Re-defining what Architecture means to me

Architecture is something that every person or architect needs to find out for himself/herself. As we have established before, architecture can be defined in numerous ways.

The standard dictionary’s definition of architecture is as follows: ‘the art and science of designing structures and buildings’. Although this is correct, it is too general and does not exactly pinpoint what it is. From my knowledge, the dictionary cannot fully define architecture because individuals experience architecture in different ways. Several discussed definitions include: ‘it is a shelter from nature’, ‘architecture is an expression of who we are’, and ‘it is a designed environment’. Although all these definitions are true to an extent, but it may be more true to someone in comparison to others, depending on their perspective on architecture. The importance having a personal definition of architecture is that nobody can define it for you. This means that although people may not like or appreciate a building, but the architect would understand and appreciate his design through his understanding and views on architecture; therefore nobody may take that away from him/her.

From what I have learnt over the last months, many factors are put into consideration before making architecture. Context is a factor of the design elements of architecture, due to the need of providing comfort for the people using it. This, mainly, is referring to what surrounds the building, such as a climate. Depending on the different types of climate in various countries, architecture may be different in among countries as well. The three main climate types according to Rapoport are hot-humid, hot-dry, and cold. Among these three climates, the architecture is created as much as possible to adapt to its climate. For instance, in a hot-humid climate, the main objective of architectural adaptation is to cool the body. This may be done by an extensive use of shading and roofing, having large open spaces inside the structure, and designing an ideal building configuration where a lot of wind may hit the surface of the building. Different from hot-dry climates, where the objectives are to cool the body during the day and warm the body during the evening. And finally, cold climates where the body needs to be kept warm at all times.

Another influencing factor that we have established during discussions are the cultural factors. According to Rapoport, house form is also heavily influenced by socio-cultural factors including ‘’religious beliefs, family, clan structure, social organization, way of gaining livelihood, and social relations between individuals.’’ However, his basic hypothesis is that “house form is not simply the result of physical forces or any single casual factor, but is the consequence of a whole range of socio-cultural factors seen in their broadest terms.” This means to say that all kinds of factors affect house form, rather than only one single factor. For instance, caste may influence architecture in terms of the placement of rooms in the house, possibly that parents’ stay in the largest room of the house, and the youngest child stays in the smallest room of the house.

Therefore we are able to conclude that architecture is influenced mainly by two major factors: culture and context. Because of this, we are also able to state that house form does express our culture, due to the influences of all the factors while it was being designed and built. From the theory of diwa ng lunan or spirit of place, a ‘place’ is implies feelings and memories of a space. These feelings and memories may be experienced individually or collectively. Different architecture may induce new feelings to individuals due to how it looks or feels, and what function it serves. Similarly, feelings and memories may be shared collectively from the memories they experienced together, and what feelings were induced. Theoretically, architecture makes us feel different emotions, therefore is shaping our personality by the provision of new experiences.

In my opinion, architecture is a built environment for several purposes. Firstly, architecture is built and used as a shelter from nature. According to what I previously stated about climate as a modifying factor, architecture is designed to adapt to its context, for the comfort and safety of the people using it. Secondly, every culture is different from one another, and may be shown through architecture. Architecture is a built environment towards cultural norms and values. For instance, houses of different cultures may be drastically diverse in terms of design and the way it is organized. This is because of factors such as family structure, religious beliefs, lifestyle etc. that affected the way the structure was designed and built. Therefore by analyzing architecture, one is also analyzing a culture. Thirdly, architecture provides a space that serves a function.  This is because architecture is always built for a reason. For example, the obvious functions include: houses are built for people to have homes, or buildings are built for people to work in. Other reasons may be to remember an event, such as the Eiffel tower in Paris, which was initially built to honor the 100^th anniversary of the French revolution. Thus, architecture is always built for a purpose, even when it is just for viewing. Furthermore, architecture is also a place. From my previous explanation of diwa ng lunan, a place refers to a space with a feeling or memory. This theory suggests how a house may become a home. When people are in a space, they are experienced with new feelings and memories that are induced within the space. In this case, the feelings that turn house into a home could be safety, comfort, and warmth. Consequently, architecture is a method of providing people with human feelings and memories, which to me means putting life into mankind.

In short, my final definition of architecture is as follows: “The mastery of designing environments in order to shelter, express, and create life to those experiencing it”.