1. What is architecture?
The art and techniques in designing buildings with outstanding skill associated with the building are architecture. This is the basic information that everyone in the world knows equally. But only architects know what architecture means. It is not only art but also an emotion for many architects when designing a particular building; some relate their feelings to their design, while others do not.
“We shape our buildings, and then our buildings shape us”, one of the famous quotes establishing the true meaning of architecture. The buildings have a unique identity that derives from their shape. In addition to the overall wow factor, architects will notice the small details that create that feeling. These are the scale and proportions, the architectural elements and their articulation, the play of bodies and voids, the material used for construction, the colour – how it responds to the environment and context, the openings – how they are used, the organisation of space, the interaction between two spaces. And these divisions together form a whole in the age of built space. As an architect, we can interpret a point, a line, an area, and a volume in any way we like. Most people understand that volumes are spaces and shapes. However, we can discover the connections that lead to the development of these forms. It starts with a point that indicates where people are in a spatial position, where they are moving in space. Extending this point creates a line that indicates direction: human movement. The extension of the line becomes a plane that indicates the shape of the surface, which can be called the floor, wall, or roof. The tense plane becomes more and more a volume, a form. Thus, the overall loop view can only be interpreted differently by someone familiar with the architecture.
2. Architecture from our perspective
Perspective is an important example of “legacy” in Western figurative culture. This issue provides an Overview of the possible uses of perspective in architecture and its current importance in design. The thematic sequence emphasises the relationship between historical literature and modern developments, as well as the relationship to other applications such as cartography. The confirmation of the common perspective principle is the result of a long practical experimentation process. Starting point was the classical principles of optics applied to the murals of Pompeii, where the fascinating history of architectural perspective began. Therefore, the term “architectural perspective” in this context also refers to a set of perspective structures created on the facade of a wall or room to simulate a different space from the one built. Numerous “life-size” examples document extensive experimentation with projection devices, where the image interacts with space, and the display becomes architecture, and continue to offer important ideas for possible design applications. Buildings and cities affect our state of mind and well-being, and specialised cells in the hippocampal region of our brain are attuned to the geometry and layout of the spaces one inhabits. Good, well-thought-out architecture can take the human spirit to dizzying heights, while bad design can end the lives of its users. It is up to architects to understand this and to strive to ensure clients understand that good design pays off in the long run. Laurent Dequick’s perspective: “The main idea was to present a new interpretation of the most famous and photographed monuments – to see them in a new way.
The Minimalist series was inspired by listening to “Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi, the Four Seasons”, a reinterpretation of the Four Seasons with a sometimes quite slight intervention, as if Max Richter just wanted to add a modern touch to this eighteenth-century work. The idea of transferring this intention to the architectural photography project seemed logical. He thinks it’s always easy to photograph architecture: by definition, a building doesn’t move. You just have to choose the right moment, the right light. With my Minimalism series, he wants the viewer to learn to see architecture better, so he has included a series of cues to orient the eye, understand it better, or at least get interested in it. Both: He spent most of my time researching original drawings from architects and designers to create this series. He has found a few; sometimes, he has been lucky enough to come across complete files written by art historians who dissected each building down to the smallest detail. On others, however, he did some sort of reverse engineering to restore the facade composition rules that still existed (square, circle, golden ratio, etc.).”
2.1 Eiffel Tower, Paris
The Eiffel Tower shrinks from 4 cm to 8 cm each winter before returning to its original size in summer. But in intense heat, the metal’s expansion can change the tower’s angle. In 1976, a record of 18 cm was recorded.
References:
The architect’s perspective · Yellowkorner (no date) The architect’s perspective · YellowKorner. Available at: https://www.yellowkorner.com/en/blog/blog-regards-architecte-cb014.html (Accessed: April 2, 2023).
Architecture (2023) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architecture (Accessed: April 2, 2023).
Rossi, M. (2016) Architectural perspective between image and Building – Nexus Network Journal, SpringerLink. Springer International Publishing. Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00004-016-0311-y (Accessed: April 2, 2023).
