2nd Edition

Diagramming the Big Idea Methods for Architectural Composition

By Jeffrey Balmer, Michael Swisher Copyright 2019
    330 Pages
    by Routledge

    330 Pages
    by Routledge

    Becoming an architect is a daunting task. Beyond the acquisition of new skills and procedures, beginning designers face an entirely unfamiliar mode of knowledge: design thinking.

    In Diagramming the Big Idea, Jeffrey Balmer and Michael T. Swisher introduce the fundamentals of design thinking by illustrating how architects make and use diagrams to clarify their understanding of both specific architectural projects and universal principles of form and order. With accessible, step-by-step procedures that interweave diagrams, drawings and virtual models, the authors demonstrate how to compose clear and revealing diagrams.

    Design thinking defines a method for engaging the world through observation and analysis. Beyond problem solving, design is a search for possibilities. Mastering design thinking begins with learning the fundamentals of visual composition. It embraces the ability to synthesize deductive and imaginative reasoning, combining both shrewd scrutiny and fevered speculation.

    Design diagrams make visible the abstractions that order the built environment. Premised upon the Beaux-Arts notion of the architectural parti, Balmer and Swisher adopt the ‘Big Idea’ as a foil and as a suitcase to organize fundamentals of architectural composition. The goal of this book is to make explicit to students what they are learning, why they are learning it and how to internalize such lessons toward their lifelong development as designers.

    Part I: Setting the Stage

    1. Introduction

    Read me first!

    Why read this book?

    What is architecture?

    Organization, order, composition

    Utility, function, purpose

    Measure & matter

    Design & method

    Strategies & tactics

    The structure of the narrative

    The sequence of the chapters

    The role of precedents

    The point of departure

    Glossary of terms

    • Details 1 - Order & Measure

      From the divine to the secular

    • Demonstration 1.1

      Organizational figures

    • Demonstration 1.2

      The courtyard schema

    • Demonstration 1.3

      Courtyards as objects

    • Demonstration 1.4

      Additional courtyard schemata

    2. Sorting through ideas

    Diagrams as method

    Diagram types

    Diagramming & design education

    Learning diagrammatic form

    Gestalt sub–categories

    The diagram & visual order

    Our purpose

    Glossary of terms

    • Details 2

      Indigenous diagrams

    • Demonstration 2.1

      Diagrams & contexts

    • Demonstration 2.2

      Plan as diagram

    3. Order First

    On order

    On measure

    Dividing the square

    Rules of engagement

    Positive & negative space

    Order & the orthogonal

    Glossary of terms

    • Details 3 - Order, Orientation, Orthogonal

      The gridded city

    • Demonstration 3.1

      Gestalt defined

    • Demonstration 3.2

      Gestalt readings of basic form

    Part II: The First Project Set

    4. Design & drawing fundamentals

    On drawing

    Relevance to design

    Deriving order in drawing

    Exercises in relational geometry

    Defined & implied space

    Analyzing the composition

    Three variant compositions

    Observing contrast, repetition, alignment & proximity

    The variations considered

    General observations

    Motif, pattern & theme

    Defined fields

    Sorting through results

    Implied fields

    Adding fields

    Combining fields

    Summary

    Glossary of terms

    • Details 4 - The Courtyard

      Figure–ground & solid–void

    • Demonstration 4.1.1

      Figures & field in variation

    • Demonstration 4.1.2

      Variation & elaborations

    • Demonstration 4.1.3

      Variation & elaborations

    • Demonstration 4.2

      Further variations

    • Demonstration 4.3

      Contrast, repetition, alignment & proximity

    The second project set

    5. Building on proportion

    Object on a field

    A figure in the relational field

    Looking at the groups

    Selecting & analyzing an aggregate composition

    Adding to the quadrants

    Two elements

    Refining the figures

    Observing the new figures

    Observing the new group 

    Glossary of terms

    • Details 5 - Figures & Fields

      Objects & space

    • Demonstration 5.1

      Regulating lines dividing space

    • Demonstration 5.2

      Figures & their construction

    • Demonstration 5.3

      Field, grain & path

    6. Conventionos in Design

    Drawing in the third dimension

    Adding fields & overhead planes

    Turning the grid

    Reading the section

    A final model

    Glossary of terms

    • Details 6 - Axis & Path

      Lines, planes & volumes

    Part III: The third project set

    7. Starting in three dimensions

    Design on a grid

    The site

    Three figures

    Spatial models

    Volume, form & space: an example

    Visualizing connection with constructed axes

    The gestural nexus

    Spatial hierarchy: field grain & path

    Clarifying plan elements

    The new grid

    Strategy set

    Tactical definitions & variations

    A final remark

    Glossary of terms

    • Details 7 - Spatial Systems

      Frames, planes & cells

    • Demonstration 7.1

      Axial volumes

    • Demonstration 7.2

      Additional composition models

    8. Models & diagrams

    More complex approaches to strategies

    Strategy definitions

    Tactical themes & variations

    Tactics expanded – procedure & results

    Three–dimensional diagrams

    Combined diagram models

    Planning the final model

    Fragments models

    The final model

    Conclusion

    Glossary of terms

    • Details 8 - Treshold & Boundary

      Containment & connection

    • Demonstration 8.1

      Axial volumes

    • Demonstration 8.2.1

      Alternate tactical diagrams

    • Demonstration 8.2.2

      Additional hybrid tactical diagrams

    • Demonstration 8.3

      Demonstration model

    • Demonstration 8.4

      Demonstration drawings

    • Demonstration 8.5.1

      Assembly images

    • Demonstration 8.5.2

      Alternate model #1

    • Demonstration 8.5.3

      Alternate model #2

    Part IV: Precedents

    9. Precedent diagrams in two dimensions

    Introduction

    Two concepts

    Two expressions

    Two dimensions

    Two projects

    House with Three Courts

    The Danteum

    Glossary of terms

    • Details 9 - What an Architect Sees

      Margaret Esherick house

    10. Precedent diagrams in three dimensionos

    Introduction

    Representing the third dimension

    Phillips Exeter Academy Library

    Unity Temple

    Diagram as generator

    Glossary of terms

    • Details 10 - The Language of Color
      Color as a subject
      Glossary of color terms

    Part V: Resources

    • Master glossary of terms
    • Index

    Biography

    Jeffrey Balmer and Michael T. Swisher are associate professors of architecture at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

    ‘Balmer and Swisher’s objective is to explore the orthogonal geometric frameworks essential to architectural design. It drives their teaching and was rigorously expounded in the first edition of Diagramming the Big Idea. It is expressed so much more clearly in this second edition. Explanatory text has been considerately revised and expanded. The number of examples and case studies has been increased. Interpretation of the many diagrams has been enhanced by the subtle use of colour. The clarion call remains powerful: architecture is a serious intellectual discipline.’
    Simon Unwin, Emeritus Professor of Architecture, University of Dundee, Scotland

    ‘Diagramming the Big Idea was a tremendous help to me when first learning to teach beginning design. The book is full of useful techniques and processes that distill the basics of teaching architecture. The book continues to help me focus and target my teaching on foundational principles of the discipline.’
    Sallie Hambright-Belue, Assistant Professor Clemson University, School of Architecture, USA