Selected Bibliography Architecture - Form Space and Order | Page 417

TR ANSFO RMATIO N

The study of architecture, as with other disciplines, should legitimately
involve the study of its past, of prior experiences, endeavors, and accomplishments from which much can be learned and emulated. The principle of
transformation accepts this notion; this book, and all of the examples it
contains, is predicated on it.
The principle of transformation allows a designer to select a prototypical
architectural model whose formal structure and ordering of elements
might be appropriate and reasonable, and to transform it through a series
of discrete manipulations in order to respond to the specific conditions
and context of the design task at hand.
Design is a generative process of analysis and synthesis, of trial and error,
of trying out possibilities and seizing opportunities. In the process of
exploring an idea and probing its potential, it is essential that a designer
understand the fundamental nature and structure of the concept. If the
ordering system of a prototypical model is perceived and understood, then
the original design concept can, through a series of finite permutations, be
clarified, strengthened, and built upon, rather than destroyed.

Plan Development of the North Indian Cella

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