Hey guys. In Lit we were supposed to write a 5 paragraph opinion paper, and this is what I came up with. We peer edited each other's papers today, and almost all the responses I got were 'good job.' Real helpful. Anyway, since you guys barely know me please tear this up with criticism so I can make it better. Or just say how awesome it is. A little bit of both will do. The paper is on how architecture is the greatest of all arts.
Everyone has need of shelter. In fact, it’s widely accepted that the three basic human necessities are food, water and shelter. Shelter can come in many forms, from a homely lean-to to a majestic mansion but the aim always remains- a safe place to live. Everything else, it would appear, is discretionary. One optional thing about shelter is the beauty of the structure itself. Beauty that is derived from human creativity is the basic definition of art. Therefore, any medium through which a human creates beauty can be defined as an art form. It is my belief that architecture is the greatest of all arts.
To understand this belief, it would be beneficial to acknowledge other forms of art and their benefits. There are visual arts such as painting and drawing. There are spatial arts such as modeling and sculpting. Even still there are arts that appeal to the rest of the senses, like the culinary arts or music. However most arts are almost wholly superfluous in our every day lives. We do not need paintings or music to live; we do however need buildings (or shelter) and subsequently architecture. Our lives are almost literally constructed around our buildings and the systems inside of them.
But architecture transcends a single form of art; in fact, it is the manifestation of several arts. It takes proficient drawing and creative skills to conceptualize a building, but the physical building of the structure is closer to making a sculpture. Unlike a sculpture, however, every square foot of this building must function cohesively with the rest of itself. No matter how beautiful a building is, if it doesn’t complete the task it was built for it’s simply a leviathan sculpture.
But architecture also manifests an art form that can not be entirely encapsulated in any other art form: A near organic interaction from a lifeless form. A building affects everything around it. It affects the site. It affects both emotionally and physically the people who use it. Lastly, the topic to which more attention has been paid recently, it affects the environment. A building is a dynamic thing that is meticulously whose effects; both obvious and subtle, are planned down to, literally, the square foot.
In conclusion, it is almost needless to say at this point that architecture is both a necessity and a luxury. Even the chintziest and most bbrown town architecture affects us on a daily basis, whether we think about it or not. Every once in a while, however, a piece of architecture can come along that everyone can identify with and understand the beauty of. What they might not understand, however, is that they are truly feeling the effects of what I like to think of the greatest of all arts.
