Easy Architectural Theory

Easy Architectural Theory YouTube Channel. Concise video summaries of the most important writings in architecture, aimed at de

This is the Church of Saint George in Lalibela, Ethiopia. I am introducing this church because it’s another great exampl...
04/09/2020

This is the Church of Saint George in Lalibela, Ethiopia. I am introducing this church because it’s another great example of the mutual shaping of "the fourfold" (in Heidegger's words) and things that come into being. The church is carved out of the earth, thereby giving shape to the church, the space in it, and the landscape outside of it. For those who are interested, Lalibela is known for these rock-hewn churches, simply search it up on Google for many other buildings of the same kind!
(1+2) Bernard Gagnon / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)

This is "Double Negative," piece of land art by Michael Heizer in Nevada. It is made simply by carving out two slits fro...
02/09/2020

This is "Double Negative," piece of land art by Michael Heizer in Nevada. It is made simply by carving out two slits from the desert landscape. In making this piece of land art, was Heizer giving shape to the voids or reshaping the landscape? Both, obviously. By defining the voids, he redefines the bordering landscape. This is a great example that illustrates the indivisibility of the fourfold, theorized by Heidegger in "Building Dwelling Thinking." You can check out my recent video summarizing this essay by Heidegger, link in bio!
Hayes Buchanan / By Source, Fair Use, https://www.hayesbuchanan.com/project/flood

These are “stick charts” made by habitants of the Marshall Islands to navigate the Pacific Ocean. The “sticks” represent...
25/08/2020

These are “stick charts” made by habitants of the Marshall Islands to navigate the Pacific Ocean. The “sticks” represent prevailing waves and their directions. Island locations are usually marked by the lashed intersection of threads or shells. These stick charts contain centers and paths connecting these centers, paralleling Norberg-Schulz’s notion of Existential Space.
Unattributed creators / Public Domain (Wikimedia Commons)

New video is up! In this video we summarize Christian Norberg-Schulz's 1971 book Existence, Space and Architecture. In t...
23/08/2020

New video is up! In this video we summarize Christian Norberg-Schulz's 1971 book Existence, Space and Architecture. In this book he formulates his idea of Existential Space, bridging Pragmatic Space and Abstract/Cognitive Space, which he applies to understanding architecture. We also touch on the topics of architectural applications of graph theory, identity, and accessibility as they arise from this book. Check it out now, link in bio!

This is the 2012 Serpentine Pavilion by Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei, featuring surfaces and furniture covered in co...
22/08/2020

This is the 2012 Serpentine Pavilion by Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei, featuring surfaces and furniture covered in cork. Some remarked the distinct aroma of cork as a significant part of the pavilion. Whereas we usually scent a room by introducing a candle, diffuser, or a plant, this pavilion is a good example of smellscape indivisibly incorporated into the architecture. Other examples include the scent of ink and paper incorporated into a bookstore, or sacred places infused with the scent of incense.
(1) Groume / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)
(2) Flickr user: Loz Pycock (blahflowers) / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/). Cropped.
(3) David Hawgood / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/). Cropped.

This is a photo taken within the Vienna subway U-Bahn. In 2019, the city proposed to perfume their train carriages to co...
21/08/2020

This is a photo taken within the Vienna subway U-Bahn. In 2019, the city proposed to perfume their train carriages to counter the trapped odors on a hot summer day. Although its citizens ultimately voted against the proposition, here is a great example of less attractive smellscapes and how it might be improved by simple interventions.
Unattributed / Public Domain (https://wallpaperflare.com)

This first image features James Turrell's exhibition Backside Of The Moon on Naoshima Island, Japan. The second image fe...
19/08/2020

This first image features James Turrell's exhibition Backside Of The Moon on Naoshima Island, Japan. The second image features the anechoic chamber in the Orfield Laboratories in Minneapolis, MN. They respectively deplete the environment of light and sound, to highlight the visual and auditory input that we become normalized to and ignore in daily life. While researching for this post, I came across an interesting account of the anechoic chamber "feeling claustrophobic" despite being quite a spacious room. This is because sounds normally reverberates around a room, from which we hear the size of the room. In the anechoic chamber all sound waves are absorbed into the foam rather than reflecting off the walls, and thus there is no reverb, making the space seem claustrophobic. This is an amazing example of the profound effect sound has on our spatial perception.
(1) By Source, Fair Use, http://archive.jamesturrell.com/artwork/backsideofthemoon/
(2) By Manish - Yamato IBM research centre, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4986483

This is the Hazelwood School in Glasgow, Scotland designed by Alan Dunlop Architect. This school is a great example of t...
18/08/2020

This is the Hazelwood School in Glasgow, Scotland designed by Alan Dunlop Architect. This school is a great example of the tactile qualities of architecture put to its full potential. This school is designed for children who are blind and deaf, aka with dual sensory impairment. For them, tactile, olfactory, and gustatory sensory inputs become evermore important. This school includes tactile pavings on both the floor and on the walls, to facilitate accessible wayfinding around the campus.
By Source, Fair Use, https://www.arch2o.com/hazelwood-school-alan-dunlop-architect-limited/

Merleau-Ponty stresses the intersensory nature of human experience. Today I wanted to share with you one of the earliest...
17/08/2020

Merleau-Ponty stresses the intersensory nature of human experience. Today I wanted to share with you one of the earliest interests in our auditory experience. This is a 1973 album titled The Vancouver Soundscape, featuring different sounds recorded on the streets of Vancouver. Raymond Murray Schafer at Simon Fraser University produced this album as part of the World Soundscape Project. As a composer and environmentalist, Schafer was inspired by the deteriorating sonic environment in Vancouver, he started this project to draw attention to the auditory aspect of space and the growing issue of noise pollution. His project is generally credited for initiating the modern discourse on acoustic ecology. Other works include The Book of Noise (Schafer, 1968), The Tuning of the World (Schafer, 1977), and the Handbook for Acoustic Ecology (Barry Truax, 1978).
By Source, Fair Use, https://www.discogs.com/Various-The-Vancouver-Soundscape-1973-Soundscape-Vancouver-1996/release/888609

Heads up—new video is up! In this episode we go through Merleau-Ponty’s notions of primacy of perception, body schema, s...
16/08/2020

Heads up—new video is up! In this episode we go through Merleau-Ponty’s notions of primacy of perception, body schema, sensory-motor unity, and applied them to architecture. Check it out now, link in bio!

This is Rocinha, a favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Vernacular architecture such as Rocinha are built by the people tha...
16/08/2020

This is Rocinha, a favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Vernacular architecture such as Rocinha are built by the people that inhabit it, constantly changing in response to their functional needs. They appear as highly irregular, yet they are highly complex systems. Narrow streets between buildings allow circulation around the densely populated favela. Dutch urban planner Manoe Ruhe, after living in a favela for six months, also observe a "law of mutual respect" that governs construction. One wouldn't build a home so tall that it blocks their neighbor's view, nor open a window directly across their neighbor's that would intrude their privacy. That said, albeit irregular, favela development is highly optimized and self-regulating. Favelas are great examples of architecture embracing change and adaptation!
By chensiyuan - chensiyuan, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14872516
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This is the Nakagin Capsule Tower by Kisho Kurokawa in Tokyo, Japan. This is an apartment-office complex designed such ...
15/08/2020

This is the Nakagin Capsule Tower by Kisho Kurokawa in Tokyo, Japan. This is an apartment-office complex designed such that individual capsules can be added or removed spontaneously to adapt to functional needs. Although this complex is now largely abandoned for being financially prohibitive, it remains an interesting prototype for architecture that embraces spontaneous modification and adaptation.
Kakidai / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). Cropped.

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