Architecture

Architecture For the professional, see Architect. For other uses, see civilizations are often identified with their surviving ar- Architecture (disambiguation). chitectural achievements. Architecture (Latin architectura, after the Greek “Architecture” can mean: • A general term to describe buildings and other physical structures.[3] • The art and science of designing buildings and (some) nonbuilding structures.[3] • The style of design and method of construction of buildings and other physical structures.[3] • The knowledge of art, science & technology and humanity.[3] Brunelleschi, in the building of the dome of Florence Cathedral • The practice of the architect, where architecture in the early 15th-century, not only transformed the building and means offering or rendering professional services [1][2] the city, but also the role and status of the architect. in connection with the design and construction of buildings, or built environments.[4] • The design activity of the architect,[3] from the macro-level (urban design, landscape architecture) to the micro-level (construction details and furni- ture). Architecture has to do with planning, designing and constructing form, space and ambience to reflect functional, technical, social, environmental and aesthetic considera- tions. It requires the creative manipulation and coordina- tion of materials and technology, and of light and shadow. Often, conflicting requirements must be resolved. The practise of Architecture also encompasses the pragmatic aspects of realizing buildings and structures, including scheduling, cost estimation and construction administra- tion. 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 de- Section of Brunelleschi's dome drawn by the architect Cigoli (c. scribe other designed systems, especially in information 1600) technology.[3] ἀρχιτέκτων – arkhitekton – from ἀρχι- “chief” and τέκτων “builder, carpenter, mason”) is both the process and the product of planning, designing, and constructing 1 Theory of architecture buildings and other physical structures. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often per- Main article: Architectural theory ceived as cultural symbols and as works of art. Historical 1 2 1 THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE The Parthenon, Athens, Greece, “the supreme example among architectural sites.” (Fletcher).[5] The Houses of Parliament, Westminster, master-planned by Charles Barry, with interiors and details by A.W.N. Pugin 1.1 Historic treatises The earliest surviving written work on the subject of ar- narrower in his view of what constituted architecture. Ar- chitecture is De architectura, by the Roman architect chitecture was the “art which so disposes and adorns the Vitruvius in the early 1st century AD.[6] According to edifices raised by men ... that the sight of them” con- Vitruvius, a good building should satisfy the three princi- tributes “to his mental health, power, and pleasure”.[10] ples of firmitas, utilitas, venustas,[7][8] commonly known For Ruskin, the aesthetic was of overriding significance. by the original translation – firmness, commodity and de- His work goes on to state that a building is not truly a work light. An equivalent in modern English would be: of architecture unless it is in some way “adorned”. For Ruskin, a well-constructed, well-proportioned, functional • Durability – a building should stand up robustly and building needed string courses or rustication, at the very remain in good condition. least.[10] • Utility – it should be suitable for the purposes for On the difference between the ideals of architecture which it is used. and mere construction, the renowned 20th-century architect Le Corbusier wrote: “You employ stone, wood, • Beauty – it should be aesthetically pleasing. and concrete, and with these materials you build houses and palaces: that is construction. Ingenuity is at work. According to Vitruvius, the architect should strive to ful- But suddenly you touch my heart, you do me good. fill each of these three attributes as well as possible. I am happy and I say: This is beautiful. That is Leone Battista Alberti, who elaborates on the ideas of Architecture”.[11] Vitruvius in his treatise, De Re Aedificatoria, saw beauty Le Corbusier’s contemporary Ludwig Mies van der Rohe primarily as a matter of proportion, although ornament said “Architecture starts when you carefully put two also played a part. For Alberti, the rules of proportion bricks together. There it begins.”[12] 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 some- thing 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:[9] by the 18th century, his Lives of the Most Ex- cellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects had been trans- lated 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 dis- paraged, with an idealized image of neo-medieval world. Gothic architecture, Pugin believed, was the only “true Christian form of architecture.” The National Congress of Brazil, designed by Oscar Niemeyer The 19th-century English art critic, John Ruskin, in his Seven Lamps of Architecture, published 1849, was much 3 1.2 Modern concepts of architecture 2 History Main article: History 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 consid- 2.1 Origins and vernacular architecture erations should be entirely subject to functionality was met with both popularity and skepticism, it had the ef- Main article: Vernacular architecture fect of introducing the concept of “function” in place of Building first evolved out of the dynamics between needs Vitruvius' “utility”. “Function” came to be seen as en- compassing all criteria of the use, perception and enjoy- ment of a building, not only practical but also aesthetic, psychological and cultural. Vernacular architecture in Norway (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 Sydney Opera House, Australia designed by Jørn Utzon 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 Nunzia Rondanini stated, “Through its aesthetic dimen- product of a process of trial and error, with progressively sion architecture goes beyond the functional aspects that less trial and more replication as the results of the pro- it has in common with other human sciences. Through cess proved increasingly satisfactory. What is termed its own particular way of expressing values, architecture vernacular architecture continues to be produced in many can stimulate and influence social life without presuming parts of the world. Indeed, vernacular buildings make up that, in and of itself, it will promote social development.' most of the built world that people experience every day. To restrict the meaning of (architectural) formalism to Early human settlements were mostly rural. Due to a sur- art for art’s sake is not only reactionary; it can also be a plus in production the economy began to expand resulting purposeless quest for perfection or originality which de- in urbanization thus creating urban areas which grew and grades form into a mere instrumentality”.[13] evolved very rapidly in some cases, such as that of Çatal Höyük in Anatolia and Mohenjo Daro of the Indus Valley Among the philosophies that have influenced modern Civilization in modern-day Pakistan. architects and their approach to building design are rationalism, empiricism, structuralism, poststructuralism, and phenomenology. 2.2 Ancient architecture In the late 20th century a new concept was added to those included in the compass of both structure and function, In many ancient civilizations, such as those of Egypt the consideration of sustainability, hence sustainable ar- and Mesopotamia, architecture and urbanism reflected chitecture. To satisfy the contemporary ethos a build- the constant engagement with the divine and the ing should be constructed in a manner which is environ- supernatural, and many ancient cultures resorted to mon- mentally friendly in terms of the production of its materi- umentality in architecture to represent symbolically the als, its impact upon the natural and built environment of political power of the ruler, the ruling elite, or the state its surrounding area and the demands that it makes upon itself. non-sustainable power sources for heating, cooling, water The architecture and urbanism of the Classical civiliza- and waste management and lighting. tions such as the Greek and the Roman evolved from civic 4 2 HISTORY The Pyramids at Giza in Egypt ideals rather than religious or empirical ones and new building types emerged. Architectural “style” developed The Taj Mahal (1632–1653), in India in the form of the

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