Architecture And Vernacular Architecture

The history of Architecture started long time ago. The nomadic were groups of people whom move from one place to another in order find shelter and food to survive. As they progress, their techniques to survive evolve. The need for a permanent shelter became vital for a better stability of the group. This is the time when the first structures that provided protection appeared. Post and lintel were the first forms of Architecture, that satisficed the basic needs. Architecture evolved to be more sophisticated and fulfill the people’s needs. Consequently, Architecture evolved throughout different periods such as: Ancient architecture, Romanesque, The medieval, Renaissance, Early modern, and the industrial age, Modernism and Contemporary

“Architecture should not be seen as representing a magical transition from the worldly to the heavenly, as had been implied by the Baroque Style, but rather as a medium that told nothing less than the story of the “origins” of mankind.” (Ching 610)

West Des Moines holds a wide range of structural appearances that possess different purposes and stand for different ideas. Variation sets buildings and its surrounding areas that are privately owned apart from those that are open to the public. Although, the significance behind structures may go into deeper meanings. Some hold specific purposes that involve religion while others stand to serve on more secular grounds. If we take the time to look around, we can discover how interior and exterior design conveys distinct meaning. By entering into these buildings, we may discover the diverse functions they serve in relation to structural engineering and unique aesthetics. The framework for centralized control within different societal environments

“The good building is not one that hurts the landscape, but one which makes the landscape more beautiful than it was before the building was built” (Frank Lloyd Wright). Throughout the centuries, architecture has fascinated everyone. History is inscribed in buildings and they can express the political and economic power of a nation. Although time has gone by, buildings have not. You can still idolize ancient Egyptian and Greek architecture and see how the events that occurred at that time influenced them.

Jane Jacobs compared old buildings to a “necessary ingredient in city diversity,” which emphasizes the essentiality to city’s aesthetic value and economic vitality. Jacobs believes that both characters are indispensable to city’s public life and people’s social life. In addition to more discussion on the implication of building preservation in terms of economic vitality, Jacobs also believes that communities often develop a physical attachment to the people, places, and events in the past. Therefore, retaining the “sense of old places” becomes even more critical to generate the “sense of community”, especially along with the fast pace of globalization and urbanization, building preservation also means to preserve the heritage for the future

“Learning to read architecture-an ability that centers on a kind of visual and spatially oriented analysis-is not easy” (Carter & Cromley, 2005, p. xvi).The short history of the field makes this guide a valuable tool for emerging scholars as it introduces the field, guides them to conducting research on vernacular buildings, and invites them in participating in shaping the field by adding their own scholarship. What is significant about this guide for young researchers is that is explains how fieldwork lacks categorical clarity and can be messy, and it is in this confusion that researchers can reveal the priorities, values, and lifestyle of the users. Renovations and additions are part of the built form and it results in making it difficult to categorize material, roof type, and windows resulting in the struggle to categorize as the field work becomes more descriptive than prescriptive. It can and does indicate social hierarchies and power dynamics within the culture, by reading this guide young scholars can begin to understand how to read buildings and understand what they tell us. Material culture and vernacular architect explores the relationship between objects and/or buildings with people, and both

The book Concepts of Urban Design by David Gosling and Barry Maitland has stated that, “History provides a large number of traditional urban forms which have survived the passage of time and which work to a greater or lesser degree. (Gosling & Maitland, 1984).” This statement provides some evidence to show that even professionals in the planning world recognise and base some urban designs on ‘traditional urban forms’. Examples of this range from

There is a movement among architects, city planners, designers and real estate developers that desire to return to a simpler way of living. A way of designing communities that at its essence captures the design traditions of years past while also avoiding some of the pitfalls of modern city development. A desire exists to avoid the prefabricated homes and endless urban sprawl of strip malls that have arisen all over the modern American landscape. Some see this as a return to classical traditions of city design that incorporates the rich architectural planning of traditional, small southern towns. For these people, the

Architects these days choose to design buildings inspired by nature and do it in such a way that they add in green walls or perhaps structures similar to that of a tree whereas Aboriginal architecture is as one with nature. It is as raw and untouched as it gets. The modern world wants to get in touch with nature but they’re losing the true essence to the meaning of nature.

As writer, interior designer, educator, and American architect Frank Lloyd Wright once said, “The mother art is architecture. Without an architecture of our own we have no soul of our own civilization” (BrainyQuote). The purpose of this paper will deal with the description of...

Architecture should be nurturing, responsive and alive, dynamically shifting spatial balances, organically expressive forms, subtly luminous colors and biologically healthy. To achieve such life-enhancing architecture, it has to address all the body senses simultaneously and fuse our image of self with experience of the world. By strengthening our sense of self and reality, architecture serves its all-important function of accommodation and

This book was written by Juhani Pallasmaa with regard to ‘Polemics’, on issues that were part of the architecture discourse of the time, i.e. 1995. It is also an extending of ideas expressed in an essay entitled “Architecture of the seven senses” published in 1994.

Architecture is often mistaken as purely an art form, when in actually it is where art and engineering or art and practicality meet. For example, painting is an art, when preformed well it yields a beautiful picture that evokes a deep human reaction and brings pleasure to its viewer, however this painting provides no function, it cannot shield us from the rain or protect us from the wind or snow, it is purely form. An insulated aluminum shed provides shelter and protection from Mother Nature; however, it is a purely functional building, it was drawn by an engineer, not conceived by an artist to have form. The culmination of form and function is Architecture, the Greeks and Romans fathered this idea and Palladio’s study of roman architecture taught him his valuable truth.

Vernacular building is a typology which results from a direct response to regional context (Murphy 2011). While contemporary Australian architecture

Architecture can be viewed with two different types of properties. Properties that can be seen like shapes, their composition, the spaces they create and, the colours and textures that make up their appearance. These properties are considered to be visual while other properties are considered to be abstract. These properties can only be described using words; the meanings behind the architecture and the stories that can be told about it. The context, its cultural background and its function also affects how we view architecture. The question is, what