Architecture through Time

The Critical Regionalism readings and class discussion really lead me to some deep thoughts regarding architecture and architects today.  (So I decided to focus my blog to one of those thoughts)  :  Something I have always wondered is - are we as architects creating our own “style” today that will be used as inspiration and as a model in the future like we typically look to former Gothic, Renaissance, Classical, Victorian, Bauhaus, Modernism, (etc.) architecture?  

Architecture Styles over Time

I think back on my time in Europe over the Summer of 2017 (studying architecture in Italy), and all of the beautiful buildings, cathedrals, and cities I saw.  Everything I had seen prior in the US just didn’t seem to compare.  I mean - walking in the Vatican for the first time, my mouth actual dropped, and my breath was taken away.  It’s so obvious that the craftsmen and architects of the time really designed to fit the way of life and culture of the time.  Are we doing that today? Or do we simply look at this inspiring architecture from the past to base our designs and cities off of?  In my opinion, it’s almost as if architecture will never be as good as it was centuries ago.  It’s become more of a driver of money, and getting it done so you can move on to the next, while considering a few precedents to drive the design.  However, somewhere along the road it seems as if we lost a sense of exquisiteness and appreciation.  We don’t necessarily consider the environment and culture of the place to the degree that architects of the past did.  We tend to design pretty cool buildings and use concepts from those ancient buildings to replicate and attempt to add a modern twist to them, with the use of different materials and methods.  Don't get me wrong, there are definitely opportunities to implement this idea of critical regionalism in today's design field - and I am all for it!

The Vatican, Italy 2017

Now, obviously architecture today is a literal new era.  We can't simply reiterate every single aspect of the beautiful works from the past, and I don't believe we should.  Technology and other advancements happened, and we have access to so much more information to create much more sustainable spaces, so of course we would never build a Vatican, Duomo, or Sagrada Familia in America today… But in the future are architects going to look to the buildings we are designing now, or are they still going to admire solely buildings of the past?  It’s an interesting concept to me, and something I have in fact spent a lot of time contemplating and wondering about others' thoughts on this topic.  It’s intriguing to think things happening now could be drivers in history and leading precedents for future design – it’s just a matter of “will they?”.  I really don’t believe there is one right or wrong answer, but I think it is important to recognize this thought and design respectively.