AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE NATURE OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PARTS AND THE WHOLE IN ARCHITECTURAL COMPOSITION

The scope of this study is a theoretical investigation into the nature of the relationship between the parts and the whole in architectural composition. Implicit in this choice of theme is the assumption that this relationship is an essential component of the process of design. The aim of the study is to show that, rather than proceeding from the whole to the parts, the process of architectural design is characterized by a constant interaction between parts and compositional principles, and that the character of the resulting artefact is essentially determined by the parts of which it is composed.;The fundamental importance of the parts in the generation of architectural wholes is established in three ways: (1) The process of architectural design is described as happening on two planes, one conceptual, the other material. The architectural artefact--or constructed whole--is presented as the result of the interaction between a 'conceptual whole'--abstract and general--and material parts--which are formal interpretations of various functional demands--in such a way that they mutually influence each other; (2) analogy is shown to be the basic tool used in the generation of architectural form. The fact that analogy proceeds from part to part determines one of the basic characteristics of the process of architectural design, namely that of proceeding from the parts to the whole. (3) The study of the possible ways in which the parts of a whole can be organized shows: (i) that only an artefact conceived as a complex of parts can embody the hierarchy of different functions always present in any object; (ii) that the character of a whole is determined by the material properties of its parts.