An Examination of unity as a guiding principle in architectural composition with special reference to contemporary Sri Lankan Architecture

Abstract

Architecture is primary an art. In the simplest sense it is the art of articulation of space in a meaningful way. According to Antoniades (1980), " Architecture is a discipline aimed at synthesizing, organizing, and creating orderout of nothingness or unrelated parts." Hence, while being as a spatial entity it is a discipline. Thus architecture deals with composing order out of unrelated elements to create an intended expression, just as a written document cannot convey a certain idea with understanding unless it is ordered in a certain manner, a work of art or architecture too, cannot fulfill its function and transmit its message unless it is expressed in an ordered manner. To achieve a well composed order, architecture governed by a set of identified principles. From all those principles unity is most fundamental and indispensable principle in work of art. As Le Corbusier (1931) points out, 'architecture is a matter of harmonies'. A good work of architecture is thus, one which harmonizes or integrates many things into one, in forming a single entity; the creation. Thus "the relations of parts to parts, of parts to wholes, of buildings to places, the perception of complete units, . (Abercombie, 1984). Hence, unity is the most Para mounting and vital single design discipline in work of art.