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34 STRUCTURE AS ARCHITECTURE▲ 3.24 Casa del Fascio, Como, Italy, Giuseppe Terragni, 1936.Rational composition of frames and walls.▲ 3.25The central hall wrapped by frames.This section concludes by observing how a combination of walls andframes can also synthesize architectural and structural form. In theCasa del Fascio, Como, widely acknowledged as Italy’s most notablecontribution to the Modern Movement, architectural and structuralforms coalesce. Orthogonal frames, supplemented by several walls thatprovide lateral stability, order and structure a building square in planwith rectilinear façades. The expression of frames and walls is mostovert on the front elevation (Fig. 3.24). The frames, and the walls to alesser extent, organize interior space somewhat less rigidly thanexpected. As Blundell-Jones explains, the structural grid spacing variessubtly in several locations – to accommodate a large meeting room, tocreate more office depth and to reduce corridor width adjacent to thecentral gathering space. 10 The frames generally define room width anddepth as well as circulation areas (Fig. 3.25). The Casa del Fascio, anepitome of orthogonality and rationality, is structured physically andconceptually by both walls and frames.CONSONANT FORMSMost buildings fall into this category where the architectural and structuralforms neither synthesize, nor as discussed in the following section,contrast. Rather, a comfortable and usually unremarkable relationshipexists between them. Often several different structural systemsco-exist within the same architectural form. For example, frames andcross-bracing might resist gravity and lateral loads respectively. The followingcase studies illustrate several such buildings. Although theirforms cannot be considered synthesized, they are nonetheless highlyintegrated. The buildings are discussed in a sequence that progressesfrom simple to more irregular architectural forms.

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