181 Art and Architecture
181_Art
Did art or architecture come first? This is particularly important in our evolution, as the original cave man was not only searching for shelter, but for the art of living, as we see hunters, deer, boar, cattle and handprints painted on the interior of caves in Lascaux, in the South of France, created in red pigment or blood of the animal.
The purpose of this is to describe, that the cave became a home imprinted with personal vestige to explain it’s art, but really the art of living was defined by the desire to shelter from the elements and find space in the hills, and mountains where caves existed. To allow fire, wind & sun in and yet similarly keep them out, along with predators.
Architecture is an artistic language today, from the primitive hut to the tabernacle of Christ’s teaching alongside his 12 disciples, chosen from a possible 700, as depicted in the Bible. The altar was originally set outside at the front: of what was a demarcated tent; for peace offerings.
Today, Richard Rogers, one of the most esteemed Architects in the World, takes the basics of life and makes buildings seem simple without being basic, through art. And that is the dichotomy of architectural language in the vain of two opposing factors coming into play through complexity and the simplest solution is found much like the original cave that existed. So, do all things exist that are invented? Or are all things that are invented coming into existence, based on a dichotomy of what already exists?
We, as Architects try to create serene and gracious living spaces with an artistic licence, their dimensions deemed sensible to the occupation of the locality and its neighbourhood, but like all buildings a system of priority in maximising space comes into line between the public and private realms, yet the dichotomy of its principles in space making and construction are all the same.
Subtlety in design and a considered theory of flat roof boxes allows the beginning of a modernistic architectural artistic scene based on the competitions of architectural design in the Alps, designed by local Architects and voted for to be the best solution to the problem by local inhabitants. Mountains and their ruggedness always seem to suit the theory of an artistic flat roof box with one side glazed for vistas, but this type of design has fallen into the urban realm just as much, some years later: to find order to a maelstrom of history; and varied architectonics, in order to create a new artistry, in villages, towns and cities.
When you work on architecture there can be a desire to reach a quick solution, without an immediacy of an answer, creating a ‘zig-zag’ form of thinking, when the gestalt abstract art of making ought to entail a gestation of all aspects of foundation, construction, servicing, mechanics and composition through technology as one, and as a whole, to qualify an answer, by way of grid making with whole numbers to allow for easier tolerances in design, and its artistic execution.
So, to return to art and architecture: although we have discussed many influencing factors, it would seem art came first; for architecture is the result of the art of living, and the inherent desire for shelter. As future dynamics progress, there are more and more artistic collaborations in the architecture world, allowing art to seep through into building design and make headway for an even more balanced realm of art in architecture as the originator of shelter, not just a picture on the wall.
Renewing our environmental interior, we must be passive in our designs, and so technology takes the weight of art today, while art itself looks at form and function.
When you fear, you accept and avoid. This is the story of prehistoric man through to modern wartimes. Yet, the Architect bravely takes his or her own knowledge without fear to evolve, and further the art of architecture by their own anonymous means, (without signature), the signature of art itself, however, informs the design and like prehistoric man the Architect defends his affirmations of what becomes fashionable and basic need, to build successfully in a planning system based on a market economy, rather than a true art of life.
“What we invent, is based in the existing paradigm of architecture in its being, but its new construction is always and will always be both a response and improvement to the basic need for shelter, as a qualifying entity of its own artistry creating an ever newness to its definition of the present art of life. Its art is not only a fashion of its time, why it has evolved to be reinvented for its own market driven powers, as better style makes a better economy, but as a descension to artfully crafting and refining its basic function back to its origins of colour, form, and nature.” 1
Love AB x.
Brinkman, Andrew, Quote, UK, 2021.
