Notes on Architecture: Space, Structure, Enclosure and Drawing as Thinking
Space, Structure, Enclosure
Architecture can be thought of through a triad: Space (the area we inhabit), Structure (the supporting system), and Enclosure (the bounded boundary created by walls and surfaces). Together they define what architecture is.
Enclosure is the boundary that makes space legible and inhabitable within a built environment.
Stonehenge
An ancient example that brings together space, structure, and enclosure in a monumental form.
The circle has a diameter of .
Each standing stone weighs .
The vertical elements are trilithons (two uprights with a horizontal lintel on top).
The basic structural idea is post-and-lintel: vertical posts support horizontal lintels.
The construction required considerable labor, mobility, and coordination to move and hoist stones into place, reflecting a primal desire to carve out space and define ritual or communal space.
Stonehenge invites its own body of study due to its scale, precision, and social significance.
Fallingwater (Frank Lloyd Wright, 1935)
A modern masterpiece for several reasons:
Built with the landscape in mind; an early example of organic architecture before the term was popularized.
Local materials were used (stone, concrete, brick) and materials were anchored to the natural rock face.
Cantilevers: horizontal planes extend over the water, a notable feature in Wright’s design.
The interior language mirrors the exterior: horizontal windows and built-in bookcases reinforce a cohesive architectural language.
The horizontal emphasis and seamless integration with site are key qualities that made it stand out in 1935.
Villa Savoye, Poissy, France (Le Corbusier) – Five Points of Architecture
Le Corbusier articulated five points that redefined modern architecture:
Pilotis (pilotis): vertical supports that lift the building off the ground, creating free space beneath.
Free Plan: interior walls are not structurally required to bear loads, allowing open, flexible spaces.
Free Facade: the facade is freed from the load-bearing structure, enabling more expressive façades.
Ribbon Windows: long horizontal windows that emphasize the building’s horizontal alignment.
Roof Garden: the roof is used as a garden, reclaiming space on top of the building.
Villa Savoye in Poissy, France, exemplifies these ideas as a modernist masterpiece, demonstrating how form, function, and new construction logic can work together.
Pompidou Centre, Paris (Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano) – Finished 1977
Designed as a civic landmark that activates the city and invites public engagement with architecture.
The building’s high-tech, “living organism” concept aimed to bring people into and through the urban fabric of Paris.
The project marked a shift in how architecture could function in a dense urban context and how public spaces could be activated by architecture.
In class imagery, a section is used to explain how spaces connect to the ground plane: the lower left drawing is a section that slices through the building to reveal vertical and horizontal relationships and how the mass interacts with the ground.
Butterfly House (Rural Studio, Auburn University) – 1997
Built by students at Auburn University as part of the Rural Studio program.
Led by Samuel Mockbee (the speaker notes him in a fond, personal way).
The project merges social consciousness with innovative, sometimes unconventional design.
The design aimed to help community members in need—houses that may have been deteriorating or not meeting needs—while emphasizing sustainability, heating considerations, and beauty.
This project demonstrates how architecture can be accessible and responsive to non-elite communities, blending ethics with aesthetic and practical concerns.
Drawing is Thinking
The second part of the lecture emphasizes that drawing is a thinking process, not just a production of pretty pictures.
Sketching should communicate three core ideas: imagining, seeing, and representing.
Early sketches (childlike) are often uninhibited and unselfconscious, with little concern for scale or realism, and creators feel pride in sharing them.
As students grow, the discipline of drawing teaches control and intention; the medium shapes the message.
Mies van der Rohe’s charcoal drawings were used to communicate light and shadow in a competition context, demonstrating how charcoal can convey drama and spatial perception.
David Adjaye’s sketchbook pages (artistically titled; in the transcript referred to as Sir David Adjaye) illustrate a range of ideas: streetscape concepts, perspective, sections, volumes, and garden ideas. The point is to communicate ideas rather than perfect representation.
The difference between plan, section, and elevation is critical: each drawing type reveals different relationships in space, and there is an inherent linkage between scale, walls, floors, and ceilings.
A simple line sketch can convey emotion, movement, and three-dimensionality in a two-dimensional medium; line weight, curvature, and repetition begin to form a design language.
The presented diagrams (varied lines, shapes) can be interpreted as sketches of a facade, pattern, or other architectural ideas, and show how a student communicates conviction through mark-making.
A Gehry sketch (described as Bill Bowell in the talk, attributed to Frank Gehry) demonstrates motion and energy; despite roughness, the essence of the building can be read through the expressive line work.
The quintessential napkin sketch represents the origin of many buildings: the raw, direct idea that later becomes a finished project.
The instructor encourages honoring and practicing sketching, as repeated practice helps students develop their own architectural language; no two students’ sketches should look the same.
A brief, lighthearted note on Play-Doh is included as a humorous aside about the emotional and practical aspects of teaching and learning in design studios.
Connections, Implications, and Practice
The examples across Stonehenge, Fallingwater, Villa Savoye, Pompidou Centre, and the Butterfly House illustrate how space, structure, and enclosure interact across historical and cultural contexts.
The modernist developments (Villa Savoye’s five points; Pompidou Centre’s public engagement) emphasize new ways of thinking about space and circulation, as well as how structure can become visible and expressive.
The Rural Studio project demonstrates the ethical imperative in architecture: architecture can serve communities and address sustainability, repair, heating, and beauty, not just high-end prestiges.
The drawing-focused section reinforces a practical skill set essential for architectural thinking: internalizing space through sketching, translating ideas into actionable drawings (plans, sections, elevations, diagrams), and developing a personal architectural language.
The material and method choices (local materials, cantilevers, pilotis, ribbon windows, charcoal drawing, napkin sketches) are not just aesthetic decisions; they reflect the relationship between structure, site, routine human use, and ecological or social considerations.
Real-world relevance: understanding how architects read site, how they propose spaces for different programs, and how sketches become a dialogue with clients, colleagues, and the built environment.
Key Formulas, Numbers, and Symbols
Stonehenge circle diameter:
Stone weight per upright:
Years of landmark works (for quick reference): (Fallingwater), (Pompidou Centre), (Butterfly House)
Closing thought
Drawing is not merely about replication; it is a tool for thinking, testing ideas, and communicating spatial concepts to others. Practice sketching to develop a unique architectural language that can convey imagined spaces, observed realities, and proposed interventions.