Architecture, in its essence, goes beyond just designing buildings and landscapes that amalgamate with theories and various construction techniques. Architecture is deep, layered and defines almost every facet of our lives. Untangling each layer helps us question the ideologies that went into space formation and its impacts on the environments it caters to. Architecture is also a process that evolves through time and through the evolution of the various layers that define it, including climate change, population density, and cultural shifts. The incredible Canadian American architect Frank Gehry best defined what architecture stood for in his quote, “To design something that one would want to be a part of, something one would want to visit and enjoy in an attempt to improve one’s quality of life”.
As Frank Gehry mentioned in his quote, architecture is a mere facilitator for the environments it caters to, defined by layered spaces. Untangling some of the layers that form a space can sometimes be overwhelming and powerful, bringing out various questions that one may not have had at first glance. Art, streets, people, and environments change from place to place, and architecture is sensitive, giving life to them meaningfully.
Untangling Art and Architecture.
There is no denying the influence art and artists have had on architecture. From pre-historic structures that still stand to date, to the intricacies and grandeur of the Renaissance, to the simplicity of cubism and the overwhelming nature of brutalism, architects have always tried to blur the lines between art and architecture. For example, BV Doshi and Daniel Libeskind perfected the efficient use of scales in creating spaces that convey different emotions. Still, it was first initiated by incredible artists such as Rembrandt and Giorgio De Chirico. Another example would be the use of light, movement, and fluidity to define powerful and dynamic spaces, perfected by many architects today but first brought to the world by artists such as Vincent Van Gogh and Caravaggio.
While untangling this layer, it is clear to see that through the various styles and techniques, there is a commonality that all architecture shares with art. It defined their eras and the people and cultures they catered to. Architecture is preserving history, capturing different moments and distinguishing regions and cultures. Regional art also significantly influences the architecture of a particular area where spaces preserve culture and traditions. Incredible Islamic Architecture is very different from Botswana’s vibrant colours and Sheffield’s brutalist structures, each having its own stories associated with them that were all influenced differently by their regional art.
Architecture’s homage to art is seen in almost every design across many scales, some more subtle than others. Untangling the layer of art and architecture can aid in appreciating several artworks that one could not comprehend before or, rather, did not want to. The art-architecture relationship continuously evolves and will always influence one another to create built-up moments in time.
Untangling the Streets.
The streets have always been essential in defining and distinguishing regions. It gives uniqueness to a place and celebrates the life contained within. The different typologies, the inbuilt spaces, the gathering spots, the colours, the people, and the road itself, mixed with subjective characteristics of the area, ensure the streets always differ from one another to some degree. By untangling this layer of architecture, new appreciation can be found in the streets and the little intricacies that help give it life.
The streets in organic settlements, for example, slums, tend to have more value and significance than large-scale cities. The streets in organic settlements are an extension of the structures they contain, where most of the dwellings open into it and allow each unit to flow into each other. The narrow streets are vibrant and energetic, with children playing and small businesses dependent on them. The street here is no longer just a liminal space but rather a facilitator for commerce, interaction, camaraderie, and life in general. Architecture now often neglects and romanticises the streets and the life contained in them. Replicating the intimacy in organic streets is hard, and architecture must be sensitive in approaching the designs that cater to this layer.
Ambiguity is the term that best encapsulates the street while untangling this layer. It can sometimes be overwhelming and confusing as well, considering each street is different and defines very specific qualities of a place. Architecture facilitates and adds meaning to this incredible liminal space that creates unique typologies across the globe. In Urban settlements, the nature of streets can be monotonous and stringent, often lifeless. Architecture and architects here act as catalysts to provide meaning and life in pockets or longitudinally. Either way, the value of a street cannot be underestimated in facilitating life.
The dialogue between architecture and people.
Architecture is primarily for people and communities, facilitating living, working, recreation, and all other aspects of life. While untangling this layer, the question arises regarding sensitivity and how sensitive architecture is while facilitating. Buildings and spaces can evoke emotions, create comfort, feel nostalgia, be overwhelming, and sometimes create peace. Architecture has the power to directly influence the objective feelings one can have about a particular place, and architects often use this to create incredible structures.
The Jewish Memorial in Berlin is a good example of evoking emotions and creating a dialogue through purposeful discomfort. The play on the scales and heights of the concrete steles deeply affects a visitor as they pass through a powerful exhibition of architecture. There is a paradox to this memorial where one feels a sense of comfort coming out of the memorial through the discomfort one felt inside it. Although this is a harsh and direct example of architecture’s dialogue with people, it still gives a comprehensive idea of its sheer power to affect emotions.
Untangling the layer of people and architecture is often challenging and evokes several questions. Architecture must always prioritise the people it caters to, be it a simple office space with good internal thermal comfort temperatures, well-diffused daylight, adequate darkness, and ensuring the carbon footprint of the space is limited. Sustainability in architecture is deeper. It includes how sustainable users’ dialogue with the building and space has been for years and years. The simple understanding of requirements and sensitivity of being in the user’s position can create some of the best experiential spaces.
The dialogue between architecture and the earth.
Probably the most critical layer to untangle in our current day and age would be architecture and environment. The past sixty years have seen a significant increase in emissions from various sources directly impacting climate change. This has in turn, caused. An important shift in one’s perspective on architecture and its associated priorities. It is now crucial for architecture to have reduced impacts on the environment and for architects to design with these necessary yet invaluable restrictions. Understanding the life cycle of a structure, the embodied energy and carbon emissions associated with the components that make the building, and its overall impact on its surroundings, is now a key aspect of design.
With the rapid increase in the inevitability of sea level rise and climate change in general, architects now look to design resiliently against these odds. Although, while untangling this layer, it is also crucial to have a different outlook on utilizing these inevitabilities and look to design with them rather than against them. Projects such as the Harvest Green Project Vancouver by Ramses Architects, The Sea Tree by Koen Olthuis, and even the traditional houses for the Kohli Fishing community in Mumbai are good examples of resilient designs that allow and welcome inevitable climate change.
Designing with the environment is now a necessity more than an attribute of design. To some, it may seem like a restriction, but to most, it is the fabric of architecture itself. As architecture respects its users and clients, it must respect its environment and ecosystems equally. A symbiotic relationship that can last a lifetime.
In conclusion.
The perception of architecture is subjective, where each person experiences a particular place differently and has their own opinions and emotions. It is this subjectivity that makes architecture beautiful and ever-present. Countless layers can define architecture, and these layers change from place to place and among different projects and user groups. Architecture is ever-evolving and always remains curious and open to innovation and change. As the incredible Italian architect Renzo Piano once said, “One of the great beauties of architecture is that each time, it is like life starting all over again”.
But through all these tangled layers, architecture is very simple. It is a facilitator. A facilitator for the people it deals with, the environments it caters to, the streets it defines, and the spaces it creates. Throughout history, architecture has always been essential in defining life, and it will continue to do so for years to come.
References:
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Richman-Abdou, K. (2022) Monumental masterpieces: 10 of art history’s most famous large-scale paintings, My Modern Met. Available at: https://mymodernmet.com/large-scale-paintings/ (Accessed: April 12, 2023).
(Mahabir et al., 2016)
Chatterjee, S. (no date) Children growing up in Indian slums: Challenges and opportunities for new urban imaginations, Bernard van Leer Foundation. Available at: https://bernardvanleer.org/ecm-article/2017/children-growing-up-in-indian-slums-challenges-and-opportunities-for-new-urban-imaginations/ (Accessed: April 12, 2023).
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