Question 1

The character of today’s architect differs from ancient predecessors by design and engineering practices,
materials used. Today’s architecture is governed by our economic system and is controlled by someone
who makes decisions It is very much influential by society and government comparing to our ancient
predecessors. Vitruvius mentions three standard measures for good architecture, which is delight,
commodity and firmness. These measures were used by our ancestors and is used by modern architects
as well. Goldberger provides many examples of discussions on this matter. One of them was about a
topic of delight and how valuable it is in a world of architecture, and if it is more valuable than ethics.

Question 2

As a Renaissance architect, Alberti was highly influential by humanism. In his studies he was very much
inspired by work of Vitruvius and three main components of architecture, delight, commodity and
firmness. Sense of human dignity, evident in all his work was absolutely supported by realism. Alberti
believed that a city was a necessary component of civilization, for this reason he recognized architecture
as the most notable form of art. The main focus for Alberti’s work was a delight, an art of the building,
such as aesthetics, proportions, lines and angles. In other words, a great architecture must be useful,
stable and aesthetically pleasing, decorated well and each element must work with others to create a
consist and unified space. All of that of course required a philosophical mind and scientific precision for
an architect. Architecture and an architect is about building an environment, where citizens could create
an ordered and productive society.

Nowadays contemporary architects often refer to Vitruvius and Alberi’s work and philosophy as a
reference or a guideline on what defines good architecture and a good architect. At the present time
architectural training and education can be very expensive and far away not everybody can take a part
in it. And architectural training and education plays big part in definition of a character of today’s
architect. The process of becoming a licensed architect varies from country to country and of course
directly related to the society and the culture. The education as we all know it came from a Renaissance
era, before that education was taking place in a family.

Question 3

Vitruvius advocated architects to be a generalist, his philosophy states that an architect should be
equipped in so many fields such as mathematics, history, philosophy, music, astronomy, medicine,
geometry…, and this knowledge needs to be theoretical and practical and know how to work it into the
architecture. The reason behind was that in Roman conception, architecture needed to take into
account everything touching on the physical and intellectual life of a man and his surroundings.
Nowadays, Good architects have to be both, specialist and generalist. In a sense, that they have to be
knowledgeable enough in different aspects touching architecture, especially if they decide to not, or
don’t have an option to partner up with colleagues that specialize in the areas needed for a building to
be completed. The most common practice in a world of architecture is a collaboration with other
specialists, where experts can handle their own area of expertise and bring their knowledge to the table.
Even though, most of architects prefer to work in collaboration with other, there is still few that are
generalists. One of the examples would be Frank Lloyd Wright, he actually was an engineer before
becoming an architect and because of that he was able to create some unbelievable projects during his
career, one that stand out to me the most is “Fallingwater”, where most of the people would probably
say it is not possible to build.

Question 4

AIA NAAB NCARB ACSA

NCARB because they provide step by step instructions on the path of obtaining an architecture license,
from education, to experience and to examination. It provides tools needed to provide the guidance for
students and people who want to become architects and licensed architects.

Extra credit

Did Vitruvius think it was important for architects to be educated as generalists or specialists? Explain
why.

Vitruvius advocated to be a generalist, Vitruvius philosophy states that an architect should be equipped
in so many fields such as mathematics, history, philosophy, music, astronomy, medicine, geometry…,
and this knowledge needs to be theoretical and practical and know how to work it into the architecture.
The reason behind it was that in Rom conception, architecture needed to take into account everything
touching on the physical and intellectual life of a man and his surroundings. Nowadays, Good architects
have to be both, specialist and generalist.

Humanism was highly influential to the work of what Renaissance Architect? Describe the “ideals” of
the architect and architectures role in society

Humanism was highly influential to the work of Alberti, a Renaissance architect.. His sense of human
dignity, evident in all his work was absolutely supported by realism. Alberti uniquely fulfilled the
humanistic aspiration for a learning that would comprehend all experience. Alberti believed that a city
was a necessary component of civilization, for this reason he recognized architecture as the most
notable form of art. In his studies he was very much inspired by work of Vitruvius and three main
components of architecture, delight, commodity and firmness. And the main focus for Alberti’s work
was a delight, an art of the building, such as aesthetics, proportions, lines and angles and of course the
elements of beauty and ornamentation. In other words, a great architecture must be useful, stable and
aesthetically pleasing, decorated well and each element must work with others to create a consist and
unified space. All of that of course required a philosophical mind and scientific precision for an architect.
His idea was to treat the city like one, claiming the relationship between buildings, open space and
structures, all of that must encourage ideal citizenship. Architecture and an architect is about building an
environment, where citizens could create an ordered and productive society.

Select an architect from your readings and briefly explain their practice and theory of architecture
using Vitruvius’s triad terms?

Frank Lloyd Wright have done many amazing architecture projects, the most famous one is probably a
Fallingwater, that he completed in 1935. He believe in a harmony with humanity and the environment
and we can see Vitruvius main concepts of architecture such as delight, commodity and firmness
thought his work

List the acronyms of the four collateral organizations that work together to create professional
standards for the education, training and practice of architects in the United Staes:

AIA NCARB NAAB ACSA

Which of the collateral organizations provided the clearest description of the “path to licensure” from
your perspective?

NCARB because they provide step by step instructions on the path of obtaining an architecture license,
from education, to experience and to examination

What is the relationship between aesthetics and ethics in placing value on architecture as you
understand the writings of Goldberger in explaining “why architecture matters”?

Goldberger explains the importance of both aspects’ aesthetics and ethics, coexisting together in
architecture. He discusses a paradox statement, “architecture is an art and architecture is not an art” at
the same time, it opens up a discussion how important aesthetics in architecture and if it more
important than ethics or utility part, which serve public. Which leads us to the statement that
Architecture needs to have a balance of aesthetics and ethics in it and firmness and commodity,
otherwise if it has only aesthetics it will become true art, and if it has only ethics, it is going to be a
building. Such architecture is invariably public, not private, and as such, it makes a statement about the
importance of community;

What do Martin Luther's words, written below, mean when applied to the practice of architecture?

“There is no true, basic difference between laymen and priests, princes and bishops, between
religious and secular, except for the sake of office and work, but not for the sake of status.”

Martin Luther’s words on vocation projected on a world of architecture can be a representation of

equality of professionals in a field of architecture. Every one of the architects have their own point of
view and their own experience that define character. Mary scott Brown has a story related to inequality
in a professional world that happened a while back, Mary was not recognized for a hard work in a
architecture, instead her husband got all of the credit, because he was a male.