The collective journey of humans on earth to date has been an eventful one, particularly to an eye keen on keeping records of it. Architecture and life, in their entirety, are records unto themselves. Standing the test of time and braving devastating epochs, architecture and life on Earth made it to the present times as a closely intimate duo. From caving in to climatic elements as troglodytes to making bold and crafty architectural advances, humans have indeed come a long way.
First Things First
Ever since the dawn of humanity, man is on the move, as is man’s Mother Earth. While the Mother went on tirelessly, the man met his limits on the way. The limits, posing a challenge, gave the much-needed sense of purpose, which only ripened the understanding of life with time. More likely than not, the limits extended an invitation to become limitless. Using resources at hand served as an immediate approach to life. Architecture, in its primaeval quality, thus sprang up in various pockets of this planet.
As a rule, architecture and life have shaped each other on this potter’s wheel called Earth while both were baked in the perpetual friendly fire of the Sun. Eking out the bare minimum in the name of shelters in response to the exigencies of weather topped the primitive man’s to-do list. The architectural forms so crafted were as varied as the weather itself. This explains the distinguished and varied nature of structures seen around the world.
Landmarks of Identity
These architectural forms had their dwellers’ identities etched into them (both individually and collectively), which gradually facilitated the community building process. Architecture, in every form, became a shared heritage, which was passed on to the coming generations that further improved upon it. These first shelters provided the impetus to further growth, both in architecture and life, as these dwellings afforded humans the much-needed safety and time to plan their future activities. This was one of the biggest impacts of architecture on the lives of humans.
Exploring Architecture, Exploring Life
Lives thriving in spaces-turned-structures offer a sense of progress to the people, in general, and the architect, in particular. However, it all begins with an idea attuned to reality in every sense of the word. Architecture and life, as can be seen, share a relationship of reciprocity. Life, beset with its issues, seeks solutions. As the larger challenge of existing responsibly and sustainably poses itself, owing largely to climate change, architecture comes in handy as the tangible part of the solution.
Exploring the means, Shaping the end
The immediate needs of survival must be met before a human being thinks of venturing into subtler realms of progress. As life evolves on this planet, the fine balance of human needs and material possibilities must be checked from going irrecoverably out of proportion. Nature determines life on Earth so much so that if anything, including architecture and life, goes against it, the very life-giving nature reduces everything to rubble. Architecture, therefore more often than not, due to its immediacy to human life, has a consequential bearing on its quality. As a result, landscaping by architecture is a make-or-break factor on account of the huge quantities of resources extracted for its sake.
The houses and workplaces of today are largely close-quartered, owing not just to a rise in population but also to the forces of globalisation that demand constant connectivity. However, the basic human urge to live and let live manifests in our attempts to space things out that meddle with each other. That’s where architectural know-how creates a difference and makes life worth living.
Health, wealth and wisdom
In keeping with the architectural wisdom of the recent as well as distant past, architecture and life have fared well so far in keeping things largely intact. The famous architectural axiom, ‘Form follows Function’, popularised and practised by Louis Henry Sullivan (famously known as the “father of skyscrapers”) best describes what architecture aspires for. However, the function, in present times, has largely been replaced in favour of flamboyance, unfortunately. The impacts are more than visible— superimposing structures, be it houses, workplaces or other infrastructural paving and establishments, all singularly patterned, discounting the distinctive demands of a specific geographical location. The wisdom inherent in the architectural ancestry prevents superimposing the will, strengthened by health and wealth, on the limitations of a geographical location.
An architectural idea begins, at its very outset, with respect for the place it aims to construct upon. The health and wealth so gained couldn’t have been possible had the present generation’s long-gone forerunners acted without wisdom. Architecture, in this sense, is an all-pervasive life-sized construct, arcading structures ranging from unrecognised yet beautiful tribal masonry to tutored and professional architectural craft.
Rounding up
Looking at structures spanning the globe, the possibilities inherent in architecture come alive in their various forms and shapes. These possibilities in architecture have proved promising for people’s lives. Architecture and life come only closer in the process of their evolution. This proximity makes homes a shared venture between architects and their customers, as technical advances increasingly make the design and layouts available beforehand to the customers.
With several new niches coming up, particularly in business, the associated infrastructural needs demand non-typical architectural answers to them. Thanks to the architectural advances, the necessary flexibility and customisation becomes possible. The sprawling cities do not solely make up the entire architectural realm. Nations, in their entirety, have become architectural landmasses. Construction and connectivity fuelled by creativity provide some of the most tangible solutions to pressing physical issues of the day.
