What+is+Architecture?

===When a first-year student is asked to give a definition in his/her own words about what Architecture is, there are many possible answers. But, for some reason, there’re times when he/she doesn’t have a clue of where to start. Well, at least that was my case. The first time someone asked me that question (and it wasn’t even a teacher), I froze. Suddenly, everything I had studied didn’t matter because I couldn’t find the perfect word to begin with. ===


===From the moment that I decided to study Architecture, I knew there’d be a moment when I would have to ask myself “what does Architecture represent to me?”, since I had read many famous architects’ versions and I had to have my own. I believe structures like churches, skyscrapers, museums, bridges and temples can tell more about the history of a civilization than my own words. In fact, I could talk for hours about Louis Kahn, The Ancient Rome and Perspective Drawing but it would never be enough. There’d always be something missing in the definition. So if I choose to define Architecture, I would be restricting it’s meaning to my own opinion, and that’s exactly what I love the most about Architecture: it’s made of all professions. It doesn’t matter if you’re a teacher, a doctor, a musician, a philosopher... you’ll always have a personal understanding about this art that will contribute to find the complete definition of it. For example, Marcus Vitruvius quoted: //”A building must meet the following standards to qualify as architecture: it must conveniently serve the purpose for which it was built; it must be structurally sound; and it must be beautiful”//. Th is architect is famous for asserting in his book //De Architectura// that a structure must exhibit these three qualities: firmitas, utilita and venustas, which are translated to solid, useful and beautiful. According to Vitruvius, architecture is an imitation of nature. As birds and bees built their nests, so humans constructed housing from natural materials that gave them shelter against the elements. ===


===It’s been two years since the first time someone asked me what I thought about Architecture, and I’m still not prepared to give a concrete answer. But if I had to say something, I’d say that Architecture is the unquestionable prove of human’s intelligence and the most truthful evidence of our memories and our past as civilization. I hope to expand this definition in the near future and make it my own. ===