1


Rasmussen
was
a
Danish
architect
and
town
planner.

He
was
a
professor
at
the
Royal

Danish
Academy
of
Fine
Arts.

Along
with
architecture,
he
enjoyed
poetry
and
wri>ng.


He
traveled
extensively
and
his
observa>ons
became
the
basis
for
his
wri>ngs.

His
three

famous
wri>ngs
consist
of
London, the Unique City,
Towns and Buildings,
and

Experiencing Architecture, which
was
the
trea>se
I
focused
on.

Rasmussen
educated

Jorn
Utzon,
the
reowned
architect
of
the
Sydney
Opera
House.


2

In
Experiencing Architecture,
there
are
10
different
chapters
Rasmussen
covers
about
his

perspec>ve
of
architecture:

basic
informa>on,
solids
and
cavi>es
and
its
effects,
Color

planes,
scale
and
propor>on,
rhythm,
textural
effects,
daylight,
color,
and
hearing.


Basically
throughout
the
en>re
trea>se,
he
uses
different
comparisons
to
explain
to
the

individual
how
architecture
should
be
experienced.

Comparisons
he
covers,
are

obviously
different
building
and
architects,
and
loca>ons,
and
how
different
ci>es

atmosphere
and
city
planning
differs.

But
he
also
goes
more
in
depth,
and
relates

architecture
to
music
and
dancing,
and
plants,
and
even
childhood.

I
personally
feel
like

he
is
very
scaOered
with
his
informa>on
and
topics
in
each
chapter,
but
everything
s>ll

>es
in
together
and
makes
the
individual
s>ll
feel
like
they
can
understand
architecture

in
his
perspec>ve
and
perhaps
in
a
way
never
observed
before.




3

Before
he
even
starts
he
trea>se,
Rasmussen
writes
a
short
preface
explaining
how
>mes

have
changed,
and
in
order
for
human
society
to
advance,
an
understanding
needs
to
be

developed
about
the
architect’s
work.

However
he
also
states,
“It
is
not
my
inten>on
to

aOempt
to
teach
people
what
is
right
or
wrong,
what
is
beau>ful
or
ugly.

I
regard
all
art

as
a
means
of
expression
and
that
which
may
be
right
for
one
ar>st
may
well
be
wrong

for
another.

My
object
is
in
all
modesty
to
endeavor
to
explain
the
instrument
the

architect
plays
on,
to
show
what
a
great
range
it
has
and
thereby
awaken
the
senses
to

its
music,”
(6
Rasmussen).

I
personally
feel
like
this
quote
was
a
great
start
to
his

trea>se,
and
explains
how
he’s
not
judging
anything
or
anyone,
but
just
trying
to
show

how
important
it
is
for
everyone
to
perceive
things
that
surround
us.


4

In
Ch.1,
Rasmussen
does
a
lot
of
comparisons
between
art.

And
how
other
art
forms
and
ar>sts

effect
architecture.

He
compares
an
architect
to
sculptor
explaining
how
they
both
work
with

form
and
mass,
and
how
a
painter
works
with
color.

A
painter’s
sketch
is
too
much
of
a
personal

document.

An
architect
stands
in
the
back,
observes
and
instructs.

“He
composes
the
music

which
other’s
play,”
(14
Rasmussen).

However,
the
architect’s
art
is
a
func>onal
art
solving

prac>cal
problems.

U>lity
plays
a
decisive
role.



He
compares
an
architect
to
a
theatrical
producer,
saying
both
men
plan
the
seZng
for
our
lives

which
determines
a
happy
or
sad
experience.

Rasmussen
discusses,
“what
is
fiZng
and
proper

in
one
genera>on
becomes
ridiculous
in
the
next
when
people
have
acquired
new
tastes
and

habits.”

That
picture
under
ch.1,
is
a
picture
of
Chris>an
IV,
a
Danish
Renaissance
king
who
is

represented
by
an
actor.

The
bike
and
the
king’s
costume
do
not
go
together.

Rela>ng
this
to

architecture,
“it
becomes
false
and
preten>ous
when
people
can
no
longer
live
it
up,”
(11

Rasmussen).

Also,
in
Ch.1
he
discusses
how
architecture
is
related
to
early
childhood.
“No
other
art
employs
a

colder,
more
abstract
form,
but
at
the
same
>me
no
other
art
is
so
in>mately
connected
with

man’s
daily
life
from
the
cradle
to
the
grave,”
(14
Rasmussen).

Architecture
is
based
on
human

ins>ncts,
discoveries,
and
stages
of
live.

When
a
child
develop
senses,
that
when
architecture
is

recognizable.

For
instant,
a
wall
being
so
high,
or
throwing
a
ball
against
the
wall.

Hardness
and

solidity
is
discovered.

In
Chapter
2,
he
discuses
how
architecture
is
seen.

In
order
to
really
experience
architecture,
the

individual
needs
to
be
to
walk
around,
through,
and
on
top
of
the
structure’s
boundaries.

A

photograph
is
an
amazing
s>ll,
but
does
not
captures
the
surrounding
environment,
and
there
is

no
physical
connec>on.
“Anyone
who
has
first
seen
a
place
in
a
picture
and
then
visited
it
knows

how
different
reality
is.

You
sense
the
atmosphere
all
around
you
and
are
no
longer
dependent

on
the
angle
from
which
the
picture
was
made,”
(40
Rasmussen).

Also,
in
Chapter
2,
he
relates
cavity
in
terms
of
space.


5

In
ch.3,
Rasmussen
goes
more
in
depth
about
cavity
space.

Comparing
gothic
to
renaissance,

gothic
architecture
was
more
construc>onal.

Bodies
were
convex,
and
more
material
was
added

on…
therefore
there
was
less
cavity.

The
sculpture
of
St.
George
and
the
Dragon
in
Nicolai

Church
represents
typical
gothic
forms.

Spiky
excrescences
are
seen
where
no
shape
is

deciphered.

“The
transi>on
from
gothic
to
Renaissance
was
not
only
a
change
from
domina>ng

ver>cal
elements
to
domina>ng
horizontal
elements,
but
above
all
a
complete
transforma>on

from
an
architecture
of
sharp
and
pointed
structures
to
an
architecture
of
well‐shaped

cava>es,”
(50
Rasmussen).
During
the
Renaissance
era,
architects
wanted
“to
create
a
pure
and

simple
style
which,
likes
its
prototype,
would
give
perfect
balance
and
harmony”
(60

Rasmussen).

Cavi>es
were
accentuated,
which
created
a
drama>c
experience.

Rasmussen

dwells
on
Michelangelo’s
Porta
Pia,
and
its
bizarre
and
overcrowded
details
which
allow
the

structure
to
show
off
its
drama>c
shadows.



Rasmussen
believes
propor>on
grants
an
essence
of
harmony.
A
building
can
create
an

overwhelming
or
cramped
feeling
depending
on
its
size,
or
propor>on.


Rasmussen
calls
architecture
“frozen
music”
(105
Rasmussen).

Assorted
tones
of
music
can

affect
people
pleasantly
or
unpleasantly.

This
musical
ra>o
or
scale
can
relate
to
architectural

propor>ons.

Palladio
used
mathema>cal
ra>os
of
music
during
his
design
process.

Also,

Rasmussen
compares
the
propor>on
to
the
golden
sec>on.

The
golden
sec>on
ra>o,

1.6180339887..,
is
considered
divine.

Derived
from
the
golden
sec>on,
Le
Corbusier
developed

the
Le
Modulor
which
allows
a
building
to
base
its
propor>ons
from
the
propor>ons
of
the

human
body.

“Le
Modulor
is
for
him
a
universal
instrument,
easy
to
employ,
which
can
be
used

all
over
the
world
to
obtain
beauty
and
ra>onality
in
the
propor>ons
of
everything
produced
by

man”
(118
Rasmussen).



6

In
ch.6,
Rasmussen
explains
how
rhythm
creates
sense
a
mystery.
A
propor>onally

designed
window
can
be
repeated
over
and
over
again
along
a
structure.
This
is
a
very

common
urban
aOribute
found
within
many
different
ci>es.

Rasmussen
picks
the

loca>ons
of
Rome,
Venice,
and
London
to
compare
window
repe>>ons.

Rome’s

windows
are
simple
but
the
precision
of
the
propor>on
creates
that
balanced
rhythm.

In

Venice,
the
windows
are
pushed
together
s>ll
holding
balanced
rhythm,
but
the

windows
belong
to
different
rooms
providing
for
more
interior
wall
space.

And
in

London,
there
are
three
bays
with
an
entrance
door,
making
a
more
complex
rhythm.


This
rhythm
is
related
to
a
waltz
measure
of
one,
two,
three,
one
two,
three.


All
three

of
this
window
examples
are
metrical
rhythm.

“It
represents
a
regularity
and
precision

found
nowhere
in
Nature,
but
only
in
the
order
man
seeks
to
create
(129
Rasmussen).


He
also
refers
to
metrical
as
ceremonial,
or
a
military
drill,
and
also
more
symmetrical.


The
other
kind
of
rhythm,
Rasmussen
discusses
is
free
rhythm.

He
believes
rhythm
is

based
on
movement
rela>ng
to
music
and
dance.

“A
person
listening
to
music

experiences
the
rhythm
as
something
beyond
all
reflec>on,
something
exis>ng
within

himself.

A
man
who
moves
rhythmically
starts
the
mo>on
himself
and
feels
that
he

controls
it.

But
shortly
the
rhythm
controls
him;
he
is
possessed
by
it”
(134
Rasmussen).


It
refers
to
Bach’s
rhythms,
and
how
the
music
influenced
great
visions.

Sketches
that

were
not
ordinary,
but
strange
forma>ons
that
developed
rhythmically.

This
free
rhythm

creates
a
sense
of
mystery.

To
experience
this
kind
of
rhythm
takes
>me.

It
is
a
process

of
recrea>on,
and
the
greatest
aOribute
about
this
process
is
that
is
spreads
very
easily

within
a
crowd
allowing
the
same
rhythm
to
be
absorbed.


7

In
ch.8,
Rasmussen
thinks
materials
should
always
be
kept
in
their
natural
func>on.

He

thinks
“Even
the
noblest
materials
lose
their
character
when
employed
without
skill
and

understanding,”
(165
Rasmussen).

Materials
needs
to
be
carefully
made
and
placed
on

the
structure.

This
will
enhance
the
quality
of
the
experience.


He
discusses
the
Bauhaus’s
new
methods.

The
modern
school,
developed
by
Walter

Gropius,
introduced
how
to
train
the
senses
to
a
higher
degree.

It
was
more
crea>ve,

and
less
conven>onal.

They
were
taught
to
learn
through
experience.

The
recorded

their
materials
they
worked
with.

“Emphasis
was
laid
not
simply
on
the
appearance
of

surfaces
but
par>cularly
on
the
feel
of
them,”
(177
Rasmussen).

“By
running
their

fingers
over
the
materials
again
and
again,
the
students
were
finally
able
to
sense
a
sort

of
musical
scale
of
textural
values,”
(177
Rasmussen).


To
see
architecture
is
one
experience,
but
to
hear
architecture
is
another
experience.


Rasmussen
believes
sound
reflects
an
impression
of
form
and
material.

“Different

shaped
rooms
and
different
materials
reverberate
differently”
(224
Rasmussen).


Interiors
of
a
building
will
affect
the
experience.

If
the
room
is
dead
silent,
a
sense
of

peace
may
be
felt,
while
if
echoes
can
be
created,
discomfort
and
eeriness
may
be
felt.


Also,
the
sounds
around
the
structure
and
its
environment
will
affect
the
experience
the

individual
is
trying
to
grasp.


8

The
most
common
building
Rasmussen
discusses
in
Experiencing Architecture is
Frank

Lloyd
Wright’s
“Falling
Water.”

Falling
water
appears
in
many
of
Rasmussen’s
chapters

discussing
different
ways
a
structure
should
be
experienced.




Rasmussen
considers
Falling
water
to
be
a
fantasy
over
cavity.

The
structure
is
far
from

urbaniza>on,
placed
deep
into
nature,
built
among
rocks.

Natural
sunlight
pierces

through
the
thick
foliage
crea>ng
amazing
shadows
exteriorly
and
interiorly
all
around

the
structure.

The
leaves
of
the
trees
hide
the
house
giving
off
a
distorted
reflec>on.

Its

100
percent
organic,
with
its
valley
slopes
and
natural
scenery,
and
concrete
plamorms

that
which
breaks
the
fall
of
water
as
it
streams
down
from
a
higher
to
lower
level.


Nature’s
composi>on
of
horizontal
elements
and
massive
rocks
creates
a
sense
of

rhythm
in
nature.

The
horizontal
overhanging
eaves
create
drama>c
shadows.
The

natural
materiality

of
rough‐hewn
stone
and
concrete
contrast
against
one
another
very

well.

Rus>ca>on
vs
smooth,
raw
vs.
refined.


All
these
characteris>cs,
in
Rasmussen’s
eyes
create
a
in>mate
and
friendly
dwelling.


Wright
is
trying
to
bring
architecture
into
harmony
with
Nature.


9

10

Rasmussen
compares
architecture
to
a
plant,
ones
enjoyment
to
a
plant,
and
the
growth

process.
This
comparison
creates
a
sense
of
care
and
admira>on
for
the
organism.


Through
all
Rasmussen’s
comparisons,
he
wants
the
reader
to
experience
architecture

open
mindedly,
and
with
a
sense
of
care
and
admira>on.


11

12