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Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, , and construction or other structures. The term comes ; ; . Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural symbols and as works of art. Historical are often identified with their surviving architectural achievements.
The practice, which began in the Prehistory, has been used as a way of expressing culture by civilizations on all seven . For this reason, architecture is considered to be a form of art. Texts on architecture have been written since ancient times. The earliest surviving text on architectural theories is the 1st century AD treatise De architectura by the Roman architect Vitruvius, according to whom a good building embodies firmitas, utilitas, and venustas (durability, utility, and beauty). Centuries later, Leon Battista Alberti developed his ideas further, seeing beauty as an objective quality of buildings to be found in their proportions. In the 19th century, Louis Sullivan declared that "form follows function". "Function" began to replace the classical "utility" and was understood to include not only practical but also aesthetic, psychological, and cultural dimensions. The idea of sustainable architecture was introduced in the late 20th century.
Architecture began as rural, oral vernacular architecture that developed from trial and error to successful replication. Ancient urban architecture was preoccupied with building religious structures and buildings symbolizing the political power of rulers until Greek and Roman architecture shifted focus to civic virtues. Indian and Chinese architecture influenced forms all over Asia and Buddhist architecture in particular took diverse local flavors. During the Middle Ages, pan-European styles of Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals and abbeys emerged while the Renaissance favored Classical forms implemented by architects known by name. Later, the roles of architects and engineers became separated.
Modern architecture began after World War I as an avant-garde movement that sought to develop a completely new style appropriate for a new post-war social and economic order focused on meeting the needs of the middle and working classes. Emphasis was put on modern techniques, materials, and simplified geometric forms, paving the way for high-rise superstructures. Many architects became disillusioned with modernism which they perceived as ahistorical and anti-aesthetic, and postmodern and contemporary architecture developed. Over the years, the field of architectural construction has branched out to include everything from ship design to interior decorating.
In the 16th century, Italian Mannerist architect, painter and theorist Sebastiano Serlio wrote Tutte L'Opere D'Architettura et Prospetiva ( Complete Works on Architecture and Perspective). This treatise exerted immense influence throughout Europe, being the first handbook that emphasized the practical rather than the theoretical aspects of architecture, and it was the first to catalog the five orders. Sebastiano Serlio – On domestic architecture. , Columbia University Libraries, accessed February 5, 2021.
In the early 19th century, Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin wrote Contrasts (1836) that, as the title suggested, contrasted the modern, industrial world, which he disparaged, with an idealized image of neo-medieval world. Gothic architecture, Pugin believed, was the only "true Christian form of architecture." The 19th-century English art critic, John Ruskin, in his Seven Lamps of Architecture, published 1849, was much narrower in his view of what constituted architecture. Architecture was the "art which so disposes and adorns the edifices raised by men ... that the sight of them" contributes "to his mental health, power, and pleasure".John Ruskin, , G. Allen (1880), reprinted Dover, (1989), . For Ruskin, the aesthetic was of overriding significance. His work goes on to state that a building is not truly a work of architecture unless it is in some way "adorned". For Ruskin, a well-constructed, well-proportioned, functional building needed string courses or rustication, at the very least.
On the difference between the ideals of architecture and mere construction, the 20th-century architect Le Corbusier wrote: "You employ stone, wood, and concrete, and with these materials you build houses and palaces: that is construction. Ingenuity is at work. But suddenly you touch my heart, you do me good. I am happy and I say: This is beautiful. That is Architecture".Le Corbusier, Towards a New Architecture, Dover Publications(1985). . Le Corbusier's contemporary Ludwig Mies van der Rohe is said to have stated in a 1959 interview that "architecture starts when you carefully put two bricks together. There it begins."
Nunzia Rondanini stated, "Through its aesthetic dimension architecture goes beyond the functional aspects that it has in common with other human sciences. Through its own particular way of expressing values, architecture can stimulate and influence social life without presuming that, in and of itself, it will promote social development.... To restrict the meaning of (architectural) formalism to art for art's sake is not only reactionary; it can also be a purposeless quest for perfection or originality which degrades form into a mere instrumentality".Rondanini, Nunzia. Architecture and Social Change Heresies II, Vol. 3, No. 3, New York, Neresies Collective Incorporated, 1981.
The aesthetics of architecture remain a contested topic, with critics highlighting the disconnect between professionals and the public. Studies generally find that there is a strong public preference for traditional and classical architectural styles over modernist designs. James Stevens Curl argues that modernist architects often favour designs that are alienating and environmentally damaging. Léon Krier frames the dominance of traditional styles in private architecture as an "overwhelming democratic reality," contrasting with the prevalence of modernist designs in public commissions.
Among the philosophies that have influenced modern architects and their approach to building design are Rationalism, Empiricism, Structuralism, Poststructuralism, deconstructivism and Phenomenology.
In the late 20th century a new concept was added to those included in the compass of both structure and function, the consideration of sustainability, hence sustainable architecture. To satisfy the contemporary ethos, a building should be constructed in a manner which is environmentally friendly in terms of the production of its materials, its impact upon the natural and built environment of its surrounding area and the demands that it makes upon the natural environment for heating, ventilation and cooling, Water efficiency, Waste management and lighting.
Muzeul Satului Bucuresti 02.jpg|In Romania: peasant houses in the Dimitrie Gusti National Village Museum (Bucharest)
Early human settlements were mostly rural. Expanding economies resulted in the creation of Proto-city or , which in some cases grew and evolved very rapidly, such as Çatalhöyük in modern-day Turkey and Mohenjo-daro in modern-day Pakistan.
Neolithic archaeological sites include Göbekli Tepe and Çatalhöyük in Turkey, Jericho in the Levant, Mehrgarh in Pakistan, Skara Brae in Orkney, and Cucuteni-Trypillian culture settlements in Romania, Moldova and Ukraine.
In many ancient civilizations, such as those of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, architecture and urbanism reflected the constant engagement with the divine and the supernatural, and many ancient cultures resorted to monumentality in their architecture to symbolically represent the political power of the ruler or the state itself.
The architecture and urbanism of classical civilizations such as the Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome civilizations evolved from civic ideals rather than religious or empirical ones. New building types emerged and architectural style developed in the form of the . Roman architecture was influenced by Greek architecture as they incorporated many Greek elements into their building practices.
Texts on architecture have been written since ancient times—these texts provided both general advice and specific formal prescriptions or canons. Some examples of canons are found in the writings of Vitruvius in the 1st century BC. Some of the most important early examples of canonic architecture are religious.
In many Asian countries, pantheistic religion led to architectural forms that were designed specifically to enhance the natural landscape. Also, the grandest houses were relatively lightweight structures mainly using wood until recent times, and there are few survivals of great age. Buddhism was associated with a move to stone and brick religious structures, probably beginning as rock-cut architecture, which has often survived very well.
Early Asian writings on architecture include the Kao Gong Ji of China from the 7th–5th centuries BC, the Shilpa Shastras of ancient India, Manjusri Vasthu Vidya Sastra of Sri Lanka, and Araniko of Nepal .
File:Córdoba (5157827355).jpg|Moorish architecture: Grand arches of the Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba (Córdoba, Spain)
File:20180301124354 IMG 4179And6more Interior 3.jpg|Persian architecture: The Jameh Mosque in Isfahan (Iran)
File:Taj Mahal, Agra, India edit2.jpg|Mughal architecture: The Taj Mahal in Agra (India)
Selimiye Mosque, Dome.jpg|Ottoman architecture: The interior side view of the main dome of the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne (Turkey)
Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore abside a Roma.jpg|Byzantine architecture: Apse of Santa Maria Maggiore (Rome), decorated in the 5th century with this glamorous mosaic
Aix dom int vue cote.jpg|Carolingian architecture: Interior of the Aachen Cathedral (Aachen, Germany), 796–805
Durham Cathedral Nave.jpg|Romanesque architecture: Interior of the Durham Cathedral (Durham, UK), 1093–1133
Sainte Chapelle Interior Stained Glass.jpg|Gothic architecture: Stained glass windows of the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, completed in 1248, mostly constructed between 1194 and 1220
The major architectural undertakings were the buildings of abbeys and . From about 900 onward, the movements of both clerics and tradesmen carried architectural knowledge across Europe, resulting in the pan-European styles Romanesque and Gothic.
Also, a significant part of the Middle Ages architectural heritage is numerous fortifications across the continent. From the Balkans to Spain, and from Malta to Estonia, these buildings represent an important part of European heritage.
In Renaissance Europe, from about 1400 onwards, there was a revival of Classical learning accompanied by the development of Renaissance humanism, which placed greater emphasis on the role of the individual in society than had been the case during the Medieval period. Buildings were ascribed to specific architects – Brunelleschi, Alberti, Michelangelo, Palladio – and the cult of the individual had begun. There was still no dividing line between artist, architect, engineer, or any of the related vocations, and the appellation was often one of regional preference.
A revival of the Classical style in architecture was accompanied by a burgeoning of science and engineering, which affected the proportions and structure of buildings. At this stage, it was still possible for an artist to design a bridge as the level of structural calculations involved was within the scope of the generalist.
Meanwhile, the Industrial Revolution laid open the door for mass production and consumption. Aesthetics became a criterion for the middle class as ornamented products, once within the province of expensive craftsmanship, became cheaper under machine production.
Vernacular architecture became increasingly ornamental. Housebuilders could use current architectural design in their work by combining features found in pattern books and architectural journals.
When modern architecture was first practiced, it was an avant-garde movement with moral, philosophical, and aesthetic underpinnings. Immediately after World War I, pioneering modernist architects sought to develop a completely new style appropriate for a new post-war social and economic order focused on meeting the needs of the middle and working classes. They rejected the architectural practice of the academic refinement of historical styles which served the rapidly declining aristocratic order. The approach of the Modernist architects was to reduce buildings to pure forms, removing historical references and ornament in favor of functional details. Buildings displayed their functional and structural elements, exposing steel beams and concrete surfaces instead of hiding them behind decorative forms. Architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright developed organic architecture, in which the form was defined by its environment and purpose, with an aim to promote harmony between human habitation and the natural world with prime examples being Robie House and Fallingwater.
Architects such as Mies van der Rohe, Philip Johnson, and Marcel Breuer worked to create beauty based on the inherent qualities of building materials and modern construction techniques, trading traditional historic forms for simplified geometric forms, celebrating the new means and methods made possible by the Industrial Revolution, including steel-frame construction, which gave birth to high-rise superstructures. Fazlur Rahman Khan's development of the tube structure was a technological breakthrough in building ever higher. By mid-century, Modernism had morphed into the International Style, an aesthetic epitomized in many ways by the Twin Towers of New York's World Trade Center designed by Minoru Yamasaki.
The Walt Disney Company office.jpg|Team Disney Building (Los Angeles, US), 1990, by Michael Graves
Cambridge University Judge Business School interior.jpg|Multicolour interior of the Cambridge Judge Business School (Cambridge, the UK), 1995, by John Outram
Case danzanti.jpg|The Dancing House (Prague, Czech Republic), 1996, by Vlado Milunić and Frank Gehry
Many architects resisted modernism, finding it devoid of the decorative richness of historical styles. As the first generation of modernists began to die after World War II, the second generation of architects including Paul Rudolph, Marcel Breuer, and Eero Saarinen tried to expand the aesthetics of modernism with Brutalism, buildings with expressive sculpture façades made of unfinished concrete. But an even younger postwar generation critiqued modernism and Brutalism for being too austere, standardized, monotone, and not taking into account the richness of human experience offered in historical buildings across time and in different places and cultures.
One such reaction to the cold aesthetic of modernism and Brutalism is the school of metaphoric architecture, which includes such things as biomorphism and zoomorphic architecture, both using nature as the primary source of inspiration and design. While it is considered by some to be merely an aspect of postmodernism, others consider it to be a school in its own right and a later development of expressionist architecture.
Beginning in the late 1950s and 1960s, architectural phenomenology emerged as an important movement in the early reaction against modernism, with architects like Charles Moore in the United States, Christian Norberg-Schulz in Norway, and Ernesto Nathan Rogers, Vittorio Gregotti, Michele Valori, and Bruno Zevi in Italy, who collectively popularized an interest in a new contemporary architecture aimed at expanding human experience using historical buildings as models and precedents. Postmodernism produced a style that combined contemporary building technology and cheap materials with the aesthetics of older pre-modern and non-modern styles, from high classical architecture to popular or vernacular regional building styles. Robert Venturi famously defined postmodern architecture as a "decorated shed" (an ordinary building which is functionally designed inside and embellished on the outside) and upheld it against modernist and brutalist "ducks" (buildings with unnecessarily expressive tectonic forms).
Dallas Meadows Museum 1.jpg|The Meadows Museum (Dallas, Texas, US), 2001, by HBRA architects
File:Beijing national stadium.jpg|The Beijing National Stadium (Beijing, China), 2003–2007, by Herzog & de Meuron
Campus WU LC D1 TC DSC 1440w.jpg|The Library and Learning Center of the University of Vienna (Vienna, Austria), 2008, by Zaha Hadid
File:Isbjerget.jpg|The Isbjerget housing project (Aarhus, Denmark), inspired by form and color of icebergs, 2013, by CEBRA, JDS Architects, Louis Paillard, and SeARCH
Environmental sustainability has become a mainstream issue, with a profound effect on the architectural profession. Many developers, those who support the financing of buildings, have become educated to encourage the facilitation of environmentally sustainable design, rather than solutions based primarily on immediate cost. Major examples of this can be found in passive solar building design, Green roof, Biodegradation materials, and more attention to a structure's energy usage. This major shift in architecture has also changed architecture schools to focus more on the environment. There has been an acceleration in the number of buildings that seek to meet green building sustainable design principles. Sustainable practices that were at the core of vernacular architecture increasingly provide inspiration for environmentally and socially sustainable contemporary techniques. The U.S. Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system has been influential in this.Other energy efficiency and green building rating systems include Energy Star, Green Globes, and CHPS (Collaborative for High Performance Schools).
Concurrently, the recent movements of New Urbanism, Metaphoric architecture, Complementary architecture, and New Classical architecture promote a sustainable approach towards construction that appreciates and develops smart growth, architectural tradition, and classical design. This in contrast to modernist and globally uniform architecture, as well as leaning against solitary and Urban sprawl. Issue Brief: Smart-Growth: Building Livable Communities . American Institute of Architects. Retrieved on 23 March 2014. Glass curtain walls, which were the hallmark of the ultra modern urban life in many countries, surfaced even in developing countries like Nigeria where international styles had been represented since the mid-20th Century, mostly because of the leanings of foreign-trained architects.
Urban design is an interdisciplinary field that uses elements of many built environment professions, including landscape architecture, urban planning, architecture, civil engineering and municipal engineering.Van Assche, K., Beunen, R., Duineveld, M., & de Jong, H. (2013). "Co-evolutions of planning and design: Risks and benefits of design perspectives in planning systems" . Planning Theory, 12(2), 177–198. It is common for professionals in all these disciplines to practice urban design. In more recent times different sub-subfields of urban design have emerged such as strategic urban design, landscape urbanism, water-sensitive urban design, and sustainable urbanism.
Modern concepts
The notable 19th-century architect of , Louis Sullivan, promoted an overriding precept to architectural design: "Form follows function". While the notion that structural and aesthetic considerations should be entirely subject to functionality was met with both popularity and skepticism, it had the effect of introducing the concept of "function" in place of Vitruvius' "utility". "Function" came to be seen as encompassing all criteria of the use, perception and enjoyment of a building, not only practical but also aesthetic, psychological and cultural.
(2025). 9781597265782, Island Press. ISBN 9781597265782
History
Origins and vernacular architecture
Prehistoric architecture
Classical era
Asian architecture
Islamic architecture
(2025). 9789004290365 ISBN 9789004290365
European medieval architecture
Renaissance architecture
Early modern and the industrial age
(2025). 9789731872308, SIMETRIA. ISBN 9789731872308
Palacio CEC, Bucarest, Rumanía, 2016-05-29, DD 91-93 HDR.jpg|Beaux-Arts architecture: The CEC Palace on Calea Victoriei (Bucharest), 8 June 1897 – 1900, by Paul Gottereau (2025). 9786068839097, Editura Istoria Artei. ISBN 9786068839097
File:La colonie dartistes jugendstil (Mathildenhöhe, Darmstadt) (7882268852).jpg|Art Nouveau architecture: Ernst Ludwig House in Darmstadt Artists' Colony, Darmstadt, Jugendstil, 1900, by Joseph Maria Olbrich
Modernism
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Postmodernism
Architecture today
Types
Residential architecture
Residential architecture is the design which functionally fits the user's lifestyle while adhering to the and zoning laws.
Commercial architecture
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Industrial architecture
Industrial architecture is the design of specialized industrial buildings, whose primary focus is designing buildings that can fulfil their function while ensuring the safe movement of labor and goods in the facility.
Landscape architecture
Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor public areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioral, or aesthetic outcomes.Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe, Susan Jellicoe, The Landscape of Man: Shaping the Environment from Prehistory to the Present Day. . It involves the systematic investigation of existing social, ecological, and soil conditions and processes in the landscape and the design of interventions that will produce the desired outcome. The scope of the profession includes landscape design, site planning, stormwater management, environmental restoration, and recreation planning, visual resource management, green infrastructure planning and provision, and private estate and house landscape master planning and design all at varying scales of design, planning, and management. A practitioner in the profession of landscape architecture is called a landscape architect.
Interior architecture
Interior architecture is the design of a space which has been created by structural boundaries and the human interaction within these boundaries. It can also be the initial design and plan for use, then later redesigned to accommodate a changed purpose or a significantly revised design for adaptive reuse of the building shell. The latter is often part of sustainable architecture practices, conserving resources through "recycling" a structure by adaptive redesign. Generally referred to as the spatial art of environmental design, form and practice, interior architecture is the process through which the interiors of buildings are designed, concerned with all aspects of the human uses of structural spaces.
Urban design
Urban design is the process of designing and shaping the physical features of cities, towns, and villages. In contrast to architecture, which focuses on the design of individual buildings, urban design deals with the larger scale of groups of buildings, streets and public spaces, whole neighborhoods and districts, and entire cities, with the goal of making urban areas functional, attractive, and sustainable.
Other types of architecture
Naval architecture
Naval architecture, also known as naval engineering, is an engineering discipline dealing with the engineering design process, shipbuilding, maintenance, and operation of watercraft and structures.Biran, Adrian; (2003). Ship hydrostatics and stability, Butterworth-Heinemann. . Naval architecture involves basic and applied research, design, development, design evaluation, and calculations during all stages of the life of a marine vehicle. Preliminary design of the vessel, its detailed design, Shipbuilding, Sea trial, operation and maintenance, launching, and dry-docking are the main activities involved. Ship design calculations are also required for ships being modified (by means of conversion, rebuilding, modernization, or repair). Naval architecture also involves the formulation of safety regulations and damage control rules and the approval and certification of ship designs to meet statutory and non-statutory requirements.
Metaphorical "architectures"
"Architecture" is used as a metaphor for many modern techniques or fields for structuring abstractions. These include:
Seismic architecture
The term 'seismic architecture' or 'earthquake architecture' was first introduced in 1985 by Robert Reitherman. The phrase "earthquake architecture" is used to describe a degree of architectural expression of earthquake resistance or implication of architectural configuration, form, or style in earthquake resistance. It is also used to describe buildings in which seismic design considerations impacted its architecture. It may be considered a new aesthetic approach in designing structures in seismic prone areas. The wide breadth of expressive possibilities ranges from metaphorical uses of seismic issues to the more straightforward exposure of seismic technology. While outcomes of an earthquake architecture can be very diverse in their physical manifestations, architectural expression of seismic principles can also take many forms and levels of sophistication.
See also
Notes
External links
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