The Architecture Portal
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. 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 civilisations 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...)
Selected article –
Dubai Mall (originally known as The Dubai Mall until 2023) (Arabic: دبي مول "Dubai Mall") is a shopping mall in Dubai. The largest mall in Dubai, it is the second-largest mall in the world by total land area and the 26th-largest shopping mall in the world by gross leasable area, with a total retail floor area of 350,000 m2 (3,800,000 sq ft). The mall is part of the 20-billion-dollar Downtown complex (called Downtown Dubai) adjacent to the Burj Khalifa, and includes over 1,200 shops. In 2011, it was the most visited building on the planet, and attracts over 54 million visitors each year.
Twice delayed, Dubai Mall opened on 4 November 2008, with about 1000 retailers. In January 2023, the shopping mall announced that it was officially changing its name from "The Dubai Mall" to "Dubai Mall". (Full article...)General images –
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that when the new church of St. Martinus in Hattersheim was built in 1915 with Jugendstil elements, the architect incorporated parts from the earlier church?
- ... that Grove Road Cemetery once had two chapels by architect Thomas Charles Sorby, and contains self-made men George Dawson, Richard Ellis and David Simpson, banker John Smith, bandleader Daniel Schwarz, newspaperman Robert Ackrill, kayaker Fridel Meyer, and miser John Turner?
- ... that George Mann Niedecken was a Prairie-style interior architect who designed furniture for Frank Lloyd Wright and worked for Marion Mahony Griffin?
- ... that Lynda Simmons co-founded Architecture + Women NZ with Sarah Treadwell, Julie Wilson and Megan Rule to push for equity in New Zealand architecture?
- ... that the Lutheran St. Trinitatis in Wolfenbüttel, consecrated in 1719, is a Baroque church with a facade recalling that of a palace?
- ... that C. J. Phipps, the leading theatre architect of the age, was found responsible for the deadliest-ever UK theatre disaster?
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