Group form reconsidered: Physicality and humanity of collective spaces

Abstract

In 1964, Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki presented the need for investigation in housing collective form. The need was explained through his sensitivity towards the dynamic change of society and simultaneous inadequacy of architectural static and fragmented respond. This paper presents the contemporary view on the theory of collective form and its investigation into why and how the group of buildings stands together. It brings forward the need for renewed architectural focus on group form, one of Maki's collective form types, and the social and human reasoning of design decisions. The theory of linkages in group form is related to more recent sociospatial analytical theories and interpreted as an analytical tool for understanding housing morphologies, configurations, and its social capacity of group form. It is proposed that the morphological and configurational approach can be used in combination for reading and understanding the historical and contemporary housing ensembles and their relation to an urban whole. The aim of the theoretical research is the identification of the analytical framework and design principles of group form based on architectural and configurational elements and their relations, as socially and culturally relevant.