Architecture is the major art of designing spaces and build buildings, respecting empirical or scientific construction rules, as well as aesthetic concepts, traditional and new, shape and arrangement of space, there including social and environmental aspects of the function of the building and its integration into its environment, whatever this feature: Living, burial, ritual, institutional, religious, defensive, craft, commercial, scientific, signage, museum, industrial, monumental, decorative, landscape, even purely artistic.
This is why the architecture is defined as "an expression of culture." It is recognized as the first of the major arts in the classification of arts, commonly accepted, the twentieth century, the 9 major arts and is one of the fine arts.
The architecture also means all the knowledge and techniques of this art to design and build complex structures, including land buildings, spaces and landscapes changed by humans that meet architectural criteria, artifacts habitable sailing on water and under water (naval architecture) and in space (spatial architecture), that mankind could imagine and carry over millennia.
The architecture takes care of buildings, public spaces, cities and villages, landscapes, but also structures, vessels (Naval Architecture).
Given the scope of its applications and the will of expression relies on the construction of buildings, the architecture throughout its history is closer arts and crafts activity that rigorous scientific activity it is more or become less. The architecture first uses of knowledge organized in a set that is particular to it by its application to construction such as composition, geometry, morphology, ornamentation, harmony (faith-based or not) , along with the bill of quantities, the static and as usual law for the construction of buildings; The architecture will draw first in the expertise of the different arts and different building trades. But architecture will also draw on the resources of different scientific disciplines: geology, strength of materials as well as in different human sciences such as anthropology, sociology, psychology (ergonomics), ecology or geography. The architecture also formalizes drawing on history.
The architecture differs from the construction in that architecture brings a special dimension of thought and planning on the part of the designer, when considering the entire life cycle of a building. This reflection is both aesthetic, social, environmental and philosophical.
The architecture arises from functional needs such as live, cross a river, work, health care, sports, entertainment. Specific formal responses are made to these requirements for the organization, structure, construction technology, while meeting the particular aesthetic and social objectives. The architecture is born of representational needs of the ideals and memory of past events.
The correlation between the variety of needs, the variety of possible answers, and variety of aesthetic sensibilities gives an infinite number of different architectures and many interpretations by architects. Nevertheless, one can group them by periods, current styles (formal or etheric), by type of structure, by type of technique, for functions.
Architecture as well is used for the creation for the restoration or transformation (renovation) of buildings. It is sometimes simply a frame of ornamentation action without further operation. And for old buildings, it may be réornementation with return to the original appearance or conversely adding differences modernizes. In some cases this concerns the implementation of all buildings, such as the constitution city . Since ancient times, the object arises the architectural act is sometimes the city even taken as a whole, the agglomeration of buildings, for example when there is a new city both ancient and contemporary. The Planning story is totally linked to the history of architecture, existing stories already before the foundation of Egypt in the fourth millennium BC. AD before the age of metals. The formal characterization of buildings is part of the planning constraints, whose scope is the city and the associated territories and for those areas of social and political figures have some significance.
The designers, architectures directors are commonly known architects, whether professional or not, however, the "architect" title is usually awarded to qualified professionals from a school of architecture. They are sometimes grouped into corporations called the Architects. The name of the degree and specialties are usually joined in that capacity. However depending on the purpose, architecture is also the domain of landscape architects, interior designers, urban planners, civil engineers and even artists, designers and various artists.
The architecture is exercised in compliance with administrative procedures rather than building, by architects whose professional title is protected legally, or specialists treated as architects.
By scientific distinction from the construction that would be putting together different elements using appropriate materials and techniques, the practice of architecture is characterized by intentionality established in the "project". ( See "Definition" above ). The project is thus defined in plans, various symbolic representations that make it integrate construction time and use. Also, this conscious and advance efforts to clean architectural design he aims to reconcile the utility, beauty and solidity of shapes, spaces and structures (inhabited or not). Additionally, the inherent functional referred to architecture, the convenience in use which comes the economic aspect distinguishes also in the history of other decorative arts known that are drawing, printmaking, painting and sculptures that were originally incorporated.
Although ancient historical roots, urban design as a specific discipline is designated in the area of Western thought since the mid- twentieth century by the term "urbanism". The term Urbanizaci (literally "urbanization" of which the French acceptation matches the concept of "planning") was used for the first time by the Barcelona engineer Ildefons Cerdà in his general Teoria of Urbanizaci (1867), a book regarded as the precursor discipline. The architect's activity is measured by reference to the simple and complete building. And the architect has an action that covers both the furniture item that the entire city. The planner-architect can not have on an action other buildings organizer of the whole. The house, the building is the "normal" level of processed object, it is the business of building reference units for the right use. The establishments, residence, city, landmark, town match activity level above the "average". The furniture, kiosks which are objects to the scale below the building are mostly integrated into the normal activities, though they make up the specific activity of the interior designer who can have a conception of action beyond the interior of the buildings.
The architecture on the military works, fortifications, siege engines was at the origin of the profession in engineering heart from the sixteenth century. The technique of engineering military has a scheduling: an arrangement of tasks leading to the formatting of the book. Among the meanings of the architect , the one that is more consistent with the current concept of engineering has long been confused him. Vitruvius, author of a famous treatise, was himself war machine builder and architect. Another example of the builder military engineer Marshal Vauban also expressing his aesthetic concerns. Vauban, commissioner general of the fortifications of Louis XIV illustrated his talent builder with the concern of a formal language provided real aesthetic qualities. He led the development of over 160 forts or fortresses built and 9 from scratch , using elements such as turrets, not so much for their defensive utility (now obsolete), as for their aesthetic interest. He also has made development work planning, including the development of the Canal du Midi.
Currently, the aesthetics of building construction using the scientific knowledge developed uses the architect engineer.
On the basis of the technique of gardening established in the Renaissance by gardeners appeared landscape architect. With the invention of the grove , the gardener becomes architect. Created in parks, the greenery is arranged paths and walkways (serviced) and domesticated for its irrigation. It gives an aesthetic framing of the living space built or not. It mainly uses the perspective and makes use terraces and jump-ha to the house, makes use of hedges, boxwood embroidery, ponds and waterfalls and then the factories. In the modern period in the city of the nineteenth century, parks and gardens are established by landscape as places reintroducing nature into living spaces become very dense buildings. From the twentieth century, parks and gardens are designed by landscape architects in connection with planners for the cities where the creation of "green space" or in connection with the architects for garden buildings. In the XXI century, landscape architects make up the green walls in no footprint spaces.
The architecture is conditioned by the approval of local authorities and compliance with the guidelines. Particularly, religious architecture is conditioned by the internal laws of the country. And concerning military architecture, it is conditioned by external laws imposed by the victors (-colonisateurs).
For the year of architecture, there is a code of ethics.
Moreover, architectural works are protected by copyright, which means that in Europe, whole or partial copy or reproduction can be prohibited until 70 years after the death of the author according to the countries concerned; Other times may apply in other countries. Also in a number of countries not guaranteeing the freedom of panorama, it also prohibits photographing an architectural work protected by copyright.
In France a draft law on "freedom of creation, architecture and heritage" , scheduled for March and postponed to September 2015 should clarify the law of protected areas and, according to the government for efficiency and intelligibility but without sacrificing the level of protection, following several recommendations in the report Bloche "for a desired architectural creation and released" published in July 2015 and brings together 36 proposals gathered by Patrick Bloche.
Source : Wikipedia
