What is the difference between a building and architecture?
According to my sister, “Ummmm I don’t know, building seems just more straightforward, but architecture is more artful?” My other sister thinks that, “a building is of physical structure whereas architecture is more of an abstract art form.” When I phrased the question differently and I asked, “when does a building become architecture? and not just a building?” She answered, “I think a building is always architecture.” Are they wrong? Who is to say there is a proper definition of what makes up architecture? And if for some people, there is no difference, is it the duty of the architect to make this difference seen, felt, and experienced? I believe it is and that in its most simple form, architecture is buildings, but not all buildings are architecture.
architecture is emotional.
Emotional in that it evokes feelings in those who experience it. Whether that experience is from the inside, or outside, the emotional response that architecture creates leaves an unforgettable imprint on that person’s life. It creates a lasting memory that is forever imbedded in their hippocampus. I believe it’s possible for a person to not be able to describe what they “liked” about it, but if they can describe how they felt, then the architecture has done its job. For me, that building is the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. From the outside, the Alhambra is an impenetrable fortress, but within it is something different. It’s delicate. This delicateness is echoed throughout the palace grounds and gardens. As a visitor you find a plethora of elegantly intimate spaces while also observing many open-air courtyards, reflecting pools, and fountains with running water that add to the interior aesthetics. Throughout the palaces, the intricate geometrical wall patterns and carvings that are representative of Islamic design could be studied for hours. It’s like a museum with an endless supply of artworks. A building is forgettable, architecture is not.
architecture is innovative.
It’s innovative in creating something new, or by pushing against the paradigm of current standards. Corbusier, with his five points on architecture, allowed for architects to experiment and create alternative forms that had not been possible before. His ideas of; pilotis, roof garden, free plan, free facade, and ribbon windows displayed prominently in Villa Savoye were innovative and radical. He used the innovations of his time [reinforced concrete], to be innovative in architecture. Architecture and its room were no longer bound by structure, they were independent of it. These ideas permeated through his followers, impacting generations of architects and architecture. Contrasted to the Villa Savoye is my apartment building. It’s an “L-shaped” structure with copy and pasted windows; on either side of the “L”, there is an outdoor fire escape attached to the building. It’s a place to live, and a place built for some landlord to collect rent. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy living in it, and for a one-bedroom apartment it’s perfect for what I need it for, but it’s not architecture. Innovation can also stem from pushing against the paradigm and challenging the accepted norm. Venturi, like Corbusier, started a movement. However, unlike Corbusier, he didn’t set out to start one. He was sick of the sterile, naked buildings of the modernist. He gave a fresh voice to what architecture is, arguing for “mess vitality over obvious unity,” “richness of meaning, rather than clarity of meaning,” “both-and rather than either-or.” The Vanna Venturi House embodies these ideals and started the post-modernist movement. Architecture is impactful, a building is not.
architecture is movement.
Our experience of a space is strongly influenced by how we arrive in it and how we move through it. Corbusier’s use of the ramp in the center of Villa Savoye replaces the function of the stairs and makes a more seamless connection between the floors of the house. The promenade, made possible by the ramp, affects what the viewer sees as they move along it, while simultaneously directing their path through the house. It affects and influences what the viewer sees, but also what they experience and how they experience it. “A tall, bright space will feel taller and brighter if contrasted by a low-ceilinged, softly lit, intimate space. A monument or sacred space will feel more significant when placed at the end of a sequence of lesser spaces. A room with south-facing windows will be more strongly experienced after one passes through a series of north-facing windows (Frederick).” A museum is a series of spaces that push and pull the viewer into the discovery of artwork and architecture. It directs them, or doesn’t, leaving them to find their own way. Rooms of certain shapes, scale and lighting affect the person’s movement patterns and the choices they make within. The Guggenheim in NYC, like Villa Savoye, uses a ramp to direct people upward, towards a giant skylight almost like an ascension to the heavens. Of course, someone can just as well start at the apex and descend along the spiral ramp (Frank Lloyd Wright’s intention). The movement through architecture impacts our emotional experience with it. A building has neither.
architecture is site.
Site and architecture are inseparable. Architecture either takes the site into consideration, or it becomes the site, enhancing it, and strengthening it so that without the architecture, neither is anything. Looking to the Alhambra, I remember the first time I saw it. It’s situated on the highest peak within the city of Granada. It’s inescapable, like a king/queen on their throne peering down at their subjects. I was with my friend Mitch and we just arrived in Granada for the first time. We were walking through the narrow streets of Albaicín; there was an opening where the street to our right sloped downward, the sky was overcast and just above the roofline the Alhambra stretched out above us, its red brick sharply contrasted against the dull sky. I fell in love. From that moment, the Alhambra captivated me, just as it’s done to so many others. In Washington Irving’s Tales of the Alhambra, he says, “Perhaps there never was a monument more characteristic of an age and people than the Alhambra; a rugged fortress without, a voluptuous palace within; war frowning from its battlements; poetry breathing throughout the fairy architecture of its halls.” The hilltop and the Alhambra are harmonious, so that removing one devalues the significance of the other. A building can be removed from a site without consequence.
Architecture is the composer bringing together; the emotional, site, program, intention, movement, and innovation to create a unique harmonious experience. A building can only aspire to be architecture. For that to exist, there must be intention. Architecture is intention.
This was an assignment given to us in our architectural history class.
Works Cited
Frederick, M. (2007). 101 Things I learned in architecture school. MIT Press.
Irving, W., & Villa-Real, R. (2007). Tales of the Alhambra. Miguel Sánchez.