Manual of Floorplan

Reading Notes | O.M. Ungers: Seven Variations of Space on 'The Seven Lamps of Architecture' by John Ruskin.

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The “Manual of Section” has become one of the most read books among architects and students. It has become a reference for perspective section drawings and spatial organization techniques. Most students and architects do not know that there already exists and Manual of Plan written in 1985. As far as I can see, this book was not widely published and I think there isn’t an English version. It goes by the name of “Sieben Variationen des Raumes uber die Sieben Leuchter der Baukunst von John Ruskin” by O.M. Ungers. Just like the Manual of Section, it goes over a collection of spatial architypes; These are seen simultaneously as analytical categorizes used to understand already constructed projects and techniques that can be applied in design applications.

The purpose of this post is not to discuss the seven architypes outlined by Ungers, but rather, to discuss his introduction to the book. The meat of the book is almost all reference images used to communicate the spatial architypes. His introduction on the other hand, reads as a short manifesto, outlining the importance of a certain mode of thought and criticizing Modernist design trends. Below are my notes on those words.