Masters Stroke: Matters of Architectural Language

Experiencing a great work of architecture is like reading an excellent piece of literature. It engages the senses through ways in which spatial volumes and form, building scale and light, geometric alignment and organisation, materials and textures, structure and details cohere into a meaningful, emotionally charged encounter. It is not surprising that language and architecture have been used as analogies for each other in many ways. Often phrases like ‘language of architecture’ are used for describing expressive and tectonics qualities in the oeuvre of great architects. This studio will explore works of selected architects and try to decipher their unique architectural vocabulary and grammar that each of them have developed. Students will learn to derive distinct attitudes of selected architects towards various aspects of architecture through analysis of their work. These attitudes will be verified intermediately through small design problems and later tested and modified when employed to design a project in a completely different context. In order to develop skills and sensibilities to approach design through lens of ‘language of architecture’, this studio invites students to encounter and engage with the great works of architects.