Who doesn’t like to travel these days? To break the routine and stay in a new city. Walking down colorful, lively streets, standing to stare at the old, rustic buildings on either side of the road, or waiting by the sea in a wooden house on the top of a mountain is appreciated by many people. Some people tend to find solace in visiting old forts, while others like to gawk at the emerging skyscrapers. Architecture has been a part of everyone’s lives, from defense to towers.
The Role of Architecture in Humanity’s Story
We cannot imagine the physical world without architecture. Thousands of years ago, when the primitives decided to end their nomadic life, they built the first-ever piece of architecture. Their main idea was to create a place to protect them from the severe weather. As the population increased, the needs of humans increased. Raw settlements changed to permanent homes. Then these homes were built into organized cities. That is when we realize how the concept of architecture has constantly been changing through history and how it has affected people’s lives.
There is a simultaneous evolution of humans and architecture. As years passed and social differences, culture, and religions emerged, a monumental change like buildings. Kings made large structures to glorify the cultures. Since that time, architecture has played a vital role in maintaining cultural integrity. Many people travel to different countries to know more about other cultures, customs, and rituals. Visiting historic places leaves us pondering about life in that era. It even tends to impact the person visiting the historic site. Every building has an intriguing story behind it. Although, there are various ways in how we perceive it. When the Eiffel tower was built, it was criticized by many designers and was called ugly. While today, it has an immense impact on people. Capturing pictures under the tower at night and dreaming about proposals in front of it, the Eiffel tower has brought happiness to people’s lives.
Architecture on the Other Side
Architecture has the power to uplift or degrade a person’s mood. Walking into a space can make anyone question their decision if the area turns out to be wrong or depressing. That is why people related to the architecture field tend to look more into details to satisfy the design client. Designers go from making a small impact in a client’s life to impacting globally.
Even the people behind the making of these buildings have stories. Architecture is one of the most exhausting fields that sometimes negatively impacts students. Most students don’t even know what they are signing up for until they enter an architecture school. The architecture school has a mental effect on them due to two to three consecutive all-nighters and harms their physical health. Even architecture offices can be daunting as the design process is pretty slow yet, demanding and exhausting. There are intense brainstorming sessions that can be difficult to take in. Architectural firms function way differently than schools. But when students enter the real world, they find it intimidating as nothing is taught in architecture schools. One of the ways to describe the life of an architect is ‘being overworked and underpaid.
The pandemic has changed billions of lives, including that of architecture students. The Internet has become one of the greatest mediums for design inspiration. But it had both a negative and a positive impact. The Internet can be the most helpful thing if we use it correctly, and there are a lot of platforms to learn. But there are even negative impacts of the change in a medium. The guide’s message could be taken the wrong way by children. But in the end, the makers of the beautiful buildings have their struggles.
Architecture: Today and Tomorrow
From prehistoric times to the present, earth has witnessed the transition of humanity and even the styles of architecture. Since change is inevitable, the future is entirely predictable yet unfathomable. It is pretty fascinating how mortals leave immortal buildings that pass on the legacy of the cultures. People in the future would have a lot of facilities to look up to and know more about humankind’s gradual progress. There has been a lot of experimentation on finding the definition of ‘perfect architecture’. Many architectural styles have been discovered through ages, yet no one could come to see the meaning, and the search is still going on.
They yearn for making an impact through architecture that can emerge in a child, architecture school, or any professional. One has to understand its purpose: making the world a great place to live and something that every human being could be proud of living in. There are no limits when it comes to designing something since the field of architecture creates infinite possibilities. No one can understand architecture entirely, but one can always be impacted by the knowledge one has.
References:
- HMC Architects (2015) How Does Architecture Impact Society? A High-Level Look [online]. (Last updated October 18, 2019). Available at: https://hmcarchitects.com/news/how-does-architecture-impact-society-a-high-level-look-2019-10-18/#:~:text=More%20Than%20Just%20a%20Building&text=Everything%20from%20the%20layout%20of,contribute%20more%20to%20their%20company.
- TEDx Talks (2015) The Impact of Architecture. [YouTube video]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVsCHMj5_Bo
- TEDx Talks (2016) How Architecture Affects Our Daily Lives. [YouTube video]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgvbffkN90E
