Note. When the text of Aesthetics of built form was submitted as part of a PhD thesis in 1996, the Notes were greatly extended. As the reader may prefer to ignore them, they have been collected into separate web pages of which this is one. They are a mixture of: simple page references; additional examples or quotations to justify generalisations; and some afterthoughts.
[3.1] The perception of columns as "boring" through floor slabs is discussed in Gauldie (1969) p.27 and further in Scruton (p.138-9). It is again a case of 'seeing with the mind' because engineers know of the calculations that must have been carried out to ensure that this cannot happen. They have a clear mental picture of the reinforcement within the connection. The concrete is seen as a continuous material. Beam, slab, and column are integral. (Critics of architecture also recognise and value the continuity of concrete when discussing its qualities as a medium of 'sculpture' in built form.)
[3.2] Books consulted on how to draw buildings included: Turner (1984) (esp. Chapter 15); Guptill (1946); Wright (1983); Evans (1983); Downer (1962); Hogarth (1973); Stoltenberg (1980). Books consulted on the photography of buildings included: Shulman (1977); De Maré (1961); McGrath (1986); Pare (1985); Robinson and Herschman (1987).
[3.3] The artist's job ... Guptill (1946), p.11.
[3.4] Scott (1924) has observed that attention which concentrates on details, "is not led on", and thus will not see movement (pp.148-50). See also Stoltenberg's and Hurwitz's differing idealisations of concrete batch plants in Stoltenberg (1980), pp. 87-96.
[3.5] Arnheim on the "balance" of Nervi's Florence Stadium and Mies's chair: (1977), p.262-8.
on the haunched portal: (1977), p.187-8.
[3.6] Gombrich on representations of the English lake district. Gombrich 5th edn (1977) p.74.
[3.7] This statement was based on observations of paintings and on written opinions such as the following.
"Before the 1880s ... many artists had made detailed and accurate recordings of the landscape, flora and fauna ... But in most cases these were artists whose view was coloured by their allegiance to Europe: they were in effect outsiders looking in." (Sturgeon, G. Australia: the painter's vision. Bay Books, Sydney, c.1987, p.7. This book contains examples of early and modern paintings of the Australian landscape interposed.)
"Watling, like many other early artists, could not come to grips with the harsh, Australian landscape. He painted in the picturesque manner of the romantic painters of the eighteenth century and depicted Sydney in a way familiar to Europeans. In his first oil, there is very little to suggest Australia ... the trees framing the picture barely resemble eucalypts." (Terry, M. Masterpieces of Australian Painting. Bay Books, Sydney, 1984. On page 7, Terry states that the first Australian oil painting was Thomas Watling's A Direct North General View of Sydney Cove, 1794. Paintings on pp.17-21, 27-35, 46-7 may be compared with pp. 125, 127, 145, 148.)
Hans Heysen's early works are romantic studies of light and nature. They may be found in the catalogue Hans Heysen Centenary Retrospective 1877-1977, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 1977. Relevant paintings are Mystic Morn p.28; The Way Home p.33; Red Gold p.40, and Morning Mist, p.43. Summer p.35 gives little notion of Australian heat, and Approaching Storm with Bush Fire Hazard p.41 conveys little sense of threat. Later works, e.g. Guardian of the Brachina Gorge p.66 and Pewsey Vale p.69 conform more to modern conceptions of the bush.
Also relevant is Thomas, D. Outlines of Australian art: the Joseph Brown Collection. Abrams, New York, 1980.
[3.8] Billington states that "there is more beauty in photographs of Freysinnet's projects under construction than there is in the completed works" (1983, p.211). Medwadowski uses views of the famous Nervi hangars without cladding (1983, Fig. 3, p.4). In Buckminster Fuller's domes, the structure is often located outside the skin, as at the US Pavilion at Expo '67 (See e.g. Jencks and Chaitkin 1988, p.240). Schlaich and his team, designing the cable-net cooling tower at Schmehausen, were delighted to find that this arrangement had better characteristics in the wind tunnel, and could therefore be justified on functional grounds (Schlaich 1986, p.58). In a statement reminiscent of the need which artists feel for a single over-riding theme in a work of art, Heinle and Bächer complain of the type of "hybrid, assembled" building (such as the mirror-clad) "...whose basic architectonic form and creative idea often does not emerge until the final stages of construction". They contrast these unfavourably with modern reinforced concrete buildings, and with masonry structures such as the pyramids, the temples, and the cathedrals (Heinle and Bächer 1971, p.65).
[3.9] Shulman (1977) notes that the human eye, because of its ability to focus vision and to adapt to differing intensities of light, is able to see interior and shaded areas which the camera cannot penetrate because it is shut down to cope with the brightest areas in its field of view. However, the photographer can to some extent choose the degree of penetration of transparent walls to be achieved (see his Figs. 1 and 2, pp.11 and 12). The technique of using night shots to achieve greater (or even total) penetration in order to show the interior or to emphasise the lightness of the structure is illustrated in Shulman's Fig. 14, p.14. See also Busch (1987) p.134 (ice-cream parlour and gas station) and p.135 in which advantage is taken of illumination of alcoves to lighten the ponderous concrete bulk of the Assembly Hall at the University of Illinois.
[3.10] The section on manipulation of images by the photographer was based on Shulman (1977), Chapter 3 'Techniques' (especially Figs. 42 and 43 on p.39) and on Molitor (1976).
[3.11] "An undistinguished structure ..." De Maré (1961), p.18.
[3.12] "Why complain? ... a recreative shot ...." De Maré (1961), p.17.
[3.13] Professional photograph versus amateur. A good example of this is provided in Browne (1978), pp. 30-1.
[3.14] E.T. Hall's refusal to use images: (1966), p.78.
[3.15] Scott's reference to the Natural History Museum in London: (1924), p.234.
[3.16] Gaps in gradation of clues to scale. Examples occur in Borrego (1968), especially p.94.
[3.17] Superimposition of orders. See Rasmussen's view of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice (Rasmussen 1959).
[3.18] Proportion as "the relation of one part to another and to the whole". Caudill et al. (1978), p.76.
Interchangeable use of 'scale' and 'proportion'. An example is Rasmussen (1959), Chapter 5 'Scale and proportion', in which the word 'proportion' predominates and is used interchangeably with 'scale' in discussing musical intervals.
[3.19] Vitruvius on the orders. See Morgan (1914), pp.102-113.
[3.20] Natural rightness of classical architecture. Hersey (1976) provides a readable introduction to Renaissance theories and their realisation in built form.
[3.21] Tracés régulateurs. See for instance von Simson (1988) pp.13-20.
[3.22] Connection between geometrical rules and beauty? See Robert Branner's review of Lesser (1957) in Jour. Soc. Architectural Historians XVII(1),34-5. See also Rasmussen (1959) pp. 114-9 and Fry (1969) p.47.
[3.23] Rasmussen argues Corbusier's system is more idiosyncratic than rational ... (1959), pp.114-9.
[3.24] Space as "not-form". Rasmussen (1959), p.50. See also the section on 'space' below.
[3.25] Basic facts of perceptions in two dimensions. The major source for this was Gibson (1950).
[3.26] Yarbus example of a painting showing birch trees ... (1967), p.182.
[3.27] Yarbus quotation "...the number of details ..." (1967), p.182.
[3.28] "Eye movements reflect the human thought processes". Yarbus (1967) p.190.
[3.29] Gibson on clues: (1950) p.55. On pp.71 and 72, he supplies what he calls the "accepted" list of eleven cues employed in the perception of distance. On pp.138-144 he lists thirteen varieties of perspective. See also his Chapter 13.
[3.30] Assumptions about hidden side of forms. This observation was inspired by Arnheim's example of the church of San Antonio, Padua. Arnheim (1977), pp.135, 137.
[3.31] "The heads of early Egyptian sphinxes ..." This was based on Arnheim (1977), p.57.
[3.32] Critics maintain each culture and era has its way of perceiving. Examples are the references to Rasmussen mentioned in the next paragraph; Arnheim (1977), pp.57-8; and Norberg-Schultz (1980).
[3.33] Rasmussen's discussion of the perception of form. (1959), pp.48-50.
[3.34] Alberti: "a row of columns ..." Cited in Wittkower (1962), p.34 as Alberti (1485) Bk I, ch 10, edn 1485, fol b. vi.
[3.35] Arnheim on columns in Palazzo Chiericati: 1977, p.220.
[3.36] Arnheim on Victorian lacework. The term "Victorian lacework" appears to have been mine. Arnheim discusses the density of what he calls "screens" (1977, pp.227-32). The reference to the Eiffel Tower appears on page 232.
[3.37] Arnheim on box-like buildings with small windows: (1977), p.226.
[3.38] Ching on form: (1979), Chapter 3.
[3.39] Gauldie on consciouness of space: (1969), pp.72-3.
[3.40] Plato quote: Arnheim 1977, p.9. Arnheim quotes Plato at some length. The translation is presumably his own. The passage to which he refers is translated by H.D.P. Lee in Plato: Timaeus and Critias, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1971, p.68. The two translations read quite differently, particularly because Plato does not describe the "receptacle" as "space" until a later passage, which appears on page 70 of Lee's translation.
Aristotle's concept of space. Cited in Arnheim (1977), p.73.
[3.41] Ching on "unity of opposites": (1979), p.110.
[3.42] Arnheim on painters' and architects' special perception of space (as not-object): (1977) pp.69-73.
"more actively and densely filled": (1977) pp.20-21.
"denser" or "more intense" etc: (1977) p.18.
[3.43] Bridge affects space between banks of river. Arnheim (1977, p.79) attributes this perception to Heidegger.
[3.44] Barcelona Pavilion. Full descriptions and discussions of this building were found in Bonta (1979, Chapter 4) and James (1986).
[3.45] Ching's many illustrations showing how space may be suggested. (1977) Chapter 3, pp.115-92.
[3.46] Vertical planes are more "active" in our visual field than horizontal planes. Ching (1977), p.35.
[3.47] The Roman 'tetrastyle' as an example of the effect of columns on interior space. Ching (1977), p.142, 197.
[3.48] Moore and Allen quotes. It appears that my paraphrase of Moore and Allen's reference to Piranesi acquired quotation marks during redrafting. Their text actually reads "where ramps and stairs rise to mind-boggling distances in the almost limitless upper reaches of incomprehensible spaces" (p.8). The quotation concerning the mosque at Córdoba is verbatim (also p.8). Piranesi's drawings appear in Harvey, M. (1979) Piranesi: the imaginary views, Academy, London, pp.40-5, 53, and 55. Views of the mosque may be found in Watkin (1986), p.94 and Hoag, J. D. Islamic Architecture, Plate 84 (p.78).
[3.49] Piaget and "internalised action". Cited in Hall (1966), p.63.
[3.50] Hall adds: "Man's sense of space and distance ..." (p.108).
[3.51] Gauldie on clues to the permeability of space (1969), p.70.
[3.52] Gauldie on experience of stairs. (1969), p.75.
[3.53] Gauldie reference to tea-chest and granite block. (1969), p.48.
[3.54] Rasmussen's on the Doge's Palace, and quotations. (1959), p.85-6.
[3.55] Texture: the "size and organisation" of the particles constituting a surface. Longman's Dictionary of the English Language.
[3.56] Makowski (1984, p.2) has written of the "gossamer like" appearance of space frames. Medwadowski (1983, p.14) has noted the texture produced by "the distance, pattern and incidence of the joints on the surface, the presence of building blocks, and the type, arrangement and finish of the connections."
[3.57] Corbusier's use of sun screens. This is evident in e.g. his Millowner's Association Building, Ahmedabad, India (see, e.g., Sharp 1972, p.197).
[3.58] See Caudill et al. (1978, p.96). Diurnal changes are equally important, and Hall (1966) recommends as a study of these effects, Monet's series of impressions of Rouen cathedral.
[3.59] "Can give no more than ..." Gauldie (1969), p.133.
[3.60] Architecture of Borromini. See Figs 224 to 232 of Portoghesi (1968).
[3.61] Caudill and his co-authors warn ... Caudill et al (1978), p.117-8.
[3.62] Warm colours raise the blood pressure etc ... Reference not traced.
[3.63] Experience with coloured cranes at Marseilles. Described by French coloriste consultante M. Jean Cler of Atelier Cler, Paris, during a lecture at the Dept of Architecture, University of Melbourne, c1986.
[3.64] If each side of a solid cube is painted in a different colour ... Gauldie (1969), p.49.
[3.65] Camouflage of buildings. Examples of painted buildings were found in Porter and Mikellides (1976) and Düttmann et al (1981).
[3.66] For Rasmussen's reference to camouflaging warships, see Rasmussen (1959), p.93-4. A simple drawing of a camouflaged WW1 warship appears in Gombrich (1979), p.165. This was reproduced from Luckiesh, M. Visual Illusions, 1922, reprinted by Dover 1965 (Fig. 92, p.226). An illustration of HMS Argus (1918) may be found on p.12 of Chesneau, R. Aircraft Carriers of the world: 1914 to the present. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland, 1984. Illustrations of HMS Revenge 1916 and HMS Renown (1916 but in WW2 camouflage of 1943) may be found in Breyer, S. Battleships of the World 1905-1970. Conway Maritime Press, Greenwich, 1980, first English edn, with revns (pp. 51 and 58).
[3.67] Use of colour by Piano and Rogers: see Porter and Mikellides (1976), p.62.
Rasmussen on drawing attention from ugly details: (1959), p.218.
Use of colour by Foster Associates: see Porter and Mikellides (1976), p.64.
[3.68] The picture-hanging 'problem' is discussed by Scott (1924), p.222-3.
[3.69] It would have been more correct to write that Gauldie prefers the concept of visual mass. He states (1969, p.51) that the word "composition" has "fallen into bad company" and become associated with formalism. He therefore prefers the "relatively unsmeared word 'massing' ". I added the adjective "visual" to distinguish Gauldie's concept of "mass" from the scientific concept.
[3.70] Omatsuru Square space frame. Based on photograph in Suzuki et al. (1985), p.27.
[3.71] Gauldie's illustration of duality: (1969), p.17.
[3.72] Each eye covers an angle of some 145 degrees in plan ... Arnheim (1977), p.127.
[3.73] Scully (1974), p.37. Scully's photograph of the tower is much more evocative of the "shooting up" effect than those used in other texts, raising interesting questions concerning the interpretation of architecture, especially through photographs.
[3.74] See further references to these buildings in the section on 'movement' in buildings. Eero Saarinen (1968, p.16) writes of the triangular columns of the facade that "These start at the pavement and soar up 491 feet".
Philip Johnson, said of the CBS building that "it just keeps right on going" [down] "you don't know when you've hit bottom". "Nowadays, a lot of buildings go right down into the ground. They just keep right on going; they don't stop." (Cook and Klotz 1973, p.15.)
[3.75] Arnheim on "reading" visual movement: (1977), p.48.
[3.76] Summerson "To my mind ..." (1980), p.94.
[3.77] Jencks on optical buzz of space frame: Jencks and Chaitkin 1982, p.66.
[3.78] Summerson finds spin is avoided: (1980), p.94.
[3.79] Gauldie cites the Doge's Palace in Venice: (1969), pp.40-2.
[3.80] 'Barcelona Pavilion': based on Bonta (1979) and James (1986).
[3.81] Most of us convert "dynamic" space to "static" space every evening. Caudill et al (1978), p.18.
[Top.]
Aesthetics of built form navigation:
[Chapter 3.]
[Chapter 4.]
[Notes to Chapter 4]
[Contents]
[References]
Site navigation:
[The art in structural design.]
[Papers.]
[Work of Jörg Schlaich.]
[John Monash's early engineering.]