The Self-image of the Architect

“Him I consider the architect, who by sure and wonderful reason and method, knows both how to devise through his own mind and energy and to realize by construction, whatever can be most beautifully fitted out for the noble needs of man.”

                                                                                                                            ----Alberti

The architect should consider people’s need, urban context and cost in reality. From my view, the self-image of the architect is also essential. Generally solving problems is the basic skill for architects, but the variety of design solutions should be more inspiring. Architecture has no fixed answer. Each person has a unique experience, thinking way and lifestyle. We all live in a common society and follow same rules, but the diversity does exist. There are not two same projects in our studio.

The self-image of the architect prompts architectural style. Zaha Hadid always made her buildings full of future sense and complexity, sometimes confusing. The Guardian named her as “queen of the curve”. People can easily recognize her design without knowing that before. Tadao Ando is the opposite. He was influenced by his life as a child in Osaka, Japan. He pursued simplicity using emptiness. He tried to reform society with the memorable identity of his architecture. There is no right and wrong among their selections. Their preferences eventually become their styles.

Facing the adaption to the reality, architects need to balance their own ideology and reality. It might be hard, but I think that’s the value of architecture. If you can control your design, you could control your life.

                                        Zaha Hadid, Heydar Aliyev Center, Baku,Azerbaijan

                                        Tadao Ando, the Church of the Light, Osaka, Japan