PROPORTION AND ORGANISATION

In today’s architecture, there has been endless studies done on proportion and organisation. However, when the mention of proportion comes up, it usually is linked to the building appearance as an overall. For example, the golden ratio and Taj Mahal. While for organisation it is mostly linked to the interior and exterior spaces.

First up for discussion is proportion. The main question is whether proportion are central to human habitation and functioning? My verdict is, unnecessarily so. How is proportion unnecessary? In simple terms, the effect of proportion was to symbolize balance and to provide a sensation of completion. A sense of visual balance. Like Le Corbusier quoted [pg 253] “Proportions provoke sensations, a series of sensations like melody in a music. That being said, one could argue that proportion brings emotional balance to any visual connection to it, while the lack of proportion distorts any such balance. It is worth noting the previous statement, with the examples of Frank Gehry buildings imbued with the sense of organic curves to bring out distortion and sense of imbalance to the scales, unsettling huge number of architecture critics. However it may be disproportioned, the spatial organization was not compromised and are still able to cater to its occupants and serve well as a building.

Proportions as a visual balance has always been a strong argument. A strong evidence to that was the critique to the Post-modernism movement, where a quote “Less is bore” even uttered, was toying with ornamentations of neoclassical architecture, the out of proportioned architecture elements, was hard to bear for most of the on-lookers.

Proportion is unnecessary. However in this day and time, proportions could be easily achieved and therefore may look like a necessity. Therefore it is safe to say, proportion should be wisely perfected in every design in this time and date, however to argue that it is necessary is a tad bit difficult for one.

Next up is organisation.

Spatial organisation is one of the heart and cores of architecture. As architecture is a field where it provides a platform to enrich human and human connection and the connection between human and both environment and built-environment, spatial organisation undoubtedly becomes central to the aforementioned connections. With the absence of organisation, the connection of one with the environment is widely disrupted, comes with it a poor experience for the occupant and lowered quality of spatial experience.

For an instance, the absence of organisation in a residential unit could lead to extended period of one to commute from one common area to another, while the possibility of one unconventional space being laid out as a central area. To put this into perspective, I quote Andrea Palladio on his excerpt [pg 254] in the “planning of rooms and other spaces”, he mentioned; “one must be able to take great care not only with the most important elements, such as loggias, halls, courtyards, magnificent rooms, and large staircases, which would be well-lit and easy to ascend, but also that the smallest and ugliest parts will be in places that are subordinate to those who are larger and more prestigious.” He also continues on to mention the placement of more prestigious spaces are to be put on ground level or higher areas whereas the kitchen, wood stores, pantries and smaller dining rooms below ground level, the main excerpt from this quotes are that organisation plays vital role into elevating ones spatial experience.

Therefore organisation in architecture plays a centrifugal figure to not only just human habitation and functioning, but also ones experience and life quality in a space as a whole.

PROPORTION AND ORGANISATION

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