The Dialectic in Architecture - Coursework Example

CRITICAL ANALYSIS ESSAY OF THE DIALECTIC IN ARCHITECTURE An architectural theory refers to the study of architecture through the use of scientific reasoning as well as the experimentation methods. It is through the use of that an architect is able to design a model that will enable him/her to explain any analysis and examination about a given structure. A well established theory will give a clear description of how a particular architect was build, and how it relates with its immediate environment (HARRISON, 2013, 36). It will also help one to be able to comprehend the purpose for which the architect was constructed. This paper intends to describe the architectural theories in a dialectical mode. Introduction According to Kenneth Frampton, the idea of tectonics was adopted with keen focus on architecture as a skill for construction. He went on to urge that the modern architecture is majorly a combination of a structure and its construction, as the main focus of architecture is on space and the theoretical aspect of the architect. According to him, the integral parts of any architectural piece of work include the construction as well as the material nature of the structure to be constructed. He also believes that the articulation of the two aspects; construction and the nature of the material provide a better platform for the assessment of the work as a whole. Frampton’s ideology is supported by Rafael Moneo, who is a Professor of Architecture in Harvard University, where he said that: "The material, detail and structure of a building are an absolute condition. Architectures potential is to deliver authentic meanings in what we see, touch and smell; the tectonic is ultimately central to what we feel. .... Kenneth Framptons new book is important for architects, students and anyone interested in the secrets of architecture." According this Rafael’s context, it is evident that he is in support of Frampton’s concept by recommending the book to others who are in the field of architecture. Frampton’s view however could be disadvantage following the fact that there are other key aspects to consider when constructing a piece of architecture apart from the structure and the construction as supported by his views. For instance, the site intended to set up the structure matters and has to be put into consideration, which in according to him, that is not the case. The site will go a long way to ensure that all the requirements are clearly understood. It will also bring out some of the factors that may cause hitches during the construction. Through discovering the factors early enough before the construction, the architect will be in a position to plan how to reduce the effects to ensure a smooth construction. To remedy this, Frampton should try to incorporate the assessment of the intended construction site into the key aspects of any architect. The site will help in the evaluation of some factors that could have been overlooked. Through this, then the entire piece of work can be examined effectively. It will also make strengthen his view and make it more the most efficient when compared to the other approaches of the architectural theories. Another architectural theorist is Stephen Holl and he also has his own view of architecture. According to him, he mentions that insight is an important value when it comes to construction as well as the aspect of building space. His says that when it comes to relating architecture to perception, one should dispel the aspect of disbelief, and simply explore. The whole concept behind his view is that widening the knowledge of phenomenology. Phenomenology shuns the aspect of abstraction, and focused of making things more concrete. Holl tries to create a relationship between architecture and phenomenology. According to him, architecture relies on phenomenology to create an elaborate design of a given architect. This therefore means that phenomenology is the building block of any architectural construction. It is also viewed to play a central position in regard to the architectural space, the relationships between surrounding buildings, building site as well as movement and time. Exploration in the field of architecture just like in any field of expertise is very essential. This is because it will help the architect discover new ways of going about the architecture. It enables the architect to be in line with the moving trends, and therefore, design the architect in a way that it matches the needs to the society currently. According to Holl, the building space as well as the knowledge that the architect gets from exploration are the fundamental factors of any architect. This approach can be considered not to be viable because with phenomenology, it dispels the idea of abstracting some aspects of an architect during modeling. With abstraction, it will be easier to build the model of the intended construction much easily, as opposed to making each and every aspect visible. Working with abstraction in a model helps in the simplification of the architect. Including all the elements of the construction will make the model complex to work with, and it will also be time consuming. This approach could be termed as viable if it allows the abstraction of some details during the process of designing a model. Abstraction helps in reducing the complexity that might be associated with design of the architect. Abstraction will also help in reducing the time and effort that will be used in designing the model. When each and every element is added to the model, more time will be wasted and as well as effort. It will also shift the focus from the main construction to the construction of the model. When the main focus it shifted to the model, then when it comes to the real construction, the enthusiasm would have been lost, and this could lead to the development of a low quality of construction. Therefore, Holl should consider allowing the abstraction of some elements when it comes to building a model of the construction. There is also another approach known as the critical Architecture. This technique seeks to analyze the connection between the critical aspect in architecture and the criticism that is associated with architecture. Presenting architecture in the interdisciplinary framework, the theory tries to explore the different criticism of architecture with references being made to different forms of criticism that are made in other disciplines, especially the artistic criticism. The theory also tries to reflect on how the critical practice in the field of architecture functions in the course of different modes, that is: buildings, through drawings as well as through texts. So, this architectural approach mainly focuses on the critical aspects that are associated with architecture, and tries to relate the different modes that are used to formulate the criticism to those modes that are used to formulate the criticism of other disciplines. Focusing on the criticism associated with architecture is important. This will enable the architect to be able to focus on the criticism and try to avoid them to ensure a smooth construction. This approach however could have its shortcomings in that focusing so much on the criticism could be misleading. Some criticism could not help in developing architecture in any way. Some criticism could be biased because of personal reasons. Following those types of critics could mislead the architect into developing something that is not right. So much concentration on the criticism could lead to losing focus by the architect and hence leading to shortcomings in the development of a piece of architecture. It will also spend so much time when designing the structure of the model because the architect has to constantly the architect to the criticism. To remedy the problem associated with critical architecture, the architect has to ensure that he/she does not focus so much on the criticism. He/she should only consider the criticism that is seen to add value in a piece of architecture. Concentration should only be limited to the positive criticism and much time should not be spend in trying to compare the architect to the criticism, lest the architect gets confused during the construction of the architect and come up with a building that is not as it was expected before the construction begun. The building might be lacking some requirements and subject it to many risks for instance, collapsing after a few years of construction. To avoid this problem, it becomes important for the architect to be very keen on which criticism to consider, and which ones not to put in to too much consideration. Another important approach is the Biomimicry approach. This technique focuses on assessing its surrounding nature, along with all the relevant elements, so as to be inspired by the environment. In this context, the architect designs the buildings in such a way that they appear to be organic in nature, in a way of trying to comply with nature. This type of architecture is known as the organic architecture. In most cases, this architecture is seen to be attractive to most people. This is so because it complies with the environment. The people have confidence in such buildings because they are constructed with full attention on the environment. This approach can be disadvantageous in that the main focus is on nature only, the other factors come secondary. Other factors like the structure, as well as the building materials are key in any construction. The nature of the building site matters, but other factors have also to be incorporated to the primary considerations of any architecture. Leaning on one factor at the expense of others will make the construction lack some important factors during the construction process, which will not make the building to effective for its intended purpose. This approach should consider looking at all the other important aspects to make it more a more effective to be adopted by the architectures. Considering nature is an important aspect since it will ensure that the construction is friendly to the environment (CAPON,1999, 23). This means that the construction will have as least negative impact as possible to the environment. Considering the nature alongside the incorporation of the other crucial factors of construction ensures that the construction is in full compliance of the laws of nature as well as be acceptable according to the regulations that have been set aside in regards to construction. All the discussed approaches of architecture are important in one way or another. They have their strengths as well as their weaknesses. In order for them to work optimally, they need to look at their weaknesses and work on them. The theorists should work in strengthening each of their theories so that they can be viable for their intended work. They should also work hand in hand with the other theorists to be able to come up with theories that have strengths that overshadow weaknesses (GINS,& ARAKAWA, 2002, 27). The theories should be able to provide close to all the required functions when coming up with a model for construction. Relevance of Architecture Theory in the Design Process A theory provides a view of a completed model. This is so because it helps in establishing the architecture of an organization internally, as well as and helps in defining the external factors of the organization (ERDMANN, 1978, 7). The internal view is mainly concerned with the liberty that architect has in regards to the architect, while the external view represents the difference of the thoughts of an architect as compared to that one another architect. The external view also depicts how sustainable the architect will be in the given context in which is meant to operate in. Another importance of a theory is that it enables an architect to be able to acquire additional skills. Before coming up with an actual model, adopting a theory is essential. It is through the model that the architect will be able to know how to design the model as required. Though the theory, an architect sharpens his/her knowledge and therefore he/she is able to design the model much more appropriately, than if she/he had gone ahead with the construction with undertaking any architectural theory. The theory will also help the architect to discover those small aspects that could have been overlooked, and yet they are important. A theory will also give the architect an idea of all the materials that will be required during the construction. The architect will therefore be in a position to estimate the cost that the construction will take (CRYSLER, CAIRNS, & HEYNEN,2012, 53). It might also provide an insight of approximately how long the construction can be estimated to take. This will enable to architect to be able to plan accordingly for the required resources, as well as the required manpower to complete the construction. It is through the theory that the architect will be able to notice any faults that might be associated with the construction. This will enable the architect to take the necessary measures to eliminate or mitigate the risk when it is still in the early stage before the construction is begun (EGAN, 2007, 24). This will reduce on the cost and also on time as opposed to making changes during the actual construction. This will also ensure that the constructed building is of a high standard with minimum faults. The building will also be in no risk of collapsing after its construction. A given theory is adopted so as to support and guide the entire development of a construction, by enabling the architect to analyze the past experiences and make reference to them. When an architect learns from the past, then there is a high likelihood that he/she will not be have problems when it comes to realizing the strengths as well as the weaknesses that are associated with a given construction. With this knowledge, than the architect will be in a better position to know what to avoid, and on the other hand, he/she will know what factors to undertake to help in the achievements of the strengths. Conclusion It can be concluded that the theories of architecture are crucial when it comes to the development of a construction sites. All the theories are important in their own way and they can be used to model an architect before the actual the construction transaction is undertaken. The theories are very important in that they enable an architect to be able to get a clear view of how the expected architect is to be after the development process has been completed. The theories will enable the architect to construct a model that will give a clear impression of how the completed piece of architect will look like after the process of development has been completed. A model will also be a guide in the actual construction. This means that it has be to as simple as possible to make it more clear for the contractors to follow through while developing the actual construction. The theories facilitate this by allowing the abstraction of some elements and only including the important ones (BENJAMIN, 2000, 24). This helps in ensuring the model is as simple and as clear as possible to help in guiding the entire construction process. The theories help in mitigating the risks that might be associated with the actual construction. This is because they enable architects to be able to identify the risks that are bound to be faced in the construction early enough before the process of construction (MALLGRAVE, 2006, 41). This will enable the architect to be able to focus on how to reduce or eliminate the risks during the construction. This will help in the reduction of the cost that could be used to remedy the risks if they had not been identified before the actual construction. The cost that will be incurred now after knowing the risks will be less because measures would have been taken before to reduce its effect on the process. The theories are very essential to the development of any construction. If they are adopted correctly, they enable the architects to be able to undertake the construction with much ease and with the stipulated time and within the stipulated budget. It helps in the reduction of the overhead costs that can be experienced during the development process (BORDEN& RENDELL,2000,46) The overhead cost can be experienced due to the additional requirements that are introduced in the development process, or some changes made during the actual construction. A theory ensures that all the requirements are well defined before the construction process to avoid the creeping in of additional requirements during the actual construction (RILEY, 1995, 14). A theory also helps in preventing changes during the actual construction process. The model is designed to ensure that the scope is well covered. Before the actual constriction commences, the model has to be approved. When a model is approved, it means that the intended scope has been well covered, so there will be no changes made later when the construction begins. Upon approval, the actual construction process of the architect begins. The theories should be put into consideration during the process of construction. The appropriate theory is supposed to be chosen, but before settling on a theory, the architect should consult for the best type of approach that he/she should be able to adopt that is going to be in line with the architect to be constructed. The architect should make sure that he/she settles for the best approach. The theories should also work to ensure that their theories are as ideal as possible. They should be applicable for any situation and they are supposed to be effective during the construction of a model. They should ensure that the approach achieves the maximum performance when adopted by the architects (RILEY, 1995, 49).. They should also continually keep on upgrading the approach to move with the modernization of architecture. When their theories are in line with the modern technology, then there are high chances that most architects are going to embrace the theory as well as the view of the theorist. All architects should be advised to use any of the available theories during the construction process. Reference Lists Arango, S. (1988). Sensorial Architecture and Contextuality in Architecture and Body. Rizzoli International: New York. BENJAMIN, A. E. (2000). Architectural philosophy. London, Athlone Press. BETTS, R. J. (1977). The architectural theories of Francesco di Giorgio. Ann Arbor, Mich, University Microfilms. BORDEN, I., & RENDELL, J. (2000). Intersections: architectural histories and critical theories. London, Routledge. CAPON, D. S. (1999). Architectural theory. 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