Smudging The Boundaries Between Art And Architecture

Architecture is an art and study of designing the buildings. It must fulfill the practical and expressive requirements. It is both, utilitarian and aesthetic. Each art form has a different approach in its course to achieve the desired aesthetic of an idea. But what comes through after the struggle is the utter portrayal of an idea. Architecture carries out the communication of experience and ideas thorough its form.

Dan Rice famously claimed that ‘there are three forms of visual art: painting is art to look at, sculpture is art you walk around, and architecture is art you can walk through’.

Art and architecture have been intertwined since ages. Different doctrines of philosophies and art movements have extended beyond its origin and touched diverse day to day industries. Cubism, expressionism, brutalism…. have not spared its effects on architecture either. Art’s fascination with architecture can be traced all along the history, giving rise to a genre known as architectural painting, where the prime focus lies on urban scenes with majestic buildings. At the same time, art gives aesthetic elegance to the buildings. 

Jay A. Pritzker, founder of the Pritzker Prize, once said that ‘architecture is intended to transcend the simple need for shelter and security by becoming an expression of artistry.’

An architect may draw his inspiration from music, dance or painting; he may derive different process of design though various art forms; thus making architecture habitable, appealing and inseparable from the surrounding where it sits. It is a challenge as well as a pleasure for architects to take an artistic approach to a project. Architecture needs art to turn the unanimated building materials into a space, where people want to live, work, learn and get entertained. The amalgamation of art and architecture should be such that the blend of both has to be much more than the sum of its parts. Art can enliven a space, change its meaning and can also complete the unfinished space formation.

Architecture is employed to create suitable ambience for viewing of art. It sets the mood and tone for different  visual arts

 to be viewed. Theatre is not only a noun but also a verb, which means it is an event and not just a show, for people to gather and engage in it. Creating surroundings, for a scene to take place, it is not distracting for the viewers but rather establishes a set for better perception and understanding. Museums, are the place where we see the art being enveloped by architecture. The simultaneous existence of the two is done in a manner that none is overpowered by the other but complements each other. The plazas of city, get a totally new identity with the introduction of a sculpture. It changes from a square formed by the crossing streets into a place of public gathering.

Therefore, we conclude that it is very difficult to separate art from architecture. These are entwined in many ways, either fused together or one wrapped in the other. A numerous examples lay in front of our eyes to justify this fact. Would Gardens by the Bay, Singapore be called a sculpture or architecture? Would Michelangelo be called an artist or an architect? How to differentiate the art and architecture from the structure of Basilica de la Sagrada Familia by Antoni Gaudi. Thereby, the Indifference between art and architecture should be celebrated by an approach of understanding the process and the portrayal.