Sterling Associates Incorporated Architects

Great architecture is more than just pretty flat facades to look at; it is 3D shapes, sculptures to be lived in. As you approach buildings and move through them, you experience their color, scale, rhythm, light, shadow, and even sounds.

By the time you walk out, all of your senses have been involved. According to the surface of a building,

it can appear soft or hard, light or heavy. A building with sharp edges and aggressive angles

would appear “hard,” whereas a building with more rounded edges would be

considered "soft." Materials like granite would appear heavier than brick.

For example, the Palazzo Punta di Diamanti in

Rome is a good example of a hard, heavy building,

and the Palazzo Vendramin-Calgeri in Venice is a

good example of a light, lacy building.