The Structure of Architecture

Abstract

The “structure” of the architecture has always been an inescapable term, for here I do not mean the bearing structure of building-although sometimes they are inseparable, but rather the underlying structure- namely those factors that determine the configuration of architectural elements such as bearing wall, columns, and partitions. The way architect composes space is never a simple addition of mannerism, is neither a redundancy of ornaments; instead, they are systematically constructed, carefully integrated, clearly articulated in order to represent a conceptive reality. The three semester’s design studios and electives had deepened my understanding of this very theme in architecture. This short essay, as an investigation of different concepts, from the very first column in history to the carbon-driven present, try to capture the structure of architecture- elusive but dominant in representing the concepts, thinking, reflections through plans, sections, and et cetera. Architecture and Representation is my territory of investigation. Representation is first and foremost about drawing but far beyond drawing, the necessity of knowing how to draw values more than simply to draw. In this paper, the structure underneath those representations was discussed and analyzed-they all dedicated to a narrative, a story, and a reality.