The Faculty of Architecture / Architecture (English taught)
1st Year, sem 2, 2025-2026

SFA-2E | Shape Study (2)

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 second semester, we shift from form as a controlled object to form as a system with meaning and effects. We develop nature-derived morphologies into formal languages, work with memory and heritage through precise symbolic interventions, and practice manual algorithmic thinking—rule sets that generate families of forms without software. We also design under real constraints by using “poor” materials as drivers of structure and expression, and we test form in the city as a behavioral trigger that invites interaction. Each topic requires a clear protocol (observation → rule → iteration → prototype), validated through documentation and critique. The outcome is a student who can build coherent formal systems, argue conceptual intentions, and produce grounded proposals—materially, spatially, and socially.

Content:

Topic 1: 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


Topic 2: MEMORY FORM - Symbolic intervention in a space with historical value
Material: paper, balsa wood, plexiglass, etc

Topic 3: ALGORITHM MANUAL - Systemic formal generation without software
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, paper, balsa wood, plexiglass, etc


Topic 4: POOR MATERIAL FORM - Formal exploration starting from the limitations of a real and banal material
Material: paper, pet(plastic), textile

Topic 5: FORM BEHAVIOR IN PUBLIC SPACE - Form that provokes social interaction
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.

Teaching Method:

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

Assessment:

Arithmetic average achieved between the 5 works.

Bibliography:

Borchardt-Hume Achim and Coxon Ann, Alexander Calder: Performing Sculpture, Yale University Press, 2016, U.S.
Liversain Patricia, Modeling in Clay, Trafalgar Square Publishing, 2000, U.S.
Arthur Dorothy, Modelling In Clay, A&C Black, U.S.
Rickey George, George Rickey Kinetic Sculpture: A Retrospective, Vero Beach Museum of Art, 2007, U.S.
Hunter Sam, Daniel Wheeler, John Jacobus, Modern Art: painting, sculpture, architecture, photography ,
Pearson, 2003, U.K.
Lawlor Robert Sacred Geometry, Thames and Hudson Ltd, 1982, London, U.K.
Frascari Marco, Eleven Exercises in the Art of Architectural Drawing, Routledge, 2011, Oxford, U.K.
Wucius Wong, Principles of form and design, John Wiley and Sons, Inc, 1993, New York, U.S
Marco Frascari, Eleven Exercises in the Art of Architectural Drawing, Routledge, 2011, U.K.
Robert Lawlor, Sacred Geometry, Thames and Hudson Ltd, 1982, London, U.K.
Wassily Kandinsky, Concerning the Spiritual in Art, Dover Publications, 1977,U.S.
Vivian Endicott Barnett , Kandinsky, Guggenheim Museum, 2009, U.S.
Wassily Kandinsky, Cours Du Bauhaus, Denoël Gonthier, 1975, France
Anna Moszynska, Abstract Art, Thames Hudson, 1990, U.K..
Deicher Susanne, Piet Mondrian, Taschen, 2000, Germany
Milner John, Piet Mondrian, Phaidon Press, 1995, U.K.
Blau Eve, Architecture and Cubism, Mit Press, 2002, U.S.