Architecture (Latin architectura, after the Greek – arkhitekton – from "chief" and
"builder, carpenter, mason") is both the process and the product of planning, designing, and constructing 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 buildings and (some) nonbuilding structures.
- The style of design and method of construction of buildings and other physical structures.
- The practice of the architect, where architecture means offering or rendering professional services in connection with the design and construction of buildings, or built environments.
- The design activity of the architect, from the macro-level (urban design, landscape architecture) to the micro-level (construction details and furniture).
Architecture
has to do with planning, designing and constructing form, space and ambience to
reflect functional, technical, social, environmental and aesthetic
considerations. It requires the creative manipulation and coordination of
materials and technology, and of light and shadow. Often, conflicting
requirements must be resolved. Architecture also encompasses the pragmatic
aspects of realizing buildings and structures, including scheduling, cost
estimation and construction administration. Documentation produced by
architects, typically drawings, plans and technical specifications, defines the
structure and/or behavior of a building or
other kind of system
that is to be or has been constructed.
The
word "architecture" has also been adopted to describe other designed
systems, especially in information technology.
Theory of architecture
Historic treatises
The
earliest surviving written work on the subject of architecture is De
architectura,
by the Roman architect Vitruvius
in the early 1st century AD. According to
Vitruvius, a good building should satisfy the three principles of firmitas,
utilitas, venustas, commonly known by
the original translation – firmness, commodity and delight. An
equivalent in modern English would be:
- Durability – a building should stand up robustly and remain in good condition.
- Utility – it should be suitable for the purposes for which is it used.
- Beauty – it should be aesthetically pleasing.
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: by the 18th century,
his Lives of
the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects 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, 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".
Le
Corbusier's contemporary Ludwig Mies van der Rohe said
"Architecture starts when you carefully put two bricks together. There it
begins."
Modern concepts of architecture
The
notable 19th-century architect of skyscrapers, Louis
Sullivan,
promoted an overriding precept to architectural design: "Form follows function".
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".
Among
the philosophies that have influenced modern architects and their approach to
building design are rationalism, empiricism, structuralism, poststructuralism, and phenomenology.
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, hence sustainable architecture. 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.
History
Origins and vernacular architecture
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.
Ancient architecture
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.
The
architecture and urbanism
of the Classical civilizations such as the Greek and the Roman evolved from civic
ideals rather than religious or empirical ones and new building types emerged.
Architectural "style" developed in the form of the Classical
orders.
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.
Asian architecture
Early
Asian writings on architecture include the Kao Gong Ji of China from the 7th–5th
centuries BCE; the Shilpa Shastras of ancient India and Manjusri Vasthu Vidya Sastra of Sri Lanka.
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. Hindu temple architecture, which developed around the
3rd century BCE, is governed by concepts laid down in the Shastras, and is
concerned with expressing the macrocosm and the microcosm. In many Asian countries,
pantheistic religion led to architectural forms that were designed specifically
to enhance the natural landscape.
Islamic architecture
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.
The medieval builder
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
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
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
Around
the beginning 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 Frank Lloyd Wright developed Organic architecture in which the form was defined by its
environment and purpose, with an aim to promote harmony between human
habitation and the natural world with prime examples being Robie
House
and Falling Water.
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.
Architecture today
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 from the 'project'
architect who ensures that the project meets the required standards and deals
with matters of liability. 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. The U.S. Green
Building Council's LEED (Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design) rating system has been instrumental in this.
Concurrently,
the recent movements of New
Urbanism
and New Classical Architecture promote a
sustainable approach towards construction, that appreciates and develops smart
growth,
architectural tradition and classical design. This in contrast to modernist
and globally uniform architecture, as
well as leaning against solitary housing
estates
and suburban sprawl.
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