The practice, which began in the prehistoric era, has been used as a way of expressing culture by civilizations on all seven continents.[7] 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.
The philosophy of architecture is a branch of philosophy of art, dealing with aesthetic value of architecture, its semantics and in relation with development of culture. Many philosophers and theoreticians from Plato to Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze,[11] Robert Venturi and Ludwig Wittgenstein have concerned themselves with the nature of architecture and whether or not architecture is distinguished from building.
According to Vitruvius, the architect should strive to fulfill each of these three attributes as well as possible. Leon Battista Alberti, who elaborates on the ideas of Vitruvius in his treatise, De re aedificatoria, saw beauty primarily as a matter of proportion, although ornament also played a part. For Alberti, the rules of proportion were those that governed the idealized human figure, the Golden mean. The most important aspect of beauty was, therefore, an inherent part of an object, rather than something applied superficially, and was based on universal, recognizable truths. The notion of style in the arts was not developed until the 16th century, with the writing of Giorgio Vasari.[15] By the 18th century, his Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects had been translated into Italian, French, Spanish, and English.
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.[16]
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."[17] 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".[18] 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.[18]
On the difference between the ideals of architecture and mere construction, the renowned 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".[19] 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."[20]
The notable 19th-century architect of skyscrapers, 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.
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".[21]
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 use, waste products and lighting.
Building first evolved out of the dynamics between needs (e.g. shelter, security, and worship) and means (available building materials and attendant skills). As human cultures developed and knowledge began to be formalized through oral traditions and practices, building became a craft, and architecture became the term used to describe the highly formalized and respected aspects of the craft. It is widely assumed that architectural success was achieved through trial and error, with progressively less trial and more replication as results became satisfactory over time. Vernacular architecture continues to be produced in many parts of the world.
Early human settlements were mostly rural. Expanding economies resulted in the creation of proto-cities or urban areas, which in some cases grew and evolved very rapidly, such as atalhyk in modern-day Turkey and Mohenjo-daro in modern-day Pakistan.
Neolithic archaeological sites include Gbekli Tepe and atalhyk 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 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 Greek and Roman civilizations evolved from civic ideals rather than religious or empirical ones. New building types emerged and architectural style developed in the form of the classical orders. Roman architecture was influenced by Greek architecture as they incorporated many Greek elements into their building practices.[22]
Asian architecture developed differently compared to Europe, and the Buddhist, Hindu and Sikh architectural styles have different characteristics. Unlike Indian and Chinese architecture, which had great influence on the surrounding regions, Japanese architecture did not. Some Asian architecture showed great regional diversity, in particular Buddhist architecture. Moreover, other architectural achievements in Asia is the Hindu temple architecture, which developed from around the 5th century CE, is in theory governed by concepts laid down in the Shastras, and is concerned with expressing the macrocosm and the microcosm.
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.
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