ARCHITECH: PROVIDING NEEDS OF ARCHITECTS

“The art or science of building; esp. the art or practice of designing and building edifices for human use, taking both aesthetic and practical factors into account.”

There are definitions of architecture as there are architects or people who comment on the practice of it. While some embrace it as art, others defend architecture’s seminal social responsibility as its most definitive attribute. To begin a sentence with “Architecture is” is a bold step into treacherous territory. And yet, many of us have uttered — or at least thought— “Architecture is…” while we’ve toiled away on an important project, or reflected on why we’ve chosen this professional path.

Architecture is the language of a building which describes itself, also it describes the context in which it is built.

Basically, architecture involves the designing of space according to the end user/client. In architecture better experience of space is on priority, it can be through space or structure of space or with the play of light in a structure and proper ventilation of air. These are the basic aspects of architectural design which enhances our lifestyle.

The designing of space and construction of space are two different phenomena. These phenomena distinguish between an architect and an engineer respectively.

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF ARCHITECT...

When buildings are designed, constructed, or renovated, we designate key designers as “architects” and give them a broad range of responsibilities. An architect prepares initial sketches of the building, showing both external appearance and internal layout, and discusses these sketches with clients until all concerned have agreed that what is shown is what they want. The sketches are abstractions: they focus attention on the pertinent details of a particular aspect of the building, omitting other concerns.

After the clients and architects agree on these abstractions, the architects prepare or supervise the preparation of, much more detailed drawings, as well as associated textual specifications. These drawings and specifications describe many “nitty-gritty” details of a building, such as plumbing, siding materials, window glazing, and electrical wiring.

On rare occasions, an architect simply hands the detailed plans to a builder who completes the project in accordance with the plans. For more important projects, the architect remains involved, regularly inspects the work, and may propose changes or accept suggestions for change from both the builder and customer. When the architect supervises the project, it is not considered complete until he certifies that it is in substantial compliance with the plans and specifications.

WHAT MASTER ARCHITECTS SAYS ABOUT ARCHITECTURE...

This is the collection of statements that illustrate the changing breadths of architecture.

We collected some statements by master architects they stated in interviews, speeches, or in books.

1. "Architecture is definitely a political act." - Peter Eisenman in Haaretz

2. "Architecture is unnecessarily difficult. It's very tough." - Zaha Hadid in The Guardian

3. "Architecture is by definition a very collaborative process." - Joshua Prince-Ramus in Fast Company

4. "Architecture is a way of seeing, thinking and questioning our world and our place in it." - Thom Mayne in his Pritzker Prize Acceptance Speech

5. "Architecture is the art and science of making sure that our cities and buildings actually fit with the way we want to live our lives: the process of manifesting our society into our physical world." - Bjarke Ingels in AD Interviews

6. "Architecture is merciless: it is what it is, it works or doesn’t, and you can clearly see the difference." - Jacques Herzog in a lecture at Columbia University

7. “Architecture is always related to power and related to large interests, whether financial or political." - Bernard Tschumi in The New York Times

8. "Architecture is a good example of the complex dynamic of giving." - Jeffrey Inaba in World of Giving

9. "Architecture is too complex for just one person to do it, and I love collaboration." - Richard Rogers in The Guardian

10. "Architecture is the most powerful deed that a man can imagine." - Ben van Berkel and Caroline Bos in Volume

11. "Architecture is an act of optimism." - Nicolai Ouroussoff in The LA Times

12. "Architecture is an artificial fact." - Mario Botta in Perspecta

13. "Architecture is full of romantics who think that even relatively small changes to the built environment create the aspiration for a better society." - Mark Wigley in Surface Magazine

14. "Architecture is for us, the public, and it is going to get scuffed." - Alexandra Lange in Design Observer

15. "Architecture is the work of nations..." John Ruskin in Stones of Venice

16. "Architecture is always dream and function, expression of a utopia and instrument of convenience." - Roland Barthes in "Semiology and Urbanism"

17. "Architecture is an expression of values – the way we build is a reflection of the way we live." - Norman Foster in The European

18. "Architecture is the real battleground of the spirit." - Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in "ID Merger Speech"

19. "Architecture is not a question of the purely theoretical if you're interested in building buildings. It's the art of what is possible." - Paul Rudolph in Chicago Architects Oral History Project

20. "Architecture is geometry." - Álvaro Siza in Imaginar a Evidência (Imagining Evidence)

21. "Architecture is about improving conditions: environmental, social and sometimes also political." - Arjen Oosterman in Volume

22. "Architecture is not just one thing. It is not just an art. … It has to deal with the real situation; it has to do something good for the society." - Xiaodu Liu in "What Can Architecture Do? An Interview with Xiaodu Liu" on ArchDaily

23. "Architecture is much more than the building of an object on a site: it is a reinvention of the site itself." - Sean Lally in The Air From Other Planets

24. "Architecture is a language: new designs should abide by grammatical rules to avoid dissonance with existing structures." - Prince Charles in The Architectural Review

25. "Architecture is an untapped source of magnificent stories waiting to be imagined, visualized, and built." - Matthew Hoffman in "Blank Space Launches Architecture Storytelling Competition"

26. "Architecture is about serving others through the design of the built environment." - Kevin J Singh in "21 Rules for A Successful Life in Architecture"

27. "Architecture is a very complex effort everywhere. It’s very rare that all the forces that need to coincide to actually make a project proceed are happening at the same time." - Rem Koolhaas in Co.Design

28. "Architecture is intended to transcend the simple need for shelter and security by becoming an expression of artistry." - Jay A. Pritzker in his 1985 Pritzker Ceremony Speech

29. "Architecture is the only art that you can't help but feel. You can avoid paintings, you can avoid music, and you can even avoid history. But good luck getting away from architecture." - Philippe Daverio in Humans of New York

30. "Architecture is the petrification of a cultural moment." - Jean Nouvel in Newsweek

31. "Architecture is characterised by endurance and longevity: a long education, long training, long hours and long lives." - Catherine Slessor in The Architectural Review

32. "Architecture is a muddle of irreconcilable things." - Juhani Pallasmaa in The Architectural Review

33. "Architecture is, in many ways, a very specific type of science fiction; it is its own genre of speculative thought," - Geoff Manaugh in Architect

34. "Architecture is largely irrelevant to the great mass of the world's population because architects have chosen to be." - Bruce Mau in Architect

35. "Architecture is becoming less about a single walled-off phallus on the horizon, and more about parks and public spaces which engage with the city." - Alissa Walker in Gizmodo

36. "Architecture is most often a victory over the process of creating architecture." - Sam Jacob in Log

37. "Architecture is capable of mounting a profound critique of the status quo." - Reinhold Martin in Places

38. "Architecture is such a conspicuous immensely physical object in space its presence is bound to influence everyone.” - Gautam Bhatia in India International Centre Quarterly

39. "Architecture is not just about building. It's a means of improving people's quality of life." - Diébédo Francis Kéré in Washington Post

40. “Architecture is a physical experience — it needs to be seen and touched to be wholly understood.” - Nicolai Ouroussoff in Los Angeles Times

41. "Architecture is really difficult. I realized that only very recently. It's like music. You can enjoy it but — to know it — it's a different story." - Diana Agrest in nprEd

42. "Architecture is capable of absorbing anything, and hence tends to dissolve into everything." - Ole Bouman in Volume

43. "Architecture is not just a matter of technology and aesthetics but the frame for a way of life – and, with luck, an intelligent way of life." - Bernard Rudofsky

44. "Architecture is a discipline where you can have multivalent interests. You could be a philosopher, a geographer, a scientist, an artist, an engineer; you can be poetic about it." - Toshiko Mori in Metropolis

45. "Architecture is supposed to be about a higher purpose." - Stanley Tigerman in Newsweek

46. "Architecture is the most public of the arts, and the public are severe critics." - Eric Parry in The Guardian

47. "Architecture is a formmaker, problem‐solver, and environment‐creator, and the international exposition is its laboratory." - Ada Louise Huxtable in the New York Times

48. "Architecture is supposed to complete nature. Great architecture makes nature more beautiful—it gives it power."- Claudio Silvestrin in Elle Decor

49. "Architecture is a small piece of this human equation, but for those of us who practice it, we believe in its potential to make a difference, to enlighten and to enrich the human experience, to penetrate the barriers of misunderstanding and provide a beautiful context for life's drama." - Frank Gehry in his 1989 Pritzker Prize Ceremony Speech

50. "Architecture is not a private affair; even a house must serve a whole family and its friends, and most buildings are used by everybody, people of all walks of life. If a building is to meet the needs of all the people, the architect must look for some common ground of understanding and experience." - John Portman in "The Architect as Developer"

View the complete gallery

“The art or science of building; esp. the art or practice of designing and building edifices for human use, taking both aesthetic and practical factors into account.”

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF ARCHITECT...

WHAT MASTER ARCHITECTS SAYS ABOUT ARCHITECTURE...

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