Comprehensive Theory of Architecture and Architectural History Reviewer

A comprehensive vocabulary review deck consisting of 150 flashcards covering design theory, elements and principles of design, historical architectural movements, key world and Filipino buildings, famous treatises, and construction terminology.

Contrast

A comparison showing differences, the opposite of similarity; can be created in design through variations in color, proportion, scale, shape, and texture.

Functional Character

The most important kind of character in architecture that results directly from the purpose of the building or the reason for its erection.

Axis

The most elementary means of organizing forms and spaces in architecture.

Radial Form

A composition of linear forms extending outward from a central form in a radial manner, characterized by parts radiating from a center like the spokes of a wheel.

Balance

A state of equilibrium or equality where parts of a design are distributed to create stability, existing in both physical and visual dimensions.

Symmetrical Balance

A formal balance where elements within a design are arranged identically or in precisely the same manner in relation to a central line or axis.

Asymmetrical Balance

An informal balance where parts of a design are not identical but are equal in visual weight.

Rhythm

The repeated use of line, shape, color, texture, surface treatments, or pattern in a regular sequence, analogous to timing or movement in music.

Gradated Rhythm

A rhythm in which the repeated element is identical with the exception of one detail that increases or decreases gradually with each repetition.

Associated Character

A kind of architectural character (also termed traditional character) that comes from the influence of ideas and impressions related to or growing out of past experience.

Personal Character

An architectural character that bears a relation to the personality and life attributes of an individual.

Visual Scale

The size and proportion an element appears to have relative to other elements of known or assumed size.

Human Scale

The size of a building element or architectural space relative to the dimensions and proportions of the human body.

Generic Scale

The size of a building element relative to other forms in its surrounding context.

Form

The three-dimensional shape and structure of something as distinguished from its substance or material, which the eye identifies and the mind perceives and interprets.

Shape

The two-dimensional contour that characterizes an object or area, or the edge contour of a plane and silhouette of a volume.

Line

An element of art defined by a point moving in space; vertical lines convey dignity and stability, horizontal lines convey calm, diagonal lines convey action and excitement, and curved lines convey freedom and softness.

Overlap

The spatial effect where objects appear to be on top of each other, creating an illusion that makes the topmost element look closer to the observer.

Shading

The technique of adding gradation marks to make an object on a two-dimensional surface appear three-dimensional.

Linear Perspective

The spatial concept relating to how an object appears smaller the farther away it moves from the viewer.

Atmospheric Perspective

A visual phenomenon based on how air acts as a filter to change the appearance, clarity, and tone of distant objects.

Value

The relative lightness or darkness of a color, where shade represents the degree of darkness and tint represents a pale or faint variation.

Unity

The consistent integration and harmonious use of lines, color, material, or texture within a design to create a coherent whole.

Golden Mean

The classical proportioning system where a line is divided such that the lesser portion is to the greater portion as the greater is to the whole, commonly expressed as a $3:5$ ratio.

Emphasis and Subordination

Principles where emphasis establishes a prominent focal point that draws attention, while subordination tones down surrounding elements to support that focal point.

Dimensional Transformation

An organizational alteration in which one or more dimensions of a form are altered while retaining its identity as a member of a specific family of forms.

Subtractive Transformation

The process of altering a form by subtracting a portion of its original volume, which may or may not change its fundamental identity.

Additive Transformation

The process of transforming a form by appending one or more secondary subordinate forms or elements to its existing volume.

Centralized Form

An architectural composition consisting of a number of secondary forms clustered around a central, dominant parent form.

Linear Form

An arrangement composed of a series of forms placed sequentially in a row.

Clustered Form

A collection of architectural forms grouped closely together by proximity or by sharing a common visual trait.

Grid Form

A modular spatial composition regulated and related by a three-dimensional structural or geometric grid.

Articulation of Form

The specific manner in which the surfaces of an architectural form come together to define its edges, shape, and volume.

Ideas

Concrete thoughts that emerge as a result of understanding, insight, or observation in architectural problem solving.

Notions

Design thoughts that are presumed to be unsubstantial, unsubstantiated, or trivial, characterized by common randomness.

Conceptual Scenarios

Statements that articulate how all important design ideas and issues outlined in a brief are brought together into a longer prose statement.

Analogies

Literal comparisons between two distinct things that are alike in some way, used to formulate relationships in design solutions.

Metaphors and Similes

Conceptual devices that identify patterns of parallel relationships by stating or implying that a design is 'like' or 'as' another object.

Essences

Concepts that distill complex issues into terse, explicit statements, representing the discovered roots and core meaning of a design challenge.

Programming

The initial stage of the design process dedicated to establishing the comprehensive set of client and user needs that a building must fulfill.

Schematic Design Phase (SDP)

The stage in the architectural design process that concentrates on generating and establishing the preliminary scheme and layouts in a simplified form.

Design Development Phase (DVP)

The phase wherein approved schematic concepts are refined, detailed, and resolved into accurate architectural and engineering systems.

Contract Document Phase (CDP)

The phase involving the production of complete working drawings and technical specifications required for bidding and construction.

Anthropometrics

The comparative study of the measurements and physical capabilities of the human body, derived from the Greek words 'anthropos' (human) and 'metron' (measure).

Ergonomics

An applied science concerned with designing products, equipment, and spaces to fit the physical and behavioral characteristics of people for safe and effective interaction.

Proxemics

The study of the symbolic and communicative role of the spatial distances individuals maintain in various social and interpersonal situations.

Semiotics

The study of signs, symbols, and meaning systems, specifically how physical architectural forms communicate meanings to users.

Syntactics

The formal study of the structural and logical relations among signs and symbols without regard to their practical meaning or relation to reality.

Iconology

The study of the pragmatic dimension concerning the deeper cultural, symbolic, and programmatic meaning of art and architectural forms.

Defensible Space

A delimited physical environment that an individual or group uses, controls, and defends as an exclusive preserve.

Privacy

The ability of individuals or groups to regulate and control visual, auditory, and olfactory interactions with others.

Ekistics

The comprehensive science of human settlements, involving the study of all scales of human habitation.

Ethnocentrism

The habitual disposition to judge other cultures, peoples, or groups by the standards, values, and practices of one's own culture.

Social Overcrowding

A condition associated with a subjective feeling of lack of control over the physical environment that triggers negative behavior due to excessive social interaction.

Behavior Setting

An environmental unit defined by a standing pattern of recurrent activity, a specific spatial milieu, and a bounded time period.

Tectonics

The art and science of shaping, detailing, ornamenting, and assembling materials into a unified construction.

Triad Colors

A color harmony composed of three colors that are equidistant from each other on the standard color wheel.

Tertiary Color

A color produced by the mixture of one primary color with an adjacent secondary color.

Esquisse

A preliminary architectural sketch, traditionally a nine-hour timed sketch produced at the beginning of a design exercise to fix the core scheme.

Parti

The foundational scheme, overarching idea, or geometric concept of an architectural design expressed in an initial sketch.

Modulor System

A proportioning grid and measuring scale developed by Le Corbusier based on mathematics and human body dimensions, intended for universal application in architecture and mechanics.

Fenestration

The logical arrangement, proportion, and design of window openings, doors, and glazed units within a building's envelope.

Loggia

An arcaded gallery or covered corridor running behind an open colonnade or arcade on the exterior of a structure.

Figure-Ground

A perceptual phenomenon wherein a shape enclosed by continuous lines is immediately perceived by the viewer as a distinct foreground figure standing out against an ambient background.

Concourse

A spacious, open interior hall in a transportation terminal or public building designed for circulation and gathering of large crowds.

Baffle

A screening device or opaque plane used to deflect air currents, shield a bright light source from direct line of sight, or obstruct direct vision.

Deconstructivism

An architectural approach characterised by surface manipulation, fragmentation, and non-rectilinear shapes that distort and dislocate traditional conventions of structure and building envelope.

Post-Modernism

An architectural movement that emerged in reaction to modernist abstraction, featuring curved forms, bright colors, asymmetry, and decorative elements borrowed from historical styles.

Parametric Design

A design methodology driven by computational algorithms and parameters that encode and control the dynamic relationships between geometric elements.

Futuristic Design

A progressive architectural design approach distinguished by bold geometry, bio-inspired forms, and sustainable technological integration.

Brutalism

A modernist architectural phase marked by the bold exposure of raw concrete (béton brut), structural systems, and visible utility conduits.

Organic Architecture

An architectural philosophy where each building component is integrated into the whole such that removing any element compromises the entire composition, harmonizing human habitat with the natural world.

De Stijl

A Dutch modern art and architectural movement founded in 1917 that advocated pure plastic art through rectilinear geometries, asymmetric compositions, and a strict palette of primary colors and non-colors.

Bauhaus

The German design school founded by Walter Gropius that shifted design philosophy away from Arts and Crafts toward industrial production, technology, and functionalism.

Metabolism

A Japanese modern architectural movement initiated in 1960 that envisioned cities and buildings as organic systems capable of biological growth, decay, and cyclical renewal.

Scrapped Classicism

A stripped, representational architectural style associated with Peter Behrens that abstracted classical proportions by discarding traditional applied ornamentation.

Art Nouveau

An ornamental style originating in the late 19th century characterized by sinuous, asymmetrical, whiplash curves inspired by nature, known as Jugendstil in Germany and Modernismo in Spain.

Eclecticism

A design method that selects, borrows, and recombines motifs and features from various historical periods into a contemporary structure.

Rationalism

A 20th-century Italian school of architectural thought initiated by architects like Aldo Rossi that emphasized pure, logical geometric forms derived from historic typologies.

Constructivism

A Russian avant-garde movement of the 1920s characterized by industrial materials, dynamic geometric abstraction, and expressive structural framing.

Colosseum (Flavian Amphitheatre)

A monumental amphitheatre in Rome, Italy, constructed with elliptical tiers of arcades combining travertine piers with classical Greek orders (Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian).

Pantheon, Rome

A Roman temple built during the reign of Augustus and rebuilt by Hadrian, famous for its massive unreinforced concrete coffered dome, central oculus, and monumental portico.

Saint Mark's Basilica

A landmark Byzantine cathedral in Venice, Italy, constructed from 1063 to 1092 under Doge Domenico I Contarini, characterized by five bulbous domes and lavish gold interior mosaics.

Villa La Rotonda

A Renaissance residence in Vicenza, Italy, designed by Andrea Palladio and Vincenzo Scamozzi, featuring a square plan with four identical temple porticoes radiating around a central domed hall.

Pyramide du Louvre

A modern glass and metal pyramid designed by Ieoh Ming Pei in Paris, France, consisting of 675 diamond-shaped and 118 triangular panes, serving as a central subterranean entry.

Eiffel Tower

A $324\,\text{m}$ ($1{,}063\,\text{ft}$) puddled-iron lattice tower erected on the Champ de Mars in Paris for the 1889 Exposition Universelle, designed by Koechlin, Nouguier, Sauvestre, and Eiffel.

Einstein Tower

An astrophysical solar observatory in Potsdam, Germany, designed by Erich Mendelsohn in 1921, notable for its sculptural Expressionist concrete and brick form.

Fagus Factory

An industrial complex in Alfeld, Germany, designed in 1911 by Walter Gropius and Adolf Meyer, celebrated for its pioneering unsupported corner glass curtain walls.

Bauhaus Building, Dessau

The influential design school facility in Dessau, Germany, designed by Walter Gropius, embodying modernist principles through asymmetrical zoning, steel-frame construction, and extensive glazed curtain walls.

Taj Mahal

A white marble Mughal mausoleum located in Agra, India, built by Shah Jahan for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, featuring four minarets, a $73\,\text{m}$ high central dome, and ornate cenotaphs.

Schröder House

A 1924 modernist residence in Utrecht, Netherlands, designed by Gerrit Thomas Rietveld, characterized by primary-colored planes, dynamic intersecting lines, and flexible interior partitions.

Cenotaph

An empty commemorative funerary monument erected to honor a deceased person whose actual physical remains are interred elsewhere.

Sarcophagus

A stone coffin or substantive container holding a human corpse, often adorned with relief carvings and deposited in a burial vault.

Hagia Sophia

The masterpiece of Byzantine architecture in Constantinople, designed by Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus, famous for its massive central dome supported on pendentives.

Sydney Opera House

A major performing arts center in Sydney Harbour, Australia, designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, world-renowned for its interlocking precast concrete roof shells.

Juan Felipe Nakpil

Pioneering Filipino architect named the first National Artist for Architecture (1973), dean of Filipino architects, and founder of the Philippine Architects Society in 1933.

Pablo S. Antonio

A pioneer of modern Philippine architecture known for his adoption of the Art Deco style, recognized as the second National Artist for Architecture in 1976.

Leandro V. Locsin

Philippine National Artist for Architecture (1990) known for his mastery of scale, floating concrete masses, and the buoyant juxtaposition of light and heavy volumes.

Ildefonso P. Santos Jr.

Celebrated as the 'Father of Philippine Landscape Architecture' and awarded National Artist for Architecture and Allied Arts on June 9, 2006.

Francisco Mañosa

Filipino architect known for championing indigenous forms and native materials such as bamboo, thatch, and coconut wood in contemporary structures like the Coconut Palace.