Aesthetics

by the WBDG Aesthetics Subcommittee

Last updated: 06-02-2009

Overview

aes•thet•ics: 1: a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of the beautiful and with judgments concerning beauty…

Originating from the Greek, aesthetics is the term used since classical times for the study of beauty and the nature of the beautiful. In 1 B.C., Vitruvius the renowned Roman architect declared that all architecture must possess commodity, firmness, and delight (utilitas, firmitas, and venustas). Other aesthetic developments such as the Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque and Neoclassical periods occurred over the next several centuries.

"Buildings are often erected by individuals at considerable expense. To give them symmetry and taste, would not increase their cost. It would only change the arrangement of the materials, or form and combination of the members." Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

Style changes…Technology changes…Technology changes style. When Thomas Jefferson was alive, buildings were made of heavy masonry or wood, and windows fit into openings in a bearing wall. Today, we have composite materials, long spans, and curtain walls. For Jefferson, Monticello was a laboratory for investigation. Its experimental furniture, mechanisms, and gadgetry still amaze the visitor today, and some of his inventions presaged changes in technology that could not be imagined at the turn of the 18th century. His interest in invention and construction is equaled today by innovative architects world wide, but the results are very different because technology and material have been transformed in the past two hundred years.

In the second half of the 19th Century, poets, writers, designers, and architects began to turn again to aesthetic concerns and to place more emphasis on ornament and the past, the result being the Aesthetic Movement and a new freedom in design. The 21st Century brought Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Expressionism, the Bauhaus, Functionalism, Hi-Tech and Post-modernism to name a few.

As Daniel Patrick Moynihan wrote in the Guiding Principle for Federal Architecture in 1961, "The policy shall be to provide…facilities in an architectural style and form which is distinguished and which will reflect the dignity, enterprise, vigor, and stability of the American National Government. Major emphasis should be placed on the choice of designs that embody the finest contemporary American architectural thought…." That is what Thomas Jefferson provided in 1808, and that is what architects such as Thom Mayne, Henry Smith Miller and Laurie Hawkinson, and Mack Scogin Merrill Elam provide today.

The study of aesthetics continues to evolve as social, political, industrial, and technological developments generate new views on architecture.

Architects, interior designers, landscape architects, planners, and other design professionals today have the obligation to incorporate "delight", and aesthetics into their designs. Today, we also understand that aesthetics is not just a visual criteria. Sound, touch, and smell, (if not yet taste), are all important in the creation of "delightful" architecture. It is important to understand the vocabulary of aesthetics to make informed and defensible judgements as a design is developed. (See WBDG pages on Form, Style, and Materials.) It is essential to consider aesthetics not just as it applies to the building façade, but also to interiors, the context including the surrounding landscape and buildings, and the larger community. However, what qualifies as a beautiful building or place is open to a considerable amount of personal interpretation. The aesthetic architectural language or architectural expression selected will vary with consideration of context and program, the constructional means, and personal or cultural inclination. No matter what expression is selected, a good design will be accountable to the users' needs, the client's budget, and public judgment in its many forms. We live in a time of great variety in the expression of aesthetics. This often results in judgments about beauty based on taste instead of rigorous aesthetic analysis.

Most designers agree that aesthetically successful architecture comes from an integrated approach. The best aesthetic solutions are inspired by the project's programmatic requirements. Beginning with a correctly formulated problem (or program) developed with the client's participation to design reviews involving the delivery team to Facility Performance Evaluations conducted with building occupants, this process leads most effectively to the best aesthetics AND cost-effective, secure/safe, sustainable, accessible, functional/operational, etc. solution. Figures 1 and 2 demonstrate the variation in aesthetic solutions to very different architectural and aesthetic programs.

This branch of the WBDG is designed primarily to help those not familiar with architectural design terminology understand the basic process, technique, and language by which architectural aesthetic decisions are made. Towards this end, users are encouraged to investigate three essential principles of aesthetics and design:

• Engage the Appropriate Language and Elements of Design
  The language of design describes fundamental visual elements of architecture and design. The appropriate application and thoughtful integration of these elements are key to achieving high quality facilities.
• Engage the Integrated Design Process
  The integrated design process involves steps that foster successful integration of the many factors and design disciplines that influence good building design. These steps provide an orderly flow that build on each other, and full and constructive participation of all members of the design and delivery team will help assure the best results.

The result of successfully integrating the three principles often leads to exemplary projects that are awarded through Design Awards Programs sponsored by professional societies, the federal government, and industry trade associations. These programs offer insight into aesthetic choices and values at a given time in history. For more information see Design Award Programs.

Note: Information in these Aesthetics pages must be considered together with other design objectives and within a total project context in order to achieve quality, high-performance buildings.

Emerging Issues

Anti-terrorism and High-Performance Buildings

Building Information Modeling (BIM)

Major Resources

Federal Agencies

• Department of Defense (DOD):
• DOD—UFC 3-120-10 Interior Design
• U.S. Army—Installation Design Guides
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers—Engineering and Design Regulation - Interior Design ER 1110-345-122
• NAVFAC—MIL-HDBK 1190 Facility Planning and Design Guide, Chapter 5, Section A.1, 1987
• U.S. Air Force—Achieving Design Excellence and Architectural Compatibility Guidelines and Air Force Interior Design Guides

• General Services Administration:
• Facilities Standards for the Public Buildings Service, P-100, Chapter 1, Section 2

Standard Form 330, Architect-Engineer Qualifications—Architects and engineers use this form to present their qualifications and experience when seeking federal projects and emphasizes qualifications-based selection for the procurement of A/E services. This form replaces SF 254/255.

Organizations

• National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC)—The National Capital Planning Commission provides overall planning guidance for federal land and buildings in the National Capital Region
• U.S. Commission of Fine Arts—The Commission of Fine Arts was established by Congress in 1910 as an independent agency to advise the Federal and District of Columbia governments on matters of art and architecture that affect the appearance of the nation's capital.

Associations

The work of many building professionals impact aesthetics decisions. These include architects, landscape architects, interior designers, lighting designers, and engineers. In part to help define the boundaries of professional and aesthetic responsibility, each of these professions is represented by a national trade association. In most cases, the trade association or organization publishes industry guidelines about the legal, ethical, and aesthetics role of their members in the building design process.

Publications

• The Aesthetic Movement by Lionel Lambourne. London, England: Phaidon Press Limited, 1996. ISBN 0714830003.
• Architectural Graphic Standards, 10th Edition by Charles Ramsey, Harold Sleeper, and John Hoke. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2000.
• Architecture For Dummies by Deborah K. Dietsch and Robert A. M. Stern. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2002.
• The Four Books of Architecture by Andrea Palladio and translated by Robert Tavernor and Richard Schofield. Dover Publications, 1965.
• Design Professionals and the Built Environment: An Introduction by Paul Knox (Editor), Peter Ozolins (Editor). February 2001. ISBN: 0-471-98515-5.—Brings together many of the world's leading names from the UK, USA, Europe, and Asia; this is the first book to fully reflect the move towards a more synthetic approach in professional and student courses.
• A History of Interior Design, 2nd Edition by John Pile. August 2004. ISBN: 0-471-46434-1.—Much like the history of art, the history of interior design encompasses numerous styles, movements and the international political and social developments that have informed or challenged its evolution. This lavishly illustrated book will be of interest to anyone who appreciates interior design as well as antiques, furniture design, textiles, decorative objects and the general evolution of the space where we work and live.
• Interior Design, 4th Edition by John Pile. March 2008. ISBN: 0132321033. Extremely comprehensive on all elements of interior design including codes. Textbook standards.
• Interior Design Illustrated, 2nd Edition by Francis D. K. Ching, Corky Binggeli. October 2004. ISBN: 0-471-47376-6.—Ching's illustrated introduction to interior design is now completely revised to be even more clear and accessible. It includes new and updated material on finishes, furnishings and textiles, lighting, sustainability, acoustics, workstations, and much more.
• Interior Graphic Standards by Maryrose McGowan (Editor-in-Chief), Kelsey Kruse (Graphics Editor). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2003.
• On the Art of Building in Ten Books by Leon Battista Alberti and translated by Joseph Rykwert and Neil Leach. MIT Press, 1988.
• A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa, Murray Silverstein, with Max Jacobson, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, and Shlomo Angel. Oxford University Press, 1977.
• Space, Time and Architecture: The Growth of a New Tradition, Fifth Revised and Enlarged Edition (The Charles Eliot Norton Lectures) by Siegfried Giedion. 2003.
• The Ten Books on Architecture by Pollio Vitruvius and translated by Morris Hicky Morgan. Dover Publications, 1960.

Glossary of Architecture Terms

• archiseek online architectural resources
• Art & Architecture Thesaurus Online
• Illustrated Architecture Dictionary

Sample of Great Buildings and Architecture

• Architecture and Interior Design Through the 18th Century: An Integrated History by Buie Harwood, Bridget May and Curt Sherman. New York, NY: Prentice-Hall, December 2001. Exceptionally comprehensive, this single-source reference allows readers to compare and contrast architecture, interior design, interior architectural features, design details, motifs, furniture, space planning, color, lighting, textiles, interior surface treatments, and decorative accessories through many centuries—from antiquity to the 18th century—from the many regions of the world.
• architekturphoto provides a large-scale, specialized online archive of carefully composed photographs of prominent projects.
• The ArcSpace image archive includes brief descriptions of cutting-edge design. Exhibit reviews give a taste of architectural gallery installations.
• The Art of Landscape Detail: Fundamentals, Practices, and Case Studies by Niall Kirkwood. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., August 1999. ISBN: 0-471-14044-9. A fresh, holistic approach to the theories, approaches, and practices of landscape detail. With the support of a wealth of graphic and written material taken from historic and contemporary landscape design work, Kirkwood clearly demonstrates the role that landscape detail plays in the design process. Going beyond theoretical considerations, the book outlines landscape detail as a primary design activity, both pragmatic and poetic, using a range of built landscape design examples.
• The Evolution of American Urban Design: A Chronological Anthology by David Gosling. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., December 2002. ISBN: 0-471-98345-4. Covering a 50-year span, the book seeks to identify built urban design projects and traces the evolution and separation of American urban design theories up to the end of the twentieth century. It includes contemporary designs, projects, and writings in an attempt to identify future directions of the next century.
• The Great Buildings Collection
• The Phaidon Atlas of Contemporary World Architecture is a gorgeous new compendium of recent design from around the globe. This coffee-table book is so heavy, it's sold in its own carrying case.
• Weimar University's Innovative Housing (in German) Website allows you to search by criteria, architect, or name of project. Pick "Kriteriensuche" or "Suche". If you have trouble reading a foreign site, try using the Babelfish translator to get a crude approximation.