Know Architecture

Architecture is the art and science of designing buildings. In a broader sense, covering architecture design and build the entire built environment, ranging from macro level of town planning, urban design, landscape architecture, down to the micro-level of building design, furniture design and product design. Architecture also refers to the results of the design process.

The scope and desire

According to Vitruvius in his De Architectura (which is the oldest written sources which still exists today), good buildings should pick the Beauty / Aesthetics (Venustas), Strength (Firmitas), and Purpose / Function (Utilities); architecture can be regarded as balance and coordination between the three elements, and no single element that exceeds the other elements. In the modern definition, the architecture must include consideration of function, aesthetic, and psychological. However, it can be said also that the element itself functions in it already covers both the aesthetic and psychological elements.

Architecture is a multi-discipline areas, including math, science, art, technology, humanities, politics, history, philosophy, and so forth. Citing Vitruvius, “Architecture is the science that arise from other sciences, and is equipped with the learning process: assisted with the assessment of these works as art.” She adds that an architect should be well versed in the field of music, astronomy, etc.. Philosophy is one of the major in architecture approach. Rationalism, empiricism, phenomenology, structuralism, post-structuralism, and dekonstruktivisme are some directions from philosophy influencing the architecture.

Theory and practice

The importance of theory to be a referral practices should not be over-emphasized, although many architects ignore the theory altogether. Vitruvius said: “The practice and theory are the roots of architecture. Practice is ongoing reflection on the implementation of a project or workmanship by hand, in the conversion process of building materials in the best way. The theory is the result of reasoned thinking that explains the conversion process of building materials to the final result as answer to a problem. An architect who practice without theory can not explain the reason and basis of the forms he chose. While the architect who theorize without practicing only cling to the “shadow” rather than substance. An architect who hold to the theory and practice He has a double weapon. He is able to prove the truth of the designs and also can make it happen in the execution. ”

History

Architecture is born of the dynamic between necessity (needs a conducive environment, security, etc.), and the ways (available building materials and construction technology). Prehistoric and primitive architecture is an early stage of this dynamic. Then the man becomes more developed and knowledge began to take shape through the oral tradition and practices, architecture evolved into skills. At this stage there is the testing process, improvisation, or imitation, so a successful outcome. An architect was not an important figure, he merely continued the tradition. Vernacular architecture is born from such an approach and has so far been carried out in many parts of the world.

Human settlements in the past is essentially rural. Then arises the surplus production, so that rural communities develop into urban society. The complexity of building and tipologinya increased. Technology development of public facilities such as roads and bridges were developed. Typologies of new buildings such as schools, hospitals, and recreational facilities were popping up. Religious architecture remained an important part in society. Architectural styles evolved, and the paper on architecture began to appear. Writings into a collection of rules (canon) to be followed, especially in the construction of religious architecture. Examples of this canon include writings of Vitruvius, or Vaastu Shastra of ancient India. In the period of Classical and Medieval Europe, the building is not the work of individual architects, but professional associations (guilds) is formed by the artisan / specialist skills to organize the building project.

During the Enlightenment, the humanities and the emphasis on the individual becomes more important than religion, and a new beginning in the architecture. Development assigned to individual architects – Michaelangelo, Brunelleschi, Leonardo da Vinci – and the cult of the individual had begun. But at that moment, there is no dividing line between artist, architect, or engineer or other areas of work-related. At this stage, an artist can design a bridge because it is still counting structures in general.

Along with the merging of knowledge from several disciplines (eg engineering), and the emergence of new building materials and technology, an architect by shifting its focus from technical aspects to the aesthetics of the building. Then the rise of the “gentleman architect” who usually dealt with bouwheer (client) is rich and concentrated on the visual elements in a form that refers to the historical examples. In the 19th century, the Ecole des Beaux Arts in France to train prospective architects to create sketches and beautiful images without emphasizing the context.

Meanwhile, the Industrial Revolution opened the door for public consumption, so the aesthetics of a measure that can be achieved even by the middle class. Products, once limited in scope ornate aesthetic of expensive skills, become affordable through mass production. Such products does not have the beauty and honesty in the expression of a production process.

Dissatisfaction with such situations in the early 20th century gave birth to the ideas that underlie modern architecture, among others, the Deutscher Werkbund (established 1907) which produces machine-made objects with better quality is the point of birth of the profession in the field of industrial design. After that, the Bauhaus school (founded in Germany in 1919) rejected history and looked at architecture as a synthesis of art, craft, and technology.

When Modern architecture began to be practiced, it is an avant garde movement with moral, philosophical, and aesthetic. Truth sought by rejecting history and turning to the functions that gave birth to the form. Architect and then became a prominent figure and was dubbed the “master”. Later modern architecture into the scope of mass production because of its simplicity and economic factors.

However, the public sensed a decline in the quality of modern architecture in the 1960s, partly because of lack of meaning, sterility, ugliness, uniformity, and psychological impacts. Some architects to answer through the Post-Modern Architecture with the business architecture to form a more acceptable public on a visual level, even at the expense of depth. Robert Venturi argued that “the shack decorated / decorated shed” (an ordinary building interiors are functionally designed it while its ornate exterior) is better than a “duck / duck” (the building where both form and function into one). Venturi opinion became the basis of Post-Modern Architecture approach.

Some other architects (and also non-architects) to answer by showing what they think the root of the problem. They felt that architecture is not a personal philosophical or aesthetic pursuit by individualists, but the architecture should consider the needs of everyday people and using technology to achieve a livable environment. The Design Methodology Movement involving people such as Chris Jones or Christopher Alexander started looking for a more inclusive process in the design, to obtain better results. Extensive studies in various fields such as behavioral, environmental, and social sciences were made to the design process.

Along with the increasing complexity of building, architecture started becoming more multi-disciplinary rather than the previous. This requires a set of architectural professionals now in the process. This is the current state of professional architects. However, individuals still preferred architects in designing buildings and sought a meaningful cultural symbols. For example, a museum of art into style experimentation dekonstruktivis land today, but tomorrow maybe something else.

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