philosophy of the arts

Architecture as an Art
Taj Mahal – is this art?
Commissioned 1632 by Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan (reigned 1628-1658), to house
the tomb of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.
Essentially completed 1643, but other phases went on for another 10 years.
Cost 32 million rupees (approx. USD 827 million today).
Chief architect, Ustad Ahmad Lahauri and 20,000 artisan.
Finest in Mughal architecture.
Architecture
1. How could a building enrich our understanding of human
experience?
2. Imagination is key concept with other arts (painting,
sculpture, poems, actors play imaginary roles, etc.) –
buildings are necessarily real/serve a real function.
3. Functional (no need to explain value) – houses, shops,
hospitals, schools, etc.
Where is aesthetic cognitivism – deepens and enriches our
understanding of what it is to be human being?
Hence is architecture art at all?
Purely instrumental value. If value of architecture lies in its
usefulness, how can architecture be an art?
Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926)
Spanish architect from Catalonia, known for Catalan modernism.
Passion – architecture, nature and religion.
Considered every detail of his creation.
Creative genius, truly unique – left a deep mark on 20th century architecture.
Modernista:
 renovate without breaking tradition
 quest for modernity
 ornamental sense applied to works
 multidisciplinary character of its undertakings
 craftsmanship plays a central role
 add a dose of the baroque
 adopt technical advances
 continues to use traditional architectural language
 inspiration from nature (organic)
 original touch of his works
Can you see how architecture is art?
Casa Batllo
Sagrada Familia
Peculiarity of Architecture
Functional
 that other arts are usually not.
 under functional constraints – building that fails is an
architectural failure (regardless of decorative merits).
Aesthetics as well – Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926)
Elements and vocabulary of architecture (cornices,
corbels, turrets) are unique (no parallel in other arts).
Engineering involved.
Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)
Greatest American architect of all time.
Architect, interior designer, writer and
educator.
Designed more than 1,000 structures.
Creative period – more than 70 years.
Organic architecture – harmony with
humanity and environment.
Nature, music and Japanese art were
major influences.
Rethought architectural tenets.
Ennis House (1933)
 The towering
achievement of his
Mayan Revival
period, with
designs based on
an actual temple.
 Judged on its
screen time in films
such Blade Runner,
it’s certainly the
most famous, a
landmark made
from 27,000 bricks
that dominates its
hillside site in Los
Feliz.
Fallingwater (1939)
 Set atop a
waterfall.
 Most
famous, a
sensation
that
propelled
Wright
through
the final
decades of
his career.
Unitarian Meeting House (1947)
 A revelatory
piece of modern
religious
architecture.
 Wright said the
ceiling’s
graceful curves
recall a bird’s
wings in flight.
 Made of
limestone,
copper, and
glass, the sharp,
angular
structure
communicates
spiritual ideas
of elevation and
optimism.
Congregation Beth Sholom (1954)
 A singular piece of
modernist religious
architecture.
 The grand
pyramidal roof, with
inclined walls of
translucent
fiberglass and
plastic, built on
three steel beams,
allows light in and
takes on a golden
glow during the
sunset.
 Wright’s vision
references two
religious metaphors
(God’s presence as
pillar of fire) - Mt.
Sinai and a tent.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (1959)
 Opened 6
months after
Frank Lloyd
Wright’s
death.
 Remark:
“The
incredible
building was
so striking, it
would
overshadow
the art
within.”
Form, Function and “the decorated shed”
Architectural Historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner (1902-83):
“nearly everything that encloses space on a scale
sufficient for a human being to move in is a building;
the term architecture applies only to buildings
designed with a view to aesthetic appeal”.
Form and function (form and content in poetry and
painting) – architects have to balance art and
functionality; form and function matter independently
—structural soundness, functionality and attractive
appearance are equally important, consider a church
with its acoustical qualities.
Façade, Deception and the ‘Zeitgeist’
Public relations and/or deception? E.g. banks in Britain;
Petronas Twin Towers—what do they communicate?
Architectural ‘honesty’ – be true to the times; reflecting
the zeitgeist (spirit of the times).
Architecture is an expression of its time in so far as it reflects
the corporeal essence of man and his particular habits of
deportment and movement, it does not matter whether they
are light and playful, or solemn and grave, or whether his
attitude to life is agitated or calm; in a word, architecture
expresses the ‘Lebensgefuhl’ [ feeling for life] of an epoch.
Historicism – reflect the times.
PeranakanArchitecture
European influences…

eclectic…
hybrid…
Chinese in spirit…
Functionalism, Formalism and
Space
Form should follow function – “ornamentation is a crime”
(Adolf Loos).
Function should determine form – modernist (rather than
neo-classicist). Explore space and shape thru the medium of
construction – grew out of purifying imitative/stripping neo-
Classicism, leaving visible structural and proportional
elements.
Necessary for convenience and construction – essential
structure of the building; serve the business of the living; e.g.
school - blackboard/screen must be visible.
Function cannot wholly determine form, so form cannot
wholly re-conceive function.
Conclusion
1. Form and function in architecture may be treated
separately.
2. Unity of form and function.
3. Architectural form can re-conceive the functional.
If art at its best is a source of human understanding, can
architecture be art at its best?
A building, more than most works, alters our environment
physically; but moreover as a work of art it may through
various avenues of meaning, inform and reorganise our
entire experience. Like other works of art – and like scientific
theories – it can give new insight, advancing understanding.
Questions
Is architecture art?
Can you make an argument that architecture is not art?
What makes architecture art?
How is architecture different from the other arts?
Can we apply the earlier theories to architecture? How? Or why
not?
What is the significance of form and function in architecture?
What is the significance of zeitgeist to art?
Please read:
Gordon Graham. (London: Routledge, 2005) Philosophy of the Arts:
An Introduction to Aesthetics. Chapter 9: Architecture as an Art, pp.
164-181.