“Architecture is an Art of shaping the Environment”
This is the first thing I learnt in the architecture school. The definition of Architecture. I can’t remember the class or the name of the professor. It was nearly twenty years ago in a different country and in a different language. Since then I have heard and read many definitions and descriptions of architecture but none seems to speak to me the same way. Whenever I think about design I keep coming back to my first collage lecture and those words that I just can’t get out of my head. But yet I often find myself troubled when I try to explain this statement to my friends or clients. What does it mean? Let me draw a picture instead.
Imagine a landscape like this:
Empty non-defined space. Imagine 50 people placed in this location. They will wander around uncomfortably.
Imagine element in this landscape:
The element has defined the space. Now, the same 50 people will gather around the obelisk. They will start talking and maybe come up with idea to start something new and important.
Now imagine the same element repeated a number of times:
So let’s keep adding:
We are almost there. The power poles and the trees framed the space creating the “walls”. The sky and the tree canopies formed a “ceiling”. All we are missing is the floor:
The few simple elements defined the space. Now people will feel comfortable strolling along the path or resting in the shade under a tree.
As we add elements to our environment we customize it for our needs. We create indoor and outdoor spaces by defining the landscape. Every day we travel through spaces without even taking notice. Long narrow hallways of office buildings, open outdoor plazas, hiking trails and highways, our driveway and our kitchen. Our perception of space is shaped by the elements that define it (floor, walls, ceiling, free standing elements) as well as scale, function and placement in the sequence (or a floor plan). The quality of space will affect how we feel. We can be comfortable, relaxed, inspired, energized or confused, frustrated, bored or saddened. What a responsibility an architect has every time she picks up a pencil.
As I’m writing this post I feel that anything I say seems inadequate, too complicated or unclear. How do I describe the job of shaping human experience? Using words. Simple words. And short sentences. How do I make it clear and concise? I’m humbled and hunted about this statement I learnt as a first year architecture student and that I’m yet to figure out how to communicate. It’s work in progress.
One of the earliest definitions of architecture was by Vitruvius in the first century BC. In his book The Ten Books on Architecture, He asserted that architecture must exhibit the three important qualities: firmness, commodity and delight. I believe this is the most complete, simple and eloquent definition for BUILDING, but inadequate for ARCHITECUTRE. As you said, ARCHITECTURE "is little more complicated."
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