Architecture and Style By David Williams (he/him)
We encounter countless buildings throughout our life, each with its own style and a team of architects who made it possible. David Williams examines what inspired the designs of yesterday and what factors will shape the buildings of tomorrow. Frank Lloyd Wright said “the mother art is architecture. Without an architecture of our own, we have no soul of our own civilisation.” Architecture is the art and technique of designing a building; each building has a different style with its own unique characteristics. And much like other arts, and culture itself, we can observe how architectural styles have evolved. Religion has inspired numerous architectural styles. While the design of the building varies, the common characteristics of each place of worship is a prominent presence and large interior space for worshippers to gather. Other styles were marked by technological and engineering advancements. When the Roman Empire set up their villages and towns, they built aqueducts to bring water on cementlined channels with a slight downward slope into the cities for baths, fountains, and latrines. Some styles were inspired by an architectural style from centuries before. Neo-classical and gothic revival were the dominant architectural styles of the 18th and 19th centuries. They took their inspirations from the classical
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architecture style of the ancient Greeks and the gothic styles of the 12th to 16th centuries. The reaction against the overtly decorative styles of the previous few centuries is what inspired modernism. Encompassing the famous sub-genres of Bauhaus and the international style, modernism emphasised that “less is more”. Modernist architects focus on the functionality of the building rather than what it looks like. But what motivates an architect’s design choice today? Architectural graduate Clare says that after they have seen the client brief and assessed the site, the rest of the design process is up to the architects. “Initial plans go through numerous stages of refinement, and we don't fully start to look at the overall volume until some sort of internal plan and site plan has been created.” Inspiration can come from anywhere. “Pinterest is actually a great place to start if you have an overall theme of what the building is to be like.” Her favourite architect is Peter Zumthor. “I've always loved his work, and the way he uses atmosphere to generate emotion. For me,
For me, emotional experiences are the ones that I remember the most so I'd love to be able to be in a place that I don't just remember for the way it looks, but for the way I felt in it too. emotional experiences are the ones that I remember the most so I'd love to be able to be in a place that I don't just remember for the way it looks, but for the way I felt in it too.” A key factor that helps architectural styles evolve is the context in which they find themselves being designed and built. One issue that will shape the design and construction of buildings in the future will be climate change. Buildings, both in their construction and operation, are major contributors to global CO2 emissions. According to Architecture 2030, a nonprofit group geared towards transforming
