architect-foundations
Installation
SKILL.md
Architect Foundations
Auto-activated knowledge layer. Every response involving building architecture draws from this reference base before routing to specialized skills.
1. Core Architects & Theorists Quick Reference
| # | Architect / Theorist | Core Framework (Dates) | Key Concepts & Exemplar Buildings | When to Apply |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vitruvius | De Architectura (c. 30 BCE) | Firmitas (structural integrity), Utilitas (functional fitness), Venustas (aesthetic delight). Classical orders (Doric, Ionic, Corinthian) as proportional systems. Site orientation per wind/sun. Aqueduct and basilica typology. Exemplar: Basilica at Fano (described, not extant). | Foundational quality check on any project. Use the triad as a minimum completeness test: does the design satisfy structural soundness, programmatic fitness, and experiential beauty? |
| 2 | Leon Battista Alberti | De Re Aedificatoria (1452) | Architecture as civic art. Concinnitas (harmony of parts). Facade as independent compositional layer (Palazzo Rucellai, Florence, 1446-1451 -- pilaster orders applied to masonry wall). Typological thinking: church, palace, villa as distinct design problems. Town planning principles. | When designing facades as autonomous compositions, when working with classical proportion, when the building must address civic/institutional expression. |
| 3 | Andrea Palladio | I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura (1570) | Proportional room ratios (1:1, 1:sqrt2, 1:2, 2:3, 3:4). Bilateral symmetry along central axis. Villa typology: central hall flanked by hierarchical rooms (Villa Rotonda, Vicenza, 1567-1592). Loggia/portico as threshold. Temple front applied to domestic architecture. Harmonic proportions derived from musical intervals. | Residential design requiring formal order. Any project where room-to-room proportional relationships matter. Classical institutional buildings. Heritage/conservation contexts requiring Palladian literacy. |
| 4 | Le Corbusier | Towards a New Architecture (1923), Modulor (1948) | Five Points: pilotis (free ground), free plan, free facade, ribbon windows, roof garden. Dom-ino frame (1914): slab-column independence enabling plan freedom. Modulor: anthropometric proportional system (red/blue series from 1.83m standing figure). Promenade architecturale (Villa Savoye, Poissy, 1929-1931). Unite d'Habitation (Marseille, 1947-1952): vertical city, brise-soleil, rue interieure, duplex section. Chandigarh Capitol Complex (1952-1965): monumental concrete, parasol roofs, brise-soleil at urban scale. | Reinforced concrete frame buildings. When separating structure from enclosure. Multi-storey housing with communal services. Sun-control facade design. Proportional system for furniture-to-building scale coherence. |
| 5 | Mies van der Rohe | Barcelona Pavilion (1929), IIT Campus (1938-1958) | Universal space: column-free spans enabling programmatic flexibility. "Less is more." Steel-and-glass construction as tectonic expression. Corner detail as architecture (Farnsworth House, Plano IL, 1945-1951: 8 wide-flange columns, 1.5m cantilever, elevated floor plane). Seagram Building (NYC, 1954-1958): bronze I-beam mullions, set-back plaza, 8.4m structural bay. Crown Hall (IIT, 1950-1956): 36.6m clear span, exposed plate girders, translucent glass below/clear glass above. | Large-span structures. Corporate/institutional buildings seeking material honesty. When structural expression IS the architecture. Office buildings, museums, galleries requiring flexible open plans. |
| 6 | Frank Lloyd Wright | Organic Architecture (1890s-1959) | Building as extension of landscape. Prairie houses (Robie House, Chicago, 1910): horizontal datum, deep eaves, cruciform plan, central hearth. Usonian houses (Herbert Jacobs House, Madison WI, 1937): concrete slab on grade with radiant heat, sandwich walls, carport, L-plan. Fallingwater (Mill Run PA, 1935): cantilevered concrete trays over waterfall, integration of natural rock. Guggenheim Museum (NYC, 1943-1959): continuous spiral ramp, top-lit atrium. | Residential design with strong site integration. When topography drives form. When interior spatial flow takes priority over discrete rooms. Radiant floor heating. Open-plan living. |
| 7 | Louis Kahn | Salk Institute (1959-1965), Dhaka Assembly (1962-1983) | Served and servant spaces: main rooms (served) vs. mechanical/circulation zones (servant). Distinction between "what a building wants to be" and program. Silence and Light as design metaphor. Monumental concrete with deliberate formwork. Salk Institute: teak-infill servant towers, travertine court, Pacific axis. Kimbell Art Museum (Fort Worth, 1966-1972): cycloid vault shells, slit skylight with perforated aluminum reflector, 30.5m span, natural light in galleries. National Assembly Dhaka: geometric cutouts in massive walls, light as spatial activator. | Museums and cultural buildings where natural light is paramount. Institutional buildings requiring clear spatial hierarchy. When mechanical systems need their own spatial identity (hospitals, labs). Projects demanding material gravitas. |
| 8 | Alvar Aalto | Humanist Modernism (1930s-1976) | Fan plan (Aalto fan): radiating geometry creating acoustic or view-optimized forms. Material warmth: brick, timber, copper against white render. Viipuri Library (1927-1935): conical skylights, undulating ceiling in lecture hall. Paimio Sanatorium (1929-1933): patient room design driven by recumbent body (ceiling colour, angled washbasin, radiant heating, view orientation). Saynatsalo Town Hall (1949-1952): raised courtyard, brick mass, intimate civic scale. Baker House MIT (1947-1949): serpentine plan giving each room a river view. | Healthcare, educational, and civic buildings. When user comfort drives geometry. Acoustic design of auditoria. Northern/cold climates where material warmth matters. When irregular geometry serves functional purpose (views, acoustics) rather than formal expression. |
| 9 | Tadao Ando | Church of the Light (1989), Naoshima projects (1988-2004) | Smooth-cast in-situ concrete with 900mm tie-hole grid as ornament. Light as primary material. Geometric purity: circles, rectangles, intersecting walls. Church of the Light (Osaka): cruciform slot in end wall, no glass originally. Water Temple (Awaji, 1991): descent through lotus pond into underground elliptical space. Chichu Art Museum (Naoshima, 2004): entirely below grade, skylit galleries, no external presence. | Gallery/museum spaces. Meditation/religious buildings. When concrete is the primary expressive material. Sites where building must defer to landscape. Projects requiring extreme precision in light control. |
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