Abstract:
Structure, function and beauty are considered the three core principles of architecture. The latter, however, has suffered a long and noticeable absence from contemporary architectural criticism and theory. Beginning with the pragmatic rationalism of the enlightenment, to the purist functionalism of modernism, beauty has come to be buried beneath a towering critical taboo. It has become superfluous and shallow, even gluttonous; burdened by associations with imperialism and premodern pretension. In short: we have become afraid to discuss it, which I intend to do. The next generation of architects are faced with growing doctrines of nihilism, cultures of waste, mental health epidemics, and a multitude of other spiritual and ethical dilemmas. The growing importance of civil and structural engineering, as well as the development of artificial intelligence and automated design interfaces, threaten the identity of our profession at large. Amongst all this, ugly cities sprawl relentlessly into the distance; clearly, architects cannot address these issues with rationalist functionalism alone. I propose that a return to the pursuit of beautiful buildings can soothe the maladies of our complex age and help us relocate a vital piece of our identity as designers. Existing literature in the field of architectural theory and aesthetic philosophy is often mundanely cyclic and relatively antiquated. I intend to reassess this knowledge relative to the true context of beauty, which is this human mind. To do this, I consolidate ancient empirical wisdom with recent literature concerning perceptual psychology, evolutionary biology and neuroaesthetics. In doing so, I aim to formulate a psychological model of architectural aesthetic appreciation, which both validates existing aesthetic thought and enables architectural designers to see Beauty in a new way. Beauty is, in fact, vital and achievable, and designers are fully equipped to pursue it by virtue of their humanity.