Technical & Artistic = Architecture is about the combination of skills and expertise it takes to become and practice as an Architect.
Thomas Edison: “Genius is 1
% inspiration, 99% perspiration.”
And while Mr. Edison was not an Architect, he was a very accomplished inventor. And Architecture = inventing. In other words, dedicated creative people who are successful, get a great idea, then are compelled to work very hard to bring the idea into physical reality. It doesn’t come easy. And so is the nature of Architecture: Architects get great ideas for the design of a project, then have to work very hard to create the documents to provide building Contractors the information to properly build it. Therefore: when an Architect designs your house, he or she is combining both Technical & Artistic skills.
Various physiological and psychological studies appear to imply that perhaps only 20% of the human population process language functions in both brain hemispheres (ambidextrous) while 19% of people have left brain primary functionality, which leaves about 61% at right brain dominant. Studies have found that right brain dominance is more mathematical and logical, while left brain functions tend to be more intuitive and artistic. This is no hard and fast rule and doesn’t necessarily apply to everyone everywhere. However, what this tends to imply is that there are only perhaps about 20% of the people on earth that appear to more equally process information in both brain hemispheres. In other words, one of the reasons there are so few Architects in the world is a result of functional need for their work in the marketplace and also the availability of people that are able to process both logical (technical) and artistic concepts simultaneously (the premise of this article). MRI imaging in the 1990s appears to support the theory of left and right brain activity.
The main point is that having both technical and artistic skills functioning simultaneously is a necessary ability for great architecture and great Architects. For instance: the Sydney Opera House (by Jorn Utson, Architect) is a great artistic triumph in that it was intended to symbolize the tall sailed vessels on the ocean/bay nearby. However, to realize this form in a physical world required extraordinary engineering skills.
Which underscores the concept that technical & artistic = Architectural. There are many other examples with other Architects, such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Frank Ghery, Le Cobusier and many others, during the last century and dating back centuries (pyramids, Biltmore, and countless others). Architecture = technical & artistic.
In the context of residential architecture, HOME ARCHITECTS ® uses similar symbolism. For instance, in some of their mountain projects, they use roof slopes that echo the shapes of the mountains around them, making the symbolism be: MOUNTAINS.
