“DELIGHT”: Seeing ArchitectureDELIGHT : Seeing Architecture

Beauty

beautyThe aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives intense pleasure to the senses

or deep satisfaction to mind or spirit, whether arising from harmony of form or color, excellence of craft, truthfulness, originality or other.

delightA high degree of pleasure or enjoyment.

Ching, Francis D., A Visual Dictionary of Architecture, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1997.

THUTMOSE, Nefertiti, from Tell el-Amarna, Egypt, 18th Dynasty, ca. 1353–1335 BCE. Painted limestone. Ägyptisches Museum, Berlin.

POLYKLEITOS, Doryphoros(Spear Bearer). Roman copy

from Pompeii,p ,Italy, after a bronze original of ca.

450– 440 BCE. Marble.MuseoArcheologico Nazionale, Naples.

Polykleitosysought to portray the perfect man and to

impose order on human movement.He achieved his goals by employing

harmonic proportions and a system of cross balance for all parts of the body.

IKTINOS and KALLIKRATES, Parthenon, the Temple of Athena Parthenos (looking southeast), Acropolis Athens Greece 447–438 BCEAcropolis, Athens, Greece, 447 438 BCE.The architects of the Parthenon believed that perfect beauty could be achieved by using harmonic proportions. The controlling ratio for larger and smaller parts was x = 2y + 1 (for example, a plan of 17 by 8 columns).

Selection of the most beautiful rectangle, Chart, P. von Naredi-Rainer: Arhitektur und Harmonie, Dumont, Köln, 1982.

Which of the preceding rectangles is more pleasing to look at?

According to the ancient Greeks, and verified by modern psychologists, most people find theAccording to the ancient Greeks, and verified by modern psychologists, most people find the rectangle on the left more pleasing. The Greeks used this rectangle in constructing many of their

buildings - it is called a golden rectangle.

AE:AB = EB: AE

Golden Section Spiral Construction By using the golden section subdivision diagram a golden section spiral can be constructed.

Drawing of the Parthenon, Athens, and the Architectural Relationship to the Golden SectionAnalysis of golden section proportions according to the golden section construction diagram.

Golden section Harmonic AnalysisAnalysis of golden section proportions according to a diagram of a harmonic analysis of the golden section.

LEON BATTISTA ALBERTI west facadeALBERTI, west facade

of Santa Maria Novella, Florence, Italy, 1456–

14701470.Alberti’s design for the

facade of this church features a pediment-features a pediment

capped temple front and pilaster-framed arcades. Numerical ratios are theNumerical ratios are the basis of the proportions

of all parts of the facade.

LEONARDO DA VINCI, Mona Lisa, ca. 1503–1505. Oil on wood. Louvre, Paris.

MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI, David (detail), Florence, Italy, 1501–1504. Marble.

Homage to the Square: With Rays, 1959. Josef Albers

49 Three-Part Variations of the Three Different Kinds of Cubes, Sol Lewitt, 1967–71, 49 units, each 24 x 8 x 8 in (60 x 20 x 20 cm), enamel on steel, Hamburg: Kunsthalle.

“DELIGHT”: Seeing ArchitectureDELIGHT : Seeing Architecture

Mechanisms of PerceptionMechanisms of Perception

“A great deal of what goes under the name of perception is, in the wide sense of the term, recall.”

Sir Frederic Bartlett

Sensation and Perception

“....we have come to live in a very visually dominated culture, and it is easy to forget that space is also perceived through the sensations of sound, smell and

even touch.

Perception is an active process through which we make sense of the world around us. To do this of course we rely upon sensation, but we normally integrate

th i f ll ith t i l i ”the experience of all our senses without conscious analysis.”

Bryan Lawson

St. Catherine's College, Oxford, Arne Jacobsen. Dining Hall.

Starry Night Vincent Van Gogh, 1889

Mary Cassatt, The Child’s Bath, 1891

Bottom-up processing (also called data-based processing) is processing that is based on incoming data. Incomingdata always provide the starting point fordata always provide the starting point for perception because without incoming data, there is no perception.

Top-down processing (also called knowledge-based processing) refers to processing that is based on knowledge. Knowledge isn’t always involved in perception but, it often is—sometimes without our even being aware of it.

Edward Hopper, Nighthawks (1942.)

Stages of information processing in viewing art. Ed d H Ni h h k (1942 )Edward Hopper, Nighthawks (1942.)

Cognition and the Visual Arts , Robert L. Solso, A Bradford Book, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts; London,, England.

The Müller-Lyer illusion.

Gestalt Theory of Visual Perception

Perceptual Segregation: How Objects Are Separated From the Background

Rubin’s Vase (Figure-ground vase) represents two different shapes, but both shapes can never be seen at the same time.

Gestalt Theory of Visual Perception

SIMILARITY

CONTINUATION

CLOSURE

anomally

Gestalt Theory of Visual Perception

PROXIMITY FIGURE AND GROUND (AREA and SYMMETRY)

“DELIGHT”: SEEING ARCHITECTUREDELIGHT : SEEING ARCHITECTUREBeauty

Mechanisms of Perception

Exam preparation:

Professor’s lecture and presentation

Ching, Francis D., A Visual Dictionary of Architecture, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1997., “Design”, page: 56; “Vision”, pages: 264,265,

http://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/gestaltprinciples/gestaltprinc.htm

.

Prepared by:

Dr. Sc. Nermina Mujezinovićarchitect

Literature that was used for lecture preparation / Credits & References

1. Solso, R. L., Cognition and the Visual Arts, A Bradford Book, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts 2. Lawson, B., The Language of Space, Architectural Press, 20013. Goldstein , E. B., Sensation and Perception, Wadsworth, Cengage Learning , 2010, 2007. 4. Elam, K., Geometry of Design: Studies in Proportion and Composition , Princeton Architectural Press, 2001.5. Cumming, R., Eyewitness Companions Art6. Ciccarelli, S. K. , White , J. N., Psychology, Pearson, 2009.7. Kleiner, F. S. Gardner’s Art Throught the Ages7. Kleiner, F. S. Gardner s Art Throught the Ages8. Hargittai, I., Hargittai, M, Symmetry: a unifying concept, 1994.

http://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/gestaltprinciples/gestaltprinc.htm