Portal:Architecture

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View of Florence showing the dome, which dominates everything around it. It is octagonal in plan and ovoid in section. It has wide ribs rising to the apex with red tiles in between and a marble lantern on top.
In adding the dome to the Florence Cathedral (Italy) in the early 15th century, the architect Filippo Brunelleschi not only transformed the building and the city, but also the role and status of the architect.

Architecture is the study and practice of designing structures, especially habitable ones. It utilizes civil engineering techniques, but is considered a visual art. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings or other structures. The term comes from Latin architectura; from Ancient Greek ἀρχιτέκτων (arkhitéktōn) 'architect'; from ἀρχι- (arkhi-) 'chief' and τέκτων (téktōn) 'creator'. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural symbols and as works of art. Historical civilizations are often identified with their surviving architectural achievements.

Architecture began as rural, oral vernacular architecture that developed from trial and error to successful replication. Ancient urban architecture was preoccupied with building religious structures and buildings symbolizing the political power of rulers until Greek and Roman architecture shifted focus to civic virtues. Indian and Chinese architecture influenced forms all over Asia and Buddhist architecture in particular took diverse local flavors. During the Middle Ages, pan-European styles of Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals and abbeys emerged while the Renaissance favored Classical forms implemented by architects known by name. Later, the roles of architects and engineers became separated.

Modern architecture began after World War I as an avant-garde movement that sought to develop a completely new style appropriate for a new post-war social and economic order focused on meeting the needs of the middle and working classes. Emphasis was put on modern techniques, materials, and simplified geometric forms, paving the way for high-rise superstructures. Many architects became disillusioned with modernism which they perceived as ahistorical and anti-aesthetic, and postmodern and contemporary architecture developed. Over the years, the field of architectural construction has branched out to include everything from ship design to interior decorating. (Full article...)

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Energy-plus-houses at Freiburg-Vauban in Germany

Sustainable architecture is architecture that seeks to minimize the negative environmental impact of buildings through improved efficiency and moderation in the use of materials, energy, development space and the ecosystem at large. Sometimes, sustainable architecture will also focus on the social aspect of sustainability as well. Sustainable architecture uses a conscious approach to energy and ecological conservation in the design of the built environment.

The concept of sustainability, or ecological design, ensures that the use of current resources does not adversely affect future society's well-being or render it impossible to obtain resources for other uses in the long term. (Full article...)

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  • ... that Benjamin F. McAdoo was the first Black architect to be licensed in the U.S. state of Washington?
  • ... that the architects of the Eldridge Street Synagogue were Catholics who had never designed a synagogue before?
  • ... that the architect of Chicago's 860–880 Lake Shore Drive nearly quit the project after his original floor plans were rejected?
  • ... that when Edgewood was built in Stanleytown, Virginia, its Greek Revival style was unknown to most people in the area?
  • ... that Brunel University's lecture centre has been described as "imposing" and "frightening", but also as "an expressive centrepiece" and "a brutalist classic"?
  • ... that the Grain Belt Brewery was built with four distinct architectural sections, in homage to the four companies that combined to form it?
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