The Faculty of Architecture / Architecture (English taught)
1st Year, sem 1, 2026-2027

SFA-1E | Shape Study (1)

Compulsory Course | Hours/Week: 3L | ECTS Credits: 2

Department:

Study of Form and Ambience

Course Leader:

lect. Andreea Ivanciof

Teaching language:

English

Learning outcomes:

In the first semester, we propose a path from seeing to designing: light shapes form, and form becomes a project through verifiable rules. We practice traditional and mixed techniques (graphite, wash, color, collage), generate and refine volumes, explore metamorphosis in clay as a process over time, and build filter-limits that separate or unite space. Each exercise requires a clear rule, tested in light, iterated in material, and argued through documentation. The result is twofold: solid visual skills (values, edges, empty-full, transparency, etc.) and a designer's attitude capable of producing meaningful form and communicating it professionally through panels, models, and presentations.

Content:

1. PLASTIC WRITING TECHNIQUES - Graphite, Wash -FORM AND SHADOWS - Volume becomes painting through light
Support: Paper 35x50. Graphite/Charcoal; Watercolor, Pencil (HB, 2B,3B,etc).

2. Trompe l'oeil technique, Polychrome Drawing - Optical Illusions
Support: 35x50; Material: Semi-matte cardboard, color of your choice, ink, graphite, colored pencils, watercolors, markers, collage. Colored cardboard, glue, double-sided tape, ink, graphite, colored pencils, watercolors, markers.

3. ORGANIC FORM VS. GEOMETRIC STRUCTURE - Contrast of shapes: Support: paper 30x50, color by choise. Mixed Techniques.

4. LAYOUT TECHNIQUE - SPACE AND LIMIT - The contour that separates or unites
Material: paper, balsa wood, plexiglass, clay,etc.

5. BIONIC MORPHOLOGIES - Nature-inspired structures – from observation to formal system.
Material: Paper 35x50. Graphite/Charcoal; Watercolor. Material: 35x50 paper, pencil (HB, 2B,3B,etc), paper, balsa wood, plexiglass, etc

Teaching Method:

Theoretical exposure accompanied by images and video presentations, practical work in the studio conducted under the guidance of the teacher.

Assessment:

The average of the 5 works.

Bibliography:

• Louis I. Kahn – Silence and Light (1979).
• Henry Plummer – The Architecture of Natural Light (2009).
• James Turrell – A Retrospective (LACMA, 2013)
• Michael Fried (ed. Gregory Battcock) – „Art and Objecthood” în Minimal Art (1968)
• Donald Judd – „Specific Objects” (1965).
• Sybille Ebert-Schifferer – Caravaggio: The Complete Works (2012).
• Ernst van de Wetering – Rembrandt: The Painter at Work (1997).
• Eduardo Chillida – Chillida (Ed. Polígrafa, diverse ediții).
• Arnheim, Rudolf, Arta și percepția vizuală, o psihologie a văzului creator, Editura Meridiane, 1979
• Gombrich, E. H., Artă și iluzie, Polirom, 2018
• Williams, Sophia, 3D drawings and optical illusion - step by step
• D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson – On Growth and Form (1917/1961).
• Frei Otto – Finding Form (1996) – forme din tensiuni/forțe.
• Antoni Gaudí – Gaudí. The Complete Works (Rainer Zerbst, 2012) – modele catenare.
• Rudolf Wittkower – Architectural Principles in the Age of Humanism (1949) – proporții/ax vs. curbe.
• Colin Rowe – The Mathematics of the Ideal Villa (1976) – disciplină geometrică.
• Farshid Moussavi – The Function of Form (2009).
• Zaha Hadid – Zaha Hadid: Complete Works (Taschen).
• Helmut Pottmann et al. – Architectural Geometry (2007).
• Umberto Boccioni – Futurist Painting Sculpture (Plastic Dynamism) (1914).
• Germano Celant – Arte Povera (1969/1985).
• Peter Eisenman – Diagram Diaries (1999) & Written into the Void (2007) – arhitectura ca proces.
• Andy Goldsworthy – A Collaboration with Nature (1990) & Time (2000).
• Rosalind Krauss – Passages in Modern Sculpture (1977) – sculptură, proces, timp.
• Robert Morris – „Anti Form” (1968) – material și gravitație ca agenți.
• Sanford Kwinter – Architectures of Time (2001).
• Kengo Kuma – Anti-Object: The Dissolution and Disintegration of Architecture (2008).
• Juhani Pallasmaa – The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses (1996).
• Colin Rowe & Robert Slutzky – „Transparency: Literal and Phenomenal” (1963/1971).
• Rachel Whiteread – Rachel Whiteread (Tate, diverse cataloage).
• Paul Frankl & Paul Crossley – Gothic Architecture (2000).
• Otto von Simson – The Gothic Cathedral: Origins of Gothic Architecture and the Medieval Concept of Order (1956).
• Edward S. Morse – Japanese Homes and Their Surroundings (1885) – shoji, planuri permeabile.
• Azby Brown – The Genius of Japanese Carpentry (1989).

Notes:

SHAPE STUDY — RULES 2026–2027
1. Attendance. Attendance is mandatory for both presentation and studio sessions.
2. Course rhythm. Each topic begins with a presentation and continues with practical studio work the following week, giving students time to consult the bibliography and develop an initial response to the topic.
3. Preparation. Students must come prepared with the materials required for the current assignment and with an initial idea or proposal to be discussed with the professor.
4. Studio-only work. Work developed entirely at home will not be accepted for evaluation. Assignments must be developed in the studio, during scheduled sessions, under teacher supervision and with ongoing feedback.
5. Grade improvement. If a student wishes to improve a grade, the assignment may be redone from the beginning during the semester, within the already announced studio schedule, under teacher supervision. A dedicated recovery date is also included in the schedule for this purpose.
6. Medical cases. In justified medical cases, students must provide a medical certificate covering the period of absence. A separate recovery date during the examination session may then be established by mutual agreement with the teaching staff.
7. Submission. Assignments are submitted at the end of the studio session, in the required format.
8. Original work. All submitted work must be original and produced by the student.
9. Clean studio. Students are responsible for keeping the studio clean. Plaster, clay, paint, glue and other workshop residues must never be disposed of in sinks or toilets.
10. Waste. Students must bring garbage bags when required and clean their working area after each studio session.
11. Surface protection. When an assignment involves wet, dusty, staining or potentially damaging materials, the work surface must be fully covered and protected before work begins.