Won’t you agree that Architecture is more than what our eyes see? a preconceived notion among the architecture fraternity is that architecture around us is not just bricks and mortar but a voiceless storyteller. Oddly and satisfyingly buildings speak to us and the environment in some form. Some buildings, buzzing streets and whole cities seem to speak of chaos, violence or the victorious pride of their ancestors; while others seem to be whispering to us of graceful dignity, generosity or gentleness and the beauty of the architecture that developed throughout the time.
However, as I said, this is can be deemed true coming for a person from an architecture background, there exists a dominant opinion it doesn’t matter very much of how the buildings exist and what does it symbolize.
If you stop a commoner walking on the streets and ask him, “what do you think the streets are telling? Do you think the buildings are saying stories?” His response would probably be asking you to visit the doctor.
it is conceived pretentious or eccentric to suppose that something as external as a public building, urban space, street or city could have much of an effect on our mood. Any common person finds themselves changing their state of mind independent of the colour, shape and texture of the walls. Let’s be honest, do we see common people appreciating architects daily while commuting from or to work?
A more modest acceptance would be that our mindset is heavily open to influence by the meek voices of the largest, most public objects in our environment and we may be affected by bad architecture as we are by moral evil. I am sure A few questions arise in your mind, are only designers’ cable of hearing this voice? How can we connect the designer and commoner? are the present buildings being just seen as finance and power? Let’s break it down.
Do architects, designers and artists see buildings differently?
Let’s take a rewind through our college days, throughout our architecture and design education, we are thought to widen our perspective, create a perception, give attention to detail, analyze and summarize. The innumerous case study trips, site visits and sheets eventually invoke an involuntary habit to notice the details and characteristics of the space. I am sure throughout your preliminary years of education; the faculty were enforcing to notice the brick patterns and walls which Is followed by construction techniques and eventually from eyeing-up the precise dimensions between elements in the garden to observing the negative space between buildings. We all had a checklist on our site visits to tick against and a camera to take pictures and analyze later. Even after college days, this habit never leaves our mindset. It is safe to say from various studies conducted, it’s a fact that “architectural education sort of distorts the spatial perception and what defines as good architecture and beauty.” (Dana Julean,2016)
Why do architects see things differently? How does architecture education change you?
Architects, namely being a professional who not only interacts and analyses the public realm as a routine but also creates spaces, invariably tends to have a particular point of view. Being a designer, one has to go through comprehensive research and imply the knowledge of the particular type of space one is developing, this habitually brings out the right questions on understanding the usage of the space and also answering them! This eventually leads to any architect deconstructing the space completely and perceive the character of the space even on a leisurely walk in the park. (Norberg-Schulz, 1980) (Arnheim, 1977). from an educational point of view, students undergo extensive training to excel in the process of understanding the usage and functionality of the space. Next time you find an architecture student staring at a building or a park bench, don’t worry it’s normal! I assure you would agree to that fact bringing out the details in the design is what makes the design a good design.
Peeling the onion more, However, among designers and artists as well the spatial perception is found to be varying.
The Difference of Perception: Architects, designers and artists.
As we all know, within the design field, we have a variety of professionals and design being a subjective field there exists thousands of perspectives for a single design, but there exists a general observation on what is the way of viewing the design.
Looking into a study, titled Sculptors, Architects, and Painters Conceive of Depicted Spaces Differently, which invited 16 people from three professions (architect, sculptor and painter) with immense experience in their fields and, contemplating my daily observations of interacting with personnel from various design fields it can be detected that Architects could explicitly define the boundaries of the perceived space with the specified architectural vocabulary. From the conclusion of the study conducted it is interesting to note that the painters described the elements in the rear as “back” whereas architects preferred to use the more sophisticated term “end “which provides a difference in the depth of how architects and painters perceive the design. Professionals working 3-dimensional space, particularly sculptors more frequently referred to the materiality and painters showed a significant affinity to expressing the flat geometry rather than the rest of the characteristics. Architects are also bound to focus on the materiality and functionality of the space as that’s what they are repeatedly thought through. In routine settings, artists and architects have a heightened awareness of the built and unbuilt environment, (Claudia Cialone).
Moreover, the present studies have managed to answer why architects look at buildings differently but the question of “why architects have a different idea of what makes a building beautiful”, remains still unanswered and open to further understanding of the difference in perceptions.
Dive into the world of virtual reality: creating a relationship between the architect and commoners
There is a constant battle in the minds of architects whether the space they designed is perceived the way they intended it to be. We all define a concept for the architectural designs we make but is that concept perceived the same way? What value does an idea have if it cannot be 100% envisioned and experienced? Wouldn’t many crucial details that make the essence of a design created by talented architects be lost in flat lines and still images? Technology has provided an inventive solution to this.
Being an architecture student, I have observed how a strong perspective exists in the minds of young architects on how VR can take us by hand into the world of the envisioned idea. every time one’s designs are visualized in VR, where one wouldn’t need to wait a year and often more to see his/her building, one could just enter his/her dreamland in one click and experience it in VR. We are aware it has created a new perspective towards architecture and essence of detail especially in the current online mode of functioning due to the existing pandemic scenario, the virtual reality has provided a better platform to experience different spaces from the comfort of your home, but what makes it even better is an opening for the common people to look closely into the details. With a 4K HD view and the ability to zoom in and out into every nook and corner, the users of the structures can relate to the structure and have a closer look into the design thereby understanding the architecture. Through the use of walkthroughs, VR spaces and images, the architects can try and test his/her design thereby creating a close relationship between the architect, user and the design. Unbound by the limits of the paper and drawings created, the client can completely understand the materiality, functioning and aesthetics of the design. isn’t that what every architect wants?
In the modern world, are buildings just seen in terms of finance and cost? What is an outsider’s view?
Coming more to our routine lives, with a lot of upcoming real estate players in the field, it’s a dominant trend to observe how buildings have become a symbol of finance and power. in a commercial society like ours, it has become a popular opinion that buildings are seen as capital rather than a space that can impact the physical and psychological mindset of the users. With rising political, developer and investor influence many forms of public harm can be real yet ignored. With The architecture style being in a fluid state, and the ever-increasing demand for meeting the demands of the population, the perception towards architecture has dominantly moved towards meeting the requirements and in the case of commercial spaces, showcase the popularity and power of the company. In such a setting, it is a much-pondered question on whether the architecture profession has merely helped in quantitative growth or have the architects redefined and evolved the architectural practice while engaging in the historical transformation post-independence. I believe that’s a question you can answer.
REFERENCES:
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- Cialone, C., Tenbrink, T. and Spiers, H.J. (2017). Sculptors, Architects, and Painters Conceive Depicted Spaces Differently. Cognitive Science, 42(2), pp.524–553
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