Aesthetics Should Never Take Precedence Over Function Essay -- Archite

Aesthetics Should Never Take Precedence Over FunctionFrom the archaeozoic Greek temples of yesteryear, to the high-tech autonomous buildings of tomorrow, the question of whether the function of a building or its esthetics qualities are more important has plagued the minds of architects around the world. Websters II raw(a) College Dictionary (Please do not use the encyclopedia or the dictionary to open your essay--way too high school.) defines aesthetics as The branch of philosophy that provides a theory of the beautiful and of the fine arts (18). The definition of Functionalism is defined by Websters as The doctrine that the function of an object lens should determine its design and materials (453). Now, if the function of an object decides the type of design and materials used how does one integrate aesthetics into design, and moreover, how important are aesthetics to an architect? Frank Lloyd Wright was one of the greatest and most noted architects of the 19th and 20th centurie s, and while his buildings where lauded for displaying great artistic design, the issue of function was compromised by the blatant fact that his roofs leaked. This is because he let the aesthetics of his buildings become the heighten of the structure, and neglected to adequately address the function of the building allowing for this problem to take root in his designs (Palermo, 4 Mar. 1999). As is apparent from Frank Lloyd Wright, there is a certain balance that has to be attained between aesthetics and functionalism in order for a structure to be appreciated as a fortunate building.Historically speaking, there have been many famous architects that have struggled with finding a ratio between aesthetics and functionalism. Le Corbusier is a good mannequin ... ...ly overbearing, but at the same time remaining pleasing to the eye (Palermo, 6 Apr 1999). In conclusion, the debate between aesthetics and functionalism has been around for a want time. It becomes clear however, through re search, that the first thing architects consider is function, and then aesthetics. It is because of this approach that aesthetics becomes somewhat of a by-product of the whole design process. By looking for at examples of various buildings, it is apparent that aesthetics is important to structure and in many instances has been successfully coupled with function. But in no circumstance should aesthetics take precedence over the function and practicality of a building. It seems more likely that a happy medium between function and aesthetics can be reached, on a project by project basis, and then applied to the design process of creating the building.