Basics: Architecture and Dynamics

Abstract

What elements constitute space? What s a solitaire and what makes a solitaire a monument? Why is a building profane and what makes a space a sacred space? Why seem Zaha Hadid s buildings to be dynamic buildings? These and many other issues are addressed in "Basics". In a direct confrontation of text and pictures of international buildings, meaning and effect of basic architectural elements are studied both discretely and within compounds starting from Wassily Kandinsky s visual arts related analysis "Point and Line to Plane". Transferred on natural and artificial objects, the effect of these elements is not primarily based on the external appearance but rather on the tension inherent to forms. Thus, the 2nd edition of this standard book is now available in English. It has been revised and a foreword by architecture theorist Otto Kapfinger added.