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?Architecture is Art and Science.?
I can?t recall who said it, but I distinctly remember being told so. Especially because that?s what I was looking for? something to combine my creative flair with my logical-thinking brain? until I found architecture design.
But I don?t know why I thought the blend would be 50-50. You too? Welcome to the club. This one?s for you.
Reflecting on Roosters
There is a tale of a Chinese artist whom a client commissioned to produce an ink drawing of a rooster. The artist claimed it would take him a month to finish it. The client checked up on the drawing about an hour before the deadline, and the artist replied quite frankly, ?I haven?t yet started with it. Can you come back in an hour?? When the client came back, the drawing was done! ?So why did you ask for a month?s time?? the client asked, to which the artist replied:
?I spent the time reflecting on roosters.?
The tale reminds me of a similar incident that happened with Edgar J Kaufmann as he approached Ar. Frank Lloyd Wright to design a ?weekend home? in the country. It is rumoured (although validated by multiple witnesses, including his apprentices) that after receiving the commission, Wright procrastinated on the design for about nine months. It was only when the client informed him of his visit to the office that Wright moved to the drawing board and started to draft the plans. For what is said to be about two hours, the time it took for Edgar to drive the 140 miles between Milwaukee and Taliesin, Wright was drawing on the board while muttering to himself, until he titled the house in bold ?Fallingwater?. ?A house has to have a name,? he said.
Architecture Design: an Art or Science?
So what is architecture?
That which is created in a moment of euphoria, or that which is a result of a logical, step-by-step process?
Even if the incident about Fallingwater is a mere rumour, it somehow seems believable. So why study hard for 5 years, why tinker with design at all times, over and over again inside your head; when the solution is only going to strike in that one brief moment, like lightning!
But perhaps that?s the argument? That it is not a stroke of luck, not a masterpiece of mere ?talent?, but a skill, honed through years of hard work and training. The idea of scale, proportions, colour, material, technique, technology, of time and people?all of it is drilled into us over the years as we learn and work in the field. And it is not a subtle doze either; after a point, it almost forms part of our instinct. After all, no matter how breathtaking a building or space may look, it is most likely to materialize if it is serving its purpose. Finding an artistic notion to it might be an added bonus.
So, what is architecture?
How much ?Science??
As soon as the architect?s first scribbles are self-validated and then approved by the client, it’s all science in architecture. (Difference in opinion? Let?s talk in the comments!) The process then goes to functional definitions, design detailing, refining, preparing drawings and getting the work executed on-site.
A building is its structure, materials, layout, function, and proportion. For the majority of the duration, perhaps only 5% of the architecture project management is occupied by the ?Art?, the intangible experience that is thought of while defining a space. The rest is spent on trying to figure out the design v/s execution in architecture? how thoughts are to be materialised in the real world. And that is an overwhelming amount of science. The Art might take some time, perhaps days or perhaps weeks, but with every idea comes the science of architectural execution, which will at least take months to come by.
Is the ?Art? Really Important Though?
Short answer- Yes. Somehow, despite barely making itself visible throughout the project, the art in architecture makes its mark. And yet, somehow, it is that bare minimum of the time spent dwelling on the artistic value of a creation that leaves a lasting impact throughout the lifecycle of the project. For it is that bare minimum that almost entirely defines the experience of the dwellers as long as the space stands the way it was imagined.
In a sad irony, though, architects are perhaps the only artists who have no right to their work once it’s complete. It is only while a project is still under process that the architect gets the freedom to do as they please, but post handover, most architects are not even welcome in the very space they designed!
So, What is Architecture?
Architecture is a blend of both Art and Science, but it is definitely not in equal proportions. Despite all the intellectual discussions and debates around architects and architecture as this amazing phenomenon of multi-dimensional experiences, it is the ?science? that is going to take up most of your time.
That is unless the ?art? and ?science? in architecture aren?t very different. After all, it is a crude, logical, architecture process steps that takes the architect to that moment of ?Eureka!?, and then another.