Theory Unit

One asks of architecture and there may be million emotional expressions from tangible to invisible, from solid to fluid, from whisper to cacophony. There should be a disinterested contemplation or better saying a clinical argumentation on what architecture is and what does it represents. What does architecture encompass, is it something that must attract us or is it an ugly necessity? History is a great lesson on how architecture has evolved. It is architecture nowadays, it was architecture back then and, most important thing is that there is a connection through time so, architecture is both art and science.

Prior to general understanding of architectural values, distinction of architectural values, there is a complex and diverse evaluation on what essentially those values rely on. How it is perceived, on what condition or context? Is there a measurement to evaluate all the characteristics of the building? According to R.Barthes, ”There exists a normally hidden set of rules, codes, and conventions through which meanings particular to specific social groups are made.” I can allude there is not a universal distinction as there can not be a unifying set of rules, codes and conventions.

Commodity, firmness and delight are three elements of how architecture is organized, three components that confirm that architecture is both art and science. Commodity is accepted wide as a component that has to deal with practicality of any object that serves as a function part of a building. It can be a group of elements that altogether convey an uninterrupted visible sight, a path on which we fundamentally rely as an ordinary action takes place. “A house is a machine for living in”- Le Corbusier. It is understood that a building without a life in it is simple an ornament if it has geometrical order, if not then it’s a sculpture.
Firmness is a path that we unconsciously rely as action takes place; it’s the strength of an order. As a perception it’s a rigid attitude when we approach a building on every sequence of our movement. Buildings manifested by a bigger volume of elements are considered firm in both aspect but it can not be a precedent of delusional thought for a flexible forms of structures. Through time, deliberation has improved in combining commodity and firmness. Perceptual structure is quite distinct from Physical structure. In so many high-rise buildings, we se structures of glass and sub-structures such as concrete floors and in some cases we see only glass, we may assume that a glass structure can not hold a concrete structure and it is actually right. It is not a glass that holds the weight of concrete, structures like columns with few exceptions on walls are not far away from glass but are deeper to see those from outside.
Delight is the third but nevertheless a crucial element in architecture. It is a composition of forms and shapes, structures and décor-a composition of spaces that captures neutrality in essence. It should be an environment where harmony of all components dominates among all. It requires a master of both understanding the space and a highly skill developed on crafting and decorating.