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 –
Norman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank (born 1 June 1935) is an English architect and designer. Closely associated with the development of high-tech architecture, Foster is recognised as a key figure in British modernist architecture. His architectural practice Foster + Partners, first founded in 1967 as Foster Associates, is the largest in the United Kingdom, and maintains offices internationally. He is the president of the Norman Foster Foundation, created to 'promote interdisciplinary thinking and research to help new generations of architects, designers and urbanists to anticipate the future'. The foundation, which opened in June 2017, is based in Madrid and operates globally. Foster was awarded the Pritzker Prize in 1999. (Full article...)
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Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that the Andrew Carnegie Mansion in New York City was designed by "the only architects in the city who had not begged for the job"?
- ... that the Summit Hotel, once described by its own architect as the "most hated hotel in New York", was protected as a New York City landmark in 2005?
- ... that the engineering and architectural company Burns & McDonnell is 100% owned by its employees?
- ... that as municipal architect, Albert L. Harris led the design of all city buildings in Washington, D.C., from 1921 until his sudden death in 1934?
- ... that confectioner William Westerfeld hired architect Henry Geilfuss to design his home in San Francisco, and then died in it?
- ... that the Cathedral of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows in Suzhou is known for its "hybridity" of Chinese and Western architecture?
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- Basic topics Architect • List of architects • Architecture • List of architecture firms • Style • List of buildings • New article announcements • more....
- 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....
- Construction Trades • Materials science • Project management • Project planning • more
- Landscape architecture Landscape architects • History • Desire lines • Energy-efficient landscaping • Greenway (landscape) • materials • Landscape design • Landscape maintenance • Landscape planning • Natural landscaping • Site planning • more....
- 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
- Planning and Urban design Topics • Zoning • Growth management • Land-use planning • New Urbanism • more....
- 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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