Design
There can be structure without architecture , as in any machine , but no architecture without structure. There can be aesthetics without architecture , as in any painting , but no architecture without aesthetics. But is there an influence of structure on aesthetics ? Should we be interested in the aesthetics of structure ? To answer this question , we may ignore the definitions of the " beautiful " given by aestheticians through centuries and simply note that aesthetic tenets have changed through the ages. A piece of architecture once considered a masterpiece is often demoted later and labelled second-rate , or it may go in the other direction , from oblivion to fame .
Aesthetic tenets are dynamic ; nothing is absolute about them. And yet , mankind has always tried to achieve aesthetic results , even in its most humble artifacts , because the satisfaction of aesthetic feelings is one of the basic needs of humanity. On this basis alone , we cannot ignore those aspects of structure that are influenced by and, in turn, influence the beauty of a building.
It is easy to prove that aesthetically satisfying buildings can be designed even if structural laws are totally or partially ignored. For example, the conversion of a wooden temple into a stone structure led the Greeks to the creation of one of the masterpieces of architecture , the Parthenon , though judged from a purely structural viewpoint the Parthenon is anything but " correct " . Because stone cannot span as great a distance as wood, the diameter of the columns had to be grossly increased to reduce the span of the new stone beams.
On the other hand, some engineers have preached that one can ignore aesthetics because, if a building is correctly designed structurally , beauty will shine from the correctness of the structure. The innumerable examples of " correct " structures which many consider ugly disprove this theory. Engineers like Nervi or Maillart have designed aesthetically wonderful structures because their innate feeling for beauty guided them beyond their structural genius. One example is Nervi's Palazzetto Dello Sport in Rome.
It may be surprising to realize , at the end of this rapid excursion trough the field of architectural structures , that such a highly technological field has contributed and will continue to contribute to our innate need for beauty. To those of us who cannot live without beauty , this is an encouraging thought. The separation of technology and art is both unnecessary and incorrect ; one is not an enemy of the other. Instead it is essential to understand that technology is often a necessary component of art and that art helps technology to serve man better. Nowhere is this more true than in architecture and structure, a marriage in which science and beauty combine to fulfill some of the most basic physical and spiritual needs of humanity.
We think that anyone engaged in structural design is following some principals based on his knowledge and experience. We strongly recommend the following ...
The truth is more important than the facts.
A great architect is not made by way of a brain nearly so much as he is made by way of a cultivated, enriched heart.
No house should ever be on a hill or on anything. It should be of the hill, belonging to it. Hill and house should live together, each the happier for the other.
No stream rises higher than its source. What ever man might build could never express or reflect more than he was. He could record neither more nor less than he had learned of life when the buildings were built.
Organic architecture seeks superior sense of use and a finer sense of comfort, expressed in organic simplicity.
Organic buildings are the strength and lightness of the spiders' spinning, buildings qualified by light, bred by native character to everyone and married to the ground.
Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house as to build a cathedral.
Respect the masterpiece. It is true reverence to man. There is no quality so great, none so much needed now.
Simplicity and repose are the qualities that measure the true value of any work of art.
Space is the breath of art.
Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.
The heart is the chief feature of a functioning mind.
The mother art is architecture. Without architecture of our own we have no soul of our own civilization.
The physician can bury his mistakes, but the architect can only advise his client to plant vines - so they should go as far as possible from home to build their first buildings.
The room within is the great fact about the building.
The space within becomes the reality of the building.
There is nothing more uncommon than common sense.
Think simple' as my old master used to say - meaning reduce the whole of its parts into the simplest of terms, getting back to first principles.
All fine architectural vales are human values, else not valuable.
An architect's most useful tools are an eraser at the drafting board and a wrecking ball at the site.
Art for art's sake is a philosophy of the well-fed.
Freedom is from within.
Less is only more where more is no good.
Form follows function- that has been misunderstood. Form and function should be one, joined in a spiritual union.
An idea is salvation by imagination.
The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen.
We try our best to follow them , because…
"An expert is a man who has stopped thinking-he knows!"
