Selected Bibliography Architecture - Form Space and Order | Page 149

SING L E VERTICAL PLANE

A single vertical plane, standing alone in space,
has visual qualities uniquely different from those of a
freestanding column. A round column has no preferred
direction except for its vertical axis. A square column
has two equivalent sets of faces and therefore two
identical axes. A rectangular column also has two
axes, but they differ in their effect. As the rectangular
column becomes more like a wall, it can appear to
be merely a fragment of an infinitely larger or longer
plane, slicing through and dividing a volume of space.

A vertical plane has frontal qualities. Its two surfaces
or faces front on and establish the edges of two
separate and distinct spatial fields.

These two faces of a plane can be equivalent and front
similar spaces. Or they can be differentiated in form,
color, or texture, in order to respond to or articulate
different spatial conditions. A vertical plane can
therefore have either two fronts or a front and a back.

The field of space on which a single vertical plane
fronts is not well-defined. The plane by itself can
establish only a single edge of the field. To define a
three-dimensional volume of space, the plane must
interact with other elements of form.

134 / A R C H I TE C TU R E : F O R M , S PA C E , & O R D E R