When we talk about the architect who looks at the architecture, we need to put ourselves in the architect’s shoes. There are two possible aspects of this problem: the architect considers some work that was created by him/her or some other architecture irrelevant to his or her own creation. No matter which of both situations is closer to the architect we imply, visual perception is the most important factor the architect will take into account.
The phenomenon of visual perception of the person who looks at architecture is easily understood when we talk about the mental ability of creative people to generate images. The thing is that artists do not realize themselves as thinkers when looking at the piece of art. Actually, the process of thinking takes place when the author is working over his or her work, whereas when the architect looks at the work, his or her rich imagination starts to work. It is interesting to assume that the architect’s imagination that is “turned on” when seeing some architecture work is based on one of the two principles. Architect’s imagination may either come from the images he or she has seen and analyzed before or from the knowledge he or she has on this or that building. Therefore, depending on the nature of the architect’s imagination, he or she may benefit from the contemplation of architecture. As a rule, the architect’s desire to create something new wins, he or she looks at the architecture and thinks over how it may be modified or approved, and it does not matter whether the work the architect looks at is really a raw material or a perfectly planned and created work.
While this process of mental evaluation of architecture takes place, the architect works out his/her own system of color vision, motion perception, and depth perception.
The colors are extremely important for creative people as they help to render the message of this or that work. Though motion perception, at first sight, might seem a quite alien problem for an architect, his or her ability to the architecture in motion is of extreme importance. Looking at the piece of art architect sees the work in motion as it really seems alive to him or her. The depth perception of the work is carefully considered by the architect. The distance to the object that the architect evaluates may be important for the future plans the architect might have. What will be the best place for another masterpiece? Will the would-be work be appropriately treated if it is placed in this very place? These questions commonly arise in the architect’s mind when he or she looks at the architecture.
Also, we should admit the fact that the architect’s perception of the architecture depends on gender. Although professionalism will always prevail, male and female architects will look for various things in architecture. The prerogatives are made according to the general rules of men’s and women’s distinction.
As it is seen from the mentioned above, the architect, when looks at the architecture, will look for visual perception which embraces such aspects as size, shape, lightness, and color of the work. Also, one should not neglect the power of the architect’s imagination, which comes in its most effective stage when he or she looks at the architecture.
Works Cited
Bloomer, Carolyn M. Principles of Visual Perception. New York: Van Nostrand, 1976.
Goodale, M. A., & Milner, A. D. “Separate Visual Pathways for Perception and Action.” Trends in Neurosciences, (1992): 20-25.
Scott, VanDyke. From Line to Design. USA: American Planning Association,1985.