5Types of Concepts

Introduction Introduction to architecture by james c.snyder and anthony j. catanese

FIVE TYPES OF CONCEPTS

There are five types of concepts: analogies (looking at other things), metaphors (looking at abstractions), essences (looking beyond the programmatic needs ), programmatic concepts (looking at the stated requirements), and ideals (looking at universal values).

Analogies Of the five categories analogies are probably the most frequently u sed device to formulate concepts. Analogies Analogies identify possible, literal relationships relationships between things. One thing is identified identified as having all the desired characteristics and thus it becomes a model for the project at hand. Until the rise of the modern movement in the first half of the twentieth century, it was assumed by clients and architects alike that all the great architecture of the world had already been built. The task of the architect was to figure out which previous building was the appropriate model for the new building being designed. At one point the initial assumption was that Gothic was the appropriate model for churches, colleges, and universities; Greek Doric was the appropriate model for banks; and St. Peter's Basilica was the appropriate model for capitols from Washington, D.C. to Madison, Wisconsin. Some analogies seem to turn up more than others. One of the most frequent is the village street or a covered shopping street like the Galleria in Milan. A recent example is Diamond and Meyers' use of both a village street and the Galleria as an analogy for the design of a building for the University of Alberta in Edmonton that combines a student union with married students’ housing. The apartments are located along the interior street with a curved dome and daylighting similar to the Galleria in Milan. In developing this project, the architects architects were concerned with the basic validity and how to develop and carry out the analogy. An example of one refinement of the original analogy is in the use of o f panel windows that open onto the street. The architects noticed noticed that the perspective vi ew do wn the street street in an early version of the design did not match the vitality and colorfulness. St. Peter's Basilica, Rome. (George Gerster, Rapho Photo Researchers) Student Union Housing, University of Alberta, E dmonton, b y Diamond and Meyers.

concept in architecture

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Introduction to architecture by james c.snyder and anthony j. catanese

Section: Student Union Housing, University of Alberta.

of other streets they had seen. They remembered picturesque images of wash hanging from the windows, but this particular scheme did not have that friendly clutter. To introduce that visual vitality, they designed and developed special windows for the rooms overlooking the street. The windows were solid, brightly painted panels, not glass, and were opened to provide extra cross-ventilation and views of the street activity below. The colors of these panels and the posters attached to them provided the visual vitality the architects were seeking. Another example of the use of a direct ana logy in which one building provides an appropriate image for another project is Tree-top by David Glasser of Marquiss, Stoller and Glasser, on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. In this example, the gangway and bridge system of circulation in the warehouse area of Savannah, Georgia, was identified as having characteristics that would solve a variety of siting and circulation problems. The gangway system seemed applicable to the new design even though the Tree Tops project was on a flat site and the activity was housing rather than warehousing. Analogies do not have to relate to other specific buildings. Kahn, in discussing the concept behind the Richards Medical Research Building at the University of Pennsylvania, made several analogies. He talked about the need for researchers to communicate and share their ideas. Thus, he developed an analogy of the research building as a community where people could see each other and become aware of the activities within the building. This concept is very similar to Roche's Ford Foundation Building. Kahn observed that the medical researchers on the University of Pennsylvania campus were inappropriately spread out all over the medical


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Treetops, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, by Glasser, Stoller, and Marquis. (David Glasser)

school campus. His second analogy and concept developed around an appropriate self-image for the researchers. Kahn likened the activities and imaginative thinking of the researchers in their laboratories to those of artists in their studios. Kahn's conceptual image for the medical research facility was a community of artists' studios filled with creative researchers. My Medical Research Building at the University of Pennsylvania incorporates this realization that science laboratories are essentially studios .. . . This design, the result of consideration of the uniqueness to be made of its spaces and their service requirements, expresses the 12 character of the research laboratory.

Kahn may have developed an inspiring and appropriate analogy as his concept for building, but according to some reports the build ing— while heralded by some as the most important structure of the 1960s—is difficult for researchers actually to use. Researchers do not appear to be enamored of the concept of a community of scientists or of their visual accessibility to each other; many choose to close their blinds for privacy and to control heat gain from the sun. Neither do they seem to be inspired by the analogy that their research spaces are artists' studios with two walls of windows for light. They need walls on which to hang experimental equipment, and they do not need the kind of light that an artist might require. Still, the building has some important achievements.

Richards Medical Research Building, University of Pennsylvania by Louts I. Kahn.

Jonas Salk visited research buildings around the United States as part of the process of selecting an architect for his new research building. He studied the Richards Building, observed it in use, talked to the users, and learned of its problems. Despite its drawbacks, this building was the only facility he visited that tried to include the philosophical issues of creativity, and he chose Kahn to do the Salk Institute in San Diego.


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Metaphors and Similes Like analogies, metaphors identify relationships between things. However, the relationships are abstract rather than literal. Similes are metaphors that, use the words “like" or "as" to express a relationship. Metaphors and similes identify possible patterns of parallel relationships while analogies identify possible literal relationships. Charles Moore, in a discussion of his interests, suggested that he likes buildings to be like geodes. He develops that metaphor in a brief scenario: At St. Simon's Island, Georgia, [the] condominiums by the beach do something in response to this [geode-like] image. It is apparently an old Georgian plantation, but huge, on the outside; inside it is an orgiastic, brightly colored and decoratively formed set of walls sur rounding an 13 interior space.

The geode is a conceptual metaphor that suggests how the build ing could have two simultaneous images. When viewed from the out side the building could have an image that would m atch the image of the neighborhood. It could have a different image on the inside, such as an entertaining, theatrical, and dramatic environment appropriate to a resort. Other examples of metaphors include Gio Ponti's provocative list of definitions and explanations of various aspects of architecture. His definition of architecture itself is a simile: "Architecture is like a crystal." Other metaphors discussed in his book, In Praise of Archi tecture, include: "The obelisk is an enigma," "The fountain is a voice," "The room is a world," "The door is an 14 invitation," "The colonnade is a choir," and "The house is a dream."

Geode-architecture analogy.

Essences Essences distill and concentrate aspects of more complex issues into terse, explicit statements. Essence connotes insights into the most critical and intrinsic aspects of the thing being analyzed. A statement of the essence of something can also be the result of discovering and identifying the roots of an issue. Stanford Anderson wrote about and quoted Kahn's interest in essences and his use o f metaphors. Kahn is concern with form, what things are, with essences, with elements and their articulation. "I'd think of the nature of something, see the emergence of what kind of institution it would be . .. every building ... answering to an inspiration it serves, and the environment of spaces which express the place of one man and another. It is almost the first duty of the architect, you might say, to take a program and to translate its areas programs to spaces, so that the lobby becomes a place of entrance, the corridor becomes a 15 gallery, and the budget becomes an economy."


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Geode-architecture analogy: St. Simon's Island, Georgia, project by Charles Moore and Associates.

Designers have developed several methods for searching for the essence of a project and for tr an sforming it into concept stat emen ts. The search is to identify ideas that tie together the various parts of the building and, as Kahn has suggested, that allow the designer to over come the circumstances of each project and to accomplish what is really important to accomplish. A pragmatic method of identifying the essence of s project is to analyze the program and identify the hierarchy of issues for the project. The assumption is that the most important Things are the most essential. This search can be an analysis of the program or it can be a graphic analysis in which the project is diagramed in different ways. Placing emphasis on essences and roots runs contrary to the one other major philosophical approach to creativity and architecture popular in this century. This philosophy is based upon the idea that each individual architect has a unique, innovative contribution to make. Architects from Frank Lloyd Wright to Eero Saarinen have valued this belief, as did Walter Gropius, one of the founders of the Bauhaus. The general willingness to use precedent— whether historical or recent — other than vernacular sources has only regained respectability since Kahn's emergence as a form-giver in the 1960s. Kahn unabashedly identified the architecture of ancient Rome and the work of Le Corbusier as his major inspirations. While not always candid about his contemporary sources, Kahn did modestly suggest, in the middle of designing the library at Phillips Exeter Academy, that Hugh Stubbins' Medical School Library at Harvard was a "very go od library." A comparison between the plans and interior spaces shows a remarkable similarity. The work of John Portman of Atlanta illustrates another version of the search for essences. Portman's most famous buildings are hotels with dramatic, innovative interior spaces. As concepts they integrate image, interest, function, and — whenever possible—an urban-design plan for the city in which they are built. The proof that they capture the essence of a hotel is their popularity. The main multistory lobbies, especially in San Francisco, are essentially public places belonging to the city as well as to the hotel. Portman's understanding of what interests and excites people is developed in his detailing, especially in his elevators, which are decorated with tiny light bulbs and pierced by windows for a view of the dramatic space. Another insight is his willingness to build architecture that includes decoration, something that has been missing from almost all twentieth-century structures. Judging from its role in the success of these buildings, decoration is essential elements in an architecture admired by the general public.

Hyatt Regency Hotel, San Francisco, by John P ortman. (Alexandre Georges)


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Another kind of essence architects look f or is the essence that they can express in the design of the building. Eero Saarinen interpreted the conceptual challenge at the TWA Terminal at International Airport to be the expression of movement and travelas the key idea that could hold the whole project together. According to Saarinen: The challenge of the Trans World Airways Terminal was twofold. One, to create, within the complex of terminals that makes up Idlewild [now Kennedy International], a building for T.W.A. which would be distinctive and memorable.... Two, to design a building in which the architecture itself would express the drama and specialness and excitement of travel. Thus, we wanted the architecture to reveal the terminal, not as a static, enclosed place, but as a place of movement and of transition.... The fact that to some people it looked like a bird in flight was really coincidental. That was the last thing we ever thought about. Now, that does not mean that one does not have the right to see it that way or to explain it to laymen in 16 those terms, especially because laymen are usually more li terally than visually inclined. Trans World Airlines Terminal Building, John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, by Eero Saarinen. (Ezra Stoller/ESTO).

In contrast to the philosophical musings about essences and expression, another pragmatic and diagrammatic method of discovering essences has been suggested by Lars Lerup. His technique combines analogies and essences. Given a particular design problem to solve, he begins by identifying famous places that have characteristics matching aspects of his design problem. Pictures of several famous places are chosen, and each is expected to have at least one aspect that would be highly desirable in his own solution. Next, Lerup analyzes each picture in a series of steps. First, he redraws the image, then he edits to bring out its salient characteristics. The characteristics are further abstracted into a hypothesis about the important design lesson to be learned from the original setting. That hypothesis is combined with others distilled from the other photographs. The collection of hypotheses is then used to focus and direct the synthesis and design of the actual proposal. Symbols are a subset of the essences category. Symbols imply that the essences can be characterized in specific forms and images that the public can understand. Why, after all, would anyone try to manipulate the design of a building to symbolize that which was not important, critical, or essential? Symbols in architecture are images that evoke automatic responses to a set of stimuli, usually visual.


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Thus, symbols have to do with expectations. Many building types can be designed to match expectations. The building can be both the place for a n activity and the image that symbolizes that activity.

Direct Responses and Problem Solving Not all concepts capture the essence of a project, nor do they all symbolize the function of all the activities in a building. Concepts can be developed around more pragmatic issues often explicitly identified in the building program. While many architects take pride in their abili ty to solve a c l i e n t ’ s problems, only a few actually make a pragmatic approach sound inspiring and many designers inadvertently avoid working on the problem at hand while trying to be creative. Gyo Obata, in discussing his proposal for the Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C, identified the importance of knowing what kinds of problems to attack in large projects. This is especially important when economics are crucial and cost increases due to inflation alone can kill a project if it is not designed quickly enough. The major problem area that was identified in the A i r and Space Museum was circulation and orientation for a very large number of visitors. The concept developed in response was a two-level street that connects a series of enclosed theme exhibit rooms. Three open multistory hall are located at interval along the street, both to display the prime attraction and to entertain the viewer moving from one theme exhibit room to another. Vi s it or s to the building have a choice of viewing order, because the collection is simply too large to be taken in at one time. The concept of a double-level, street like circulation pattern that would disperse people to all the various theme rooms was tested in the first few months of use. In fact, more than twice the projected number of visitors visited the museum in its first year. Without a clear concept of circulation as a prime issue, the whole building would have been less useful and would have created unnecessary frustrations to its millions of users.

Ideals In contrast to the previous categories of concepts, which suggest that the architect look inside the problem or at a similar problem to discover appropriate concepts, ideal concepts are those that architects bring to the problem. If architects bring the right concept to the project, they are praised for their genius. If their choice is inappropriate, it becomes a preconception and their basic competence is questioned. Ideal concepts represent the highest aspirations and goals of the architect. For example, an architect can bring to each project a series of ideal concepts about how to conserve energy in buildings. These concepts might include compartmentalizing, zoning according to nee d for heat, developing windowless backs of buildings that can be turned toward cold winds, angling surfaces for heat collectors, and designing for self-sufficiency of the whole system. Another e xample of the potential for ideals to influence concepts is illustrated by the work of Mies van der Rohe. Mies developed the concept of an ideal building based upon large, open, unpartitioned spaces he called "universal space." Mies thought it was basically appropriate .for each project he designed. Student unions, libraries, classroom buildings, and offices were expected to work best as versions of a universal space. Ideals can have positive effects and if architects did not have them to refer to and use in conceptualizing and developing their designs their task would be more difficult. Their previous experiences and insights would be useless, and each project would have to begin from scratch. This would aid neither the client nor the architects who are flexible and comfortable in emphasizing different ideals for different projects have an advantage in providing services to their clients.


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SUMMARY

Notion, ideas, concepts, and scenarios form a continuum (of increasing complexity, appropriateness, and depth of thought) that can become an important basis for architectural design. Concepts integrate the various elements of a design into a coherent whole and allow the architect to direct his or her resources to the most important aspects of design. Conceptual scenarios integrate a number of applicable concep ts and are used for communicating ideas to one 's self and to clients. Of course, the ap propriateness of a concept or scenario is pivotal and it comes from a process of self-criticism. There are five types of concepts: analogies or literal relationship, metaphor or abstract relationships, essences or intrinsic aspects, programmatic or pragmatic responses, and ideals or external values. Most importantly, the search for appropriate concepts and their application in architectural design helps make good architecture.

National Gallery, Berlin, by Mies van der Rohe. (Balthazar Korab).


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5Types of Concepts

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