Space is one of the elements of design of architecture, as space is continuously studied for its usage. Architectural designs are created by carving space out of space, creating space out of space, and designing spaces by dividing this space using various tools, such as geometry, colours, and shapes. Architectural space is a portion of the surrounding world artificially isolated through architectural means. Space is the primary object of an architect's artistic work.
With the development of architecture, the concept of architectural space has undergone significant changes. If in medieval architecture the basis of spatial work was the observance of a certain order in the arrangement of buildings and their proportions, in the Renaissance era the idea of "visibility" emerged; an important aspect of spatial organization became the arrangement of structures so as to offer the best possible view. In the Modern Era, architects began to give great importance to the organization of large architectural spaces under integrated urban planning and axial composition. In the 20th century, the conception of architectural space as the human habitat became widespread. The task of organizing space came to be understood as the "provision of certain opportunities for human life." The prominent contemporary architect Bernard Tschumi states that the essence of space lies in its descriptive dimension, being a central theme for philosophical, mathematical, and physical discussions. For him, space is the essence of both architecture and urbanism.
A clear and technical definition of space is presented by Jörg Kurt Grütter, who describes it as a vacuum (void) that can contain an object or be filled by something. According to the author, although space does not possess an exact and specific definition as an entity, it can be fully measurable through perception.
Human Dimension
Architectural space can be divided into hierarchical levels: compartment, building, architectural ensemble, settlement. Subsequent generalizations extrapolate the limits of human "sensory perception" and are not considered architectural spaces. Furthermore, space can be divided into internal (contained within the volume of the building) and external. Space in architecture is the fundamental element that protects the human being from natural factors and encompasses the totality of their individual and social activities. In physical space, the human being satisfies their material and spiritual needs; the core essence of architecture is space, being the medium where man moves and lives. There are several types of spaces in architecture, which can be classified in various ways, depending on function or perception.
Space, in its absolute concept, does not present intrinsic characteristics by itself; however, as soon as a human group establishes an activity in a certain location, the symbolic meaning of space emerges. From that moment on, space becomes a stage for the expression of human activities and behaviors, transforming into a place of intersection between imagination and reality.
Spatial Interpretation In historiography, it is possible to perceive different "ways of seeing" architecture presented by Bruno Zevi. According to him, such interpretations are grouped into content-based, formalist, physio-psychological, and finally, spatial—the most complete, as it would involve a "living experience," suggesting a real three-dimensional movement influenced by distances, volumes, lights, and colors. Interpreting only one aspect of space would be to limit it, because, as Zevi points out:
The discussion of what constitutes architectural form and space dates back to classical antiquity with Vitruvius, but the fundamental outlines were defined in the 15th century by Leon Battista Alberti. Alberti sought to gather all knowledge into a normative theory, establishing the three basic conditions for architecture: firmness, commodity, and delight (solidity, utility, and beauty).
Volume and architectural space
The point indicates a position in space. Conceptually, it has no length, width, or depth, and is therefore static, centralized, and without direction. Translating a point yields the line with properties: length, direction, and sense, but it has no width. It expresses direction, movement, and development. Translating a line yields a plane with properties: length, width, shape, surface, orientation, and position. But it has no depth. Translating a plane yields a volume with properties: length, width, depth, form, space, surface, orientation, and position.
Architecture has space as its primordial element, detailing and delimiting it through volume. Architectural volume and architectural space are independent and, at times, their sensation and perception do not coincide. The volume does not always coincide with the material form that delimits it, as these vary according to the proportion of the interior levels; the visual dimension of color and texture; and the direction of transparencies.El espacio arquitectónico
The conception of "space" must be considered the distinctive quality of architecture, differentiating it from the plastic arts, such as painting or sculpture. According to Pevsner, "a bicycle shed is a building; Lincoln Cathedral is a work of architecture. [...] the architect creates a three-dimensional volume of air. This is the quality that distinguishes architecture from the art of the painter or sculptor." Our perception of the architectural work transcends the mere sensation produced by the two-dimensional treatment of the elevations of the surfaces—the facades and vertical planes—or even by the plastic modeling of the mass in its external form.
The uniqueness of architecture resides in the experience of the space it delimits. Unlike other forms of art, architecture requires penetration into the void; it is a phenomenon that reveals itself through the movement of the subject, who traverses the interior space of the work in a succession of multiple visual and physical impressions. It is in this synthesis between the body, time, and the enclosed volume that architecture fulfills its artistic and functional purpose.Fernando Freitas Fuão, The sense of space. In what sense, in what sense? (Arquitextos, 2003)
According to Paul Frankl (1914), the visual impression, the image produced by differences in light and color, is primary in our perception of a building. Empirically, we reinterpret this image into a conception of physicality, which defines the form of the interior space... Once the optical image is interpreted into a conception of enclosed space within a mass, we read its purpose from the spatial form.P. Frankl, Principles of Architectural History, chapter 1 According to Ching, form and space are the essential means of architecture, constituting a vocabulary of design elements; Alexander complements: Architecture represents a means of providing man with an existential foothold to create places charged with meaningAlexander et al., 1977, p. 15Ching, 2014, p.12
The concept of Space is used comprehensively in numerous fields and disciplines, such as philosophy, sociology, architecture, and urbanism. However, the multiplicity of the use of the term does not imply an identical understanding of the concept; studies indicate that there is almost no absolute consensus on its definition in scientific discussions, presenting high polysemy without a single definition that encompasses all its aspects.
Space is a general category that fills the universe and gives the environment a sense of comfort and security. Any human action has a spatial dimension, as every act performed requires space; this attachment derives from the need to establish communication, whether between humans or between man and the environment.
Perception Space has a fluid nature and its definition is complex. It can seem subtle and vast, where the sense of dimension is lost, or so full of three-dimensional existence that it confers a special meaning on everything within its reach (visualizable, see: perspective). Although precise definition is difficult, space is measurable; the closest definition is to consider it as a vacuum that can contain an object or be filled. There is always a relationship between the observer and the space: the physical position of the person defines the space, which is perceived in different ways depending on the point of view.
In the modern era, the concept of space frequently replaced that of "place." Some consider "form" as its most important characteristic, but the meaning that the human being finds in physical elements depends on the cultural and ideological context. Edward T. Hall emphasizes the perception of space through the senses, recognizing that factors such as culture and language influence this experience, as in the case of the "audio-olfactory" space of the Eskimos.
Architecture is not the wall, but the space that the wall encloses. Space functions as the "negative" of the physical mass, and it is in this void, of the enclosed space, of the interior space in which men walk and live, that architecture really happens. As Nikolaus Pevsner argues, the difference between architecture and mere construction resides precisely in this manipulation of internal volume as an entity to be lived in.
Architectural space is not static; it is something "through which we can pass." Its apprehension requires the movement of the body in time, resulting in a multiple series of visual and physical impressions. Paul Frankl describes this phenomenon as the genesis of "spatial form" (Raumform), which is revealed through the succession of perspectives captured by the observer in motion. Space is considered "indefinable" because it has no form of its own; it assumes the form of its limits. At the moment we try to define space, we end up describing the surfaces that surround it—space and mass—and not space itself. This intrinsic nature makes space the most critical and, simultaneously, the most elusive element of architectural theory.
Contemporary theoretical thought criticizes the view that reduces architecture to the "graphism" of facades or the "elevations of the surface." True architecture begins where the optical vision ends and the spatial experience begins. Jörg Kurt Grütter stresses that full architectural perception requires the visual stimulus of the surface to be transcended in favor of the phenomenological experience of volume.
Genius loci Historically, the Islamic intellectual tradition, through thinkers like Avicenna (Ibn Sina), rejected the view of space as an absolute void (vacuum), proposing instead that "place" (makan) is the contact surface that involves and sustains bodies, giving it an essentially qualitative and relational dimension.
In the tectonic and geometric dimension, physical and material organization defines the limits of space. Geometry is not treated as abstract data, but as the tool that establishes the morphology and metric through which the void becomes tangible. It represents the dialectical relationship between the built mass and the volume of air it encloses, defining the base structure of perception. A stylistic resource is the amor vacui (love of the void), and it is the philosophical basis that allows the transition from architecture as a "built object" to architecture as "lived space."