Can architecture be created without designing the interiors?

[Rajlaxmi]

Is architecture a composition of the space around or is it only interiors that make architecture?
Are we losing the essence of space??
Are we heading towards COSMETIC ARCHITECTURE??

[maxmoy]

Mmm... do you realy believe the essence of architecture is interior space? Why? Have you ever thought about the all the other possibilities of architecture? I do believe that the world is changing so much that your concept of architecture may hinder all that plurality that "architecture" is starting to undergo.

Architecture may serve other goals, such as in Egypt, Babylon, Greece. Of course they were aware that their architecture was mainly to be seen from the outside... don't think they just "missed the point".

There are 2 great texts on that. Sigfried Gideon's is perhaps the best. He maintains that all architecture before Rome attempted to create architecture from MASS. Space, as he says, is that "space" between masses. He believes that only in Rome does interior space becomes more important than exteriors. Bruno Zevi's theory is similar and quite good.

For an interesting hypothesis on the future of architecture, you might enjoy the essay TELEGRAM FROM NOWHERE by Australian Mckenzie Wark.

I'd definately like to hear from you.
Cheers,
Max

[P.C.]

Hi

You are quite right that architecture is today more about attitude than core quality , attitude that leave fancy shells with no thought about detail.
But this is just natural whan the architect can just leave the creativity to the engineer and omit the possible develobment acturly creating new and innovating .
The use of modern tools such as computers is restricted to applications that mainly do things "as things alway's been done", fancy gadgeds develobed in very different inviroment with no need to bring them into reality is some of the issues architects proberly will ask engineers to perform in real as adding a lookalike high-tech aproach is more important than acturly develobing tools that make architects only form what in real can be made.
It is not the quality but the attitude that count, ------- no one ask about the structural idear even it is the structure that hold the arogant aproach in the air . Sydney Opera represent a very different aproach here develobing the building element was taken serious as these was what made it possible, today architects outline just the surface and attitude and forget that for somthing not to be the emporors new clotches, a design idear must make the fancy forms possible ,but this is not how things work the whole thing is about attitude and not about the core quality or structural possibilities ,as architects don't care about those and engineers just do it safe and in tradisional methods.

[Joanne.harding]

Hi,
I am quite interested in the question you ask, as I am currently researching for a dissertation on Roman Architecture. Within this I am questioning the motives and thoughts behind architecture now, compared to what it was before.

I agree with some of the responses, because modern building structures, although innovative, seem to have no deep meaning or purpose other than their aesthetic value. There dosen't seem to be any real thoughts behind the buildings, making them seem almost pointless.

If you have any views on this topic it would be great to hear from you.
Thanks.

[angel1209c]

Hey,
Just look at all for Frank Gehry's new buildings. Some of them are designed with interiors but the more recent on that i've seen, at MIT campus near Boston, the interior is trouble. Most of the budget was spent on the outside of the building and he was unable to do much on the inside because this. And I would have to say that it is very upsetting to walk around a buildling and be capivated by the outside and expect the same things from the interior yet you rarely come across that.
thank,
jenny

[VWall]

That is a remarkable question. Possible answers are yes, no, and I wish it weren't so.

Some buildings are specifically designed to accommodate any sort of interior, or none. You can look in a phone book and get one of these erected on your property in a few days. They might be used for warehouses or offices, temporary or permanent.

Then we have American tract houses. They are designed primarily to look pretty, but only slight attention is given to actual useable interior details. Such details are usually hard to notice until you try to actually live there. The kitchen and living room might seem huge, but neither has enough space to hold a dining table and chairs. The living room might be very pretty, but the only possible traffic pattern runs between your favorite chair and the tv.

We really wish some buildings would be designed with a little more care. I have seen houses built from found materials that perfectly suited the lifestyles of their occupants. One house was built by a machinist. He didn't know how other people built houses, so he fastened everything together with BOLTS. It was all he knew. He wanted to be sure it would be sturdy. I have seen a house shingled on the inside. It didn't need shingles until it rained, and then the occupants didn't want to go outside, so they shingled it inside. I have seen a house made mostly of driftwood, most of it tied together. I have seen several houses made from junk car bodies. I have seen a house shingled with 45 rpm records. One house I did not get to see was built underground using railroad ties, plywood, and polyethylene sheet. Nothing else!

Each of these would be considered an architectural horror by some people. But each was soundly built and exactly enclosed what the owner considered necessary for a comfortable and pleasant life. The most obvious feature of each was that the owner had given considerable thought to the interior features and their relationships to each other so that everything could fit together in a convenient and pleasant manner. In other words, these houses LOOKED like someone meant them to be the way they were. Most buildings I look at make me wonder what the designers thought they were doing, or whether they thought at all.

Consider the average kitchen. A boat might have a galley slightly larger than the kitchen in your home, but three or four men can feed a crew of 500. That is because boat designers don't have to impress anybody with grandiose displays. They think about the process of preparing food and design something to do that process.

In contrast, consider the average hospital. Hospitals are built, apparently, as monuments to someone's wealth and power. The process of treating the sick and injured is given some thought, but not much. The emergency entrance is usually big enough for just one ambulance at a time, and is clogged even before that one arrives because idle equipment is stored there. Pretty office cubicles might go unused because the computer broke down and the staff set up a more efficient operation in the hallway. Even though the computer got fixed they can't stop work long enough to move back. The hospital has all the latest equipment, but there is so much of it that workers can't communicate easily. Time is wasted because nurses have to walk around the equipment to get another worker's attention. More time is wasted when a patient has to be taken to another building where a particular machine is kept, because that was the only place they could fit it in. I have never seen a hospital kitchen, but I have seen what comes out of them. Any hotel in the world can deliver a meal to your room exactly as you specify, but a hospital can't. Why? Because hosital designers never gave it any thought, and the hospital does not rely on its reputation among patients.

In summary, I would answer "Yes" to all of your questions. But I wish it weren't so.

[divyavish]

hi.... in my opinion.... interiors are the first module to treat the exterior.....
its you who have to decide.... what is more important aesthetics or functionality......... or both.....
if you want to design from the exterior point of view.... first decide what are the elements you are going to incorporate and how can that help or distrupt your interior.... becoz its u who is going to design but its someone else who is going to reside... i think first major thing you lookfor now a days is comfort and then beauty
it was a pleasure answering you.... if any doubts you can mail at divya _arch032rediffmail.com