Need for Architectural Criticism in Academic Institutions

8/3/2019 Need for Architectural Criticism in Academic Institutions

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Need for Architectural Criticism in Academic Institutions

The word critic which comes from the Greek root crisis, refers to the act of

judging or deciding. Criticism always means evaluating and placing a work in

its historic context and amongst the issues that are contemporary with it,

confronting discourse and also the building as it stands. Criticism is also

about the circulation of ideas in the professional world and amongst the

public, as much as in the community of architects. It has a role to teach and

initiate as well as to interrelate, animate and even structure intellectual

debate within the profession. Architecturecriticism is the act of writing or

speaking about a building, usually of historical importance or novel design or

built in a notable public space. Architectural criticism is very important since

it creates a sense of interpreting works of art and approach a building with

an eye for criticism.

Criticism often proposes to accompany or channel the evolution of

architectural trends, to identify their historical roots, and to elaborate their

imaginary or mythical sagas.

In this age the reviews, the media system in general, and even the most

demure of architects are interested mainly in a small cluster of architectural

stars, who for one reason or another have been able to focalize upon

themselves a share of current architectural thoughts.

People at large, including architects are now interested in human and moreartistic types that display ambiguous blends rather than a classic

professional profile. Criticism could be constructive, but it could also be the

opposite and destroy the reputation of a building, project, an idea or even a

person.

Some years ago, Dennis Sharp, famous British architect introduced a

number of critical categories in theArchitectural Journalism and

Criticism Workshop to the Architectural Association. These categories

related to an ungraded list of criteria. They were an attempt to create a

working tool whereby students ideas, thoughts and words can be focused on

the main areas that criticism may be expected to cover. The list was divided

into dualities: environmental/economic, functional/constructional,

political/cultural and visual/aesthetic categories. This helped greatly in

providing clarification for the aims and content of the critical writing

undertaken by students. It formed a basis for sharpening arguments and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buildinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Building


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opening up widely differing areas of knowledge. The students were rewarded

with the publication of articles on the major buildings, including the 1960s

Economist Building, London by Peter and Allison Smithson, and another work

of their own choice. The results were published in Building magazine, wher e

one of the students became an architecture editor. The young amateurarchitecture critics soon recognized the so called critical and investigative

structure of much journalism is related to the aesthetic touchstone that can

be defined as the basic ingredient of criticism.

The various aspects of criticism of a built form are:

Aesthetics - whether the building is pleasing to the eye.

Functionality - whether the building meets the needs of the clientand those who will use the building.

Style Architectural styles.

Building materials - discussion of the choice of these and whether

wise or unwise.

Environment - does the building fit into its surroundings, whetherthose surroundings consist of other buildings or of a natural landscape.

Also, of increasing importance these days, is the buildingenvironmentally friendly (regarding such things as energy

consumption, pollution, renewable materials).

Context - whether the building relates to projects built around thesame time (contemporaneous projects) or by the same architect.

Architectural criticism is not only applicable to architects alone, butanyone can voice their opinions and feelings about a built form, eitherpositive or negative aspects. This criticism doesnt mean that the

building has to be demolished, but will result in a more improved fromin the future. Criticism cannot be taught, but still one can guide or

create interest in young students on analyzing and forming individualopinions of their own about built forms around them. This helps in

understanding the urban and architectural spaces around the city, and

also helps one notice buildings which once they had ignored.

There are two forms of architectural criticism- Operative and

Explanatory criticism. Operative criticism attempts to explain the

evolution of architecture. Operative criticism of a public place differsfrom operative criticism of an individual building. In both ways

criticizing a building helps forming new ideas and design interventionsfor a project.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aestheticshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Function_(engineering)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Building_materialshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environment_(biophysical)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landscapehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmentally_friendlyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aestheticshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Function_(engineering)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Building_materialshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environment_(biophysical)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landscapehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmentally_friendly


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In any form of criticism like film, literature etc it is the opinion of thepublic that matters the most. In architectural criticism also public

opinion matters, also it is more important since buildings are alwaysused by the people and cannot be ignored. First thing one observes is

the aesthetics of a building. Anything which catches the attention of

the viewer creates an impression. Features which first strike animpression are colour, architectural features, sculptures and size or

form of the building.

Functionality is another aspect, which is taken into account by thepeople who use the building, feel its spaces and understand the scale.

Criticism based on functionality shows whether it is a people friendlyspace and how much the spaces creates the feeling needed like

intimacy, monumentality etc. It is important to learn about the ways inwhich the function and design of the spaces matter and how to go

about it.

When a graduate starts his/her own practice in the field, it is importantto see that the building meets the needs and whimsies of the client. So

both functionality and aesthetics plays an important role likewise.

It is very important that students are accustomed to the methods ofcriticism, since it creates and instills more knowledge and reasoning

abilities in them.

Architects are often disappointed by criticism. Many of them like to

think that it does not exist. But as long as critics exist, criticism alsowill exist.

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Need for Architectural Criticism in Academic Institutions