Deep space star cluster photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope
This is
another in my series of posts inspired by 1000 Awesome Things, the Webby Award winning blog written by Neil Pasricha. The series is my meditation on the
awesome reasons why I was and continue to be attracted to the art of
architecture.
As
defined by Wikipedia, space is “the
boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and
direction.” The entry describes physical space as “often conceived in three linear dimensions,
although modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless four-dimensional continuum known as spacetime.”
Wikipedia suggests that space is more
or less formless without the objects and events that occupy it. It is these
that provide otherwise limitless tracts of space definition and shape.
The act of building is an event that fixes
relative positions and directions. Just as the galaxies, stars, and planets do,
buildings demarcate, delineate, and distort space and time. We don’t normally conceive
of architecture from so celestial a perspective but in the grand scheme of
things the architect’s goal is precisely to slice off, capture, and shape tiny
bits of our vast universe.
Architects form relationships between empty
space and objects, and it is our perceptions of these relationships that
constitute architecture. We may utilize walls, columns, domes, and other
elements in our designs, but space is the primary medium we work with when we
plan buildings and places. Our creative use of space is what sets architecture
apart from the other arts.
This is a concept that isn’t always easy for
students of architecture to grasp. After all, we ask them to begin by drawing
the walls, roofs, doors, and windows of a building rather than its volumes—the space—they
shape. For many, it takes a while to realize that the form of the spatial
volume is as important as the form of the mass containing the space.
It’s perhaps easiest to imagine space as
being something tangible, especially when we consider both the elements shaping
the portion of space we are engaged with and the form of the spatial volume
itself. A jar and the volume it contains comprise a whole. They form a unity of
opposites, the jar being the yin to the yang of its contents. We see the jar—its
materiality, patterning, and color—but we also appreciate its capacity to hold
and protect materials we value. The relationship between form and space is
likewise an association of opposed elements, where space may be interpreted as
the absence of form, even as space may be given shape.
Sometimes, architects design freestanding
objects in space (suburban homes on their large lots are examples). Other
times, they bend, warp, buckle, and bow buildings to bound and give
shape to outdoor places (such as the courtyards and squares of medieval cities)
or envelop distinct volumes (such as the Pantheon does). The figure-ground
relationship between objects (figures) and space (ground) considers the
importance of both equally.
1784 figure-ground map of Rome by Giambattista Nolli
The composition of space is among the most
rewarding tasks architects engage in. Louis Kahn went so far as to define
architecture as “the thoughtful making of space.” And yet, space has always
been there and always will be; we didn’t make it. Skilled architects simply use
proportion, light, and the materials & language of construction to reveal
its existence. They create churning eddies, idle pools, and flowing streams of
space. They actively engage space by rendering it in terms we can perceive and
be moved by.
Outer space is seemingly infinite, its
uncharted frontiers the inspiration for science fiction. Architectural space is
part of the same continuum as outer space, just much closer to home. It’s both
amazing and humbling to realize we’re empowered to establish dominion over a
tiny share of an infinite cosmos. Good architecture particularizes and composes
space. It defines order out of disorderliness. Good architecture marks
humankind’s moment and place of habitation along the spacetime continuum.
Simply put, architecture is AWESOME because it’s
literally crafted from the same stuff as the universe itself: space.
Next
Architecture is Awesome: #7 The Process of Discovery
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