amanbh997/skills-architects/architect-foundations
Claude Code and agent skill by amanbh997/skills-architects
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Auto-activated foundation layer for the Architect Skills plugin providing practitioner-grade reference across 50+ architects and theorists (Vitruvius through Kere), 100+ quantitative rules of thumb sourced from IBC, ASHRAE 90.1, ADA/ABA, NFPA 101, BS EN 1991-1995, Neufert Architects' Data, and Architectural Graphic Standards. Covers all major building typologies (residential, commercial, institutional, industrial, special), design quality frameworks (RIBA Plan of Work 2020, AIA Framework for Design Excellence, CABE Building for Life 12), sustainability rating systems (LEED BD+C v4.1, BREEAM New Construction 2024, Passive House Classic/Plus/Premium, WELL v2, Living Building Challenge 4.0, Fitwel), fire and life safety codes (NFPA 101, IBC Ch. 7-10, BS 9999, Approved Document B), accessibility standards (ADA 2010, BS 8300, EN 17210, DDA), acoustic performance (ASTM E90 STC, ASTM E492 IIC, BB93, DIN 4109), structural systems, envelope performance, daylighting metrics, and an anti-pattern catalog of common design failures. Routes to 17 specialized downstream skills based on user query context.
Install
npx vskill@latest install amanbh997/skills-architects/architect-foundationsSKILL.md
Architect Foundations
Auto-activated knowledge layer. Every response involving building architecture draws from this reference base before routing to specialized skills.
1. Core Architects & Theorists Quick Reference
| # | Architect / Theorist | Core Framework (Dates) | Key Concepts & Exemplar Buildings | When to Apply | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vitruvius | De Architectura (c. 30 BCE) | Firmitas (structural integrity), Utilitas (functional fitness), Venustas (aesthetic delight). Classical orders (Doric, Ionic, Corinthian) as proportional systems. Site orientation per wind/sun. Aqueduct and basilica typology. Exemplar: Basilica at Fano (described, not extant). | Foundational quality check on any project. Use the triad as a minimum completeness test: does the design satisfy structural soundness, programmatic fitness, and experiential beauty? | |
| 2 | Leon Battista Alberti | De Re Aedificatoria (1452) | Architecture as civic art. Concinnitas (harmony of parts). Facade as independent compositional layer (Palazzo Rucellai, Florence, 1446-1451 -- pilaster orders applied to masonry wall). Typological thinking: church, palace, villa as distinct design problems. Town planning principles. | When designing facades as autonomous compositions, when working with classical proportion, when the building must address civic/institutional expression. | |
| 3 | Andrea Palladio | I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura (1570) | Proportional room ratios (1:1, 1:sqrt2, 1:2, 2:3, 3:4). Bilateral symmetry along central axis. Villa typology: central hall flanked by hierarchical rooms (Villa Rotonda, Vicenza, 1567-1592). Loggia/portico as threshold. Temple front applied to domestic architecture. Harmonic proportions derived from musical intervals. | Residential design requiring formal order. Any project where room-to-room proportional relationships matter. Classical institutional buildings. Heritage/conservation contexts requiring Palladian literacy. | |
| 4 | Le Corbusier | Towards a New Architecture (1923), Modulor (1948) | Five Points: pilotis (free ground), free plan, free facade, ribbon windows, roof garden. Dom-ino frame (1914): slab-column independence enabling plan freedom. Modulor: anthropometric proportional system (red/blue series from 1.83m standing figure). Promenade architecturale (Villa Savoye, Poissy, 1929-1931). Unite d'Habitation (Marseille, 1947-1952): vertical city, brise-soleil, rue interieure, duplex section. Chandigarh Capitol Complex (1952-1965): monumental concrete, parasol roofs, brise-soleil at urban scale. | Reinforced concrete frame buildings. When separating structure from enclosure. Multi-storey housing with communal services. Sun-control facade design. Proportional system for furniture-to-building scale coherence. | |
| 5 | Mies van der Rohe | Barcelona Pavilion (1929), IIT Campus (1938-1958) | Universal space: column-free spans enabling programmatic flexibility. "Less is more." Steel-and-glass construction as tectonic expression. Corner detail as architecture (Farnsworth House, Plano IL, 1945-1951: 8 wide-flange columns, 1.5m cantilever, elevated floor plane). Seagram Building (NYC, 1954-1958): bronze I-beam mullions, set-back plaza, 8.4m structural bay. Crown Hall (IIT, 1950-1956): 36.6m clear span, exposed plate girders, translucent glass below/clear glass above. | Large-span structures. Corporate/institutional buildings seeking material honesty. When structural expression IS the architecture. Office buildings, museums, galleries requiring flexible open plans. | |
| 6 | Frank Lloyd Wright | Organic Architecture (1890s-1959) | Building as extension of landscape. Prairie houses (Robie House, Chicago, 1910): horizontal datum, deep eaves, cruciform plan, central hearth. Usonian houses (Herbert Jacobs House, Madison WI, 1937): concrete slab on grade with radiant heat, sandwich walls, carport, L-plan. Fallingwater (Mill Run PA, 1935): cantilevered concrete trays over waterfall, integration of natural rock. Guggenheim Museum (NYC, 1943-1959): continuous spiral ramp, top-lit atrium. | Residential design with strong site integration. When topography drives form. When interior spatial flow takes priority over discrete rooms. Radiant floor heating. Open-plan living. | |
| 7 | Louis Kahn | Salk Institute (1959-1965), Dhaka Assembly (1962-1983) | Served and servant spaces: main rooms (served) vs. mechanical/circulation zones (servant). Distinction between "what a building wants to be" and program. Silence and Light as design metaphor. Monumental concrete with deliberate formwork. Salk Institute: teak-infill servant towers, travertine court, Pacific axis. Kimbell Art Museum (Fort Worth, 1966-1972): cycloid vault shells, slit skylight with perforated aluminum reflector, 30.5m span, natural light in galleries. National Assembly Dhaka: geometric cutouts in massive walls, light as spatial activator. | Museums and cultural buildings where natural light is paramount. Institutional buildings requiring clear spatial hierarchy. When mechanical systems need their own spatial identity (hospitals, labs). Projects demanding material gravitas. | |
| 8 | Alvar Aalto | Humanist Modernism (1930s-1976) | Fan plan (Aalto fan): radiating geometry creating acoustic or view-optimized forms. Material warmth: brick, timber, copper against white render. Viipuri Library (1927-1935): conical skylights, undulating ceiling in lecture hall. Paimio Sanatorium (1929-1933): patient room design driven by recumbent body (ceiling colour, angled washbasin, radiant heating, view orientation). Saynatsalo Town Hall (1949-1952): raised courtyard, brick mass, intimate civic scale. Baker House MIT (1947-1949): serpentine plan giving each room a river view. | Healthcare, educational, and civic buildings. When user comfort drives geometry. Acoustic design of auditoria. Northern/cold climates where material warmth matters. When irregular geometry serves functional purpose (views, acoustics) rather than formal expression. | |
| 9 | Tadao Ando | Church of the Light (1989), Naoshima projects (1988-2004) | Smooth-cast in-situ concrete with 900mm tie-hole grid as ornament. Light as primary material. Geometric purity: circles, rectangles, intersecting walls. Church of the Light (Osaka): cruciform slot in end wall, no glass originally. Water Temple (Awaji, 1991): descent through lotus pond into underground elliptical space. Chichu Art Museum (Naoshima, 2004): entirely below grade, skylit galleries, no external presence. | Gallery/museum spaces. Meditation/religious buildings. When concrete is the primary expressive material. Sites where building must defer to landscape. Projects requiring extreme precision in light control. | |
| 10 | Peter Zumthor | Atmospheres (2006), Thinking Architecture (1998) | Material presence: every material selection tested at full scale. Thermal qualities of space (temperature of a room as design parameter). Temporal craft: aging, weathering, patina as design intent. Therme Vals (1996): local Valser quartzite, 15cm layered slabs, slot skylights, water as spatial medium. Bruder Klaus Chapel (Kolumba, 2007): rammed concrete over timber wigwam formwork, charred interior, oculus. Kolumba Museum (Cologne, 2007): perforated brick screen over Gothic ruin, filtered light. | Museums, baths, sacred spaces. When material sourcing is site-specific. When atmosphere and sensory experience outrank visual spectacle. Renovation/adaptive reuse requiring archaeological sensitivity. Projects where slow construction craft is viable. | |
| 11 | Glenn Murcutt | "Touch the earth lightly" (1969-present) | Climate-responsive sectional design for Australian conditions. Corrugated metal, steel frame, raised floor. Sectional thinking: ventilation stack, reflective underside, operable louvers. Marika-Alderton House (Yirrkala NT, 1991-1994): timber frame, plywood panels operable as walls/shutters, cross-ventilation for tropical monsoon climate. Simpson-Lee House (Mt Wilson NSW, 1988-1994): steel pavilion, bushfire-resistant, rainwater collection, north-facing (southern hemisphere). Single architect, hand-drawn, no employees. | Hot-arid and hot-humid climates. Lightweight steel/timber construction. Passive ventilation. Bushfire-prone sites. Rural and remote sites. When section design drives environmental performance more than plan. | |
| 12 | Rem Koolhaas / OMA | Delirious New York (1978), S,M,L,XL (1995) | Bigness: beyond a certain scale, buildings can no longer be controlled by a single architectural gesture. Programmatic layering: stacking unrelated programs vertically (Seattle Central Library, 2004: 5 programmatic platforms with interstitial "in-between" floors). Generic City / Junkspace as critique. CCTV Building (Beijing, 2002-2012): continuous loop structure, 234m tall, 473,000 sqm, cantilevered 75m overhang. De Rotterdam (2013): vertical city, three interconnected towers, mixed-use stacking. | Large-scale mixed-use complexes. Urban masterplanning at metropolitan scale. When program exceeds simple typological classification. Competition projects requiring narrative. Projects where diagram precedes form. | |
| 13 | Renzo Piano / RPBW | Centre Pompidou (1971-1977, with Rogers), Lightness + Craft | Layered facades with environmental/structural logic. Lightness through refined steel/glass/terracotta detailing. Centre Pompidou: inside-out services, gerberette brackets, polychrome ducts. Menil Collection (Houston, 1982-1987): ferro-cement "leaf" baffles for diffused daylight. The Shard (London, 2009-2012): 309.6m, tapering glass planes, open apex. California Academy of Sciences (SF, 2000-2008): living roof, 2.5-acre canopy, net-zero energy target. Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre (Noumea, 1991-1998): iroko timber "cases" inspired by Kanak huts, passive stack ventilation. | Museum/gallery daylighting. Tall buildings requiring environmental performance. Cultural buildings in sensitive contexts. When the facade is the primary design problem. High-craft construction with large budgets. | |
| 14 | Kengo Kuma | Anti-Object (2008), Material Dissolution | Material dissolution: breaking mass into particles (wood slats, stone chips, aluminum louvers). Transparency through layering. Yusuhara Wooden Bridge Museum (2010): cantilevered laminated timber. V&A Dundee (2018): precast concrete fins creating cliff-like facade. Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo (2019): 2000 Yoshino cedar tubes. GC Prostho Museum (2010): cidori timber joint system, no nails. Japan National Stadium (2019): timber-and-steel hybrid lattice, 5 stories of overhanging eaves, natural ventilation ring. | Timber and natural material construction. When mass needs to be dematerialized. Japanese-influenced detailing. Pavilion and museum projects. Screen/filter facade strategies. | |
| 15 | Bjarke Ingels / BIG | Yes is More (2009), Hedonistic Sustainability | Worldcraft: architecture as world-building. Programmatic diagrams as generative form (8 House, Copenhagen, 2010: figure-eight loop, 476 units, ground-to-penthouse cycling path). CopenHill (2019): waste-to-energy plant with ski slope/climbing wall on facade. VIA 57 West (NYC, 2016): courtyard + skyscraper hybrid, tetrahedral form. The Spiral (NYC, 2025): cascading terraces. Sustainability as hedonism: green features that are also pleasurable. | Mixed-use housing at urban scale. Public infrastructure requiring public amenity. Competition design with strong narrative/diagram. Projects where sustainability must be experiential, not just metric-driven. | |
| 16 | Francis Kere | Community-Built Architecture, Pritzker 2022 | Local materials + community labor as design strategy. Primary School Gando (Burkina Faso, 2001): compressed laterite blocks, rebar-reinforced, raised roof for stack ventilation, 30cm gap between ceiling and corrugated roof. Lycee Schorge (Koudougou, 20 |
This is the start of the file. Read the full SKILL.md on GitHub.
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Stars and forks are for the whole GitHub repository, not this skill alone. Refreshed 28 Apr 2026, 6 months ago.
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