Be it public and community spaces through stories, palaces from epics, temples from culture, or skyscrapers through movies and cartoons, art and architectural settings have always impacted our minds and fascinated us as children. As a child, building sand castles on beaches and playing with Legos was merely an interesting activity for us but in a way, it allowed scope for exploration and gave new perspectives. From making card castles with friends to drawing those imperfectly perfect huts during drawing lessons, architecture has always been a part of life.
The Initiation
While recalling the first few days of college, learning about structures and prominent places and ascertaining their intricate details bemused us. All our preliminary knowledge seemed alien. To our surprise, it was just the foretaste of its larger picture. It trained and accorded us with new architectural perspectives that every space has a story to tell and, most importantly, a purpose to serve. Everyday places and structures that were simple buildings to us became ingenious and admirable works of art that an architect cannot resist but regard and contemplate.
Well-being and behavior are shaped by the impact and experience architecture puts on a person’s mind and body. A small room receiving enough natural light and air for ventilation can be habitable. Whereas a non-habitable room lacking light and ventilation puts an immense effect on a body’s functioning abilities. Hence, having a creative mind is not enough, the design also needs to be given immense thought and logic to make it altogether a workable, livable, and aesthetic place. Ergo, an architect shuffles between the right brain’s creativity and the left brain’s logic.
Community Spaces: Mere Celebrations or an Experience?
So, if we simply talk about those old clustered houses or the cramped lanes and compact neighborhoods that we all must have seen or lived in, it gives us a strong sense of community and belongingness. The in-between open spaces like courtyards and narrow roads are usually treated as gathering spaces, but to an architect’s eye, it holds more merit than it is observed. Potentially these spaces are not only for people to interact and children to play but also are key features of architecture that allow enough natural light and ventilation into the space envelopes meaning the houses.
Speaking of community areas, Temples can be a great example of community gatherings and cultural celebrations. Visiting a temple isn’t new, right? The premise has the same set of movements and activities on a usual day. In comparison, the spatial experience of a temple thrills an architect. The carvings of walls and columns have stories to tell, the premise setting and its meticulously designed movement patterns, and a unique play of light and space transitions from the well-lit, ventilated, and semi-covered ardha-mandapa to the dimly-lit and isolated space of garbhagriha is what curates the entire experience without losing the cultural significance of these particular spaces.
Skyscrapers: An Extravagant Structure or a Modern Marvel?
Have you ever thought about how the tall buildings that keep you high up there from the ground stand so strong? From small huts to habitable skyrocketing tall skyscrapers, it embodies the remarkably evolved modern, futuristic architecture. In the modern world, a city’s skyline sketches the power, dominance, ambition, and development, defining cityscapes and dominating the skyline in the modern world with skyscrapers. Some people find this trend of tall buildings as offenders eroding the traditional design and heritage, whilst some find the scenic view as conspicuous. Buildings tall enough that stand through the cloud mass are magnificent masterpieces of architecture that strike us all in awe. Designers’ dreams of reaching new heights and the world’s race of technologies have taken a prominent leap in the past years. Skyscrapers have made it possible to use land more efficiently, house more people, and maintain open space making a significant impact on placemaking and the urban fabric.
Public Places: Attraction or an Identity?
Public places have become an attraction for the common people. They are treated as leisure spaces for enjoyment and recreation. Public spaces are major contributors to the urban fabric and the city as a whole. These spaces have an identity that is unveiled through architecture. It adds to the recognition of the city narrative. It is a public realm for change-making events and public engagements. It also drives the pattern and distribution of the city fragments. Since ancient times, public forums have been the locus of civilization life, be it cultural and political processions, civic buildings, trade, transport, events, and many more. For instance, the modern-day St. Peter’s Square is a type of public forum that allows people to speak, hear, perform, and connect. Therefore, a public sphere is of symbolic importance to the city as well as gives recognition to the diversity of people and activities.
Conclusion
Architectural perspective has allowed one to analyze and experience the impact of a space and relate to it. Architecture also analyses the psychological responses of people to different spaces and their quality of living. A person is strongly affected by not just the aesthetic facades but also the experiential value of a place that impacts the human mind. Art and Architecture are ubiquitous, and one needs an architect’s glasses to look at everyday settings, just differently!
Image Links:
Image 1: Cluster housing: INCREMENTAL HOUSING – Charles Correa Foundation
Image 4: St. Peter’s Square: Visiting Saint Peter´s Square in the Vatican. History. Must Do’s for St Peters Square Area (vaticancityguide.org)
