Paradigm shift in architecture: criteria-character-practice

Paradigm shift in architecture: criteria-character-practice is the end of this series of articles after investigating architecture from ancient times to the 20^th century. This is the seventeenth article, and its purpose is to stand on what affects the architectural practice in reality when a paradigm shift happens.

Before proceeding with this article, I need to highlight essential points about the paradigm shift. I have defined a paradigm shift in the first article of this series of articles you can reference it there. If one of us is going to judge if a paradigm shift happened, then we are looking for Criteria. An architect may look for the elements of a paradigm shift then here he is looking for characteristics.

Returning to practice, in what way a paradigm shift affects professional practice? Is it philosophy, thinking, procedure, tools and techniques, people skills, knowledge, or what? (Here its characteristics).

When we return to my definition of a paradigm shift we see that it’s a fundamental change (here its criteria) that happens when the usual way of thinking about or doing something is replaced by a new and different way. In my previous articles, I investigated how architecture was done and changed from ancient times to the 20^th century. Architecture is initiated when there is a need to build something, and a client or an official commission’s someone to design a building, A program of the functional and client requirement is built by the person commissioned, here the architect starts the real architectural process of sketching to turning design to reality. The architectural design process was simple in old times and developed a lot with the introduction of many tools that replaced conventional ways like using CAD systems. Many disciplines are involved these days like electro-mechanical engineering and structural engineers.

To capture the real change and effect of a paradigm shift in architecture we need to answer this question, what is the common activity in architecture that was present and still keeps architecture active or live? Yes, it’s function. Is the functional relationship of a building designed in the roman period different than a functional relationship of a building designed in the 20^th century? For sure no (see figure 1). A function is not only related to the human use of a building in terms of internal spaces but the visual function of the building (Building form). Here we conclude that any fundamental change that happens when the usual way of thinking about doing architecture is replaced by another, means affects the core activity of architecture which is function.

In practice did a client affect this process of architecture creation (function)? A client might have a limited budget for the building, but this will not affect the process because architecture is not about creating complex architecture and costly buildings. Has an architectural program built by an architect for the sake of designing a building affected the process? Functional relationships built by an architect are always built in the same way regardless of the flexible or tight program, and that’s why an architect is commissioned. Has a new technique or tool like Revit changed the process of creating functional relationships? Tools and techniques make creation faster, easier, and more accurate and facilitate the creation of innovative solutions. Have people skills and knowledge changed the process of creating a functional relationship? Knowing various ways of building a dome whether with concrete, steel, or brick gives the architect the freedom to deal with the functional relationships within the architecture creation. Has procedure affected the process of functional relationship creation? Yes, in the normal way, the procedure starts with sketching but in the 20^th century, some firms and researchers have changed the way of creating the functional relationship. This happens when an architect starts experimenting with the building form for example by doing a physical model and goes reverse in the process.  

Anything (philosophy, thinking, method) that makes the process of the functional relationship change or at the very least different than others applied to architecture in the previous period is considered a paradigm shift in architecture.

Following are the points in history where a paradigm shift in architecture was revealed in my investigation of the 16 articles I have published.

In the Mesopotamia era, the change in religious beliefs had a powerful effect on temple architecture. Temples started to appear as one platform then three platforms in many areas. The Temple form was mainly rectangular but, in some areas, it was square as the hanging garden temple in Babylon. After a period of time, the temple shape appeared in a very different form as the oval temple khafaji and its location to the boundaries of the city. The change in religious beliefs had an effect on the function and form of the temple in terms of architecture and the temple location in terms of city design.

Greek architecture in the Hellenic period witnessed a paradigm shift as the architects saw that the location of the building looks best when it is proportioned and placed according to the human eye angle and location of view. Buildings of all scales from homes to temples were designed using a Golden section to produce the highest beauty in the plan’s components and 3d. The proportion system affected greatly the function and form of architecture, adding to that the location and scale of buildings in the city.

In roman architecture, there was a paradigm shift. The new functions and building types lead to the study of various architectural forms to achieve multistory construction. These studies led to several developments in architecture. Study and research of architectural forms for stability existed because there was no formal structural design education and mostly done by trial and error. Here it was the first time in history appeared the study and research of building forms in reality by experimenting with building mockups.

From reading the Romanesque architecture I can define the paradigm shift as the Christians decided to build their religious buildings to conform to their national, and local identity and place context. It was the beginning that Europeans realized the importance of their architectural identity and decided to reflect it in the church architecture. It’s the beginning to set out the standards of church architecture from the time of the Romanesque. The standards in terms of functional layout that serves the religious activities and the form that gives a clear impression of their identity and place. Here the Christians set out the typical relationships of the church architecture in function and form and the emphasis on local character.

The paradigm shift in Chinese architecture exists in the realization of the carpenters and builders of the importance of standardization of the architecture of their buildings specifically the religious buildings. Later on, this standardization becomes part of all types of building types in China in terms of space planning, structural system, and external building forms and shapes.

As in Chinese architecture the carpenters and builders realized the importance of standardization and for that invented the tatami mat to control the internal space design, the wooden structure work, and the external envelope design. Japanese architecture shares with Chinese architecture a similar paradigm shift in introducing standardization to control the architectural design and construction of domestic buildings and luxurious buildings.

Neoclassicism architecture due to the wide debate about the role of the architect and the way architecture should bea paradigm shift appeared here. First, because architects started to emphasize the importance of setting their desires, views, thinking, and approaches about how they should design and how should architecture as a physical object looks. This is regardless of the adopted elements or characters of any architecture type from the previous timeline. Second, In the 18^th century, the establishment of the French academy in Paris and the debate circled in it about art based on Italian renaissance models was the first academy to teach architecture. In France and in this period the official academic teaching of art, sculptor, and architecture sets out how architects should be taught to do architecture.

In reviewing and assessing what is presented about the constructivism style there is a paradigm shift though not closely related to the architectural wing of the style and movement. The integration of the three fields – painting, sculpture, and architecture- in the creation of work by experimenting in the real world is considered a paradigm shift. The collaboration of various fields and experimenting the architectural project by making a physical model is a new method of work.

What really happened in architecture since old times was many changes and development some are considered paradigm shift that affected architecture and made major changes. Religious beliefs affected the way temples were designed and located in the city. A new system that made a major change in the architectural design process and buildings locations in the city. The study and research of certain building forms and experimenting their stability affected architectural design as a whole system. Setting out typical relationships of a building type whether its function, form, or structure had a great effect on the church’s architectural design.

Standards of functional elements or structural elements created a massive effect on certain types of architecture and affected the architectural design process. The rise of individualism and the appearance of academic schools of architecture affected the way buildings are designed and constructed. Collaboration of various fields in architecture work affected the architectural design process and created architecture with different tastes.

Finally, one of the first places to establish academic architecture schools is in France and one of the best places to investigate innovation in architecture is Paris see video below.