Architecture, as a practice, elegantly walks the line between art and science. Humans entail their entire lives from work to play within these built walls. However, its necessity doesn’t end with its practical use, it encompasses memories that we attach ourselves to throughout our lives, and create spatial experiences that we thrive in.
This is what architecture school does to a person. It changes how one looks at a building or perceives a space. It’s so much more than what the eye meets and stimulates every sensory factor in our body. It teaches you that great architecture draws its inspiration from everything but architecture: music, dance, nature, technology, etc.
Architecture is more than just the building in itself but it molds a way of life. The more you delve into it, the more you realize its impact on society and our way of living.
The Art of Architecture
Architecture can be very suggestive in the relationship it creates with its surrounding as well as internally. A mere change in the alignment of a wall can create situations for accidental encounters among people or provide complete privacy.
An architect understands the weight of each line drawn that eventually translates into actual spatial qualities that could imprint a human’s experience. Architects possess the ability to observe and critique built design from a unique standpoint that a layman would not have perceived or considered.
Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye is an inspiration in the architectural community all over the world. Yet, the 20th-century architecture masterpiece, which is supposed to be one of the greatest contributions in its essence of architectural invention, has a roof that leaks and suffers from substantial heat-loss due to large glazing (that Le Corbusier included in his infamous ‘Five Points for Architecture’) and did not make its occupants happy to live in it. Despite this, what truly makes this building a masterpiece is the revolutionary thinking at that point in history that led Corbusier to craft each space and sculpt each of his buildings. (Shawa, 2011)
Seattle Central Library, which has won numerous awards for its architecture, has been criticised for its mind-boggling circulation layout and overall disorientation. Northumbria University’s Dalton, who has studied the building for several years and has edited a book about it, says she finds it fascinating that a place so “universally admired by architects … can be so dysfunctional”. Nonetheless, the building was celebrated for a higher order of conceptual innovation by redefining the meaning of a library to accustom all forms of media and which led to it being a thriving hub for knowledge in the city. (Bond, 2017)
While these and many more iconic buildings have certain flaws in their utilitarian purpose itself, their ideas and what they represent at a certain time make them wonder in the architectural community.
Impact on Society
Architecture has the power to dictate the way one uses a space. The impact design has on the people and society as a whole is a realization every student of architecture goes through during their crits.
For example, in 1975, the Project for Public Spaces transformed the way people used the Rockefeller Center in New York City by placing benches alongside the yew trees in its basement concourse. (Bond, 2017)
The architectural firm Snohetta similarly intervenes in Times Square, introducing elongated sculpted granite benches to accentuate that the iconic space, once congested with vehicles, is now a haven for pedestrians. (Bond, 2017)
Interdisciplinary practices that are becoming increasingly popular in today’s day and age arise from the understanding that architecture is the amalgamation of itself with every field in and around it that could be affected. Greater interaction across the disciplines would, for example, reduce the chances of repeating architectural failures such as the 1950s Pruitt-Igoe housing complex in St Louis, Missouri, designed by Minoru Yamasaki, hastily became tarnished by their crime, grime, and social dysfunction. It is argued that the extensive open spaces between the blocks diminished the sense of a community, and escalated further as crime rates started to rise. The complex was subsequently demolished in 1972. (Bond, 2017)
Visiting a building before and after becoming an architect changes the experience completely. A garden is no longer just a place for evening walks, but an engaging public space amongst the density of the city that eliminates the isolation of an individual and engages the community. A skyscraper isn’t just a viewing platform, but a marvel of advanced technology and a solution to tackle the urban sprawl and density.
The range between noticing the smallest detail and interpreting the larger intent and effect is a skill that defines our discipline. Architecture, hence, becomes more than just a profession but a lens through which one views life.
References
Bond, M., 2017. The hidden ways that architecture affects how you feel. [online] Bbc.com. Available at: <https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170605-the-psychology-behind-your-citys-design> [Accessed 25 February 2021].
Ruoxi, Z., 2016. Architectural Space and Psychological Feelings. 5th International Conference on Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, 1(5), pp.1072,1073.
Shawa, B., 2011. The DARKER Side of Villa Savoye. [online] misfits’ architecture. Available at: <https://misfitsarchitecture.com/2011/09/03/the-darker-side-of-villa-savoye/> [Accessed 25 February 2021].
