Ching, Francis D. K. Architecture: Form, Space and Order. Van Nostrand Reinhold: International Thomson Publishing, Inc.: New York, 1996.

This book is ideal for gaining a broad overview of a certain perspective on architecture. It is a must read for anyone who has reason to understand the basics of architectural theory, but does not have the time to study them in detail. The focus of the book, as the title implies, is the the vocabulary of order in the built environment as realized through form and space. Francis Ching tries to define the formal structure of built form, looking at the ways in which elements can be arranged or coordinated as part of a composition in an attempt at coherence. He starts with the point, then the line, plane, and solid. From there he expands into interactions of these forms in perceptual and architectural space. He does concede that this focus on the formal nature of architecture is merely one aspect of architecture, and recommends exploring other ways of looking at form, space and order beyond the formal.

Francis Ching asks three question which he suggests be kept in mind in the reading of the book:

• How might examples of space and form be analyzed, perceived and experienced?
• How might they be transformed into coherent, useful, and meaningful structures of space and enclosure?
• How might they be reapplied to a range of architectural problems?

"Architecture is a response to existing conditions, a problem-solving or design process" [p. ix]. Before one can begin to document a problem, define a context, and collect data, one must first recognize a problem exists and willfully and purposefully decide to seek a solution. By exploring vocabularies of architecture, one finds new ways of perceiving problems and new ways of shaping solutions.

Some salient quotes:

Fundamentally, the physical manifestations of architecture accommodate human activity. However, the arrangement and ordering of forms and spaces also determine how architecture might promote endeavors, elicit responses, and communicate meaning. [p. ix]

The path of our movement can be conceived as the perceptual thread that links the spaces of a building, or any series of interior or exterior spaces, together. [p. 228]

Spaces for movement form an integral part of any building organization and occupy a significant amount of volume of a building. If considered merely as functional linking devices, then circulation paths would be endless, corridor-like spaces. The form and scale of a circulation space, however, should accommodate the movement of people and they promenade, pause, rest, or take in a view along the path. [p. 268]

Order refers not simply to geometric regularity, but rather to a condition in which each part of a whole is properly disposed with reference to other parts and to its purpose so as to produce a harmonious arrangement. [p.320]