Art is creating a visual or auditory experience for viewers; it is an expression of one’s emotions and ideas. Architecture sets a different course from other artistic expressions where the creator has got to visualize the building and develop it. It becomes more complicated since an architect’s decisions affect public safety, the economy, and the environment. An architect is trained to plan and design buildings concerning the context, climate, culture, and function. Who is also responsible for inculcating and evoking artistic creativity into the society.
Architecture does not only end with designing spaces like houses or workplaces; It also sets up routines, moods, and behaviour and finally dictates the quality of life. Even decisions such as the placement of windows can affect the amount of light and ventilation in the room, which can affect the comfort and health of the user. Architecture can even impact lives positively on a macro level; such is the example of the Guggenheim Museum designed by Frank Gehry, the museum helped transform the city of Bilbao. Bilbao, a port city was different before the Museum, with the center of the city eloped in grey due to the smoke from factories and shipyards. In 1983 Bilbao was hit with devastating floods and the city’s industrial sector struggled to survive amid an identity crisis, the city proposed a new museum, designed by Frank Gehry to hold some of the finest Guggenheim art collections. After a quarter of a century, the museum is an essential part of Bilbao’s culture, opening its arms to almost 25 million visitors. “If people use the phrase ‘Guggenheim effect’ to communicate the idea that cultural infrastructure can have a transformative effect that goes beyond the purely cultural sphere – that it can have a social, architectural, planning, and economic impact – then I’d go along with that,” says The Guggenheim Bilbao director, Juan Ignacio Vidarte. (Guggenheim effect: How the museum helped transform Bilbao 2022)
There are even times when architecture has impacted socially unfavourable. Pruitt-Igoe public housing was commissioned under the Housing Act and began as a marvel. But two decades later this housing was up for demolition as they became unfit for habitation, due to the increase in violence and crime. These high-rise buildings didn’t fit the context as there were low-rise structures surrounding them. Residents were depersonalized with the high rise, as there was a lack of defensible space; as they felt no control or personal responsibility for a place occupied by so many people. This is a story that speaks of how public housing is often overlooked and how it defines urban housing projects.
Architecture can serve as a tool to impart emotions. Designing spaces that are compact, dingy, and poorly lit can make a person feel insecure and scared. Whereas a person in an adequately lit room with focus lights can perform better. When being surrounded by monotonous buildings without green spaces can impact a person’s psyche, it is shown that patients who had undergone surgery and were recovering after cholecystectomy had shorter hospital stays when their assigned rooms had windows looking on a natural scene, compared to the patients that had windows facing a brick wall. Jewish Museum in Berlin uses this exact feature of architecture and exploits human emotions. This museum presents the history of Jews. The building deconstructivism; façade in of itself has sharp angles and the museum is shaped in zigzag. “The gap left by Holocaust is symbolized by the emptiness in this scene, which peaks loudly” (Visions, 2023). The museum helps the visitor to empathise with Jews; their challenges, victories and the collective lives lost during the Holocaust. Exhibition space which has the installation called Fallen Leaves that has thousands of metal faces covering the floor. Walking on them, creates a sound underneath the feet, which serves as a haunting memory of the lives they represented.
Architecture transcends beyond designing a shelter, it acts as a reflection of society and vice versa; of its ever-changing styles and ideologies from Romanesque to Renaissance, Constructivism with Deconstructivism. It is a manifestation of how we view ourselves and our surroundings; whether it is philosophy, culture, tradition or religion. Architecture style is always evolving, with the addition of technology and advanced construction techniques we can create beautiful and impactful spaces which can help the future of construction. Humans and architecture have correlated for centuries, and exploring this harmony can never be complete. Our lives are constantly surrounded by built environment from home to school to offices, and these in fact shape our cities and in the process us. Architecture has become an important dialogue more than ever, with rapid urbanisation, climate change and social inequality. It puts architecture in the foreground of our society as it is an active participant in the ongoing narrative. By understanding the sensitivities that architecture holds, we can shape our built environments in a more sustainable, inclusive manner, by meeting our needs functionally, safely and creatively.
Reference list:
RS;, Ulrich. “View through a Window May Influence Recovery from Surgery.” Science (New York, N.Y.), U.S. National Library of Medicine, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6143402/. Accessed 1 Feb. 2024.
“Pruitt-Igoe: The Troubled High-Rise That Came to Define Urban America – A History of Cities in 50 Buildings, Day 21.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 22 Apr. 2015, www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/apr/22/pruitt-igoe-high-rise-urban-america-history-cities.
Guggenheim effect: How the museum helped transform Bilbao (2022) The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/31/guggenheim-effect-how-the-museum-helped-transform-bilbao (Accessed: 01 February 2024).
Visions, V.O. (2023) Navigating emotions: A personal journey through Daniel Libeskind’s Jewish Museum in Berlin, Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/@VaultOfVisions/navigating-emotions-a-personal-journey-through-daniel-libeskinds-jewish-museum-in-berlin-1236d013b20 (Accessed: 01 February 2024).
