Fundamental Concepts of Architecture : The Vocabulary of Spatial Situations

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> dwelling, residence

> body (human), form character, ground, plane, postures

> courtyard garden

> dwelling, image, theme (architectural)

> concept (architectural), theme (architectural)

> light, opening, window

An image stands for something that is itself absent. With ref-

erence to this customary understanding, two image functions

can be identified in architecture: images that are found in or

on buildings (1), and buildings that are themselves images (2).

If we conceive architecture, however, in terms of > situations,

a third conception of the image must be identified in place

of the building as image, namely the situation as image. This

in turn requires a specifically architectural conception of the

image (3).

1. Images on or in buildings may be paintings or sculp-
   ture. Paintings on surfaces or the illusionistic treatment of
   walls or ceilings may contribute to > atmosphere or to the

   
   

   gesture of spatial situations, or even open up virtual spaces,
   as in the Baroque era. Whether as integral components of the
   architectural structure or as additions, they contribute deci-
   sively as elements of a synthesis of the arts to our experience
   of space alongside music and other media of presentation.

   
   

   
   


2. Regarding buildings as images has been a common
   practice throughout architectural history. Individual buildings
   and even entire cities are legible as images: Egyptian temple
   pylons as a gate to heaven, medieval church buildings with
   multiple towers as the steepled heavenly Jerusalem, and the
   bird-shaped TWA airport terminal as a visualization of flight
   and landing. Image and symbol functions are often mixed
   together. Particularly characteristic of architecture are struc-
   tures whose > form character brings to unmediated > expres-

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Horizon/Horizontality

House

Idea
Illumination

Image