Is Architecture limited to just designing the buildings?
After exploring and understanding the field of architecture, I realized that architecture is not just limited to designing buildings and providing shelter. Still, it includes incorporating personality into the space, activating the five senses of humans, and influencing the five elements of nature, functionality, user psychology, and user experience. Architecture adds character, value and personality to the space we design. Architecture is an art of storytelling that includes subjects like arts, history, geography, physics, chemistry, mathematics, and psychology. It tells the history of the place and plans for the future functioning of the space. While studying architecture, one is exposed to the parameters of designing a structure and the various theories of life. “Architecture aims at Eternity” is well said by well-known Architect Christopher wren.
Impact of Architecture on one’s daily life.
Have you experienced peace, aggression, fear, surprise or happiness as soon as you enter a confined space? This is due to the colours used in designing the space. Every colour has a different wavelength, which impacts our experience of space and results in different human emotions. Experiencing space involves activating the five senses of humans. Vision is activated through an aesthetically pleasing environment, the sense of touch is activated through different textures of materials, hearing senses are activated through the different locations of the space, speech gets activated by depicting the culture of the space and smell is activated by different styles of environments, be it natural environment or closed artificial environment. Architecture is a combination of tangible things, which is the composition of the structure, and intangible things, which is the experience created by designing the space.
The architecture and culture of the place define the style of Architecture.
Architecture talks about the era.As we travel from the Northern Hemisphere to the Southern Hemisphere and east to west across the globe, we see different styles of architecture like Gothic, Roman, Art Deco, Bauhaus, Industrial, Brutalism, Modern and Contemporary style architecture. These styles have been differentiated determined by the culture, the lifestyle of the people that evolved over a period of time and the availability of the building materials.
This creates the history and culture of the place, adding moral value to the structure. We can see the evolution of Architecture from prehistoric styles such as Stonehenge and cliff dwellings to modern-day architecture of minimalism. The architecture keeps transforming with the progression of people, time and space.
Architecture and its correlation with nature.
The five elements of nature, such as earth, air, water, fire and space, also play a vital role in defining architecture. Based upon the location, the latitude and longitude axis, the impact of sunlight, the degree of terrain in the land and the humidity in the space have an effect in shaping the structure and its surroundings. The microclimate and macroclimate also have an impact on defining space. Architecture helps one rejuvenate and connect to nature and allows one to enjoy the perks of priceless natural elements available on earth.
Architecture and Functionality of Space
Architecture not only defines a place’s skylines but also serves the purpose for which the space is designed. The functionality of the space is the skill of problem-solving.
Based on the function of the space, Architecture is further divided into Residential design, commercial design, institutional design, and hospitality design. Depending upon the scope of the space, the study of Architecture further branches into urban design, Sustainable design, Architectural research, Landscape Architecture, Lighting Architecture, and Architectural Historian.
Architecture’s future branches into creative fields such as set design, architectural photography, architectural research, architectural writing, and furniture design.
Other aspects of architecture
Humans are users in Architecture; the number of users demarcates the area required to design a space. Anthropometry is also one of the essential factors in Architectural Design, which defines the scale and ratio of design elements. The architecture of the space keeps evolving according to the human life cycle and life stages. There is a difference between anthropometry used in space designed for kids with three feet of height and adults with six feet. Space planning also follows design principles like contrast, balance, emphasis, proportion, hierarchy, repetition, rhythm, pattern, white space, movement, variety, and unity. We can see the principles of design applied in famous structures like the Colosseum, Taj Mahal, etc. Architecture uses elements of designs such as shape, line, form, colour, texture and space as a tool to fulfil the purpose of the design. With the expansion of technology and skilled professionals, Architecture has gone beyond straight lines and right angles. We can spot structures like the Cayan Tower in Dubai, the world’s tallest twisting tower that rotates a full 90 degrees from the base to the top.
Conclusion
As we keep diving into the subject of architecture, we realise that everything that fits within our vision is partially or wholly a part of architecture. Architecture talks about the time, the culture, the place, its people, and the emotions associated with it. The world is complete with the essence of Architecture.
As we proceed further in the future of architecture, architecture steps into the digital world, using artificial intelligence and different tools to enhance the potential of architecture. Architecture keeps evolving according to time, and there is a subconscious and conscious relationship between humans, architecture and its surroundings.
