Summary Part 2: Individuality and Continuity - Architectural Composition by John Beverley Robinson

This post continues our several part series summarizing the classic book Architectural Composition, 1908 by John Beverley Robinson.  The previous post discussed the design characteristic that Robinson considered most essential: unity.

Robinson continues his discussion of form by examining the two main sorts of shapes in architectural composition which correspond to opposite sentiments: individual and continuous. 

The Boston Public Library and the Old South Church on Boston's Copley Square are respectively exquisite examples of the expression of continuity and individuality (2009).

Individuality:

Buildings where the height is greater than the width lend themselves to individual treatment.  They command attention and stand out as focal.  In the absence of concentration, there is no individuality.  Pyramidal and pointed forms generally express the most striking individuality. Pyramids possess individuality because all lines trend to a single point.  After the pyramid, the tower has the most individuality.

The vertical treatment and tower of this Art Deco building in San Antonio, TX express individuality (2008). 

Continuity:

Unity doesn't require individuality; it can be achieved with continuity.  Buildings in which width is greater than height lend themselves to continuous treatment.  Buildings whose primary expression is continuity tend to recede and blend into the urban fabric. 

The even cornice line and horizontal treatment of these terraced houses in London's Belgravia neighborhood express continuity (2005).

Design Considerations When Expressing Individuality and Continuity:

Stronger horizontal lines should be used on a wide building to emphasize continuity.  Stronger vertical lines should be used on a taller, slender building to emphasize individuality.  (This can be reversed, but requires a great deal of skill to pull off).  It is difficult to gracefully combine a vertical mass in a horizontal building without creating a feeling of discord.  By utilizing either a horizontal or a vertical treatment for the entire composition, unity can be achieved between disparate elements.

The individual treatment of St Stephen's Basilica contrasts with the continuous treatment of the framing buildings to terminate the vista down Zrinyi Street in Budapest, Hungary (2008)

Powerful urban compositions can be created by skillfully utilizing both individual and continuous buildings. For any true aesthetic judgment of the productions of architecture and urbanism, we must judge them as we do a picture.  Buildings must be judged in the context of their surroundings.  Buildings expressing continuity and horizontality can be used to form a serene backdrop or frame.  Striking results can be obtained by contrasting this placid backdrop with a focal building expressing individuality and verticality.  This arrangement is seen, for example, in a town whose otherwise plain silhouette is pierced by the steeple of a church.  Any ordinary group of heterogeneous parts can be pulled together if one of them can be arranged as a tower around which the rest cluster.

Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy, France is a classic example where a single dominant vertical form expressing individuality is used to organize a grouping of disparate buildings into an expression of sublime unity.  (Photo by David Iliff. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Amazon: Architectural Composition (1908, by John Beverley Robinson)