Architecture
As a rule, people think about architecture when they hear the names of worldwide known cathedrals and monuments such as the church Sant Agnese in Agone in Rome, designed and built by Francesco Borromini and Girolamo Rainaldi, Somerset House in London by William Chambers, or Bauhaus at Dessau by Walter Gropius. However, it is necessary to distinguish architecture from various buildings that were constructed due to necessity of the populations to live somewhere.
In this respect, the architecture may refer to the buildings for population to live in, cathedrals, monuments, churches, and other types of buildings that are used by people and for people. Architectural techniques enable architects to design various shapes and silhouettes and bring them into life via application of plans drawn on the paper into life. In other words, architecture is a science and art to design and manage the construction of buildings and other similar structural components.
The career of an architect requires knowledge of different branches of technology and engineering including fundamental laws of physics. Bearing this in mind, an efficient architect should collect knowledge on various laws and limitations that may occur in the process of construction and be ready to apply theory into practice while managing the erection of buildings and similar objects.
As defined in the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (2002), architecture is “The art of science of building; especially, the art or practice of designing and building edifices for human use, taking both aesthetic and practical factors into account” (as cited in Spinellis & Gousios, 2009, p. 4).
So, the more aesthetic and practical the construction of a building is, the more knowledgeable and experienced is the architect. In other words, the individual involved into architectural activity should be aware of the risks taken by designers and constructors due to the connection of the activity to work with people and a human factor that involves risk.
Characteristics of contemporary construction
As the contemporary construction require a set of characteristics to be possessed, it is important that the architect meet the requirements and is able to fulfill the tasks in a timely manner taking into account the variety of materials, number of solutions on any problem, and responsibility in terms of the task fulfillment and customer’s satisfaction with regard to the initial instruction and the final results.
So, the architect’s responsibilities include a number of different tasks performed in the process of construction starting from stenches and a graphic plan and finishing with a building created with a certain purpose.
The characteristics of the building should include the following: “it is the functionality required by the customer…; it performs adequately…; it is secure…; it conforms to legal standards…” (Spinellis & Gousios, 2009, p. 5). I decided to become an architect to ensure that all buildings are safe and conform to legal standards and people can claim that their homes are their fortresses.
History over the last 100 years
Such science as architecture has a long history that faced rises and recessions due to political situations in the world and certain regions, economic changes, cultural differences between the conquerors and the conquered, exchange of traditions and values, and other factors that shaped the history of architecture during thousands centuries.
As reported by Partington (2006), the changes took place in the tiniest fields of architecture including house paintings and carpentry whereas it is necessary to make a brief overview of the history of architecture of the 20th century. Architecture has been an integral part of the human life for centuries.
The plane lines of the 1900s were successfully combined with extremely wide use of glass and concrete. Though some buildings still were inspired by classicism and earlier movements and traditional use of shapes in the 19th century, the Art Nouveau became one of the most prominent features of this period making the architecture more vivid in terms of colors and forms used in the process of constructing.
The next period of the architecture history in 20th century is the decade from 1910 to 1920 when the new style became even more prominent. “Behrens and Poelzig, the giants among the German pioneers, had created an initial vocabulary of flat surfaces, fully glazed walls, bold structural systems and expressive, typically Germanic monumental forms” (Sharp, 2002, p. 38). Such basic components were visible in every country all over the world.
The period of 1920s was marked with fundamental ideas of the Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier who managed to analyze the gaps in constructions typical of two previous decades and introduce general features for buildings to be practical and easily-constructed. So, the architect could apply horizontal windows due to the shift of structural walls out of windows. The changes were made due to economic and political concept of unification and consolidation that found its traces in architecture of the time.
The next was the period of 1930s when the movement inspired by ideas and style by Le Corbusier were evident leading to more vivid criticism of ‘inhuman’ plainness of structures. The critics called those buildings ‘inhuman’ because all traits were aimed at simplifying the shape, structure, color, and other features that are supposed to help distinguish one building from another.
Thus, the movement of modernism can be considered the one appearing from flat roofs, plain surfaces, and concrete structures with horizontal windows of the 1930s. The period before, during, and right after the Second World War can be considered the most ambiguous in terms of the influence on architectural styles of the world.
The 1940s up to 1945 were full of unexpected changes while some architects made use of the situation and erected new important buildings, others had to create something more appropriate for technological and production use. In this respect, the constructions became more practical in terms of use of concrete and other similar materials. For instance, the Rockefeller Center can be treated as the fortress with a more moderate use of glass contrasted to first examples of Modernism all over the globe.
The period of 1950s is marked with a recurring interest to the ideas introduced by Le Corbusier and other members of CIAM (Sharp, 2002, p. 176). The design of the interiors was also largely predetermined with the exhibition held in 1925 in Paris where the items of household were presented leading to the rise of consumerism in the United States.
Buildings were becoming either more or less extravagant though full of new materials and constructions approaches during the next decades from 1960s to 1990s when architects were free to design the most unexpected shapes and lines to satisfy the requirements of the customer and leave a footprint in the history of architecture.
Possible future of the profession over the next 100 years
The future of the architecture is in the use of new materials that are much lighter than those used in the 19th century but can be even more reliable and helpful to ensure that light constructions can sustain the structure of the building for a long period of time. As suggested by Carpenter (2010), the comprehension of materials, their properties, and opportunities arising from the use of new materials during construction is the are the items necessary for the development of architecture in future.
The next several decades will see the rise of technological progress in terms of energy-consuming items and other devices that can prevent excessive pollution of the atmosphere, water, and soil. Thus, the buildings will become more similar to ‘green houses’ designed due to the global warming tendencies. Though people can fail to understand the construction of this type and its usefulness, the buildings will leave a footprint in the history of architecture of the 21st century.
Conclusion
To conclude, I believe that technological progress can ensure that people do not need that much energy as they do now due to the shift in the needs and goals for individuals to achieve. So, the largest perspectives will take place in the use of innovative technologies in the process of design and construction.
I am planning to obtain knowledge on useful software programs to begin. Besides, the collaboration of researchers on global warming, software engineers, and architects in the area of construction can contribute greatly to the appropriateness of methods and techniques used in civil construction.
Reference List
Carpenter, J. (2010). Valuing material comprehension. In P. Bernstein, & P. Deamer (Eds.). Building (in) the future: Recasting labor in architecture (pp. 60-66). New York: Princeton Architectural Press.
Partington, C. F. (2006). The builder’s complete guide: Comprehending the theory and practice of the various branches of architecture, bricklaying, masonry, carpentry, joinery, painting, plumbing, etc. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Original work published 1825).
Sharp, D. (2002). Twentieth-century architecture: A visual history (3rd ed.). Mulgrave, Victoria: Images Publishing.
Spinellis, D., & Gousios, G. (2009). Beautiful architecture. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly Media, Inc.