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photo credits: Wikimedia Commons
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings or other structures. The term comes from Latin architectura; from Ancient Greek ἀρχιτέκτων (arkhitéktōn) 'architect'; from ἀρχι- (arkhi-) 'chief', and τέκτων (téktōn) 'creator'. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural symbols and as works of art. Historical civilisations are often identified with their surviving architectural achievements.The practice, which began in the prehistoric era, has been used as a way of expressing culture by civilizations on all seven continents. For this reason, architecture is considered to be a form of art. Texts on architecture have been written since ancient times. The earliest surviving text on architectural theories is the 1st century AD treatise De architectura by the Roman architect Vitruvius, according to whom a good building embodies firmitas, utilitas, and venustas (durability, utility, and beauty). Centuries later, Leon Battista Alberti developed his ideas further, seeing beauty as an objective quality of buildings to be found in their proportions. In the 19th century, Louis Sullivan declared that "form follows function". "Function" began to replace the classical "utility" and was understood to include not only practical but also aesthetic, psychological and cultural dimensions. The idea of sustainable architecture was introduced in the late 20th century. Architecture began as rural, oral vernacular architecture that developed from trial and error to successful replication. Ancient urban architecture was preoccupied with building religious structures and buildings symbolizing the political power of rulers until Greek and Roman architecture shifted focus to civic virtues. Indian and Chinese architecture influenced forms all over Asia and Buddhist architecture in particular took diverse local flavors. During the Middle Ages, pan-European styles of Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals and abbeys emerged while the Renaissance favored Classical forms implemented by architects known by name. Later, the roles of architects and engineers became separated. Modern architecture began after World War I as an avant-garde movement that sought to develop a completely new style appropriate for a new post-war social and economic order focused on meeting the needs of the middle and working classes. Emphasis was put on modern techniques, materials, and simplified geometric forms, paving the way for high-rise superstructures. Many architects became disillusioned with modernism which they perceived as ahistorical and anti-aesthetic, and postmodern and contemporary architecture developed. Over the years, the field of architectural construction has branched out to include everything from ship design to interior decorating. Source: Wikipedia (en)
Works about architecture 81
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Ensaio sobre pertencimento: a cultura caetiteense
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Pražské vize
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Architect Joseph Karakis
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Uptown Square District
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A City is Not a Tree
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A Classical Adventure: The Architectural History of Downing College, Cambridge
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São Tomé e Príncipe: Cidades, Território e Arquitecturas
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Turku region architectural guide
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Salvador e a Baía de Todos os Santos
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A guide to the architecture of London
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Meisterwerke des Kirchenbaus
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The Architecture of Happiness
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Bruno Paul : the life and work of a pragmatic modernist
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Typologies of Industrial Buildings
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Patronage and art at the Umayyad Palace in Jericho
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Dehio Wien. X. bis XIX. und XXI. bis XXIII. Bezirk
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S,M,L,XL
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Eine Muster Sprache
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A dictionary of Architecture & art
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La Renaissance de l'architecture : de Brunelleschi à Palladio
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Dehio Wien. II. bis IX. und XX. Bezirk
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Helsinki
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Talking Houses: Ten Lectures by Colin Ward
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A Vision of Britain: A Personal View of Architecture
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Nightmares in the Sky
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Karl Friedrich Schinkel 1781-1841. Aus seinem Berliner Schaffen
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The Timeless Way of Building
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Modern építészeti lexikon
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Delirious New York
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A Pattern Language
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Unbuilt America
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The Oregon Experiment
Subject - wd:Q12271