The Artistic Aspect of Architecture

1744 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Importance of art

The Artistic Aspect of Architecture

Architecture is undeniably one of the most powerful forms of art. Buildings have the ability to loom in the distance when seen from afar. As you approach it more and more details can be seen. Minute intricacies such as stone quality, texture, and perhaps some ornate detailing become apparent. Even standing at a doorway can provide some involved feelings. Does the building seem to invite the viewer inside with elaborate carvings and an open view to the interior? Or does it intimidate the viewer with its massive proportions making them feel insignificant and trivial? When inside the architecture as a medium the viewer is surrounded by and grasped within its walls and ceiling. This quality is one unique to architecture because it is the only form of art to totally surround its viewer with such magnitude. Whether one turns to the left or right, looks up or down, ceilings or walls are constantly presented to the viewer who stands amidst the intended space and substance.

A line is drawn between buildings erected to serve a mere function and those which are made to integrate an influential quality into all who happen to see them often through use of extravagance. The latter can be propelled into greatness based on whether or not they are successful in carrying out with this vision set forth by their creators. This is what sets apart an ordinary building from an impressive and monumental wonder. It is interesting to note how a building is set apart from others of its time when this building is made to represent the people as a whole. Of course this building will surpass the more ordinary ones juxtaposed within the city. Of course the society or ruler would like to put their “best ...

... middle of paper ...

...d and venerated being. On the other hand, Judas’ fate of damnation is shown by his contact with the devil clutching him.

A final statement is made in the Scrovegni Chapel on behalf of all the buildings discussed here. God is depicted at the top of the altar dispatching Gabriel. God is placed at the top to honor Him and show His superiority to all that enter the chapel. Man’s yearning to glorify God (or gods in the case of the Pantheon) has been the key driving force in the construction of many fabulous buildings. Granted there are those that deviate from this pure motive in order to satisfy self-glorification through the artwork, but basically the root of all these wonders is the chance to glorify the Supreme Being. It is wonderful to see the end results now and witness how art is so much a part of worship and of the success of architectural organization.

Show More
Related

  • Analysis of The Basilica of St. Denis

    1483 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ziggy Marley once said, “God is like the sun. When the sun shines, it shines for everyone. God is for everyone.” In the same way, Abbot Suger built the Basilica of St. Denis so that sunlight would flood throughout the building and symbolize the power of God inviting visitors into the cathedral. The Basilica of St. Denis was an artistic response to the rise of the Catholic Church’s power for it was modeled to be a physical representation of heaven, which the church heavily preached upon. (Thesis) As the basilica represented the shift from Romanesque architecture to Gothic, Abbot Suger introduced new techniques that transformed cathedrals to look more spacious and “heavenly”. (Map Statement #1-Art History) By allowing sunlight to come through the large windows, Abbot Suger instilled the Neo-Platonic idea that the sun was the physical representation of God. (Map Statement #2 –Philosophy) Also, at that time, the church was rising in power, so the new structural style of the basilica brought more converts and eventually more power to the church. (Map Statement #3 –Social Institutions) [Insert Literature Map Statement] The Basilica of St. Denis was built so that worshippers would be in awe of the “heaven-like” setting, which would cause more people to declare their faith to God and to the church.

    Read More

  • The Life and Death of Great American Cities by Jane Jacob

    908 Words  | 2 Pages

    But these contrived differences give rise to esthetic difficulties too. Because inherent differences—those that come from genuinely differing uses—are lacking among the buildings and their settings, the contrivances repre...

    Read More

  • Pluto Research Paper

    265 Words  | 1 Pages

    Pluto was discovered on February 18, 1930. Its greater distance means its orbital period of 248 years is the longest of all planets. The plane of Pluto's orbit is also tilted the most compared to the rest, taking it further north and south of the Earth's orbital plane than the other planets. Pluto's only know satellite, Charon, is the largest satellite compared to the size of its mother planet. The Earth's moon held that title until Charon was discovered in 1978. Charon's large mass relative to Pluto means that the center of their common orbit about each other lies outside Pluto's surface, another unique characteristic of this Planet. The four inner planets Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are known as terrestrial planets for their smaller size,

    Read More

  • Informative Speech: The History of Pluto

    1112 Words  | 3 Pages

    Restate Thesis: With all the advantages in technology Pluto has gone from being discovered, named, and sadly losing its reputation as a major planetary status, changing the definitions of what is considered to be a planet.

    Read More

  • Pluto Pros And Cons Summary

    281 Words  | 1 Pages

    The quest for classification of Pluto carried on as Neil deGrasse Tyson collaborated with various other leading figures who debated the validity of classifying Pluto as a planet. “The Pluto Files” documented Tyson’s trip across the country to meet with correspondents who both agreed in denouncing Pluto as a planet and those who quite strongly opposed. It all started in the planetary museum in which the model of the solar system did not include Pluto. Instead, it took a trip downstairs to find the model of the Kuiper Belt where Pluto is categorized and shown as a small dot amongst a sprinkling of others. This lack of Pluto caused an uproar of which Tyson was not expecting, and which he willingly chose to speak out against. His meeting with other

    Read More

  • The Terrestrial Planet: The Planets Of Planet In The Planet

    1198 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are many interesting facts about the planets. They are classified in two different categories, which is either a Terrestrial Planet or a Gas Giant. Take Mercury for example, it is one of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System. Also, Mercury may contain ice, it slowly rotates around the Sun so it exposes all of it sides to the Sun’s strong rays, so it’s hard to visualize whether the ice remains solid. Mars has various aspects of its own; some scientists discovered that this planet has water upon its surface. This discovery was encountered by the NASA’s spacecraft Odyssey.

    Read More

  • Walt Disney Concert Hall

    1535 Words  | 4 Pages

    In order to create innovative public architecture, considered to be the most civic, costly, time intensive and physical of the arts, the project holds a degree of risk, strife, and negotiation . Overcoming these tasks and creating worthy public architecture is a challenge designers try to accomplish, but are rarely successful. The people involved in a potential public building, can be larger than the building itself. Public architecture tries to please all, even the doubters and critics, but because of the all these factors, a building is closer to failing than succeeding.

    Read More

  • Pluto Persuasive Essay

    551 Words  | 2 Pages

    Pluto was considered a traditonal planet for a long as we can remeber, well at least thats how it was until 2006. In 2006 Pluto became a dawrf planet due to voting done all over the world. Even though the voting resulted in more people saying it shouldnt be a classical planet it seems more poeple are starting to think it should be. Lots of poeple would disagree with me but I think that Pluto should stay a dwarf planet.

    Read More

  • Pluto: Dwarf Planet

    457 Words  | 1 Pages

    Pluto was discovered in 1930 by an astronomer from the United States. Pluto used to be known as the ninth planet from the sun, but today it is known as a dwarf planet. A dwarf planet still orbits the sun but is smaller than other planets. The reason we don’t classify it as a regular planet is because it cannot clear objects that are in its orbital path. This means that if there are rocks or debris it will just run into it instead of destroying it.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Materiality In Architecture

    1436 Words  | 3 Pages

    Architecture is the concept of bringing structure, materiality, form and space together as a whole, provide people with enclosed atmosphere to experience. Considering this, it is important to identify that materiality and the purpose of details has been a key methodology to bringing architectural intentions into the design in an affective manner, more over producing an architectural expression. However, this position is rather declining in architecture, reducing tectonics and materiality to being secondary to form and space. With the start of modernism, the attempt to achieve minimalistic style has caused detailing to increasingly develop into a decorative aspect of a building, neglecting its individual contribution to architecture.

    Read More

  • Architectures In Simon Unwin's Analysing Architecture?

    710 Words  | 2 Pages

    The author explains architecture as an identification of place. Architecture starts with establishing a place. We define ‘place’ as a layout of architectural elements that seem to accommodate, or offer the possibility of accommodation to, a person, an activity, a mood, etc. We identify a sofa as a place to sit and relax, and a kitchen as a place to cook food. Architecture is about identifying and organizing ‘places’ for human use.

    Read More

  • Pluto Planet

    893 Words  | 2 Pages

    In addition to its moons, Pluto has a core, geology, seasons, and an atmosphere. Alan Stern is a planetary scientist with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA). According to Stern, “I can’t think of a single distinguishing characteristic that would set apart Pluto and other things that you’d call a planet, other than its size. So I like to say, ‘a Chihuahua is still a dog.’” Also from Discovery Education the text states, “Other astronomers have noted that their colleagues sometimes call Jupiter a giant planet. Why can’t Pluto be called a dwarf planet without being downgraded from planet status?” Another fact stated from Discovery Education was, “about 90% of the planets known to astronomers are outside Earth’s solar system. Some of these extra-solar planets do not fit the IAU’s definition of a planet. Yet IAU astronomers still refer to them as planets.” USA Today stated, “The debate among Gingerich, Williams and Dimitar Sasselov, director of the Harvard Origins of Life Initiative, took place Sept. 18 with scientists, teachers and civilians watching. Two of the three, Gingerich and Sasselov, said Pluto should be a planet. A vote among audience members agreed.” Another statement mentioned by USA Today was, “Harvard science historian Owen Gingerich, who chairs the IAU planet definition committee, argued at a forum last month that "a planet is a culturally defined word that changes over time," and that Pluto is a planet.” Finally from CNN they interviewed Alan Stern, a member of NASA, who said, “We're just learning that a lot of planets are small planets, and we didn't know that before” and “Fact is, in planetary science, objects such as Pluto and the other dwarf planets in the Kuiper Belt are considered planets and called planets in everyday discourse in scientific

    Read More

  • Cultural Transformations Of Modern Architecture

    1692 Words  | 4 Pages

    What makes modern architecture? Before answering this, one would need to understand what the term “modern” exactly describes. In architecture, modernism is the movement or transition from one period to another, and it is caused by cultural, territorial, and technological changes happening in the world. In Kenneth Frampton’s Modern Architecture: A Critical History, he details these three major societal changes that impact and create modern architecture.

    Read More

  • The Evolution Of Ancient Architecture: The Development Of Architecture

    2366 Words  | 5 Pages

    The development of structures by humans was one of our great advances as a species. The idea that we can manipulate the materials around us to create structures for purposes shows an advancement of intelligence. Architecture has changed much throughout history. It has been influenced by many factors, such as religion, culture, time period, economy, and what was needed at the time of construction. Some structures have purpose, others are a mere form of art and expression. Regardless of being decorated lavishly or plainly made, the beauty of architecture is something we see everyday, and has been around for thousands of years.

    Read More

  • Anonymity In Internet Essay

    2950 Words  | 6 Pages

    Abstract: This paper discusses the importance of anonymous Internet access and how the benefits of such access outweigh the disadvantages. Also discussed is the violation of anonymous access in some cases and the steps that can be taken to preserve anonymity. Most importantly, what specifically are the rights of Internet users and what guidelines should govern widespread Internet policy of anonymity?

    Read More

More about The Artistic Aspect of Architecture

Open Document