Architectural Precedents: Historic Case Studies on Spatial Density and Seclusion

The use of historical precedents as references has been widely used in modern and contemporary architectural practices. "Architectural Precedents: Historic Case Studies on Spatial Density and Seclusion" presents a set of examples to look at as a generative source for students and practitioners, pointing to universal compositional principles such as structure, symmetry, scale and density. This volume does not pretend to provide sources for generating architecture, and even less to identify the more compelling or valid ones. It is not a history book on medieval fortresses, either. It simply looks back to a few medieval and historical structures-castles and monasteries in particular-where some basic principles of architectural language become clear and transparent through the lens of newly produced homogeneous drawings. They invite interpretations that, while perhaps absent at the time of their construction, now emerge as prompts for continued exploration in architectural thought. The selection of precedents is both arbitrary and intentional. Overall, this book offers drawings to look at, hoping that some of them will inform the creation of new projects or the reflection on existing ones.