ARCHITECTURE

the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. The practice of architecture is employed to fulfill both practical and expressive requirements of civilized people and thus embraces both utilitarian and aesthetic ends. Although these two ends may be distinguished, they cannot be separated, and the relative weight given to each can vary widely. Architecture is treated in a number of articles. For the art of architecture, see below. For the history of architecture in antiquity, see Anatolian arts; Arabian arts; Egyptian arts; Iranian arts; Mesopotamian arts; Syro-Palestinian arts. For a discussion of the history of architecture, see architecture, history of Western; African arts: Architecture; Central Asian arts: Visual arts; East Asian arts: Chinese Visual arts; Islamic arts: Visual arts; Native American Arts: Visual arts; Oceanic arts: Visual arts; South Asian arts: Visual arts of India and Sri Lanka (Ceylon); Southeast Asian arts: Visual arts. For a discussion of the place of architecture and architectural theory in the realm of the arts, see aesthetics. For related forms of artistic expression, see city; interior design. Almost every settled society that possesses the techniques for building produces architecture. It is necessary in all but the simplest cultures; without it, man is confined to a primitive struggle with the elements; with it, he has not only a defense against the natural environment but also the benefits of a human environment, a prerequisite for and a symbol of the development of civilized institutions. The characteristics that distinguish a work of architecture from other man-made structures are (1) the suitability of the work to use by human beings in general and the adaptability of it to particular human activities; (2) the stability and permanence of the work's construction; and (3) the communication of experience and ideas through its form. All these conditions must be met in architecture. The second is a constant, while the first and third vary in relative importance according to the social function of buildings. If the function is chiefly utilitarian, as in a factory, communication is of less importance. If the function is chiefly expressive, as in a monumental tomb, utility is a minor concern. In some buildings, such as churches and city halls, utility and communication may be of equal importance. The present article treats primarily the forms, elements, methods, and theory of architecture. For treatment of the architecture of particular cultures and regions, see, for example, African arts: Architecture; architecture, history of; East Asian arts: Visual arts; and Southeast Asian arts: Visual arts. Expression in architecture is the communication of quality and meaning. The functions and the techniques of building are interpreted and transformed by expression into art, as sounds are made into music and words into literature. The nature of expression varies with the character of culture in different places and in different times, forming distinct modes or languages of expression that are called styles. Style communicates the outlook of a culture and the concepts of its architects. The boundaries of a style may be national and geographical (e.g., Japanese, Mayan) or religious (e.g., Islamic) and intellectual (e.g., Renaissance), embracing distinct linguistic, racial, and national units, and different expressions within each of these boundaries are produced by the particular style of regions, towns, groups, architects, or craftsmen. The lifespan of styles may be long (ancient Egyptian, over 3,000 years) or short (Baroque, less than 200 years) according to the changeability of cultural patterns. The principal forces in the creation of a style are tradition, the experience of earlier architecture; influence, the contribution of contemporary expressions outside the immediate cultural environment; and innovation, the creative contribution of the culture and the architect. These forces operate to produce an evolution within every style and ultimately to generate new styles that tend to supplant their predecessors. The components of expression, which communicate the particular values of style, are content and form. Since content can be communicated only through form, the two are organically united, but here they will be discussed separately in order to distinguish the specific and concrete meaning (content) from the abstract expression of qualities (form). Content Content is the subject matter of architecture, the element in architectural expression that communicates specific meanings that interpret to society the functions and techniques of buildings. Additional reading General works John Fleming, Hugh Honour, and Nikolaus Pevsner, The Penguin Dictionary of Architecture, 4th ed. (1991), is a general reference work of architectural terminology and biography. Paul Frankl, Principles of Architectural History (1968, reissued 1973; originally published in German, 1914), contains a classic analysis of architectural form, 14001900. Sigfried Giedion, Space, Time, and Architecture, 5th ed. (1967, reissued 1982), offers a stimulating survey and justification of modern architecture and its antecedents. Steen Eiler Rasmussen, Experiencing Architecture, 2nd ed., trans. from Danish (1962), is a beginner's guide to architectural appreciation. Julius Schlosser, Die Kunstliteratur (1924, reprinted 1985), comprises a bibliography of theoretical writing up to 1800. Michael Raeburn (ed.), Architecture of the Western World (1980), is an excellent survey. Use Architectural types and planning are addressed in Jeffrey Ellis Aronin, Climate & Architecture (1953, reprinted 1973), on the influence of physical environment on planning; Sigfried Giedion, Mechanization Takes Command (1948, reprinted 1969), on the impact of machinery on 19th- and 20th-century building; Lewis Mumford, The Culture of Cities (1938, reissued 1981), the growth of modern cities seen from a historical and humanitarian viewpoint; Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961, reissued 1993), a pensive critique of modern patterns of urbanization and of the modernist approach to urban architecture; and Amos Rapoport, House Form and Culture (1969), an analysis of basic domestic forms in the light of cultural anthropology. Techniques Building methods and techniques are explained in Lewis Mumford, Technics and Civilization (1934, reissued 1963), a general view of the cultural role of technology; Great Britain, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Principles of Modern Building, 3rd ed., 2 vol. (195961), a study of building techniques and materials; Charles G. Ramsey and Harold R. Sleeper, Ramsey/Sleeper Architectural Graphic Standards, 9th ed. edited by John Ray Hoke, Jr. (1994), the practicing designer's handbook of standards and equipment; and Mario Salvadori and Robert Heller, Structure in Architecture, 3rd ed. (1986), a clear, well-illustrated explanation of structural principles. Expression and theory Early works include John Ruskin, The Seven Lamps of Architecture (1849, reissued 1989), an aesthetic of architecture of the Romantic era allied to ethics; Eugne Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc, Discourses on Architecture, 2 vol. (188990, reissued 1959; originally published in French, 186372), a premodern architectural theory based on rational construction; and Vitruvius, The Ten Books on Architecture (1914, reissued 1960), the only architectural treatise to survive from antiquitya book that exerted great influence on Renaissance and later design. Modern studies include Christopher Alexander, Notes on the Synthesis of Form (1964, reissued 1971), design calculations for the cybernetic age; and the credos of the three most influential modern architects: Le Corbusier, Towards a New Architecture (1927, reissued 1986; originally published in French, 1923); Walter Gropius, Scope of Total Architecture (1955, reissued 1970); and Frank Lloyd Wright, Modern Architecture (1931, reprinted 1987). The following are surveys: Peter Collins, Changing Ideals in Modern Architecture, 17501950 (1965, reissued 1975), a survey of architectural principles; Paul Frankl, The Gothic: Literary Sources and Interpretations Through Eight Centuries (1960), the medieval style and its survivals through the centuries; Geoffrey Scott, The Architecture of Humanism, 2nd ed., rev. (1924, reissued 1980), combining a critique of 19th-century theory with a psychologically based defense of Baroque design; John Summerson, The Classical Language of Architecture (1963, reissued 1985), on the use of the classical repertoire of motives through the ages; Rudolf Wittkower, Architectural Principles in the Age of Humanism, 4th ed. (1988), discussing architectural thought in the Renaissance; and Aldo Rossi, The Architecture of the City (1982; originally published in Italian, 1966), addressing architectural and urban theory.A useful general survey of ornamental forms and designs is Joan Evans, Pattern: A Study of Ornament in Western Europe from 1180 to 1900, 2 vol. (1931, reprinted 1976). Accounts of mimetic ornament and design may be found in E. Baldwin Smith, Egyptian Architecture as Cultural Expression (1938, reissued 1968), The Dome: A Study in the History of Ideas (1950, reissued 1978), and Architectural Symbolism of Imperial Rome and the Middle Ages (1956, reprinted 1978). A theory of ornament as social function is found in Alan Gowans, The Unchanging Arts of Beautification: Commercial Design and Decoration, in his The Unchanging Arts (1971). Carole Rifkind, A Field Guide to American Architecture (1980), covers styles, building types, ornamentation, and elements of construction. Theory and criticism Leon Battista Alberti, De re aedificatoria (1485), was the first printed book on the theory of architecture; numerous English translations are available, including On the Art of Building in Ten Books (1988). Reyner Banham, Theory and Design in the First Machine Age, 2nd ed. (1980), is an authoritative study of the theories of architecture developed in the second quarter of the 20th century. Peter Collins, Architectural Judgement (1971), provides a comparative study of decision making in architecture and law. Christian Norberg-Schulz, Intentions in Architecture (1963, reissued 1977), contains an influential study of architectural theory based on linguistics. Howard Robertson, The Principles of Architectural Composition (1924), is a characteristic textbook of the early decades of the 20th century. Robert Venturi, Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture, 2nd ed. (1977), proposes a new theory of architecture based on recent art-historical interpretations of Mannerism and Baroque architecture. Edward R. De Zurko, Origins of Functionalist Theory (1957), is a compendious historical analysis of the relationship between form and function, as conceived by philosophers and architectural theorists. David Watkin, Morality and Architecture (1977, reprinted 1984), makes a spirited attack on modernist and functionalist theories. Roger Scruton, The Aesthetics of Architecture (1979), offers a philosophical exploration of the intellectual questions raised by architecture. Roger Scruton