Selected Bibliography Architecture - Form Space and Order | Page 112

F O R M & S PA C E : T H E UN I T Y OF OP P OS I T E S

Taj Mahal, Agra, India, 1630–53.
Shah Jahan built this white marble
mausoleum for his favorite wife,
Muntaz Mahal.

A. Line defining the boundary
between solid mass and
spatial void

B. The form of solid mass rendered
as a figure

C. The form of the spatial void
rendered as figure

Architectural form occurs at the juncture between mass and space. In executing and reading design drawings,
we should be concerned with both the form of the mass containing a volume of space as well as the form of the
spatial volume itself.

Fragment of a Map of Rome,
drawn by Giambattista Nolli in 1748

Depending on what we perceive to be positive elements, the figure-ground relationship of the forms of mass and
space can be inverted in different parts of this map of Rome. In portions of the map, 'V