikipedia

3. If not poetry,
how about architectural
music ?

4. Architectural
music
… is an art form whose medium is…
a building’s solids, voids and texture.
Common elements are … rhythm
and its associated concepts tempo, meter, and articulation …
LS edit Wikipedia

5. Architectural
building ELEMENTS
consist of the spatial elements :
- solids
- shapes
- voids
- textures
- colors
- space
.

6. The architectural element of
SPACE
may have 2 or 3 dimensions.
It refers to the distances, areas, volumes
between, around or within the components of a piece
. Wikipedia

7. There are two types of s p a c e , positive and negative.
.
Wikipedia

8. Positive space
refers to the space of a form representing the subject matter.
Negative space
refers to the space around and between the subject matter.
Wikipedia

9. Casa das Histórias Paula Rego, Cascais, Portugal, Eduardo Souto de Moura, Architect. House for Elderly People, Alcacer do Sal, Portugal, Aires Mateus Arquitectos
photography by Fernando Guerra on Dezeen
solid & void spaces

10. textures & colors

11. textures, colours, solids & voids
Washington D.C . Suman Sorg, Architect

12. - Solids
- Shapes
- Textures
- Colors
- Space
are arranged in geometric patterns and rhythms
to express a feeling, an idea, concept,
a belief.

13. Shared architectural
ideas & beliefs
become
‘styles’
I’ll just talk briefly about a few.
Minimalism
Timeline

14. The creation, performance, significance,
and even the definition of
architectural poetry and musical styles
vary according to culture and social context.
LS edit Wikipedia

15. Here are two 20th century architects
known for their art of architectural poetry
who created houses
with similar planes projecting into space.

16. Farnsworth House
Modern 1946 -51
Fox River, Illinois
Minimalist Mies van der Rohe, Architect
These designs
have a similar quality
of planes projecting
into space
but
their meanings
are
very different
The Robie House
1908-09
Prairie Style Chicago, Illinois
Frank Lloyd Wright, Architect

17. Prairie Style The Robie House, Chicago Illinois Frank Lloyd Wright, Architect
To Wright, all is specific.
The home is caught between the earth and the sky.
The earth represents life’s mortality and the sky represents the unknown forever.
The roof appears a captured horizon to harbor the space below, anchored by solids, a specific place
It protects life from the unknowable infinity.

18. 1946 -51 Farnsworth House Plano, Illinois Mies van der Rohe, Architect
In contrast to Wright, Mies believes everything is universal.
The roof and floor planes extend into the landscape.
Mies believes the outside has the same meaning as the inside –
that all physical and non-physical forms are spiritually joined in absolute truth.
Perceived difference is ephemeral. All places are the same.

19. Mies’ truth
- during the early 20th century group of leading artists and architects,
such as Modrian, von Doesburg, Rietveld and Mies,
held strong beliefs in the spiritual beliefs of Theosophy.
“Theosophy presents a world view
that emphasizes the unity and interconnectedness of all life,
the basic oneness of all species on earth and of all peoples.”
Adyar Bookshop

20. The unity of interiors and exteriors
Mies’s belief is clear in his plan for his 1924 Brick Country House.-

21. Brick Country House 1924 Mies van der Rohe

22. Mies and Wright are an example
of how different beliefs can exist in the same century.
They give different meanings to similar forms.

23. Another example of how architectural form conveys meaning,
is how a culture differentiates the front of buildings
from the backs of buildings.
Backs and fronts have strongly different social meanings.

24. Fronts
are pubic, formal
and designed
for a ordered ‘beauty’
rather than utility
Backs
are utilitarian,
private, functionally contingent and display a lack
of organizational cohesion
The Royal Crescent, 1767-74 Bath England, John Wood the Younger, Architect

25. The Royal Crescent, Bath, England, John Wood the Younger, Architect
These front facades display a high degree of repetitive organizational formality.
They could have been designed only in a culture whose values were strongly accepted
by both of the residents and their government

26. In contrast to the architectural differences of the front and back another
culture believed all sides of a building
should display a common aesthetic – the same appearance.
In the ‘neo-classical’ architectural culture,
all utilitarian and/or private functions were minimalized
except the entry and its steps
so that all sides could be a ‘public front’.

27. Neoclassical
1st Floor Plan Villa Rotunda 1567 Vicenza, Italy Andréa Palladio, Architect
With all sides of the building presenting a symmetrical ‘front’ to the outside, this diminishes the
importance of any private functions.
Public life is more important than private life.

28. The Entry Facade The Other Facades
Villa Rotunda 1567 Vicenza, Italy Andréa Palladio, Architect

29. 20th Century Suburban USA Ranch Style
In startling contrast,
the facade design of the suburban house clearly expresses utility and function.
One can easily read (understand) the place for the car, the entrance, the living room and a bath room.
This culture believes that private life is more important than the public life.

30. Again a contrast, in 16th century Amsterdam ..

31. 16th Century Canal Houses in Amsterdam
All individual buildings belong to a family of facade designs. These buildings show facades within an overall design discipline but with individual variations.
Once again, we understand this was a culture where the public had a stronger authority over private life – but, it is clear that individual families strived for a
unique identity within the community..

32. The design variations at the street and
cornice levels, in an otherwise almost
identical fenestration, indicate that the
building owners’ desire individual
recognition by the community.

33. “Vernacular
architecture is a term used to categorize methods of construction
which use locally available resources and traditions
to address local needs and circumstances.”
Wikipedia

34. Contemporary Vernacular
AC du Grand Large-Neptune 2010 Dunkirk, France Nicolas Michelin & Associates Architects

35. Designed for change Transformed by the residents
Before the owners moved in After 0wnership
Modern transformed by Vernacular
Low-income Social Housing Quinta Monroy 2003 Iquique, Chile Elemental Architects

36. Minimalism
describes movements in various forms of art and design
where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features.
Wikipedia

37. Konstruktion 1927 Hannes Meyer
Light and Space, Laszlo Moholy Nagy Contra Construction Project 1923, Von Doesburg Arithmetic Composition, 1930, van Doesburg
De Stijl & Bauhaus artists are a major source of reference for minimalistic work.
They expanded the ideas that could be expressed
by using basic elements such as lines and planes organized in very particular manners.
Wikipedia

38. Minimalism
Points 2006 Robert Ryman

39. Minimalism
Free Ride 2007 Tony Smith

40. Minimalism
The Center Court, Salk Research Center, Palo Alto California, Louis Kahn, Architect

41. Minimalism
Front Facade
Azuma House, Osaka, Tadao Ando, Architect

42. Courtyard

43. 3.2 x 12.8 m 65 m2 Azuma House , Tadao Ando, Architect

44. Minimalism
Cherokee Lofts 2007 Los Angeles, Pugh & Scarpa Architects

45. Minimalism
Moriyama House
Tokyo, Ryue Nishizawa, Architect

46. Minimalism
Villers Road 2008 London England Peter Barber, Architect

47. In contrast

48. Futurism, Italy
Nude Number 2 1912 Marcel Duchamp

49. Russian Constructivism
Komposition 8 1923 Wassily Kandinsky

50. Deconstruction, USA
Ray and Maria Stata Center MIT, Cambridge USA 2004 Frank Gehry, Architect

51. What happened ?
new values
a new way of understanding life .
a new style

52. The Deconstruction Style
“… is the expression of the uncanny.
… the need for an architecture of
"discomfort and the unbalancing of
expectations"
Tschumi 1977
a mystery - form contradicts function.

53. Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center, Las Vegas USA, Frank Gehry, Architect
“The Deconstruction style is linked to Postmodernism
which in turn is linked to nonsense
… Nonsense is an early 20th Century literary technique,
which employs enlightening witticisms …
to convey a sense of wistful romantic nostalgia
and pizza within 20 minutes or your money back …
that's got to be your stupidest idea ever.’
Wikapedia

54. People’s
attitudes, orientations, and underlying assumptions
shape the built environment ”
from Ideas and Beliefs in Architecture and Industrial design
Invar Holm (2006) Oslo School of Architecture and Design

55. Here are some examples of my work

56. Yellow Field 1958 oil on cardboard Louis Sauer

57. The Garden of Louis Sauer Architect
2005
89A Lawson Avenue, Frankston South, Australia

58. 2nd Street Townhouses
1969
Society Hill , Philadelphia
Louis Sauer, architect

59. The Frankel Houses
1967 Margate NJ
Louis Sauer Architect

60. Kitchen
1967
Lounge The Lenard Frankel House
Margate, New Jersey Louis Sauer Architect

61. 1967
The Lenard Frankel House
Margate, New Jersey Louis Sauer Architect

62. Interior
The Buten House
Philadelphia 1962
Louis Sauer Architect

63. Courtyard Facade
The Buten House, Philadelphia 1962
Louis Sauer Architect

64. Interiors Hamilton House 1963 New Hope, PA Louis Sauer, Architect

65. Courtyard
McClennen House 1965
127 Pine Street, Society Hill Philadelphia
Louis Sauer, Architect

66. Courtyard Living Room
McClennen House, 1965 127 Pine Street, Society Hill Philadelphia, Louis Sauer, Architect

67. Lounge from the Study
McClennen House 1965
127 Pine Street, Society Hill Philadelphia
Louis Sauer, Architect