The art of architecture

Architecture is the art and the technique of building, employed to fulfil the practical and expressive requirements of civilized people. Almost every settled society that possesses the techniques for building produces architecture. It is necessary in all but the simplest cultures; without it, man is confined to a primitive struggle with the elements; with it, he has not only a defence against the natural environment but also the benefits of a human environment, a prerequisite for and a symbol of the development of civilized institutions.

The characteristics that distinguish a work of architecture from other man-made structures are (1) the suitability of the work to use by human beings in general and the adaptability of it to particular human activities; (2) the stability and permanence of the work's construction; and (3) the communication of experience and ideas through its form.

All these conditions must be met in architecture. The second is a constant, while the first and the third vary in relative importance according to the social function of buildings. If the function is chiefly utilitarian, as in a factory, communication is of less importance. If the function is chiefly expressive, as in a monumental tomb, utility is a minor concern. In some buildings such as churches and city halls, utility and communication may be of equal importance.

Orders of architecture. The first step in architecture was simply the replacement of wooden pillars with stone ones, and the translation of the carpentry and brick structural forms into stone equivalents. This provided an opportunity for the expression of proportion and pattern. This expression eventually took the form of the invention or evolution of the stone "orders" of architecture. . These orders, or arrangements of specific types of columns supporting an upper section called an entablature, defined the pattern of the columnar facades and upperworks that formed the basic decorative shell of buildings. The Greeks invented the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders. The Romans added the Tuscan and the Composite. The oldest order, the Doric, is subdivided into Greek Doric and Roman 1 Doric. The first is the simplest and has baseless columns as those of the 1 Parthenon. Roman Doric had a base and was less massive. The parts of Greek Doric — the simple, baseless columns, the spreading 1 capitals, and triglyph-metope {alternating vertically ridged and plain blocks) frieze above the columns — constitute an aesthetic development in stone incorporating variants on themes used functionally in earlier wood and brick construction. Doric long remained the favourite order of the Greek mainland and western colonies, and it changed little throughout its history. The Ionic order evolved later, in eastern Greece, About 600 ВС, in Asia Minor, the first intimation of the style appeared in stone columns with capitals elaborately carved in floral hoops — an Orientalizing pattern familiar mainly on smaller objects and furniture and enlarged for architecture. It developed throughout so called Aeolic capital with vertically springing volutes or spiral ornaments to the familiar Ionic capital, the volutes of which spread horizontally from the centre and curl downward. The order was always fussier and more ornate, less stereotyped than the Doric. The Ionic temples of the 6^th century exceed in size and decoration even the most ambitious of their Classical successors. Such were the temples of Artemis at Ephesus in Asia Minor and the successive temples of Hera on the island of Samos. The Corinthian order originated in the 5^th century ВС in Athens. It had an Ionic capital elaborated with acanthus leaves. In its general proportions it is very like the Ionic. For the first time the Corinthian order was used for temple exteriors. Because of its advantage of facing equally in four directions it was more adaptable than the Ionic for corners. There are not many Greek examples of the Corinthian order. The Romans widely used it for its showiness. The earliest known instance of the Corinthian order used on the exterior is the choragic monument of Lysicrates in Athens, 335/334 ВС. A simplified version of Roman Doric is the Tuscan order. It has a less decorated frieze and no mutules in the cornice. The Composite order is also a late Roman invention. It combines the elements from all the Greek orders.

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Date: 2016-04-22; view: 612