Overview

Architecture is where art meets engineering. It is the design of the spaces we live in. It shapes our behavior and our mood.

Core Idea

The core idea is Function. A painting just has to look good. A building has to stand up and keep the rain out. “Form follows function” (Sullivan).

Formal Definition

The process and the product of planning, designing, and constructing buildings or other structures.

Intuition

  • The Shelter: The most basic need.
  • The Symbol: Buildings are symbols of power (Pyramids, Skyscrapers, Cathedrals).
  • The Machine for Living: Le Corbusier’s definition of a house. Efficient, clean, functional.

Examples

  • Gothic: Verticality, light, stained glass (Notre Dame). Reaching for God.
  • Modernism: Glass, steel, concrete. Rejection of ornament (Bauhaus).
  • Brutalism: Raw concrete. Honest, heavy, monumental.

Common Misconceptions

  • Misconception: Architects just draw pretty pictures.
    • Correction: They have to know physics, materials, law, and sociology.
  • Misconception: Old buildings are always better.
    • Correction: Survivorship bias. We only kept the good old ones. The bad ones fell down.

Applications

  • Sustainability: Green buildings.
  • Psychology: Designing hospitals that help people heal.

Criticism and Limitations

  • Hostile Architecture: Designing benches so homeless people can’t sleep on them.

Further Reading

  • The Architecture of Happiness by Alain de Botton