The Art And Style Of Architecture

Architecture, the art and science of building, designing buildings and structures (including their complexes), as well as the totality of buildings and structures that create a spatial environment for human life and activity. Architecture creates a materially organized environment that people need for their life and work, in accordance with their aspirations, as well as modern technical capabilities and aesthetic views. In architecture, the functional (purpose, benefit), technical (strength, durability) and aesthetic (beauty) properties of objects are interconnected.

Architectural works are often perceived as works of art, as cultural or political symbols. Historical civilizations are characterized by their architectural achievements. Architecture allows the vital functions of society to be fulfilled, while at the same time guiding life processes. However, the architecture is created in accordance with the capabilities and needs of people.

The subject of work with space is the organization of the inhabited place as a whole. This stood out in a separate direction - urban development, which covers a complex of socio-economic, construction and technical, architectural, artistic, sanitary and hygienic problems. For the same reason, it is difficult to give a correct assessment of the architectural structure without knowing the urban development.

One of the highest international awards in the field of architecture is the Pritzker Prize, awarded annually for the most outstanding achievements in the field of architecture.

According to the decision of the Twentieth General Assembly of the International Union of Architects (ISA), held in Barcelona in 1996, annually on the first Monday of October marks the international professional holiday of architects and connoisseurs of architectural masterpieces - World Architecture Day.

Architecture as a form of art

As an art form, architecture is included in the sphere of spiritual and material culture. In contrast to utilitarian construction and aesthetic activity, for example, design, architecture as an art solves artistic-figurative problems, that is, it expresses in a person’s image the ideas of a person about the space and time and place of a person in the world.

The historical development of society determines the functions, compositional types and genres of architectural creativity (buildings with organized internal spaces, structures forming open spaces, ensembles), technical structural systems, and the artistic structure of architectural structures.

By the way images are formed, architecture is referred to non-figurative (tectonic) art forms that use non-conic (conventional) signs, or abstracted images, objects, phenomena, actions directed directly to associative perception mechanisms. A pragmatic assessment of a work of architecture is determined by ideas about its ability to serve its functional purpose. By the way images are deployed, architecture is traditionally referred to as spatial (plastic) art forms, the works of which:

exist in space without changing and not developing in time;have an objective character;performed by processing material material;perceived by the audience directly and visually

However, such formal morphology is disputed by scientists. Buildings have changed over the centuries, they are being rebuilt, supplemented with new details. Interiors are particularly susceptible to change. They "live" with people and depend on the change of owners, their tastes, fashion and changes in functions, symbols and prestige of buildings. In addition, the perception of architecture is carried out in time. It has the duration and compositional orientation of the movement of the viewer in the architectural space of the exterior and interior. The semantics and symbols of buildings have changed significantly over the centuries. Therefore, the theoretician of architecture A. I. Nekrasov wrote that architecture is the "reservoir of life", therefore the architectural space is "perceived specifically", and the material of the art of architecture is "not stone or wood, but space and time"

Thus, architecture as an artistic-figurative "thinking in stone" (defined by G. K. Wagner) refers to spatio-temporal forms of art. In addition, it is also characteristic of its own, specific visualization. Integration transmorphological processes in the art of the XX-XXI centuries lead to the convergence of genres, forms and methods of architectural, fine and design creativity.

The expressive means of architectural art are composition, tectonics, scale, proportions, rhythm, volume plastic, texture and color of the materials used. The aesthetic impact of architectural works is largely influenced by the constructive solution. The construction should not only be durable, but also give the impression of being durable. This is the meaning of the concept of "tectonicity." If the impression of insufficient material is created, then the building looks unstable and unreliable, but the observed excess of material gives the impression of excessive weight. All this causes negative emotions. Architecture as art is often called "frozen music".

Architectural style

An architectural style can be defined as a combination of the main features and signs of architecture of a certain time and place, manifested in the features of its functional, constructive and artistic aspects (purpose of buildings, building materials and structures, techniques of architectural composition). The concept of architectural style is included in the general concept of style as an artistic worldview, covering all aspects of the art and culture of a society under certain conditions of its social and economic development, as a combination of the main ideological and artistic features of the master’s work.

The development of architectural styles depends on climatic, technical, religious and cultural factors. Although the development of architecture directly depends on time, styles do not always replace each other sequentially, the simultaneous coexistence of styles as alternatives to each other is known (for example, Baroque and Classicism, modern and eclecticism, functionalism, constructivism and Art Deco ).

The following architectural styles are distinguished in European culture:

Greek temple in Sicily, dedicated to Hera, built in the V century BC. e.The architecture of the Ancient World: from primitive society to the X century (dates vary in different regions).Romanesque style. X-XII centuries.Gothic. XII-XV centuries.Rebirth. The beginning of the XV - the beginning of the XVII century.Baroque. The end of the XVI - the end of the XVIII century.Rococo. The beginning of the 18th - the end of the 18th century.Classicism. Mid XVIII - XIX century.Eclecticism. 1830s - 1890s.Modern. 1890s - 1910sModernism. The beginning of the 1900s - 1980s.Constructivism. 1920s - early 1930s.Postmodernism. Since the middle of the 20th century.Hi-tech. Since the late 1970s.Deconstructivism. Since the late 1980s.

The architectural style, like the style in art in general, is a conditional concept. It is convenient for understanding the history of European architecture. However, to compare the history of architecture of several regions, style as a descriptive tool is not suitable. There are such styles (for example, modern) that are called differently in different countries.

Within the framework of the postmodern paradigm, many directions took shape that differ significantly in philosophy and linguistic means. As long as there is a scientific debate about the independence of one direction or another, there is no and cannot be unity in terminology.

Despite these shortcomings, style as a descriptive tool is part of the scientific method of the history of architecture, since it allows us to trace the global vector of development of architectural thought.