The World from an Architect’s Perspective
Through the looking glass – Every architect eventually becomes a photographer – while it may not be with fancy equipment and professional lighting – the focus of capturing the space is all the same. The more you study architecture, the more your perspective of the world around you start to change – it starts with finding things like vanishing points and perspective views, then it is materials and textures, till everything is based on lines, geometry, and angles. And you begin to see life through a perfectly placed frame- a lot like photographers do.
Isn’t architecture just drawing? | Looking Glass
This is a question every architect has been asked at some point in their academic or professional careers. Humans have evolved by design and to design – we yearn to amplify our comfort; it’s embedded in us to elevate the way we live day to day – as easily as possible. And while it may not be as obvious, everything in our routine lives is placed by the perspective of design, from that always-packed tourist spot in your city to the local street vendor outside your office. Good architecture dictates where the crowd goes. The perspective architects live by and foresee is one that means to create a microenvironment, while respecting the existing context.
The architectural landmarks in your city – think the Taj Mahal in Agra, the Eiffel tower in Paris, or even Times Square in New York – are all architectural marvels that people like to visit from all over the world. These designed structures give way to fancier streets, global cuisine, hotels for visitors, and more. While offices might attract smaller crowds and might not be groundbreaking design, it is the architecture that holds a fairly large crowd – who return home at a time, take breaks in groups, step out, and want to live nearby – giving way to local vendors, good rental homes, supermarkets, and recreational spots. Think smaller scale – a house in a neighborhood with good architecture sets a precedent – now everyone wants to live up to the standards; a house with bad architecture makes the land value drop – no one wants to look at that tacky building every day or build next to it. This solidifies the previous point of – Good architecture dictates where the crowd goes. The larger perspective is not solely focused on given projects but the space as a whole- like a community. Even zoomed out, the framed perspective needs to be perfect. So no, architecture isn’t just drawing.
The Perspective of Tabula Rasa
For an architect, Tabula Rasa essentially means a clean slate like looking glass. An opportunity to start anew and rebuild. But most architects visualize Tabula Rasa over the day-to-day structures they see. The perspective of how they would design a building they walked by or how the flow of the mall stores needs to be, or even the landscape for a resort they’re vacationing at. The study of architecture is so vast that each lesson bleeds into our regime, everything an architect sees through their perspective is a potential design exercise. And while they don’t need to physically submit any technical work it never hurts to imagine the tabula rasa and their design, in that place- mentally.
Architects are critical beings, maybe because academically it was the endless cycle of juries that changed their perspective, or maybe it’s the need to always do better. It falls in the criticism of dead spaces- places under the highways or metros, an architect’s perspective would try to give it a function – maybe with landscaping, maybe sculptures or art, maybe some vendor spaces, as long as it didn’t just have old abandoned construction material. You can see their criticism in the way they love Grecian entryways and Roman colonnades but secretly cringe when houses in very tropical places use them. The large stepped entries were used to intimidate and signify power – a feature one definitely does not want in their house. It is, however, appreciated in government buildings; and every time they see an institute with Greek columns it takes them back to that history class and of optical illusion – the intricate details of the golden ratio and Fibonacci series lost in common practice over time.
Their perspective of corbelled pathways and stone arches redirects their brain to old European cities. How the streets of Italy are ordained with beautiful buildings and fountains – how water plays an important role as a feature of architecture- in historic and contemporary settings. But the use of corbelled stones in modern times which may have useful aesthetic contributions but not functional values – one cannot walk on them in heels or sandals and one cannot trolley around suitcases and carts- so why are they commonly used in malls? The perspective of the architect is all these questions running through their head and how the ideations of existing failures and successes around them can be used in their work.
Architects are Visual Storytellers | Looking Glass
The biggest asset for an architect is Anthropometry. Anthropometry is the scientific study of the measurements and proportions of the human body. Architects design spaces with the perspective of these measurements and propositions to that of the space itself. This perspective plays a huge role in skyscraper cities – Whether the buildings are incredibly high consistently where sooner than later the view of the city is only of the upended cluster of high-rise buildings; Or in cities where there’s an allotted line of skyscrapers casting a shadow and dividing the city into two aesthetics.
Skyscrapers change the value of light, wind, and shadows – all things an architect sees when they see the myriad of vertical lines going up in the form of scaffoldings for the superstructure. And from the perspective of the sky comes the perspective from the ground. Anthropometry plays a huge role even in small structures like bus stands – making sure the height of the human and the structure gives the right amount of shelter and shade during rain and sunlight. It’s the iconography of everything and ease of living – things as simple as roofed parking lots and knowing where the reception is while you enter a public space.
An architect’s perspective is an integration of all these thoughts – lines, angles, clean slates, nature, beauty, culture, and perspective to give us the best visual impact like looking glass and optimal comfort. It’s why there’s a craving for humans to immortalize architecture – in art, paintings, literature, and photography- it’s a piece of history you can experience physically.
Citations
Da Vinci, Leonardo. (1490) Vitruvian Man Notebook. 2019 edition.New York:Dover Publications.
