Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction.[4] It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving,[5]planning,designing, andconstructingbuildings or otherstructures.[6] The term comes from Latinarchitectura; from Ancient Greekἀρχιτέκτων (arkhitéktōn)'architect'; from ἀρχι- (arkhi-)'chief' and τέκτων (téktōn)'creator'. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural symbols and asworks of art. Historicalcivilizations are often identified with their surviving architectural achievements.[7]
The practice, which began in theprehistoric era, has been used as a way of expressingculture by civilizations on all sevencontinents.[8] For this reason, architecture is considered to be a form ofart. Texts on architecture have been written since ancient times. The earliest surviving text onarchitectural theories is the 1st century BC treatiseDe architectura by the Roman architectVitruvius, according to whom a good building embodiesfirmitas, utilitas, andvenustas (durability, utility, and beauty). Centuries later,Leon Battista Alberti developed his ideas further, seeing beauty as an objective quality of buildings to be found in their proportions. In the 19th century,Louis Sullivan declared that "form follows function". "Function" began to replace the classical "utility" and was understood to include not only practical but also aesthetic, psychological, and cultural dimensions. The idea ofsustainable architecture was introduced in the late 20th century.
Architecture began as rural, oralvernacular architecture that developed from trial and error to successful replication. Ancient urban architecture was preoccupied with building religious structures and buildings symbolizing the political power of rulers until Greek and Roman architecture shifted focus to civic virtues.Indian andChinese architecture influencedforms all over Asia andBuddhist architecture in particular took diverse local flavors. During theMiddle Ages, pan-European styles ofRomanesque andGothic cathedrals and abbeys emerged while theRenaissance favored Classical forms implemented byarchitects known by name. Later, the roles of architects andengineers became separated.
Modern architecture began afterWorld War I as anavant-garde movement that sought to develop a completely new style appropriate for a new post-war social and economic order focused on meeting the needs of the middle and working classes. Emphasis was put on modern techniques, materials, and simplified geometric forms, paving the way for high-rise superstructures. Many architects became disillusioned with modernism which they perceived as ahistorical and anti-aesthetic, andpostmodern andcontemporary architecture developed. Over the years, the field of architectural construction has branched out to include everything from ship design to interior decorating.
Definitions
Architecture can mean:
A general term to describe buildings and other physical structures.[9]
The knowledge of art, science, technology, and humanity.[9]
The design activity of the architect,[9] from the macro-level (urban design,landscape architecture) to the micro-level (construction details and furniture).
The practice of the architect where architecture means offering or rendering professional services in connection with the design and construction of buildings or built environments.[12]
Illustration ofbracket arm clusters containingcantilevers fromYingzao Fashi, a text on architecture byLi Jue (1065–1110)Plan of the second floor (attic storey) of the Hôtel de Brionne in Paris – 1734.
The philosophy of architecture is a branch of thephilosophy of art, dealing with aesthetic value of architecture, itssemantics and its relation to the development ofculture. Many philosophers and theoreticians fromPlato toMichel Foucault,Gilles Deleuze,[13]Robert Venturi andLudwig Wittgenstein have concerned themselves with the nature of architecture and whether or not architecture is distinguished from building.
Historic treatises
The earliest surviving written work on the subject of architecture isDe architectura by the Roman architectVitruvius in the early 1st century BC.[14] According to Vitruvius, a good building should satisfy the three principles offirmitas, utilitas, venustas,[15][16] commonly known by the original translation –firmness, commodity and delight. An equivalent in modern English would be:
Durability – a building should stand up robustly and remain in good condition
Utility – it should be suitable for the purposes for which it is used
Beauty – it should be aesthetically pleasing
According to Vitruvius, the architect should strive to fulfill each of these three attributes as well as possible.Leon Battista Alberti, who elaborates on the ideas of Vitruvius in his treatise,De re aedificatoria, saw beauty primarily as a matter of proportion, although ornament also played a part. For Alberti, the rules of proportion were those that governed the idealized human figure, thegolden mean. The most important aspect of beauty was, therefore, an inherent part of an object, rather than something applied superficially, and was based on universal, recognizable truths. The notion of style in the arts was not developed until the 16th century, with the writing ofGiorgio Vasari.[17] By the 18th century, hisLives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects had been translated into Italian, French, Spanish, and English.
In the 16th century, Italian Mannerist architect, painter and theoristSebastiano Serlio wroteTutte L'Opere D'Architettura et Prospetiva (Complete Works on Architecture and Perspective). This treatise exerted immense influence throughout Europe, being the first handbook that emphasized the practical rather than the theoretical aspects of architecture, and it was the first to catalog the five orders.[18]
In the early 19th century,Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin wroteContrasts (1836) that, as the title suggested, contrasted the modern, industrial world, which he disparaged, with an idealized image of neo-medieval world.Gothic architecture, Pugin believed, was the only "true Christian form of architecture."[19] The 19th-century English art critic,John Ruskin, in hisSeven Lamps of Architecture, published 1849, was much narrower in his view of what constituted architecture. Architecture was the "art which so disposes and adorns the edifices raised by men ... that the sight of them" contributes "to his mental health, power, and pleasure".[20] For Ruskin, the aesthetic was of overriding significance. His work goes on to state that a building is not truly a work of architecture unless it is in some way "adorned". For Ruskin, a well-constructed, well-proportioned, functional building needed stringcourses orrustication, at the very least.[20]
On the difference between the ideals ofarchitecture and mereconstruction, the 20th-century architectLe Corbusier wrote: "You employ stone, wood, and concrete, and with these materials you build houses and palaces: that is construction. Ingenuity is at work. But suddenly you touch my heart, you do me good. I am happy and I say: This is beautiful. That is Architecture".[21] Le Corbusier's contemporaryLudwig Mies van der Rohe is said to have stated in a 1959 interview that "architecture starts when you carefully put two bricks together. There it begins."[22]
The notable 19th-century architect ofskyscrapers,Louis Sullivan, promoted an overriding precept to architectural design: "Form follows function". While the notion that structural and aesthetic considerations should be entirely subject to functionality was met with both popularity and skepticism, it introduced the concept of "function" in place of Vitruvius' "utility". "Function" came to be seen as encompassing all criteria of the use, perception and enjoyment of a building, not only practical but also aesthetic, psychological and cultural.
Nunzia Rondanini stated, "Through its aesthetic dimension architecture goes beyond the functional aspects that it has in common with other human sciences. Through its own particular way of expressingvalues, architecture can stimulate and influence social life without presuming that, in and of itself, it will promote social development.... To restrict the meaning of (architectural) formalism to art for art's sake is not only reactionary; it can also be a purposeless quest for perfection or originality which degrades form into a mere instrumentality".[23]
The aesthetics of architecture remain a contested topic, with critics highlighting the disconnect between professionals and the public. Studies generally find that there is a strong public preference for traditional and classical architectural styles over modernist designs.[24][25][26]James Stevens Curl argues that modernist architects often favour designs that are alienating and environmentally damaging.[27]Léon Krier frames the dominance of traditional styles in private architecture as an "overwhelming democratic reality," contrasting with the prevalence of modernist designs in public commissions.[28]
In the late 20th century a new concept was added to those included in the compass of both structure and function, the consideration ofsustainability, hencesustainable architecture. To satisfy the contemporary ethos, a building should be constructed in a manner which is environmentally friendly in terms of the production of its materials, its impact upon the natural and built environment of its surrounding area and the demands that it makes upon the natural environment forheating, ventilation and cooling,water use,waste products andlighting.
Building first evolved out of the dynamics between needs (e.g. shelter, security, and worship) and means (availablebuilding materials and attendant skills). As human cultures developed and knowledge began to be formalized through oral traditions and practices, building became acraft, andarchitecture became the term used to describe the highly formalized and respected aspects of the craft. It is widely assumed that architectural success was achieved through trial and error, with progressively less trial and more replication as results became satisfactory over time.Vernacular architecture continues to be produced in many parts of the world.
Prehistoric architecture
Göbekli Tepe fromTurkey, founded in 10th millennium BC and abandoned in 8th millennium BC
In many ancient civilizations, such as those ofEgypt andMesopotamia, architecture andurbanism reflected the constant engagement with thedivine and thesupernatural, and many ancient cultures resorted to monumentality in their architecture to symbolically represent the political power of the ruler or the state itself.
The architecture and urbanism ofclassical civilizations such as theGreek andRoman civilizations evolved from civic ideals rather than religious or empirical ones. New building types emerged and architectural style developed in the form of theclassical orders.Roman architecture was influenced byGreek architecture as they incorporated many Greek elements into their building practices.[29]
Texts on architecture have been written since ancient times—these texts provided both general advice and specific formal prescriptions or canons. Some examples of canons are found in the writings ofVitruvius in the 1st century BC. Some of the most important early examples of canonic architecture are religious.
Asian architecture developed differently from European architecture, and theBuddhist,Hindu andSikh architectural styles have different characteristics. UnlikeIndian andChinese architecture, which had great influence on the surrounding regions,Japanese architecture did not. Some Asian architecture showed great regional diversity, in particularBuddhist architecture. Moreover, another architectural achievement in Asia is theHindu temple architecture, which developed from around the 5th century CE. It is, in theory, governed by concepts laid down in theShastras, and is concerned with expressing both the macrocosm and the microcosm.
In many Asian countries, pantheistic religion led to architectural forms that were designed specifically to enhance thenatural landscape. Also, the grandest houses were relatively lightweight structures mainly using wood until recent times, and there are few survivals of great age. Buddhism was associated with a move to stone and brick religious structures, probably beginning asrock-cut architecture, which has often survived very well.
Islamic architecture began in the 7th century, incorporating architectural forms from the ancientMiddle East andByzantium, but also developing features to suit the religious and social needs of the society. Examples can be found throughout the Middle East, Turkey, North Africa, the Indian Sub-continent and in parts of Europe, such as Spain, Albania, and the Balkan States, as the result of the expansion of theOttoman Empire.[30][31]
Gothic architecture: Stained glass windows of theSainte-Chapelle in Paris, completed in 1248, mostly constructed between 1194 and 1220
InEurope during theMedieval period,guilds were formed by craftsmen to organize their trades and written contracts have survived, particularly in relation to ecclesiastical buildings. The role of architect was usually one with that of master mason, orMagister lathomorum as they are sometimes described in contemporary documents.
The major architectural undertakings were the buildings of abbeys andcathedrals. From about 900 onward, the movements of both clerics and tradesmen carried architectural knowledge across Europe, resulting in the pan-European styles Romanesque and Gothic.
Also, a significant part of the Middle Ages architectural heritage is numerousfortifications across the continent. From the Balkans to Spain, and from Malta to Estonia, these buildings represent an important part of European heritage.
InRenaissance Europe, from about 1400 onwards, there was a revival of Classical learning accompanied by the development ofRenaissance humanism, which placed greater emphasis on the role of the individual in society than had been the case during the Medieval period. Buildings were ascribed to specific architects – Brunelleschi,Alberti,Michelangelo,Palladio – and the cult of the individual had begun. There was still no dividing line betweenartist, architect,engineer, or any of the related vocations, and the appellation was often one of regional preference.
A revival of theClassical style in architecture was accompanied by a burgeoning of science and engineering, which affected the proportions and structure of buildings. At this stage, it was still possible for an artist to design a bridge as the level of structural calculations involved was within the scope of the generalist.
With the emerging knowledge in scientific fields and the rise of new materials and technology, architecture andengineering began to separate, and the architect began to concentrate onaesthetics and the humanist aspects, often at the expense of technical aspects of building design. There was also the rise of the "gentleman architect" who usually dealt with wealthy clients and concentrated predominantly on visual qualities derived usually from historical prototypes, typified by the many country houses of Great Britain that were created in theNeo Gothic orScottish baronial styles.Formal architectural training in the 19th century, for example, atÉcole des Beaux-Arts in France, gave much emphasis to the production of beautiful drawings and little to context and feasibility.
Meanwhile, theIndustrial Revolution laid open the door for mass production and consumption. Aesthetics became a criterion for the middle class as ornamented products, once within the province of expensive craftsmanship, became cheaper under machine production.
Vernacular architecture became increasingly ornamental. Housebuilders could use current architectural design in their work by combining features found in pattern books and architectural journals.
Around the beginning of the 20th century, general dissatisfaction with the emphasis onrevivalist architecture and elaborate decoration gave rise to many new lines of thought that served as precursors to Modern architecture. Notable among these is theDeutscher Werkbund, formed in 1907 to produce better quality machine-made objects. The rise of the profession of industrial design is usually placed here. Following this lead, theBauhaus school, founded inWeimar, Germany in 1919, redefined the architectural bounds prior set throughout history, viewing the creation of a building as the ultimate synthesis – the apex – of art, craft, and technology.[34]
Whenmodern architecture was first practiced, it was anavant-garde movement with moral, philosophical, and aesthetic underpinnings. Immediately afterWorld War I, pioneering modernist architects sought to develop a completely new style appropriate for a new post-war social and economic order focused on meeting the needs of the middle and working classes. They rejected the architectural practice of the academic refinement of historical styles which served the rapidly declining aristocratic order. The approach of the Modernist architects was to reduce buildings to pure forms, removing historical references and ornament in favor of functional details. Buildings displayed their functional and structural elements, exposing steel beams and concrete surfaces instead of hiding them behind decorative forms. Architects such asFrank Lloyd Wright developedorganic architecture, in which the form was defined by its environment and purpose, with an aim to promote harmony between human habitation and the natural world with prime examples beingRobie House andFallingwater.[35][36]
Architects such asMies van der Rohe,Philip Johnson, andMarcel Breuer worked to create beauty based on the inherent qualities of building materials and modern construction techniques, trading traditional historic forms for simplified geometric forms, celebrating the new means and methods made possible by theIndustrial Revolution, including steel-frame construction, which gave birth to high-rise superstructures.Fazlur Rahman Khan's development of thetube structure was a technological breakthrough in building ever higher. By mid-century, Modernism had morphed into theInternational Style, an aesthetic epitomized in many ways by the Twin Towers of New York'sWorld Trade Center designed byMinoru Yamasaki.[37]
Many architects resistedmodernism, finding it devoid of the decorative richness of historical styles. As the first generation of modernists began to die afterWorld War II, the second generation of architects includingPaul Rudolph,Marcel Breuer, andEero Saarinen tried to expand the aesthetics of modernism withBrutalism, buildings with expressive sculpture façades made of unfinished concrete. But an even younger postwar generation critiqued modernism and Brutalism for being too austere, standardized, monotone, and not taking into account the richness of human experience offered in historical buildings across time and in different places and cultures.
One such reaction to the cold aesthetic of modernism and Brutalism is the school ofmetaphoric architecture, which includes such things asbio morphism andzoomorphic architecture, both using nature as the primary source of inspiration and design. While it is considered by some to be merely an aspect ofpostmodernism, others consider it to be a school in its own right and a later development ofexpressionist architecture.[38]
Beginning in the late 1950s and 1960s,architectural phenomenology emerged as an important movement in the early reaction against modernism, with architects likeCharles Moore in the United States,Christian Norberg-Schulz in Norway, andErnesto Nathan Rogers,Vittorio Gregotti,Michele Valori, andBruno Zevi in Italy, who collectively popularized an interest in a new contemporary architecture aimed at expanding human experience using historical buildings as models and precedents.[39] Postmodernism produced a style that combined contemporary building technology and cheap materials with the aesthetics of older pre-modern and non-modern styles, from high classical architecture to popular or vernacular regional building styles.Robert Venturi famously defined postmodern architecture as a "decorated shed" (an ordinary building which is functionally designed inside and embellished on the outside) and upheld it against modernist and brutalist "ducks" (buildings with unnecessarily expressivetectonic forms).[40]
TheIsbjerget housing project (Aarhus, Denmark), inspired by form and color of icebergs, 2013, byCEBRA,JDS Architects, Louis Paillard, and SeARCH
Since the 1980s, as the complexity of buildings began to increase (in terms of structural systems, services, energy and technologies), the field of architecture became multi-disciplinary with specializations for each project type, technological expertise or project delivery methods. Moreover, there has been an increased separation of the 'design' architect[Notes 1] from the 'project' architect who ensures that the project meets the required standards and deals with matters of liability.[Notes 2] The preparatory processes for the design of any large building have become increasingly complicated,[41] and require preliminary studies of such matters as durability, sustainability, quality, money, and compliance with local laws. A large structure can no longer be the design of one person but must be the work of many.Modernism andPostmodernism have been criticized by some members of the architectural profession who feel that successful architecture is not a personal, philosophical, or aesthetic pursuit by individualists; rather it has to consider everyday needs of people and use technology to create livable environments, with the design process being informed by studies of behavioral, environmental, and social sciences.
Environmentalsustainability has become a mainstream issue, with a profound effect on the architectural profession. Many developers, those who support the financing of buildings, have become educated to encourage the facilitation of environmentally sustainable design, rather than solutions based primarily on immediate cost. Major examples of this can be found inpassive solar building design,greener roof designs,biodegradable materials, and more attention to a structure's energy usage. This major shift in architecture has also changed architecture schools to focus more on the environment. There has been an acceleration in the number of buildings that seek to meetgreen buildingsustainable design principles. Sustainable practices that were at the core of vernacular architecture increasingly provide inspiration for environmentally and socially sustainable contemporary techniques.[42] The U.S. Green Building Council'sLEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system has been influential in this.[43]
Concurrently, the recent movements ofNew Urbanism,Metaphoric architecture, contemporaryTraditional architecture andNew Classical architecture promote a sustainable approach towards construction that appreciates and developssmart growth, architectural tradition, andclassical design.[44][45] This in contrast to modernist andglobally uniform architecture, as well as leaning against solitaryhousing estates andsuburban sprawl.[46] Glass curtain walls, which were the hallmark of the ultra modern urban life in many countries, surfaced even in developing countries like Nigeria where international styles had been represented since the mid-20th Century, mostly because of the leanings of foreign-trained architects.[47]
Industrial architecture is the design of specialized industrial buildings, whose primary focus is designing buildings that can fulfil their function while ensuring the safe movement of labor and goods in the facility.
Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor public areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioral, or aesthetic outcomes.[49] It involves the systematic investigation of existing social, ecological, and soil conditions and processes in the landscape and the design of interventions that will produce the desired outcome. The scope of the profession includeslandscape design,site planning,stormwater management,environmentalrestoration,parks and recreation planning, visual resource management,green infrastructure planning and provision, and privateestate andresidence landscape master planning and design all at varying scales of design, planning, and management. A practitioner in the profession of landscape architecture is called alandscape architect.
Interior architecture is the design of a space which has been created by structural boundaries and the human interaction within these boundaries. It can also be the initial design and plan for use, then later redesigned to accommodate a changed purpose or a significantly revised design foradaptive reuse of the building shell.[50] The latter is often part of sustainable architecture practices, conserving resources through "recycling" a structure by adaptive redesign. Generally referred to as the spatial art of environmental design, form and practice, interior architecture is the process through which the interiors of buildings are designed, concerned with all aspects of the human uses of structural spaces.
Urban design is the process of designing and shaping the physical features of cities, towns, and villages. In contrast to architecture, which focuses on the design of individual buildings, urban design deals with the larger scale of groups of buildings, streets and public spaces, whole neighborhoods and districts, and entire cities, with the goal of making urban areas functional, attractive, and sustainable.[51]
Naval architecture, also known as naval engineering, is anengineering discipline dealing with theengineering design process,shipbuilding, maintenance, and operation ofmarine vessels and structures.[53][54] Naval architecture involves basic and applied research, design, development, design evaluation, and calculations during all stages of the life of a marine vehicle. Preliminary design of the vessel, its detailed design,construction,trials, operation and maintenance, launching, anddry-docking are the main activities involved. Ship design calculations are also required for ships beingmodified (by means of conversion, rebuilding, modernization, or repair). Naval architecture also involves the formulation of safety regulations and damage control rules and the approval and certification of ship designs to meetstatutory and non-statutory requirements.
Metaphorical "architectures"
"Architecture" is used as a metaphor for many modern techniques or fields for structuring abstractions. These include:
Business architecture, defined as "a blueprint of the enterprise that provides a common understanding of the organization and is used to align strategic objectives and tactical demands.”[55]Enterprise architecture is another term.
The term 'seismic architecture' or 'earthquake architecture' was first introduced in 1985 by Robert Reitherman.[57] The phrase "earthquake architecture" is used to describe a degree of architectural expression of earthquake resistance or implication of architectural configuration, form, or style in earthquake resistance. It is also used to describe buildings in which seismic design considerations impacted its architecture. It may be considered a new aesthetic approach in designing structures in seismic prone areas.[58] The wide breadth of expressive possibilities ranges from metaphorical uses of seismic issues to the more straightforward exposure of seismic technology. While outcomes of an earthquake architecture can be very diverse in their physical manifestations, architectural expression of seismic principles can also take many forms and levels of sophistication.[59]
^A design architect is one who is responsible for the design.
^A project architect is one who is responsible for ensuring the design is built correctly and who administers building contracts – in non-specialist architectural practices the project architect is also the design architect and the term refers to the differing roles the architect plays at differing stages of the process.
^"architecture".Encyclopedia Britannica.Archived from the original on 16 November 2017. Retrieved27 October 2017.
^Pace, Anthony (2004). "Tarxien". In Daniel Cilia (ed.).Malta before History – The World's Oldest Free Standing Stone Architecture. Miranda Publishers.ISBN978-9990985085.
^Deleuze, Gilles (1990).Pourparlers. Paris: Minuit. p. 219.It is not the line that is between two points, but the point that is at the intersection of several lines.
^D. Rowland – T.N. Howe: Vitruvius. Ten Books on Architecture. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1999,ISBN0-521-00292-3.
^Woinaroski, Cristina (2013).Istorie urbană, Lotizarea și Parcul Ioanid din București în context european (in Romanian). SIMETRIA.ISBN978-973-1872-30-8.
^Marinache, Oana (2017).Paul Gottereau – Un Regal în Arhitectură (in Romanian). Editura Istoria Artei. p. 184.ISBN978-606-8839-09-7.
^Winton, Alexandra Griffith."The Bauhaus, 1919–1933".metmuseum.org. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved6 October 2025.
^Netto, David (7 May 2011). "What's So Great About Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater?".The Wall Street Journal. p. D7.ISSN0099-9660.ProQuest2729856894.
^Hannu Jaakkola and Bernhard Thalheim. (2011) "Architecture-driven modelling methodologies." In:Proceedings of the 2011 conference on Information Modelling and Knowledge Bases XXII. Anneli Heimbürger et al. (eds). IOS Press. p. 98.
^Reitherman, Robert (1985).Earthquake Engineering and Earthquake Architecture. Part of the AIA Workshop for Architects and Related Building Professionals on Designing for Earthquakes in the Western Mountain States.
^Llunji, Mentor (2016).Seismic Architecture – The architecture of earthquake resistant structures. Msproject.ISBN978-9940979409.
^Charleson, Andrew (2000).Towards An Earthquake Architecture. 12th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering.
Cities and Buildings Database – Collection of digitized images of buildings and cities drawn from across time and throughout the world from the University of Washington Library
"Architecture and Power", BBC Radio 4 discussion with Adrian Tinniswood, Gillian Darley and Gavin Stamp (In Our Time, Oct. 31, 2002)
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![Revivalist architecture of a national style (in this case Romanian Revival): The C.N. Câmpeanu House on Bulevardul Dacia (Bucharest), c. 1923, by Constantin Nănescu[32]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3a56%2c_Bulevardul_Dacia%2c_Bucharest_(Romania).jpg)
![Beaux-Arts architecture: The CEC Palace on Victory Avenue (Bucharest), 8 June 1897 – 1900, by Paul Gottereau[33]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aPalacio_CEC%2c_Bucarest%2c_Ruman%25C3%25ADa%2c_2016-05-29%2c_DD_91-93_HDR.jpg)
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