Architecture (
Latin architectura, from the Greek
ἀρχιτέκτων – arkhitekton, from
ἀρχι- "chief" and
τέκτων "builder, carpenter, mason") is both the process and product of
planning,
designing, and
construction, usually of buildings and other physical structures. Architectural works, in the material form of
buildings, are often perceived as cultural symbols and as
works of art. Historical civilizations are often identified with their surviving architectural achievements.
"Architecture" can mean:
- A general term to describe buildings and other physical structures.
- The art and science of designing and erecting buildings and other physical structures.
- The style and method of design and construction of buildings and other physical structures.
- The practice of the architect, where architecture means the offering or rendering of professional services in connection with the design and construction of buildings, or built environments.[1]
- The design activity of the architect, from the macro-level (urban design, landscape architecture) to the micro-level (construction details and furniture).
- The term "architecture" has been adopted to describe the activity of designing any kind of system, and is commonly used in describing information technology.
In relation to buildings, architecture has to do with the planning, designing and constructing form, space and ambience that reflect functional, technical, social, environmental, and aesthetic considerations. It requires the creative manipulation and coordination of material, technology, light and shadow. Architecture also encompasses the pragmatic aspects of realizing buildings and structures, including scheduling, cost estimating and construction administration. As documentation produced by architects, typically drawings, plans and technical specifications, architecture defines the
structure and/or
behavior of a building or any other kind of
system that is to be or has been constructed.
Brunelleschi, in the building of the dome, not only transformed the cathedral and the city of
Florence, but also the role and status of the architect.
[2][3]
Theory of architecture[edit source]
The earliest surviving written work on the subject of architecture is
De architectura, by the Roman architect
Vitruvius in the early 1st century AD.
[5]According to Vitruvius, a good building should satisfy the three principles of
firmitas, utilitas, venustas,
[6][7] which translate roughly as:
- Durability – it should stand up robustly and remain in good condition.
- Utility – it should be useful and function well for the people using it.
- Beauty – it should delight people and raise their spirits.
According to Vitruvius, the architect should strive to fulfill each of these three attributes as well as possible.
Leone Battista Alberti, who elaborates on the ideas of Vitruvius in his treatise,
De Re Aedificatoria, saw beauty primarily as a matter of proportion, although ornament also played a part. For Alberti, the rules of proportion were those that governed the idealised human figure, the
Golden mean. The most important aspect of beauty was therefore an inherent part of an object, rather than something applied superficially; and was based on universal, recognisable truths. The notion of style in the arts was not developed until the 16th century, with the writing of
Vasari.
[8] The treatises, by the 18th century, had been translated into Italian, French, Spanish and English.
In the early 19th century,
Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin wrote
Contrasts (1836) that, as the titled suggested, contrasted the modern, industrial world, which he disparaged, with an idealized image of neo-medieval world.
Gothic architecture, Pugin believed, was the only "true Christian form of architecture."
The 19th-century English art critic,
John Ruskin, in his
Seven Lamps of Architecture, published 1849,
[9] was much narrower in his view of what constituted architecture. Architecture was the "art which so disposes and adorns the edifices raised by men ... that the sight of them" contributes "to his mental health, power, and pleasure".
For Ruskin, the aesthetic was of overriding significance. His work goes on to state that a building is not truly a work of architecture unless it is in some way "adorned". For Ruskin, a well-constructed, well-proportioned, functional building needed string
courses or
rustication, at the very least.
On the difference between the ideals of
architecture and mere
construction, the renowned 20th-century architect
Le Corbusier wrote: "You employ stone, wood, and concrete, and with these materials you build houses and palaces: that is construction. Ingenuity is at work. But suddenly you touch my heart, you do me good. I am happy and I say: This is beautiful. That is Architecture".
[10]
By contrast, le Corbusier's contemporary,
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe said that architecture begins "when 2 bricks are put together."
Modern concepts of architecture[edit source]
While the notion that structural and aesthetic considerations should be entirely subject to functionality was met with both popularity and skepticism, it had the effect of introducing the concept of "function" in place of Vitruvius' "utility". "Function" came to be seen as encompassing all criteria of the use, perception and enjoyment of a
building, not only practical but also aesthetic, psychological and cultural.
Nunzia Rondanini stated, "Through its aesthetic dimension architecture goes beyond the functional aspects that it has in common with other human sciences. Through its own particular way of expressing
values, architecture can stimulate and influence social life without presuming that, in and of itself, it will promote social development.'
To restrict the meaning of (architectural) formalism to art for art's sake is not only reactionary; it can also be a purposeless quest for perfection or originality which degrades form into a mere instrumentality".
[11]
In the late 20th century a new concept was added to those included in the compass of both structure and function, the consideration of
sustainability. To satisfy the contemporary ethos a building should be constructed in a manner which is environmentally friendly in terms of the production of its materials, its impact upon the natural and built environment of its surrounding area and the demands that it makes upon non-sustainable power sources for heating, cooling, water and waste management and
lighting.
Origins and vernacular architecture[edit source]
Vernacular architecture in
Norway.
Building first evolved out of the dynamics between needs (shelter, security, worship, etc.) and means (available
building materials and attendant skills). As human cultures developed and knowledge began to be formalized through oral traditions and practices, building became a
craft, and "architecture" is the name given to the most highly formalized and respected versions of that craft.
It is widely assumed that architectural success was the product of a process of trial and error, with progressively less trial and more replication as the results of the process proved increasingly satisfactory. What is termed
vernacular architecture continues to be produced in many parts of the world. Indeed, vernacular buildings make up most of the built world that people experience every day. Early human settlements were mostly
rural. Due to a surplus in production the economy began to expand resulting in urbanization thus creating
urban areas which grew and evolved very rapidly in some cases, such as that of
Çatal Höyük in
Anatolia and
Mohenjo Daro of the Indus Valley Civilization in modern-day
Pakistan.
In many ancient civilizations, such as those of Egypt and Mesopotamia, architecture and urbanism reflected the constant engagement with the divine and the
supernatural, and many ancient cultures resorted to monumentality in architecture to represent symbolically the political power of the ruler, the ruling elite, or the state itself.
Texts on architecture have been written since ancient time. These texts provided both general advice and specific formal prescriptions or canons. Some examples of canons are found in the writings of the 1st-century BCE Roman military engineer
Vitruvius. Some of the most important early examples of canonic architecture are religious.
The architecture of different parts of
Asia developed along different lines from that of Europe; Buddhist, Hindu and Sikh architecture each having different characteristics. Buddhist architecture, in particular, showed great regional diversity. In many
Asian countries a pantheistic religion led to architectural forms that were designed specifically to enhance the
natural landscape.
Islamic architecture began in the 7th century
CE, incorporating architectural forms from the ancient
Middle East and
Byzantium, but also developing features to suit the religious and social needs of the society. Examples can be found throughout the Middle East, North Africa, Spain and the Indian Sub-continent. The widespread application of the pointed arch was to influence European architecture of the Medieval period.
In
Europe during the
Medieval period,
guilds were formed by craftsmen to organize their trades and written contracts have survived, particularly in relation to ecclesiastical buildings. The role of architect was usually one with that of master mason, or
Magister lathomorum as they are sometimes described in contemporary documents.
The major architectural undertakings were the buildings of abbeys and
cathedrals. From about 900 CE onwards, the movements of both clerics and tradesmen carried architectural knowledge across Europe, resulting in the pan-European styles
Romanesque and
Gothic.
Renaissance and the architect[edit source]
In
Renaissance Europe, from about 1400 onwards, there was a revival of Classical learning accompanied by the development of
Renaissance Humanism which placed greater emphasis on the role of the individual in society than had been the case during the Medieval period. Buildings were ascribed to specific architects –
Brunelleschi,
Alberti,
Michelangelo,
Palladio – and the cult of the individual had begun. There was still no dividing line between
artist,
architect and
engineer, or any of the related vocations, and the appellation was often one of regional preference.
A revival of the Classical style in architecture was accompanied by a burgeoning of science and engineering which affected the proportions and structure of buildings. At this stage, it was still possible for an artist to design a bridge as the level of structural calculations involved was within the scope of the generalist.
Early modern and the industrial age[edit source]
With the emerging knowledge in scientific fields and the rise of new materials and technology, architecture and
engineering began to separate, and the architect began to concentrate on
aesthetics and the humanist aspects, often at the expense of technical aspects of building design. There was also the rise of the "gentleman architect" who usually dealt with wealthy clients and concentrated predominantly on visual qualities derived usually from historical prototypes, typified by the many country houses of Great Britain that were created in the
Neo Gothic or
Scottish Baronial styles. Formal architectural training in the 19th century, for example at
Ecole des Beaux Arts in
France, gave much emphasis to the production of beautiful drawings and little to context and feasibility. Effective architects generally received their training in the offices of other architects, graduating to the role from draughtsmen or clerks.
Meanwhile, the
Industrial Revolution laid open the door for mass production and consumption. Aesthetics became a criterion for the middle class as ornamented products, once within the province of expensive craftsmanship, became cheaper under machine production.
Vernacular architecture became increasingly ornamental. House builders could use current architectural design in their work by combining features found in pattern books and architectural journals.
Modernism and reaction[edit source]
Around the turn of the 20th century, a general dissatisfaction with the emphasis on revivalist architecture and elaborate decoration gave rise to many new lines of thought that served as precursors to Modern Architecture. Notable among these is the
Deutscher Werkbund, formed in 1907 to produce better quality machine made objects. The rise of the profession of industrial design is usually placed here. Following this lead, the
Bauhaus school, founded in
Weimar, Germany in 1919, redefined the architectural bounds prior set throughout history, viewing the creation of a building as the ultimate synthesis—the apex—of art, craft, and technology.
When
Modern architecture was first practiced, it was an
avant-garde movement with moral, philosophical, and aesthetic underpinnings. Immediately after
World War I, pioneering modernist architects sought to develop a completely new style appropriate for a new post-war social and economic order, focused on meeting the needs of the middle and working classes. They rejected the architectural practice of the academic refinement of historical styles which served the rapidly declining aristocratic order. The approach of the Modernist architects was to reduce buildings to pure forms, removing historical references and ornament in favor of functionalist details. Buildings displayed their functional and structural elements, exposing steel beams and concrete surfaces instead of hiding them behind decorative forms.
Architects such as
Mies van der Rohe,
Philip Johnson and
Marcel Breuer worked to create beauty based on the inherent qualities of building materials and modern construction techniques, trading traditional historic forms for simplified geometric forms, celebrating the new means and methods made possible by the
Industrial Revolution, including steel-frame construction, which gave birth to high-rise superstructures. By mid-century, Modernism had morphed into the
International Style, an aesthetic epitomized in many ways by the Twin Towers of New York's
World Trade Center.
Many architects resisted Modernism, finding it devoid of the decorative richness of ornamented styles and as the founders of that movement lost influence in the late 1970s,
Postmodernism developed as a reaction against its austerity. Postmodernism viewed Modernism as being too extreme and even harsh in regards to design. Instead, Postmodernists combined Modernism with older styles from before the 1900s to form a middle ground.
Robert Venturi's contention that a "decorated shed" (an ordinary building which is functionally designed inside and embellished on the outside) was better than a "duck" (an ungainly building in which the whole form and its function are tied together) gives an idea of these approaches.
Since the 1980s, as the complexity of buildings began to increase (in terms of structural systems, services, energy and technologies), the field of architecture became multi-disciplinary with specializations for each project type, technological expertise or project delivery methods. In addition, there has been an increased separation of the 'design' architect
[Notes 1] from the 'project' architect who ensures that the project meets the required standards and deals with matters of liability.
[Notes 2] The preparatory processes for the design of any large building have become increasingly complicated, and require preliminary studies of such matters as durability, sustainability, quality, money, and compliance with local laws. A large structure can no longer be the design of one person but must be the work of many.
Modernism and
Postmodernism, have been criticised by some members of the architectural profession who feel that successful architecture is not a personal philosophical or aesthetic pursuit by individualists; rather it has to consider everyday needs of people and use technology to create liveable environments, with the design process being informed by studies of behavioral, environmental, and social sciences.
Environmental
sustainability has become a mainstream issue, with profound affect on the architectural profession. Many developers, those who support the financing of buildings, have become educated to encourage the facilitation of environmentally sustainable design, rather than solutions based primarily on immediate cost. Major examples of this can be found in greener roof designs, biodegradable materials,and more attention to a structure's energy usage. This major shift in architecture has also changed architecture schools to focus more on the environment. Sustainability in architecture was pioneered by
Frank Lloyd Wright, in the 1960s by
Buckminster Fuller and in the 1970s by architects such as
Ian McHarg and
Sim Van der Ryn in the US and
Brenda and Robert Vale in the UK and New Zealand. There has been an acceleration in the number of buildings which seek to meet
green building sustainable design principles. Sustainable practices that were at the core of vernacular architecture increasingly provide inspiration for environmentally and socially sustainable contemporary techniques.
[12] The U.S. Green Building Council's
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system has been instrumental in this.
[13] An example of an architecturally innovative green building is the
Dynamic Tower which will be powered by
wind turbinesand
solar panels.
