prohelvetia.ch
What is architecture ? What’s the first thing we think about when hearing the word “architecture” ? Is it building structures, is it an art or maybe architecture is both ?
In this unit we went over what architecture is, an art that concerns us, as we are creating building and spaces to live work … etc in.
here are some famous architects’ words toward this art;
“Beauty perishes in life, but is immortal in art [architecture]”
Leonardo da Vinci
“Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness”
Frank Gehry
“As an architect, you design for the present, with an awareness of the past for a future which is essentially unknown”
Norman Foster
At the same time our profesor suggested two videos to reflect about:
REFLECTION 1: Is architecture an art ?
https://www.rtve.es/play/videos/escala-humana/escala-humana-amor-arte/5540451/
To many peolple architecture is about building houses only. But is it about so much more…
In the clip “Por amor al arte” by Escala humana, the initial question is: ” Is architecture an art ?”. To answer it remains necessary to study the question from all aspects.
Architecture and Music:
Although many people ignore it but architecture has a very tight bond with sounds, indeed each component has its importance in a building, from the ground to the roof, from the window to the door, to creat harmony. In this clip we can see many examples of it: Girona cathedral where the huge dimensions and the materials used amplify the sounds, or Mémora Girona funeral and its particular shaped roofs that allow a very specific type of music…
Architecture and Design:
When asked, Frank Aleu, makes the difference between audiovisual art and architecture, although both can clarly be considered arts, for him playing with colors, lights, shapes is pleasing in the moment and a safe art for future generation, while architecture is an art with a huge responsibility on the architects’ shoulders as building up structures is irreversible and last for a life time. He concludes answering to the question ” What is art ?” by the fact that art is about touching peope’s hearts and generating emotions throught a piece of art, and for that to happen it is mandatory to see, to understand, to read and to analyse.
Architecture and Photography:
While architecture is about creating, photography is about searching. Architectural photography is about looking for the most important component of a building and bringing out its beauty and its weight in the exact same way that the architect did in the first place; as a consequence the architecture implies photography in a way or another.
Besides architecture is also about reviving a memory as is the example of Beckett Hall, Barcelona where many elements were kept as they used to be, to preserve the spirit of the building.
” La belleza no mira, solo es mirada. “
Albert Einstein
REFLECTION 2: Is full creativity possible ?
Perhaps the best way to start analising the clip of The Simpsons is reading the comments under it:
“Jheeeze this reminds me of my 7th grade reading teacher. I used to draw at the end of class when i was done with my work and she always said “you need to stop that. You’ll never make a career out of it.” But now i get paid to draw so suck it”
comment 1
“Jessie J once said her teacher wouldn’t allow her to join the school choir because he felt other pupil’s parents would complain about her powerful voice, so this is pretty accurate.”
comment 2
“This kind of has its point. Some teachers or parents do ruins kids talent by telling what them believe to be true.”
comment 3
The most important idea here is how conformity kills creativity. That is what happens to many architecture students or even architects, dreaming big so big that they see their creations and their dreams crushed by norms and rules.
But behind the video is the story of Any Rand a russian philosopher who wrote “Fountainhead” which is the clips title.
Ayn Rand claims that the topic of The Fountainhead is “individualism versus collectivism, not in politics, but in man’s soul.”
The message of the novel is individualism. In her book she state that one has to follow his own rational judgement, act according to his own standards, and live for the sake of his own values and happiness.
Bibliography:
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-takeaway-message-Ayn-Rand-wishes-to-convey-in-The-Fountainhead