The Diagram as a Vehicle of Transposition in the Quest of Architectural Form:

Program | Typology | Drawing

Abstract

This paper discusses the impact of diagrammatic processes into architectural design. The diagram may be related to its scientific origin as a means of analysis and comparison of data. In accordance with diagrammatic interpretations of Jeremy Bentham's Panopticon, also with Gilles Deleuze's notion of "abstract machine,” the diagram operates in architecture as a means expressing the dynamic relationships among different elements having spatial significance. With the use of diagrams, abstract information of analysis is transposed into architectural design by using codes of spatial definition. The diagram may thus be distinguished from architectural form, as the connection between them remains metaphorical. From a theoretical point, such an explanation of the diagram is illuminating, also tying up with computational practices using advanced CAD software; however, ambiguities may be raised due to the fact that, in practice, essential issues regarding the diagram's overall functionality are often being disregarded. For example: under what conditions might it be useful arguing that the diagram has no relationship whatsoever with a sketch drawing of an architectural idea? Or, upon the assumption that the diagram is a tool aiding the conceptual manipulation of data and besides any of its representational capabilities, how would it be beneficial denying its direct or indirect contribution as a harbinger to architectural synthesis? In response, this paper redeploys the applications of the diagram in the transition from abstract notions to the first graphic sign and the gradual development of an architectural project. Respectively, the diagram is related to data analysis, the defining of the program, the building type and the architectural drawing.