CHAPTER III

HORIZONTAL MAJOR DIVISIONS OF THE PRIMARY Ma.s.s

In the second chapter we discussed the nature of the primary ma.s.s in its relation to the intended service or duty it has to perform. It was found that the demands of service usually cause the primary ma.s.s to be designed with either a strong vertical or horizontal tendency.

[Sidenote: Divisions of the Primary Ma.s.s]

It now becomes imperative to carry the designing processes still further and divide the vertical or horizontal primary ma.s.s into parts or divisions, demanded either by structural requirements or because the appearance of the object would be materially improved by their presence.

This latter point is sometimes referred to as the aesthetic requirement of the problem. There are two simple types of divisions, those crossing the primary ma.s.s horizontally and those crossing the primary ma.s.s in a vertical direction. This chapter will be limited to the subject of horizontal divisions.

[Sidenote: Nature and Need of Horizontal s.p.a.ce Divisions]

If a city purchases a piece of land for park purposes, presumably a landscape architect is a.s.signed the task of laying out the paths and drives. He does this by crossing his plan at intervals with lines to represent paths connecting important points. Under favorable conditions the architect is free to curve his path to suit his ideas. He has considerable freedom in selecting his design but the paths or roads must dip and curve in sympathy with the contour of the land and in accord with the aesthetic requirements.

While the landscape designer has a broad lat.i.tude in his treatment of land divisions, the industrial designer or architect is restricted, on the other hand, by the structural requirements of the object and by his materials. He must cross his s.p.a.ces or areas by horizontal shelves, or rails, or bands of metal that hold the structure together. As architecture is of fundamental importance in industrial design, let us see what the architect has in mind in designing a structure.

[Ill.u.s.tration: STEPS ILl.u.s.tRATING THE DEVELOPMENT OF HORIZONTAL s.p.a.cE DIVISIONS FROM PRIMARY Ma.s.s TO THE STRUCTURE

PLATE 6]

[Sidenote: Architectural Horizontal Divisions]

The architect has the surface of the ground with which to start. This gives him a horizontal line as the base of his building. He considers it of major importance in his design. We find him crossing the front of his building with horizontal moulding or long bands of colored brick, paralleling the base line and otherwise interestingly dividing the vertical face of the front and sides. His guide is the bottom line of his primary ma.s.s or the line of the ground which binds the different parts of the building into a single unit. It can be readily seen that if he shifted the position of his mouldings up or down with the freedom of the landscape architect in locating his roads, he would not be planning his horizontal divisions in sympathy with the structural requirements of his primary ma.s.s.

These horizontal divisions or lines have a tendency to give apparent added length to an object. Thus by their judicious use a designer may make a building or room look longer than it really is.

Let us now turn to the simpler objects with which we may be more directly concerned. The piano bench has horizontal lines crossing it, giving an effect quite similar to that of horizontal mouldings crossing a building. There may also be ornamental inlaid lines crossing the bench and intended to beautify the design, but it is to be remembered that at present we are considering the _structural divisions_ only.

[Sidenote: Designing Objects with Horizontal Divisions]

Plate 6 represents a concrete example of the methods to be used in designing the horizontal divisions of a piano bench. The steps may be divided as follows:

(_a_) The height of a piano bench may be determined either from measurement of a similar bench or from one of the books on furniture design now on the market. The scale of one inch or one and one-half inches to the foot may be adopted. Two horizontal lines should be drawn, one for the bottom and one for the top of the bench. The distance between these lines we will arbitrarily fix at twenty inches.

(_b_) Many objects are designed within rectangles which enclose their main or over-all proportions. With this in view, and keeping in mind the width of the bench necessary to the accommodation of two players and the requirements of a well proportioned primary ma.s.s (Rule 1b), the lines are now drawn completing the rectangular boundaries of the primary ma.s.s. The limitations of service and the restrictions of good designing give the width of the primary ma.s.s so designed as three feet and two inches, with a ratio of height to length of five to eight and one-half.

It is simpler to design first the most prominent face of the object to be followed by other views later in the designing process.

[Ill.u.s.tration: APPLIED AND CONSTRUCTIVE DESIGN

PRINCIPLE 1: A. PROPORTIONS OF THE SINGLE PRIMARY Ma.s.s WITH DOMINANCE OF THE HORIZONTAL DIVISION

PRINCIPLE 2: A. RELATION OF HORIZONTAL SUBDIVISIONS

PROBLEM: HORIZONTAL s.p.a.cE DIVISIONS CLa.s.sES 1 2 3

PLATE 7]

[Sidenote: Designing Objects with Horizontal Divisions--(_Continued_)]

(_c_) By observing benches similar to the one being designed it will be seen that the horizontal divisions will take the form of a rail and a shelf, making two crossings of the primary ma.s.s dividing it into three horizontal s.p.a.ces. Several trial arrangements of these structural elements are now made with the thought of making them conform to the rule governing three horizontal s.p.a.ces. Rule 2b. We shall later discuss this rule and its applications fully.

(_d_) By selecting the best sketch of many which the designer will make he has the basis for the application of Rule 2b for the structural elements. The project now begins to take on concrete form. The top board may project slightly beyond the primary ma.s.s without materially affecting the value of the designed proportions.

[Sidenote: Value of a Full Size Drawing]

(_e_) The last step is the designing of the side view in relation to the front view. This enables the designer to comprehend the project as a whole. It is strongly urged that the final or shop drawing be of full size. In more elaborate designs the finer proportions are lost in the process of enlargement from a small sketch, often hurriedly executed in the shop. Again much time is lost by necessary enlargement, whereas a full size curved detail may be quickly transferred to wood by carbon paper or by holes p.r.i.c.ked in the paper. It is not expensive or difficult to execute full size drawings; it is in accord with shop practice and the custom should be encouraged and followed on all possible occasions.

See Figure 102a.

The process of designing round objects is identical to that just described as ill.u.s.trated by the low round bowl in Plate 7. It should be designed in a rectangle of accepted proportions. Rule 1b. The primary ma.s.s may have excellent proportions and yet the vase or bowl may remain devoid of interest. It may be commonplace.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HORIZONTAL s.p.a.cE DIVISIONS OF THE PRIMARY Ma.s.s IN WOOD

PLATE 8]

As will shortly be shown, the rules governing horizontal divisions serve as a check on the commonplace. A horizontal division generally marks the point where the outward swell of the vase contour reaches its maximum width. If this widest point in the primary ma.s.s (X-Plate 7) is pleasingly located between the top and bottom of a vase form the contour will be found satisfactory.

[Sidenote: Architectural Precedent for Horizontal Divisions]

It is possible to continue _ad infinitum_ with these ill.u.s.trations but horizontal s.p.a.ce divisions are nearly always present in some form, due to structural necessity or aesthetic requirements. It is an easy matter to say that these lines must divide the primary ma.s.s into "interesting"

s.p.a.ces, well related to each other, or "pleasingly located," but the designer must have some definite yet flexible rule to govern his work.

From the a.n.a.lysis of many famous historic buildings and well designed industrial projects it has been found that all horizontal ma.s.ses may be a.n.a.lyzed as dividing the primary ma.s.s into either _two_ or _three_ divisions or s.p.a.ces, regardless of the complexity of the project.

a.n.a.lYSIS OF HORIZONTAL s.p.a.cE DIVISIONS

[Sidenote: Two Horizontal s.p.a.ce Divisions]

Rule 2a. _If the primary ma.s.s is divided into two horizontal divisions, the dominance should be either in the upper or the lower section._ Plate 7 shows this division of the primary ma.s.s--the simplest division of the s.p.a.ce. A s.p.a.ce divided just half way from top to bottom would be monotonous and expressive of the ratio of one to one. This arrangement as we have already discovered in the second chapter is not conducive to good design.

By the stated rule, 2a, the varied adjustment of this double horizontal division affords all possible lat.i.tude for constructive purposes. It is better to place the division in such a manner that the upper division (or lower) will not appear pinched or dwarfed by comparison with the remaining area. Thus a ratio of one to three, or three to five, or five to eight is better than a ratio of one to one or one to eighteen, but there is no exact or arbitrary ruling on this point.

[Sidenote: Two Horizontal Divisions in Wood]

Figure 8 ill.u.s.trates two horizontal divisions in wood construction and also the freedom of choice as to exact proportions. The eye will be found a good judge of the proper s.p.a.cings subject to the limitations already mentioned.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HORIZONTAL s.p.a.cE DIVISIONS OF THE PRIMARY Ma.s.s IN CLAY

PLATE 9]

It is best to keep the design within the limits of two horizontal s.p.a.ce divisions in designing cylindrical clay forms, particularly in the elementary exercises. Enough variety will be found to make pleasing arrangements, and the technical results obtained by two divisions are much better than those obtained from a greater number of divisions.

[Sidenote: Two Horizontal Divisions in Clay]

Figures 14, 15, and 16, Plate 9, are clay forms with the dominance placed in either the upper or lower portion of the primary ma.s.s. Figure 13 has been used to ill.u.s.trate the fact that horizontal s.p.a.ce division principles are applicable to any material. The horizontal divisions in Figure 13 are due to structural needs. A horizontal line carries this division across to Figure 14, a clay vase. The horizontal division line now becomes the one which marks the widest part of the vase. It gives the same relation between the top and bottom horizontal s.p.a.ces as in Figure 13. It marks an aesthetic point in the design of the vase, or a variation of the contour, introduced by reason of its effect upon the beauty of the vase, not called for by the needs of actual service.