Philosophy and Research in Architecture - Essay Example

?Philosophy and Research in Architecture I. Introduction Architecture has always been fundamentally affected by philosophy even if unconsciously or indirectly (Hancock 1982, p. 26). This work seeks to evaluate current philosophies appropriate to architecture, particularly those most relevant for sustainable architecture designs and sustainable construction methods. Architecture integrates art and function to meet man’s needs for physical structure. The physical structure can be a home, a community, a building, a road, and a facility. Architectural designs attempt to meet man’s needs for both function and aesthetics. Aesthetics pertain to what man considers beautiful or appealing. As art, architecture is also a form of expression executed in a manner considered appealing or beautiful. In constructing a structure, however, man uses inputs as well as produces waste. The use of inputs and wastes both affect man’s existence and in sustaining his way of life. Thus, the professional architect has to be responsible not only for his final product but also with the way he or she is able to produce his own product. It follows that the relevant philosophies that a professional architect should study must cover the following: man’s philosophies for existence and living that are basic for architectural designs the philosophies related to aesthetics and art as the bases for architectural designs that can be considered as aesthetically beautiful or artistic the relevant philosophies or ethics that the professional architect can adopt, and the philosophies relevant for professional architectural practice. Hence, the foregoing are some of the general areas in philosophy research that are most relevant for a professional architect or someone who seeks to become a professional architect. In developing research methods for any research, some of the more relevant philosophical perspectives are logical positivism, verstehen, and hermeutics. II. Man’s Philosophy for Living Man’s philosophy for living is varied. For example, a man’s philosophy for living may be simply to enjoy life and get the best pleasures from life. The situation of his or her fellow human being does not disturb him because the world is a jungle where the fittest rule and survives. He or she does not care for his or her fellow human being because he or she does not feel any sense of responsibility for another person. The need for architectural designs from this type of a person is simple: what appeals to him or her without regard to the possible effects of a design may have on resource use and wastes. On other hand, another philosophy of living can be altruistic or oriented to be of service to others. This can be reflected in how basic architectural decisions are made. For instance, an altruistic design may call for ensuring that architectural designs are useable by the disabled like the limping or lame, the blind, the aged, or those who are weak. The architectural designs of buildings, streets, and houses may be such that spaces are created for the disabled or for an aging and younger population. Another philosophy of living, however, may call for the use of more obviously expensive materials associated with wealth and power. This type of architectural clients may require, for example, floors or walls that are lined with gold or precious stones. They may require a Jacuzzi right in their rooms or a pool in many parts of their house with a specification that they are installed in an obvious way and that neighbors are made aware that they have these. The need for architectural designs is not only for the sake of living and comfort but, more importantly, for conspicuous consumption. Conspicuous consumption may or may not be psychological but probably it is not only philosophical. As a philosophy for living, conspicuous consumption may result from a need to have a better standing in society. The standing can lead to better social influence, power, and esteem by the other members of society. Finally, another philosophy for living that also have a significant following is that which calls for simplicity even as there is a strong emphasis on function and aesthetics. The preference for simplicity may be a product of tastes but it can also be a product of a philosophy of living. For example, that philosophy of living may call for minimalism. III. Philosophical Perspective for Aesthetics and Art Architecture is associated with what is beautiful and what is considered artistic. However, societies can have their specific notions of what can be considered beautiful or artistic. Societies have also undergone periods in which there is a dominant notion of what is considered aesthetically beautiful and artistic. According to Harries (1987, p. 29), philosophy provides unity that makes architecture as a unified experience in contrast with “playboy architecture” that makes one “jumping from one sensation to another and quickly bored with everything” as well as “arbitrary”. Hancock (1982, p. 26) argued that German cultural philosophy has influenced its architecture, including its capacity “to discern detail, document chronology, and attribute authorship”. The exact meaning of Hancock’s claim is not clear in his work but his assertion on the deep relationship between philosophy and architecture is clear. Because architecture follows aesthetic sense and to the extent that aesthetic sense follows philosophy, what is considered architecturally sound is unavoidably linked with philosophy. Keene (1969, p. 297) claimed, for example, that Japanese aesthetic sense follows Zen Buddhism. Based on this view, therefore, it follows that Japanese architecture follows the philosophy of Zen Buddhism to the extent that Japanese aesthetic sense follows Zen Buddhism. Thus, the philosophy of Zen Buddhism is argued to be reflected in the simplicity of the Shinto shrine building as well as in the bare lines of its architecture and its grounds (Keene 1969, p. 297). According to Keene (1969, p. 301), simplicity is a main characteristic of Zen Buddhism. As architectural designs cover garden design, the same Zen Buddhist principle of simplicity is being applied by Japanese to their gardens (Keene 1969, p. 301). Yet, at the same time, Keene (1969, p. 297) pointed out that Japanese aesthetic sense has equally been receptive to the aesthetic sense of Chinese artists and poets of the “Sung dynasty who favored monochromes”. The Hindu sense of aesthetics is consistent with its notion of “ultimate reality” that is seen in terms of “pure being”, “pure awareness”, and “pure bliss” (Bahm 1965, p. 110). As the Hindu notions of these are linked with their religion, Hindu architecture preserves the religious stories in the stones of their building or temple structure (Bahm 1965, p. 110). On the other hand, Chinese aesthetic sense has largely been linked with Taoism that places primacy on nature and the natural (Bahm 1965, p. 111). Rural Taoism in China even supposedly reject the artificial and looks on nature for inspiration on what is aesthetically beautiful (Bahm 1965, p. 111). Meanwhile, even as there is a close link between philosophy and culture, Thomas (1997, p. 255) has pointed out that architecture can also be media-driven. IV. Philosophies Relevant for Ethics Ethics is a branch of philosophy and Collier (2006) highlights the role of ethics in architecture (Collier 2006, p. 307). According to Collier (2006, p. 307), “there is a positive but not yet well accepted move to realize the imperative of architecture’s responsibility with respect to global sustainability”. Collier (2006, p. 307) stresses that architects have an important role on the issue of sustainability because the profession “use the faculty of imagination in their work”. Further, Collier argued (2006, p. 307) that because architects use the faculty imagination more than the other professions, they are uniquely positioned to exercise “moral imagination”. Moral imagination refers to the ethical use of imagination in architecture. For Collier, this means that the architect must question the social, political, and ecological contexts of their work and prioritize the ethical in all the choices that he makes (2006, p. 307). Since architects are uniquely qualified to exercise moral imagination in their work, Collier argued (2006, p. 307) that architects are also in the best position to deal with ethical challenges in their work with confidence and wisdom. Unlike the sciences, architects need not be concerned with the scientific such as those related to efficiency and the like but it can invoke aesthetics in forwarding recommendations that are consistent with sustainable choices (Collier 2006, p. 308). The “architect is responsible for imparting distinctively aesthetic qualities of buildings, yet his realm is not buildings alone” (Collier 2006, p. 308). The architect “is responsible for designing buildings that protect the health, safety and welfare of all who use them and also enhance the environment by taking due regard for the natural environment, existing physical factors, and circulatory patterns” (Collier 2006, p. 308). Collier argued further that it is no longer possible to maintain that aesthetics and ethics are separate because the architect’s mediation between people and their environment is conditioned by aesthetics as much as by ethics (Collier 2006, p. 308). Occupying space in the environment reflects our sense of the ethical and buildings are carriers of cultural meanings (Collier 2006, p. 308). Thus, the practice of the architecture profession involves an execution of ethics and reflects a notion of what constitutes ethical practice. The options for the ethical practice of architecture that pertain to sustainability issues are at least three. First, one may take the perspective an anthropocentric perspective in which man is the center of the universe and that the universe belong to man and must serve man. The second perspective is a view that treats man as co-equal with the rest of the elements of nature. This view holds that other species have rights equal to man to co-exist with man. Sometimes, this is described as “deep ecology” or something with a similar adjective. Finally, the third perspective which is not necessarily the last perspective that can be developed by architectural ethics with regard to sustainability is the view that although man is important and is the most important being in the universe, the other elements of nature is important for his survival as well. Other species are important because they provide ecological balance that increases the likelihood of survival of the forest and other ecological systems. The varied types of ecological systems provide food for man and ensure his survival given the various types of change that can happen in the planet. Further, the various types of ecological systems enhance man’s survival in climate change and can either mitigate or arrest climate change and global warming. Related to this, a key to the survival of all life is how we handle wastes and pollutants. In addition to ethics that are more relevant for sustainability, there are other ethical issues in architecture. However, we have identified here only the most relevant ethics in relation to the issues of sustainability. V. Philosophies Relevant for Professional Architectural Practice Although our discussion have so far emphasized the role of philosophical perspective in shaping architectural perspective, the reverse is also true: architecture shapes culture and in doing so shapes philosophy or co-determine what philosophy will dominate society or what philosophy will find itself in the mainstream of society. As Thomas (1997, p. 255) has pointed out, “architecture is an active principal component in the making of culture”. One perspective in the arts that is seeping into the field of architecture is the notion attributed to Peter Eisenman that asserts that “the role of art is to alienate and dislocate man from his environment so that he is jolted into seeing what it is again” (Thomas 1997, p. 257). A viable interpretation of this perspective is that while aesthetic component or architecture may dislocate us from our environment, the same dislocation can be designed such that the dislocation allows us to rethink our perspective or views on our present. Another philosophical-architectural perspective consists in the direct representation of the human form in buildings (Thomas 1997, p. 260). According to Thomas (1997, p. 260), this architectural perspective constitute one form of empathy of architecture with the world. Thomas (1997, p. 260) pointed out that the notion is part of understanding of architecture as “primarily a matter of a more subtle empathy”. However, not all architects agree with the notion as many of them see the perspective as one that “appears designed to dominate, or even to humiliate, rather than to ennoble” (Thomas 1997, p. 260). In the modern era, Chase (1991, p. 211) argued that consumerism has been the single social and economic organizing force in American society, including in architecture. Although he did not call consumerism as a philosophy, Chase (1991, p. 211) define consumerism as shared values and, therefore, philosophy just the same as values flow from a way of looking at the world. Chase (1991, p. 211, 215) pointed out that consumerist architecture love eclecticism but the central concern that determines a structure is the need of the consumer in relation to commerce. While the greatest structures of earlier centuries were products of religions, political kingdoms, and kingships, modern structures respond to the needs of government, commerce, trade, industry, and mobility. Even as we stress the importance of philosophy in architectural designs, it is very important to highlight that architecture draw inspiration for its designs not only from philosophy but from the needs of society as well. Scott (2002) has stressed that capitalist development is one such source of inspiration. The capitalist system has many needs that serve as a main source of inspiration for design: concentration of population, infrastructure for industrialization, mobility, and city facilities (Scott 2002, p. 47-55). Of course, it is possible to enumerate many needs other than those identified by Scott (2002). VI. Philosophical Perpectives Most Relevant for Research in Architecture The most relevant philosophical perspectives for research related to architectural research are logical positivism, verstehen, and heremeutics. Logical positivism holds that scientific knowledge is acquired “through careful, direct observational and/or experimental verification” (Newton-Smith 2001, p. 243). It also holds that “our knowledge about the world may only be regarded as secure when it can be checked against observation and experiment” (Newton-Smith 2001, p. 259). Further, it holds that “we could use logic to clarify propositions and so clarify our beliefs about the world” (Newton-Smith 2001, p. 246). Logical positivism aims to “relate all scientific statements ---physical, material, or psychological---to what is given in sense experience by means of logical analysis” (Newton-Smith 2001, p. 247). The use of logical positivism is seen by its advocates to be capable of leading humanity to the development of “a unified science with one logical method and one epistemological foundation---namely, the content of immediate experience” (Newton-Smith 2001, p. 247). Some of the methods associated with logical positivism include the use of quantitative techniques in research, experimental methods, statistical analysis, surveys, and many of the research methods that have been in the mainstream of research methods. Verstehen is the notion that man has the ability of to “share other’s people mind” or to “derive insights” based on intuitive understanding on what people think (Abel 1948, p. 211). It is also known as imaginative reconstruction of a human experience (Abel 1948, p. 212). It is the claim that we are able to understand how our research subjects may think because we share with them our humanity and, thus, researchers have the competence to make an intuitive analysis on how his or her research subjects behave. However, Abel (1948, p. 211) has pointed out that the method of verstehen cannot be used as verification because it lacks the fundamental attributes of the scientific method. Nevertheless, Abel (1948, p. 211) conceded that the method can perform some auxiliary functions in research even as he criticized its ability to validate the assumptions of the sciences. The method of verstehen is usually associated with qualitative research and with methods that used to be non-mainstream in the social sciences and disciplines outside of the natural sciences. Hermeneutics claim that that objectivity is not a suitable approach for understanding a text or an event because “there exists no one correct interpretation of a phenomena” and argue for interpretative pluralism of an event or situation. The perspective seems useful for architectural research because one a structure can be aesthetically beautiful or acceptable but individuals or groups in society may have various reasons why the same structure is aesthetically beautiful or acceptable to all. Similarly, a physical structure may have several meanings for several individuals or groups in society. While people may have shared meanings on an architectural structure, several interpretations and meanings of the structure are possible VII. Conclusions: Lessons for Research or Project Development The discussion in this work asserted the following: 1. Philosophy is relevant for research in architecture. 2. The sources of philosophical inspiration for architecture is varied. 3. The philosophical perspectives for aesthetics and art are many. 4. The philosophical perspectives for ethics that are relevant for sustainable architecture are many. However, the philosophical perspective that appears to have the greatest potential for development is that philosophical perspective that recognizes the primacy of man but acknowledges at the same time the importance and interconnectedness and interdependence of life forms: man’s chances of survival will increase with climate change if the forest and other forms of life and ecological habitats survive as well. All life will boost their chances of survival if wastes and pollutants are handled as well. 5. Logical positivism, verstehen, and hermeneutics have the potential to assist architectural research. In particular, they can assist research in relation to points 1 to 5. Meanwhile, it is possible to tap the philosophical perspective of logical positivism, verstehen, and hermeneutics for architectural designs. Logical positivism can assist us develop research inquiries that can be useful in gathering people’s inputs through surveys on what constitute structural aesthetics. At the same time, verstehen and hermeneutics can lead us to develop architectural designs directly. References Abel, T., 1948. The operation called verstehen. The American Journal of Sociology, 54 (3), 211-248. Bahm, A., 1969. Comparative aesthetics. Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 24 (1), 109-119. Chase, J., 1991. The role of consumerism in American architecture. 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