Portal:Architecture
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Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings or other structures. The term comes from Latin architectura; from Ancient Greek ἀρχιτέκτων (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 as works of art. Historical civilisations are often identified with their surviving architectural achievements.
Architecture began as rural, oral vernacular 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 and Chinese architecture influenced forms all over Asia and Buddhist architecture in particular took diverse local flavors. During the Middle Ages, pan-European styles of Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals and abbeys emerged while the Renaissance favored Classical forms implemented by architects known by name. Later, the roles of architects and engineers became separated.
Modern architecture began after World War I as an avant-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, and postmodern and contemporary architecture developed. Over the years, the field of architectural construction has branched out to include everything from ship design to interior decorating. (Full article...)
Selected article –
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architecture.
Designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, but completed by an Australian architectural team headed by Peter Hall, the building was formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 20 October 1973, 16 years after Utzon's 1957 selection as winner of an international design competition. The Government of New South Wales, led by the premier, Joseph Cahill, authorised work to begin in 1958 with Utzon directing construction. The government's decision to build Utzon's design is often overshadowed by circumstances that followed, including cost and scheduling overruns as well as the architect's ultimate resignation. (Full article...)General images –
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that unlike other armories in New York City, the 69th Regiment Armory was designed in the Beaux-Arts style because its architect did not want it to look like a "mediaeval castle"?
- ... that in addition to his work as a scientist, Robert Hooke was an architect who designed the Monument to the Great Fire of London so that it could also have a practical value as a scientific instrument?
- ... that in Greek architecture the round tholos form offered an escape from the "austere conventions" of Greek temple design?
- ... that after Claudia Winterstein dropped plans to become an architect because of the Berlin Wall, she led her party as a member of the Bundestag?
- ... that Canadian photographer and architectural activist Brian Merrett's works prompted the preservation of Montreal's Shaughnessy House, now the Canadian Centre for Architecture?
- ... that former New Jersey first lady Lucinda Florio restored the Italianate gardens at Drumthwacket?
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- Architectural history Timeline of architectural styles • Ancient Egyptian • Harappan • Inca • Mayan • Persian • Sumerian • Ancient Greek • Roman • Byzantine • Romanesque • Moorish • Gothic • Renaissance • Mannerism • Baroque • Ottoman • Palladian • Neoclassicism • Revival • Jugendstil • Art Deco • Modern • Postmodern • New Classical • more....
- Architectural theory Critical regionalism • Postmodernism • Deconstructivism • Modernism • Islamic • more....
- Architecture of the world Denmark • Germany • India • Madagascar • Norway • Russia • United Kingdom • United States • more....
- Awards Aga Khan Award • Driehaus Architecture Prize • International Architecture Awards • Pritzker Architecture Prize • more....
- Building science Architectural engineering • Earthquake engineering • Green building • Structural engineering • Acoustical engineering • Building defects • more....
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- Law Contract law • Property law • Employment law • Land law • Tort • Equity
- Economics of Architecture Cost management • Quantity surveyor • Critical path analysis • Elemental cost planning • Cost–benefit analysis
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- Architecture museums Shchusev Museum of Architecture • Museum of Finnish Architecture • German Architecture Museum
- By Year: 2015 in architecture • 2014 in architecture • 2013 in architecture • 2012 in architecture • 2011 in architecture • more....
- Vernacular architecture Timber framing • Thatching • Vernacular architecture of the Carpathians • Indian vernacular architecture • Vernacular architecture of Indonesia • Vernacular architecture in Norway • Open-air museum • Architecture of Samoa • Sasak architecture • Zakopane Style
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