Hans van der Laan’s Instruments of Thought
Hans van der Laan’s Instruments of Thought

Author: Tiziana Proietti

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-07-26

Total Pages: 203

ISBN-13: 104004610X

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The work of the Dutch Benedictine monk and architect Hans van der Laan (1904–1991) offers important insights into the ways in which artifacts address the complexity of human physical, cognitive, and social needs. Van der Laan developed a number of powerful lines of thought, three of which are introduced here: the search for a theory of architecture; the establishment of a three-dimensional system of proportions named Plastic Number; and analogy as the mainspring of human thinking. This triad of deeply interconnected intellectual strategies represents his most important ‘instruments of thought’ and is rooted in the careful observation of phenomena as they are presented to us rather than relying on conventional beliefs. Van der Laan's instruments of thought lead us to reconsider the origins of human creation, urging a deeper examination of our perceptual and cognitive response to the limitlessness of the surrounding environment. On this basis, Van der Laan develops a unique philosophy of culture and design that includes considerations on the relationship between nature, culture, and religious ritual. Although this book is informative, its principal aim is to be formative. On the basis of Van der Laan’s instruments of thought, the authors develop a methodology to explore the Plastic Number theory and the many ways in which we perceive and interpret proportion. Reintroducing playful creativity and intellectual exploration into architectural pedagogy and design practice, this book is a gateway for a deeper understanding of the effects of the built environment on human behavior and the various ways in which the human mind perceives and decodes artifacts.

Mystery and Matter
Mystery and Matter

Author: Michel Remery

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2010-12-20

Total Pages: 688

ISBN-13: 9004182969

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Taking an interdisciplinary approach and based on yet-unexplored sources, this book offers a new synthesis of the theory and works of the Dutch monk and architect Dom Hans van der Laan from the perspective of the interrelationship between liturgy and architecture.

Companion to Contemporary Architectural Thought
Companion to Contemporary Architectural Thought

Author: Ben Farmer

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2003-09-02

Total Pages: 673

ISBN-13: 1134983816

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Architecture has attracted increasing worldwide attention in recent years, not only because of its cultural significance but also because of concern over the performance and resource implications of buildings. 101 in-depth articles by international scholars and practitioners bring the subject into focus by examining issues from various viewpoints. Please contact your representative for a leaflet detailing full contents and contributors. It also includes sample pages and several illustrations from the book.

Creating Through Mind and Emotions
Creating Through Mind and Emotions

Author: Mário S. Ming Kong

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2022-07-01

Total Pages: 825

ISBN-13: 1000595889

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The texts presented in Proportion Harmonies and Identities (PHI) Creating Through Mind and Emotions were compiled to establish a multidisciplinary platform for presenting, interacting, and disseminating research. This platform also aims to foster the awareness and discussion on Creating Through Mind and Emotions, focusing on different visions relevant to Architecture, Arts and Humanities, Design and Social Sciences, and its importance and benefits for the sense of identity, both individual and communal. The idea of Creating Through Mind and Emotions has been a powerful motor for development since the Western Early Modern Age. Its theoretical and practical foundations have become the working tools of scientists, philosophers, and artists, who seek strategies and policies to accelerate the development process in different contexts.

Exercises in Architecture
Exercises in Architecture

Author: Simon Unwin

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2022-08-22

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 100062496X

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This revised edition of Exercises in Architecture: Learning to Think as an Architect is full of new content, building on the success of the previous edition. All the original exercises have been revised and new ones added, with the format changing to allow the inclusion of more supplementary material. The aim remains the same, to help pre- or early-course architecture students begin and develop their ability to think as architects. Learning to do architecture is tricky. It involves awakening abilities that remain dormant in most people. It is like learning language for the first time; a task made more mystifying by the fact that architecture deals not in words but in places: places to stand, to walk, to sit, to hide, to sleep, to cook, to eat, to work, to play, to worship... This book was written for those who want to be architects. It suggests a basis for early experiences in a school of architecture; but it could also be used in secondary schools and colleges, or as self-directed preparation for students in the months before entering professional education. Exercises in Architecture builds on and supplements the methodology for architectural analysis presented in the author’s previous book Analysing Architecture: the Universal Language of Place-Making (fifth edition, 2021) and demonstrated in his Twenty-Five Buildings Every Architect Should Understand (Routledge, 2015). Together, the three books, deal with the three aspects of learning any creative discipline: 1. Analysing Architecture provides a methodology for analysis that develops an understanding of the way architecture works; 2. Twenty-Five Buildings explores and extends that methodology through analysis of examples as case studies; and 3. Exercises in Architecture offers a way of expanding understanding and developing fluency by following a range of rudimentary and more sophisticated exercises. Those who wish to become professional architects (wherever in the world they might be) must make a conscious effort to learn the universal language of architecture as place-making, to explore its powers and how they might be used. The exercises in this book are designed to help.

The Theory of Architecture
The Theory of Architecture

Author: Paul-Alan Johnson

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 1994-04-18

Total Pages: 516

ISBN-13: 9780471285335

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The Theory of Architecture Concepts, Themes & Practices Paul-Alan Johnson Although it has long been thought that theory directs architectural practice, no one has explained precisely how the connection between theory and practice is supposed to work. This guide asserts that architectural theory does not direct practice, but is itself a form of reflective practice. Paul-Alan Johnson cuts through the jargon and mystery of architectural theory to clarify how it relates to actual applications in the field. He also reveals the connections between new and old ideas to enhance the reader's powers of critical evaluation. Nearly 100 major concepts, themes, and practices of architecture--as well as the rhetoric of architects and designers--are presented in an easily accessible format. Throughout, Johnson attempts to reduce each architectural notion into its essential concept. By doing so, he makes theory accessible for everyday professional discussion. Topics are arranged under ten headings: identification, definition, power, attitudes, ethics, order, authority, governance, relationship, and expression. Areas covered under these headings include: * Utopic thought in theories of architecture * Advocacy and citizen participation in architecture * The basis of architectural quality and excellence * The roles of the architect as artist, poet, scientist, and technologist * Ethical obligations of architecture * Rationales for models and methods of design * How authority is determined in architecture * How architects structure their concepts * Conventions of communication within the architectural profession Each section begins by showing the etymology of key terms of the topic discussed, along with a summary history of the topic's use in architecture. Discussions probe the conceptual and philosophical difficulties of different theories, as well as their potential and limitations in past and present usage. Among the provocative issues discussed in terms of their relationship to architecture are chaos theory, feminism, service to the community, and the use of metaphor. Johnson points out with stunning clarity the intentions as well as the contradictions and inconsistencies of all notions and concepts. All architects and designers, as well as students and teachers in these disciplines, will gain many insights about architectural thought in this groundbreaking text.

Approaches to Drawing in Architectural and Urban Design
Approaches to Drawing in Architectural and Urban Design

Author: Fabio Colonnese

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2024-04-04

Total Pages: 653

ISBN-13: 1527565912

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Architects draw for a variety of purposes; they draw to assimilate places and precedents, to generate ideas, to develop a concept into a consistent project in a team, to communicate ideas and solutions to patrons and clients, and to guide building contractors during the construction stages, as well as to produce further elaborations in order to publish their project in a treatise, a journal or their own portfolio. Most importantly, architects draw to think and to manage complexity in a visual way. By taking into account innovative and interdisciplinary uses of architectural drawing in the design process, both historical and current, the collection of chapters and interviews in this book frames a new critical perspective and a uniquely contextual appreciation of drawing as a way to encourage spatial thinking and practice in architecture and urbanism. The authors take the discussion to a new level of philosophical sophistication, while also considering drawing in relation to a series of specific engagements with urban development, planning, and architecture.

The Routledge Companion to Smart Design Thinking in Architecture & Urbanism for a Sustainable, Living Planet
The Routledge Companion to Smart Design Thinking in Architecture & Urbanism for a Sustainable, Living Planet

Author: Mitra Kanaani

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-11-11

Total Pages: 727

ISBN-13: 104010777X

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This comprehensive companion surveys intelligent design thinking in architecture and urbanism, investigates multiple facets of "smart" approaches to design thinking that augment the potentials of user experiences as well as his/her physical and mental interactions with the built environment. Split into six paradigms, this volume looks at the theoretical and historical background of smart design, smart design methodologies and typologies, smart materials, smart design for extreme weather and climatic regions, as well as climate change issues and side effects, smart mobility, and the role of digital technologies and simulations in architectural and urban design. Often at odds with each other, this volume places emphasis on smart design for various typologies and user groups, emphasizing on advancements in form-making and implementation of technology for healthy and sustainable living environments. Written by emerging and established architects, planners, designers, scientists, and engineers from around the globe, this will be an essential reference volume for architecture and urban design students and scholars as well as those in related fields interested in the implications, various facets and futures of smart design.

Architectural Education Through Materiality
Architectural Education Through Materiality

Author: Elke Couchez

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-11-25

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 1000473716

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What kind of architectural knowledge was cultivated through drawings, models, design-build experimental houses and learning environments in the 20th century? And, did new teaching techniques and tools foster pedagogical, institutional and even cultural renewal? Architectural Education Through Materiality: Pedagogies of 20th Century Design brings together a collection of illustrated essays dedicated to exploring the complex processes that transformed architecture’s pedagogies in the 20th century. The last decade has seen a substantial increase in interest in the history of architectural education. This book widens the geographical scope beyond local school histories and sets out to discover the very distinct materialities and technologies of schooling as active agents in the making of architectural schools. Architectural Education Through Materiality argues that knowledge transmission cannot be reduced to ‘software’, the relatively easily detectable ideas in course notes and handbooks, but also has to be studied in close relation to the ‘hardware’ of, for instance, wall pictures, textiles, campus designs, slide projectors and even bodies. Presenting illustrated case studies of works by architects, educators and theorists including Dalibor Vesely, Dom Hans van der Laan, the Global Tools group, Heinrich Wölfflin, Alfons Hoppenbrouwers, Joseph Rykwert, Pancho Guedes and Robert Cummings, and focusing on student-led educational initiatives in Europe, the UK, North America and Australia, the book will inspire students, educators and professionals with an interest in the many ways architectural knowledge is produced and taught.