I ponder the purpose of architecture often.  The truth of the matter is that many do not understand architecture and many do not respect the profession.  Here is a very simplistic illustration:

Say you broke a bone in your leg, or perhaps you have a tumor in your brain or something like that.  Usually, at least everyone I know, would choose to have a doctor set the leg or a trained surgeon remove the tumor. Why?  Well, reasonably it makes sense because the doctor and surgeon have had the years and years of training and education. Now take architecture, the craft of building shelter.  When the architect reveals the fee involved with the service, many people turn their heads and decide they can do the same, if not better, than the architect themselves.

Why does this happen?  It comes down to two things: 1. People do not respect the education and many years of training and practice an Architect goes through in his or her life time, and 2. People simply do not understand what architecture is.

First, I would say most do not know that the average architect goes through 6 years of education and 3 years of internship before he or she can even take the Architect Registration Examination (ARE) and become a certified architect. This becomes a minimum of 9 years of intense study and training an architect goes through to be able to design and build excellent buildings, and unfortunately most people do not recognize this part of the profession.

Perhaps the larger hindrance to good architecture is that most people do not understand what architecture is.

What is a building?  A building is a structure or shelter that is built in order to fulfill a function.  Most buildings have an extremely short design period and as a result have a “style” applied to the facade to make it look a certain way. The style usually is only skin deep and does not reflect any thought about the whole of the the building.

What, then, is architecture?  At its core architecture embodies an idea.  Where a building relies on “style” to achieve a desired look, architecture is the result of an idea permeating through all its systems. Essentially, one part of the building will reflect the whole; thus what is represented in the skin is a reflection of the pure ideal found in the spaces created, the materials used, the structure, and even the hvac system.  They all come together in a beautiful harmony that has been thoughtfully woven together to create an experience. The experience becomes the very essence of the building and the instrument by which the idea is communicated to the individual.

So for practical application, if you enter a building and wonder if it is good architecture ask yourself these questions: 

1. Does it create an experience?  And does this experience move me and encourage me in some way?

2. Is there an idea that ties all things together? Or has the building had a style applied to the outer skin for no other reason than that was what was done to the building next to this one?

Good architecture really becomes about the experience as a result of an idea.

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