The Relationship Between Architecture And The Human Body

Vitruvius also stresses on order, arrangement, eurhythmy, symmetry, propriety and economy and how architecture depends on these demands. This is not the case in today’s society. With advances in physics and construction sciences which allow buildings to be of asymmetrical shape and attain an abstract form directly places it in conflict with his stated ‘Eurhythmy’. To Vitruvius, all facets of architecture were to be in a state of complete harmony, as his views were so constrained towards the perfection of the human body. He described the various proportions of limbs and other body parts to be so accurately symmetrical and coordinated to meticulous detail. This perfection of the human body inspired architectural designs. In contemporary society, mainstream architecture has little to no correlation with the human body. It has been kept completely separate. Architectural inspiration today, more or less stems from everything outside the human, and looks towards a futuristic simplicity and sleek aesthetic that demands a different approach to the art of a building altogether. This commercial mindset has been influential since the engineering breakthroughs of the second millennium.

To further my understanding towards architecture, I attended an architecture workshop during high school. During the excursion, I was exposed to many basic knowledge of architecture and

Public spaces are social spaces where social phenomena happens, different activities leading to different social relations and interactions. Spaces with own rhythms of use and regulations that one can discover or rediscover in different cultural context.10 steven To understand how architecture can activate public spaces through play to make social spaces, spaces for public life, this paper first investigates how architecture defines the nature of a public spaces with the possibility of engaging public into play. Then, the paper discuss how play can engage people to redefine spaces and find something that have in common with others. And finally, how people can obtain their freedom through playing in a space will be explored. To do so, the

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

Interior design is a profession that is undertaken academically just like other professional careers. It mainly involves the development and imparting of skills, knowledge and attitudes that pertains the activities undertaken in the building and construction industry. The profession of interior designing goes beyond designing how a structure will look because it incorporates environmental issues especially aesthetic value of the structure to be constructed, the ergonomics, local fire codes and besides studying fundamental design issues and practice in the building and construction industry (Guerin & Thompson, 2014). Even though the profession is not as old as some of the established professions, the fact remains that the fundamentals of design

The human body is the ultimate tool for discovering the environment. Human anatomy is considered to be nature’s peak of perfection and certain features serve as inspiration for many architects. To study the relationship between the human body and architecture, one must not be limited to human body parts resemblance to architectural works but to a larger extent consider human emotions, sensory nerves, the mind and general human psychology. In essence everything that makes us human. In its simplest definition Architecture can be described as an art or practice of designing buildings. It is practiced in a way that accomplishes both practical and communicative or expressive requirements. To relate it to human body then Architecture can widely define the place, the site, the energy, the systems, the building, the flora and fauna. These components that bring aesthetic property to humanity apart from the utilitarian purpose it serves. The perfect balance of a normal human body and the proportions are incorporated into architecture from a point of view of imitation, idealized allusion and the actual human use. Evidence of such human incorporation into architecture is seen from the Ancient Greek Architectures where it was common for tower columns to take shape of a human being like in the colossus of the Ancient

As suggested by the title, this piece of literature attempts to highlight the importance of sensory experience in architecture. It is indeed a response to what the author terms as ‘ocularcentrism’ of Modern Architecture. Ocularcentrism is the act of prioritizing visual stimuli to all other sensory stimuli available to a human perception. He quotes famous German poet, Goethe, in his defense, “the hands want to see, the

In the first talk, I remember the point that art and architecture have a direct and important relationship with each other. In order to help understand architecture, I’ve decided to learn more about art itself. So, this essay will analyze and focus on one piece of art in an attempt to really break it down to its core.

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.

The body has been a key focus in the design world across all history according to Ellen Lupton as people like to build and make things that look like them. It’s also prevalent as objects made come into contact with the skin and at times, act as extensions for the body allowing it to do things it cannot. In her essay Second Skin: new design organics (2006), Lupton discusses the surfaces of objects; from lights, to chairs, and to building materials, acting like skin which allow for a fluctuating understanding of the objects meaning and function. Representing the body in architecture has been a common practice for almost all of architectural history dating back to Vitruvius however Anthony Vidler believes that the practice of architecture is distancing itself further from the body. Sigmund Freud describes this a tradition of body projection which leads to the creation of object-surrogates where one thing represents the other. For example, the telescope as an eye, electrical circuits as a nervous system and a dwelling as the womb . This section of the paper will show how Vidler’s statement is untrue through an analysis of work from the likes of Le Corbusier and Filaret, then, see how it can be extended to FOA’s design of the terminal

Different architects have different styles because they are trying to get at different things. Architecture is not just about making something beautiful anymore, it is about trying to get across a set of ideas about how we inhabit space. Two of the most famous architects of the twentieth century, one from each side, the early part and the later part up until today each designed a museum with money donated by the Guggenheim foundation. One of these is in New York City, it was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The other is in bilbao, Spain, and it was designed by Frank Geary. My purpose of this paper is to interrogate each of these buildings, glorious for different reasons, to show how each architect was expressing their own style.

There are two types of relationships between permanence and place. Architectural distinction helps to particularize a place from its surroundings. It is a static permanence. It is related to physical relationship between the building and place, its endurance, firmness and stability. Second fundamental factor is time. Time is responsible to create long lasting dispositions resulting in notable events which help to create permanent traditions that are embedded to its place. This dynamic permanence is based on mental relationship between community and place, through consciousness, awareness and various activities related to it. (Tuan, 2014)

The book consists of twelve chapters that propose this idea that designers should explore the nature of our senses’ response to the spatial built forms that people invest their time in. It tries to cover a specific topic in each chapter that in order to deconstruct the book, it is necessary to cover each chapter individually.

“ Architecture organizes and structures space for us, and its interiors and the objects enclosing and inhabiting its rooms can facilitate or inhibit our activities by the way they use this language”(Lawson pg.6).

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