Ralf Weber/Matthias Albrecht Amann (Eds.

Aesthetics and Architectural Composition

Proceedings of the Dresden International Symposium of Architecture 2004
Dank | Acknowledgment
Das Dresdner Internationale Architektursymposium 2004, das vom 16. bis 19.Juni in Dresden statt-
fand, wurde freundlich unterstützt durch die Katholische Akademie des Bistums Dresden-Meißen
im Kathedralforum Dresden sowie die Gesellschaft von Freunden und Förderern der TU Dresden
e.V..

The Dresden International Symposium of Architecture 2004 took place from June, 16 to 19 in
Dresden and was supported by the Katholische Akademie des Bistums Dresden-Meißen im Kathe-
dralforum Dresden and by the Gesellschaft von Freunden und Förderern der TU Dresden e.V.. We
would like to thank both institutions for their help.

© 2005
Aesthetics and Architectural Composition.
Proceedings of the Dresden International Symposium of Architecture 2004
erscheint im
pro Literatur Verlag, D-82291 Mammendorf
Herausgeber: Ralf Weber/Matthias Albrecht Amann/
Lehrstuhl Raumgestaltung, TU Dresden.
ISBN 3-86611-022-7

Printed in Germany

Cover Design: Matthias Albrecht Amann

 Content

3 Vorwort | Preface

Chapter I | Keynotes

12 Ralf Weber, Dresden (D):

Aesthetics and Architectural Composition!?
17 Paulgerd Jesberg, Wiesbaden (D):
Erinnerungen an Otto Schubert (1878-1968)
22 Gerd de Bruyn, Stuttgart (D):
Abwesende Schrift und Monströse Stille - Architektur und Aisthesis

Chapter II | Principles of Proportion and Systems of Order in Architecture and Urbanism

32 Terrance Galvin, Halifax (Canada):

The Concept of Proportionality and Principles of ‚Good Fit‘ in Architectural Theory
41 Kenneth G. Masden, San Antonio (USA):
Virtual Uncertainty
45 Christian Junge, London (UK):
The Entropic and the Formless - On the Present Relevance of Arnheim and Bataille
50 Gernot Weckherlin, Berlin (D):
„Quelle est la règle qui ordonne, qui lie toutes choses?“
59 Tomás García-Salgado, México City (México):
Form in Site and Perspective

66 Iakovos Potamianos, Thrake (Greece):

The Mathematics of the Ideal Dome
73 Luisa Rossi Costa/Elena Marchetti, Milano (Italy):
Mathematical and Historical Investigation on Domes and Vaults
81 Klaus Hammer, Wien (Österreich):
Harmonik - Objektive Architektur und künstlerisches Prinzip

89 Marion Sauter, Frankfurt (D):

St. Michael in München - Städtebauliche und gestalterische Aspekte zum Planwechsel
von 1582/83
96 Jiyun Park, Baltimore (USA)
Labyrinth as Pramana or Divine Proportion
100 Nils Meyer, Dresden (D):
Betrachtungen zu Fünfeck und Pentagramm als Massfiguren im Städtebau
und der Architektur der frühen Neuzeit
107 Thomas Jäger, Braunschweig (D):
Calculated Beauty: A Mathematical Key to the Ideal Plan of Valetta

Aesthetics and Architectural Composition 5

 Chapter III | Digital Algorithms and Grammars of Form as Sources of Order and Harmony

116 Thorsten Lömker, Dresden (D):

Formt CAAD die Architektur? Möglichkeiten der Einflussnahme von CAAD auf die
Bauwerksgestalt
122 Douglas Spencer, London (UK):
Where is the Body in Digital Architecture? From Representation to Invention

126 Robert J. Krawczyk, Chicago (USA):

Exploring the Massing of Growth in Cellular Automata
132 Monika Stumpp/Benamy Turkienicz, Porto Allegre (Brazil):
Light and Shadow Symmetries
136 Rosirene Mayer/Benamy Turkienicz, Porto Allegre (Brasil):
Generative Process of Oskar Niemeyer‘s Style

Chapter IV | The Notion of Order between the Poles of Ratio and Sentiment

146 Paolo Bonaiuto [with G.Bonaiuto, V.Biasi, M.D’Ercole, A.M.Giannini]; Rome (Italy):
Cognitive and Emotional Elaboration of Architectural Visual Incongruities, and
their Aesthetic Appreciation
155 Holger Höge, Oldenburg (D):
Not Only the Golden Section: Empirical Research on the Aesthetic Pleasingness
of Proportions
162 Mieczyslaw Kozaczko, Poznan (Poland):
Inner Basis of Proportion Systems

167 Yannick Joye, Ghent (Belgium):

Biomorphic Design: Perspectives on its Aesthetic, Restorative and
Ecological Value
174 Gerald Franz, Tübingen (D):
Physical and Affective Correlates to Perceived Order in Open-Plan
Architectural Space
182 Katja Pahl, Dresden (D)/Thomas Jacobsen, Leipzig (D):
Fassadendesign - Die Auswirkungen von Gruppierung und Raster auf die Ästhetische
Beurteilung von Fassaden

188 Eckhard Bendin, Dresden (D):

Die ‚Prägnanzdimensionen‘ der Farbe und ihr Bezug zur ‚Prägnanzhöhe‘ von Gestalten
197 Axel Büther, Cottbus (D):
Bruno Taut - Interaktion von Farbe und Form

202 Claudio Greco/Sergio Lombardo/Carlo Santoro, Rome (Italy):

Stochastic Architecture and Eventualist Theory
209 Michael Chapman/Michael Ostwald, Callaghan (Australia):
Douglas Darden‘s Composite Ideogram as a Technique of Architectural
Composition
217 Ilija Vukorep/Petra Brunnhofer/Wolfgang Schück, Kassel (D):
Moikism
222 Charles L. Harker, Kent (USA)
The Third Skin
229 Alexander Voloshinov, Saratov (Russia):
Anthropomorphic Patterns as the Metalanguage of Architecture and Other Arts
 Chapter V | Aesthetics of Urban Space and Landscape

236 Birgit Wolter, Dresden (D):

Die Gestalt des öffentlichen Raumes
241 Stefan Rau, Dresden (D):
Criteria of Aesthetics and Use in Current Open Space Planning -
Examples from Chicago (USA) and Chengdu (China)
245 Hisham Gabr, Cairo (Egypt):
Learning From the Past: Perceptual Aesthetic Principles in Historic Old Cairo

252 Martin Prominski, Hannover (D):

Which Landscape? Which Aesthetic?
259 Catherine Szanto, Budapest (Hungary):
The Gardens of Versailles: Analysis of a Spatial Experience
266 Gert J. van Tonder, Kyoto (Japan):
Incomplete Infinity: Structure in a Japanese Garden

Chapter VI | Aesthetics and the Concept of Architectural Space

274 Kazu Blumfeld Hanada, Weimar (D):

Towards the Model of Alienated Consciousness - The Body/The Space -
Actuality of House Esters/Lange (m.v.d.r.)
280 Jan Frohburg, Weimar (D):
Mies van der Rohe - Unscharfe Weite
287 Markus Jatsch, München (D):
Ästhetik der Unbestimmtheit

294 Aleksandra Walter-Klonkowska, Wuppertal (D):

The Lacking Dynamical Path Model of Architectural Space
299 Rainer Schönhammer, Halle (D):
Human ‚Sense of Space‘ - Moving Images and Architecture

304 Matthias Albrecht Amann, Dresden (D):

Die Ansichtigkeit des Schnitts: Baukomposition für Schwache
313 Heike Hanada, Weimar (D):
Withdrawn Windows - Über die Gegenwart des Erzählerischen bei Sir John Soane und
Gordon Matta-Clark

Chapter VII | Architectural Composition as Problem of Education

322 Mine Özkar, Cambridge (USA):

Form Relations in Analyses by Denman Waldo Ross:
An Early Modernist Approach in Architectural Education
329 Ivan Reimann, Dresden (D):
Ästhetische Theorie und Entwurfsarbeit

334 Eva Oravcova/Pavol Nahalka, Bratislava (Slovak Republic):

Perception of Connotation in the Creation of Architectural Space as a Methodological
Basis of Introduction to Architectural Composition Education
337 Erwin Herzberger, Stuttgart (D):
Körper - Raum - Bewegung. Gestaltung als räumlicher Prozeß

Aesthetics and Architectural Composition 7

 Chapter VIII | Aesthetics of a Politically/Economically/Functionally Determined Building
Culture

342 Michael Mehaffy, London (UK):

The Architecture of the New Modernity
362 Niels-Christian Fritsche, Dresden (D):
Beauty is a Moving Target - Aesthetics as an Episode in Guessing Human Perception
367 Wojciech Kosinski, Cracow (Poland):
Urban Aesthetics and Composition Today - a Nostalgia or the Need?

372 Index | Index

Rosirene Mayer/Benamy Turkienicz:

Generative Processes in Oscar Niemeyer‘s Style

ABSTRACT
The aim of this study is to outline the structure of a possible grammar of Oscar Niemeyer’s
architectural language, focusing on the so-called “free forms.” The idea is to assess the extent to
which it is possible to shed some light on the discussion of architectural freedom as used by many
authors when describing the work of the Brazilian architect. The investigation associates geometric
relations present in Niemeyer’s buildings to the Shape Grammar model as proposed by Stiny & Gips
(1975). The model made possible the depiction of consistencies in vocabulary, rules and operations
deployed by Niemeyer. This eventually led to the description of an original architectural language
present in Niemeyer’s buildings.

INTRODUCTION
Buildings designed by the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer are often linked to physical or
historical contexts in which they emerged. At the same time, descriptions based on compositional
or morphological aspects usually lead to the idea of free forms, accentuating the random or
the original aspects of Niemeyer’s architecture. Assuming that the so called “free form” is most
acknowledged characteristic of his buildings, this research aims at the description of a possible
generative structure for Niemeyer’s work, focusing on the so-called free forms. The description of
this generative process constitutes an unexplored knowledge of Niemeyer’s architecture.

FREE FORMS
Between the forties and the sixties, Brazilian Modern Architecture was worldwide acknowledged
for the development of an original architectural language characterized by a set of stylistic
features. These features were usually related to inverted gable roofs, parabolic vaults, and sunshine
devices such as the projection outward roof slabs, egg-crate sunshade and sunscreens. One of the
most prominent features of this architecture is related to the use of curved lines: the so-called
Free forms. The consistent use of these elements may well serve as an evidence for a virtual school
of thought, led by Oscar Niemeyer. One might well say that he stood behind the formulation of one
of the basic stylistic features of the Brazilian Modern Architecture, i.e. the use of non orthogonal
shapes.
The denomination free form is used in a generic way by different authors to designate non
orthogonal shapes, recurrent in Niemeyer’s architecture, hardly starting from a catalog of known
shapes or pure shapes. However, some important issues may arise from this simplification: the
description based on the free form concept is not capable to depict the specific universe of
Niemeyer’s free forms. Generalizing Niemeyer’s forms as free forms, the approach fails to identify
what is singular in Niemeyer’s work. Second, it refers to the contradiction between the randomness
and free expression associated to the term free form and an eventual formal identity present in
buildings designed by Niemeyer. It is precisely this identity that leads to the characterization of a
Niemeyer’s architectural language.In other words, to recognize a building designed by Niemeyer
among a collection of buildings designed by other architects. The characterization of a style or
architectural language will enable the clarification of “(...) the underlying commonality of structure
and appearance manifest for the buildings in the corpus (...)” 1. This clarity is possible through the
analysis of the grammatical structure of a language that allows the identification of patterns
beyond visible similarities.
The existence of an architectural language implies the presence of patterns and possible mechanisms
of shape control not referred by the existing literature on Niemeyer.

One of the paradigms of Niemeyer’s language - the almost limitless plastic freedom 2 is associated
to the curve: “I am in favor of an almost limitless plastic freedom (...) as the different ideas go
Fig. 1 Twenty Buildings of Oscar Niemeyer emerging (...) in all, prevail the curves, this plastic freedom that I prefer.” 3 . However the freedom
(or the curve) should not be used freely: “(...). Of course, that freedom cannot be used freely.” 4.
To Niemeyer, the conceptive freedom should take into consideration proportion rules: “(...) we
guarantee absolute freedom of conception, however within the proportion rules that Architecture
has always required.“ 5
To describe Niemeyer’s style or his free form architectural language will require the description of
possibly generated patterns within the limits as mentioned by Niemeyer. To put it short, this study
will try to explain the relation between the conceptive freedom present in the shapes designed by
Niemeyer and the control expressed by the implicit patterns that in turn are related to a particular
grouping of shapes.

SHAPE GRAMMARS AND CURVES

Shape Grammars6 , constitutes a model for the elaboration of design grammars. In another words,
Shape Grammars enables the description of architectural languages through grammars. The
grammar of an architectural language describes its generative structure through a vocabulary
of simple shapes and the corresponding syntax, structured by rules, which graphically specify
possible combinations of the vocabulary of shapes to compose complex shapes.
The language of designs is seen as a formal equivalent of the traditional notion of style7. In
architecture, Shape Grammars have been used thoroughly in the description of architectural styles
of Palladio8, Wright 9 and more recently of Álvaro Siza10. However, the use of Shape Grammars,
mainly in architecture, has been concentrated in the description of orthogonal shapes. This open
up an interesting field of research as, according to Gips, almost all objects in life, even the artificial
objects, have curves and curved surfaces 11. Ergonomic and economical aspects related to certain
uses of materials lead to the use of curves.
Nowadays, the architectural languages of free forms are not limited to the Brazilian Architecture,
as the upsurge of computational tools for production, new materials and constructive techniques
enlarged the freedom and spread the use of curved and complex shapes.
The use of Shape Grammars to describe an architectural language based on curved three-dimensional
volumes, adds to the existent grammar model, new generative elements such as generatrices and
directrixes, rotation and translation axes and a new point of view of the relationships among
elements for the generation of complex shapes. Another element added to the construction of the
grammar of Niemeyer architectonic language refers to the analysis of the recursive relations of
proportion and symmetry. Niemeyer refers to the proportion and scale relationships12 as one of
the factors that distance of his architecture, the frequent use attempts, by other architects, of his
plastic vocabulary.

Aesthetics and Architectural Composition 137

Fig. 2 Rotation or Translation axis position The association between Shape Grammars and the geometric relations present in Niemeyer’s
buildings made possible the detection of consistencies in specific vocabulary of shapes, rules
Fig. 3 Rotation or Translation inclination of
and operations. However, this study did not aim at the establishment of a complete grammar of
directrix axis
Oscar Niemeyer architectural language. Our grammar is therefore limited and minimally detailed
following the main purpose of this study: the description of patterns related to a set of Niemeyer’s
buildings, demystifying the notion of randomness usually related to the Niemeyer´s free forms.
Section 2 describes the study corpus. The analysis of Niemeyer’s generative process is reported in
section 3 and conclusions are retrieved in section 4 as well as some tentative unfolding steps for
the present research.

SELECTION OF THE SAMPLE

The model was applied on the description of the volumetry of twenty buildings designed by
Niemeyer during 60 years between 1940 and 2003.These buildings have as a common feature the
curve shape (mainly conic curves, specially the parabola), normally linked to the concept of free
form. (Fig 1)
Besides the curved volumetry, the selection of buildings was driven according to the availability
of sources: during his career Niemeyer designed a broad variety of curved profiles but not all
were available for the purpose of the analysis. The sample choices didn’t establish restrictions
as for the geographical location and chronology didn’t have direct influence upon the selection.
The preliminary analysis demonstrated that the curve was present in most different typologies
designed by Niemeyer, irrespective of functional aspects. Considering this characteristic and the
focus of this study in the so-called free forms, the grammar only describes the volumetric features
of buildings disregarding eventual architectural details.
All of the buildings were analyzed based on, at least, a plan and the respective elevation or section.
Orthogonal projections were drawn of all of the buildings based on the availability of graphic
material in the existing literature on Niemeyer. The graphic reproduction of the works used in the
analysis, in spite of accurate sources didn’t intend to be exact in the dimensions, taking into account
the data’s imprecise origin, but in the relationship among the dimensions. The relationships among
the dimensions are the base for the analysis of dimensional control mechanisms. Schematic profiles
of plans and elevations resulted from the simplification of the drawings. These schematic profiles
supplied the base for the correlation between the curve and its three-dimensional development.
The analysis of the two orthogonal projections allowed describing the correlation among the forms
of each building as well as among the set of buildings.

THE GENERATIVE PROCESSES

As the developed Grammar constitutes a Parametric Shape Grammar, parametric variation in the
shapes and elements that constitute the rules is admitted. These variations, however, were only
graphically represented.

Fig. 4 Addition operation
Fig. 5 Subtraction operation
Exploration of Niemeyer’s generative principles initiates with the analysis of the relation among
curves, volumetry and three-dimensional unfolding. Three-dimensional unfolding is guided
according to elements such as: axes, directrixes and generatrices that end up by determining the
building’s final shape according to the established relation with the curve.
As first step, the generation process of the elementary volumetry of the building - or of parts of
the building - (without specific volume assignment) is described. The goal of the analysis was to
describe the volumetry according to the shape grammar model using the least number of rules and
operations. In the next item, each one of the stages of construction of the grammar is described.
VOCABULARY OF SHAPES
Decomposition of a design or a complex shape help to specify primitive shapes which, combined,
generate the complex shape. As shapes can be decomposed in several ways, the chosen way for
adaptation is related to the object of the analysis13.
The curve and straight line shapes were defined as initial shapes of Niemeyer’s vocabulary. To
explore parametric shapes14 an AutoCAD script using Visual Basic was developed. The software
has helped to generate parabolas preliminarily identified as the predominant curves in the study
corpus. The parabolas generator allowed a parametric description of Niemeyer’s curves through
the specification of the parameters p (distance of the focus to the directrix d) and the height
(coordinated y), with the vertex in (0,0). Other curves (composite and sinuous) were decomposed
in parameterized segments as for instance, the straight line segment and the circumference arch.
RULES
The definition of the rules was a starting point to determine the existing relationships between
curves and straight lines. Different unfolding in the plan xz (plan) was identified starting from a
parametric shape F, located in the plan xy (section or elevation).
For each generative rule there will be a graphic representation of the operation. The transformation
resulting from the application of this operation will be represented through schematic orthogonal
projections of the plans xy and xz. Each one of the rules is represented and classified according
to spatial and topological relations set among the primitive shapes such as position, inclination
or direction.
In the first step of generation it is defined of the origin coordinates in order to characterize the
setting of the volume base above or belowground.
The rotation and translation operations were classified according to the similarities of characteristics
of three components of the operation:
Rotation or translation axis (e): segment of straight line centralized in relation to the directrix
that guides the movement.
Generatrix of the volume (g): curved or straight line segment, polygonal open or closed whose
motion generate the surface of the volume.
Rotation or translation directrix (d): a fixed curve with which a generatrix maintains a given
relationship in generating the volume.
In the generative process the vocabulary elements have a set spatial relation between the
generatrix and the directrix, in other words, the directrix will serve as path for the generatrix. The
directrix or the generatrix can be any of the elements of the vocabulary: the curved line or the
straight line segment.
Each component of the operation - axis, generatrix or directrix has a graphic description of its
possible configurations:
The rotation or translation axis is classified with respect to the position (Fig 2) (external, internal
or going by the axis of the directrix (h)) (Fig 3) and to the inclination (oblique, horizontal and
perpendicular to the base) in relation to the plan xz.
Niemeyer has deployed, for example, the same operation with the same curve but positioned the
axis (and its inclination angle of rotation) in different ways.
Generatrix of the volume: classified according to its inclination, that can be parallel or oblique, in
relation to the axis e. The rotation of the generatrix, around the axis (e) parallel, according to a
curved or parabolic directrix, it generates a curved or parabolic cylindrical surface. The rotation,
around the axis (e), second a circular directrix, generates a cylinder. The rotation of the oblique
generatrix, around the axis (e), as a curved or parabolic directrix, it generates a surface curved
or parabolic surface. The rotation of the oblique generatrix, around the axis (e), under a circular
directrix generates a cone. If the axis (e) coincides with the axis (h) of the generatrix, the rotation,
Aesthetics and Architectural Composition 139
 around a circular directrix, generates a paraboloid, a cupola or according with the shape of the
generatrix, any curved surface.
Rotation or translation directrix: classified according to the inclination of its axis (h) and as for its
shape and number.
The axis of the directrix d can be oblique, vertical (perpendicular to the base), horizontal or parallel
or coincident with the plan xz or xy.
As for the shape of the directrix d, the volume can be generated second two directrixes same or
different in size and shape (for instance: a curve and a straight line or two curves same or different).
Niemeyer uses to explore possibilities of generated initial volumes with complementary operations.
The generative process, after the above initial steps, goes on with a series of complementary
operations such as reflection, translation, scaling, intersection addition and subtraction. These
operations are described bellow.
Fig. 6 Proportion analysis The translation operation has an additional classification in relation to the rotation operation
respect to the direction of the translation movement. The translation direction can be parallel or
perpendicular to the axis e. The parallel translation is used to produce sequences of elements as in
the project to the Swimming Pool of the National Stadium in Rio de Janeiro or to generate surfaces.
The perpendicular translation is used by Niemeyer to reproduce volumes as for instance in the
Chapel of San Francisco in Pampulha.
The reflection operation is classified according to the reflection axis (R) that can be external or
internal to the curve (that can be the generatrix or the directrix).
The scale operation transforms either the scale of the volume or the primitive form of the
vocabulary.
The intersection operation uses the superposition of figures for the composition of new volumes.
The intersection was classified according to the superposition of the figures that can be total or
partial.
Total Intersection determines the shape of the faces adjacent to the generatrices. The main
characteristic of this shape is the non-parallelism. It is for modeling of volumes through the section
of parts of the initial volume as for instance in the Auditorium of the Employment Office of Bobigny
(Fr). Partial Intersection produces complex shapes through the partial superposition and of the
recursive initial volumes. It is used in the composition of volumes.
The addition operation admits the union between volumes or the addition of elements to the
generated volume.
Addition allowed Niemeyer to aggregate elements like platforms, canopies or ramps to the building
volume. It has made possible the union of volumes as in the San Francisco Chapel in Pampulha or
in the New Museum of Curitiba. (Fig 4)
The subtraction operation allowed Niemeyer to subtract elements, volumes or surfaces. In
Niemeyer’s language, subtraction is used generally to perforate the volume in order to generate
windows (Fig 5). Niemeyer´s buildings were parameterized through the retrieval of lines based
on proportional relations. Proportion relationships were preliminarily tested with the use of a
proportional divider based on the golden section. The presence of proportional relationships was
verified in more than one work. The consistence of the presence of proportion relationships was
then verified in all of the works through the drawing of regulative lines (Fig 6). Niemeyer explore
besides bilateral symmetries, other symmetry operations such as translation in Montreal Building,
for example.(Fig 7)
Niemeyer´s buildings were described in twenty tables with the graphic description of all rules for
the generation of the volumetry.(Fig 8) The graphic descriptions of each one of the presented rules
were classified in a descriptive table and they were summarized through the indexation of each one
of the parts. In other words, for each rule there is a numeric correspondent (index) that summarizes
up to five classification stages. Each index corresponds to one stage of the operation. The table
distributes the sample according to the incidence of each rule.
A comparative table of the analysis was elaborated relating the works to the generative principals.
For each rule, represented by the index originated in the previous table a letter was assigned. Each
letter summarizes an associated rule to a generative characteristic. This correspondence has allowed
synthesizing the set of generative operations for each building. This way, a constituted generation
code of letters resulted for each work. For instance: the rule c summarizes the following rule:
rotation or translation with axis e external. The rule cg corresponds to the rotation or translation
with axis e external and horizontal. Each additional characteristic increases a corresponding
letter. The generation was divided in two stages: the first stage corresponds to the generation of

Fig. 7 Examples of symmetry in Niemeyer’s
Buildings
the initial volume and the second stage corresponds to the modification of the initial volume. In
the generation code the stages are separated by a hyphen. For example, the code adgiln-suwxz
corresponds to the generation of the Chapel of San Francisco in Pampulha and the code adgjkm-vz
refers to the monument Rui Barbosa. When comparing the codes, it is possible to verify where they
resemble each other and where differences are located in the generative process. It is noticed that,
in the first one, there was a great modification of the initial volume in the complementary stage
while in the second the modification happened through few rules. The number of applied rules
doesn’t necessarily correspond to alterations in the volume, at the same time that it is possible
to obtain significant changes with the application of just one rule such as the operation of total
intersection.
RESULTS
The description and classification of Niemeyer’s buildings based on the generative principles,
clarified different aspects regarding the language or architectural style of the analysis corpus:
(1) The analysis of the vocabulary allowed the depiction of the recursive use of parametric
conical curves: among the twenty analyzed works, the parabola is used 11 times.
(2) Among the twenty analyzed works it was possible to generate the volumetry of eighteen
works, throughout the operation of rotation, and of two buildings throughout a translational
operation.
(3) The analysis has shown the predominance of the following generation rules:
(a) Origin of the volume above the level 0;
(b) External rotation axis;
(c) Axis of vertical rotation, perpendicular to the base;
(d) Parallel Generatrix to the axis e;
(e) Parallel directrix or coincident to the plan xz.
And of the complementary operations to the generation:
(a) Total Intersection
(b) Addition
As for the incidence of rules and vocabulary, Niemeyer applies new differentiation rules
starting from the same rotation operation according to the period when the building was
built. Few new elements are added to the vocabulary, such as the sinuous line as the generatrix
appearing, for the first time, in the 70’s.
(4) The analysis doesn’t show correspondences among rules, vocabulary and place: the
recursiveness of rules and vocabulary is independent of the places where buildings were built.
Regarding the program, it was not possible to determine, from the analysis of the volumetry of
the twenty buildings, any relation among the rules, the vocabulary and the program.
(5) The buildings share similar generative principal (rules).
(6) The similarity of these principals does not depend on the apparent similarity of the buildings
- buildings seemingly different can be described as belonging to the same style.
(7) The buildings belong to the same style - or architectural language - in the sense that they
share the same set of rules; vocabulary and geometric consistencies that characterize the
language
(8) The buildings were produced according to similar control mechanism – regulating lines based
in the golden section.
(9) It was clarified why and which peculiarities are inherited among Niemeyer’s buildings - the
characteristics that we could call genotypic that correspond to the vocabulary and the rules,
are inherited in different levels: different stages of the generation correspond to different levels
of differentiation in the shape. The differentiation levels depend on rules that are added to the
process in the different stages. The characteristics that are inherited in the first stage of the
process are shared by all of the buildings. Each differentiation stage adds a new characteristic
to a building or group of buildings. This process produces the degree of differentiation for the
volumetric variety that characterizes Niemeyer’s style.
(10) The difference in the generation code is reflected directly in the appearance of the volume,
as to configure what could be called a phenotypical characteristic of the volume.
(11) The rules are much simpler than the drawings that they produce. Two basic principals, the
rotation and the translation govern, in fact, the generation of the analyzed volumetries.
Aesthetics and Architectural Composition 141
Fig. 6 Example of the analysis - Catedral,
Brasilia
CONCLUSION
The study revealed some of the basic principles behind Niemeyer’s generative process. The
considerable economy of the operations was observed along with the significant differentiation
among the twenty volumes. These differences seem to be more related to Niemeyer’s choices of
vocabulary and to the second generative phase. One might well state that if Niemeyer’s forms are
not absolutely free, he deploys a shape generation strategy that gives him an almost unlimited
possibility with respect to original shapes, hence, to an almost unexpected solution.
The success in the description of the free forms architecture through the use of the Shape Grammars
model consequently leads to the exploration of the computability of this grammar type, through
the construction of a computational model for the generation of buildings according to Oscar
Niemeyer’s architectural language. This implementation could be extended to the development of
a more generic tool for the production of free forms languages.
The exam of Niemeyer’s language and its generative stages suggests that other elements related, for
example, to the context and its relationship with the definition of the rules, or with the generation
stages are important in the description of the language. The method leaves open, cognitive aspects
related to the decision-making during the creative process. The identification of patterns in these
relationships could constitute a new important element in the description of design languages. The
existing studies on Shape Grammars still don’t establish the connection between cognitive aspects
and the design decision-making in the form of rules. The knowledge of these relationships could
mean significant progress in the study of the architectural languages and especially of Niemeyer’s
language.
MAYER, Rosirene | SIMMLAB – Modeling and Simulation in Architecture | Faculty of
Architecture | University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil | rmayer@portoweb.com.br
TURKIENICZ, Benamy | SIMMLAB – Modeling and Simulation in Architecture | Faculty of
Architecture | University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil | benamy@portoweb.com.br
Erratum
p.138

Fig. 3 Rotation or Translation inclination of directrix axis

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Aesthetics and Architectural Composition 143

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