Architectural Criticism and Journalism: Global Perspectives - Literature review Example

Architectural Criticism and Journalism: Global Perspectives A. Western Scholars Articles Article The first western article evaluated from this book is an article written by Francois Chaslin, entitled “Architecture and Criticism.” The main points of discussion covered in this article are that of criticism, and as such, focuses on how these architects take criticism. Criticism comes from critics who may either praise or run down the work done by architect, and as such, there is both positive and negative criticism. In positive criticism, architects receive praises for the good work they do, as well as for the exemplary designs that they come up with. On the other hand, negative criticism comes from those who do not appreciate or value the designs and plans developed by architects, and either compares them to other better plans and designs, or historical designs and plans. This makes most architects to detest criticism, as it disappoints them and make them lose focus in their work and designs. In fact, some architects try to shield out criticism by making themselves believe that nothing like that exists. The key source of criticism for most architects stems from journalists and historians. These critics result from the two quarters comparing the designs and works of current architects with other historical designs, or present designs, in most cases to ensure that an architect comes up with his or her own original work rather than copying from others. In addition, these critics seek to ensure that the designs and plans developed by these architects are better, more innovative, as well as being a complete and total improvement on the already existing designs and plans. As such, it would be detrimental for an architect to copy an existing design, or modify a historical design and call it his or her own development, as this would attract critics from different quarters. These two criticize the designs and works developed by an architect for different reasons. For instance, criticism coming from a journalist regarding the designs developed by a given architect target at seeking more information from the architect concerning his or her plans and designs. As such, the journal critic will want the architect to elaborate more on his or her plans and designs, why and how he or she settled on the said designs, and the strengths or positives of the designs or plans developed by the architect over other comparative designs. As for the historical critics, they place the designs developed by architects’ against cultural backgrounds, historical events, as well as major timelines within the lives of a given society. This enables the critics to identify the work of a given architect by a certain culture, or race, or a given time in medieval history. The author concludes by asserting that criticism is a way of life that every architect must be ready to go through in the line of his or her duty. This is because the core aim of criticism is to evaluate and place a given piece of work or design within its historic context, amongst the issues that are contemporary with it, as well as confronting discourse and the building as it stands. Article 2 The second western article evaluated from this book is an article written by Trevor Boddy, entitled “The Conundrums of Architectural Criticism.” This article explores architectural criticism as an art form which most of the architects would wish it to flourish. However, this case of flourishing criticism in architecture is a difficult issue to achieve in most places. So far, just a handful of metropoles have been in a position to establish a positive approach towards criticism. Historical perspectives purport that the practice of architectural criticism developed in consort with the ever-increasing popularity of mass forms of media such as newspapers within the larger cities of America and Europe, as well as the rise of topical magazines published within the same regions. For instance, in the English Language, the contemporary culture of architectural criticism draws its historical roots from the writings of two eminent Victorians. These were John Ruskin and William Morris. The main discussion points in this article are the conundrums of architectural criticism whereby the architects were welcome to the idea because it enabled them improve on their designs, as well as their plans. The spread of architectural criticism over the years as more forms of mass media got introduced in the modern world made architects to become more alert to what they were doing as they were now aware that more people would get to question their plans and designs. Furthermore, the invention of different forms of mass media, including newspapers, magazines, as well as radio and television meant that more people would get to know of the designs developed by a particular architect, and as such, match his or her designs with different designs and plans developed in medieval history. In addition, this aspect puts the architects on toes and ensures that they produce high quality work that is obviously a better improvement of what they already have in existence. According to this article, the author is warming up to architectural criticism as a new way of ensuring high quality designs and plans from the architects. In addition, the emergence of different critics from different times and different regions across the world, such as the two eminent Victorians, John Ruskin and William Morris, led to a major development in different architectural designs and plans developed by architects. These critics were instrumental in instituting moralism within the field of architecture as they questioned the validity and quality of new designs and plans made by architects as they compared them to their historical settings. Therefore, architectural criticism enables the vibrant growth of the architectural industry as more people get to question what the architects meant when coming up with specific designs. As such, this gets the architects to think harder in order to have all the right and fulfilling answers to his or her critics B. Eastern Scholars Articles Article 1 The first article evaluated under the branch of eastern scholars is “Architectural Form and the ‘Spirit of the Age’,” by Hussain Mousa Dashti. This author explores some of the key aspects and procedures that architects have to undertake in order to come up with good architectural designs or plans. As such, the author presumes that the different designs of architectural forms that an architect may come up with are usually because of the prevailing spirit of the age, as well as the place within which the architect is designing. As such, the author asserts that very place in a given specific period or age in time possesses a given spirit that stems from a set of shared trends and attitudes. These trends and practices give the architectural creation of a given place or location in a manner that is more of less typical character and quality. As such, despite the numerous attempts made by different architects in exhibiting their personal or individual characteristics that they derive from their own imaginations and philosophies, the designs that they present will respond rather unconsciously to a number of common views, artistic values, as well as tastes that they share inevitably with one another. A number of architectural journals usually publish some of these shared values and views by architects. Consequently, it is imperative to note that some architects are keen on publishing their works and designs in some of these journals, while others are not willing and ready to publish their works in the journals. However, those who do not publish their works in these journals usually look out for what critics have to publish about their works, and as such greatly influenced by such criticism. Such architects also would love to see what critics have to say concerning the works and designs of their counterparts in architecture. This therefore makes architects either directly or indirectly influenced by the different directions that come from architectural criticism, especially criticism coming from formalist criticism. As such, the key points of this article are the manner in which different architects take or approach criticisms from different quarters concerning their works and designs. In his views, the author identifies that criticism is a positive way to spur an architect to improve on his or her architectural designs and forms, as well as learn from the mistakes made by fellow counterparts in architecture through the criticisms they receive, or as published in the various architectural journals that publish different architectural works and designs. Article 2 The second article evaluated under the branch of eastern scholars is “The Nature of Architectural Criticism,” by Hani Rashid. This article focuses on perspectives developed by the author as he conducted various teaching across the globe on criticism and journalism focused in architecture. From these tours, the author learnt that there are different perspectives to criticism depending on the culture of the area, the era in which the architecture was designed, as well as the audience to which the architecture was presented. As such, each generation and era comes up with its own set of architectural criticism depending on what they feel is lacking from the designs or plan within their own contexts. For instance, the modern day generation reveals in a condition of hyper-mobility, as well as electronically tethered cultures whereby people no longer connect with each other on geographic conditions but rather on economic vectors and streams of information traversing the globe. As such, an uncanny condition exists of a seamless state of existence that influences cities, people and architecture. According to the author, both commentary and criticism at times focus narrowly on issues that have a narrower scope and scale, especially within the local neighborhoods, and as such, fail to engage some larger and influential forces influencing both urbanists and architects around the globe. Therefore, it is worthwhile to note that International Style and Modernism have a strong effect on the rise of architectural criticism nowadays, thereby making traditional designs appear as failed plans. The key focus of the author in this article is to look at a number of questions affecting the issue of criticism, as well as evaluate the effect of such criticism on the designs and plans developed by different architects. As such, the author asserts that different perspectives to criticism arise from the era, audience, as well as the culture within which such criticism takes place. However, it is also imperative for the architects to consider the fact that some form of criticism evolves with the growth of globalization and the development of international styles of modernism. This means that the designs developed by an architect will no longer be a subject to criticism only in his or her own locality or domestic neighborhood, but rather across the entire globe. The world is fast becoming a global village, and as such, people from different places in the world are sharing vital information and designs concerning architecture thereby largely influencing the designs and plans adopted at the local front. Discussion from a Comparative Perspective Articles reviewed include: i. “Architecture and Criticism,” by Francois Chaslin ii. “The Conundrums of Architectural Criticism,” by Trevor Boddy iii. “Architectural Form and the ‘Spirit of the Age’,” by Hussain Mousa Dashti iv. “The Nature of Architectural Criticism,” by Hani Rashid These four articles evaluate different perspectives that different architects have concerning the issue of criticism, as well as evaluating each author’s take on architectural criticism. As such, this elaborates further into the issue of architectural criticism in such a way that some architects like it and are willing to embrace it, while other architects perceive it as a form of disapproval for their work, as well as a disappointment for what they do. They consider such criticism to be running down their designs and plans considering the effort and sweat that they put into the design process. However, each author has a different approach to architectural criticism, with other supporting it as a form improving their skills and knowledge in the field of architecture. The first article covers the disappointment that architects face when they come across negative criticism. As such, the article focuses on different forms of architectural criticism that an architect can come across in the course of his or her trade, such as historical and journalism criticism. The second article covers issues arising from the issue of architectural criticism, with the author taking the stand that this has to flourish in order to enable architects to improve their status, skills and knowledge in the field of architecture. This is because critics usually focus on the failures of these architects, or on what seems not to be appropriate according to the medieval time and plans, thereby prompting vast improvements. The third article explores the impact of architectural criticism published in journals and magazines on the skills and designs developed by architects. The last article focuses on the way geographical places and global integration has great influence on architectural criticism in such a way that architectural criticism is fast taking a global perspective rather than a local focus. Works Cited Mohamed –Al Asad and Majd Musa. Architectural Criticism and Journalism: Global Perspectives. Aga Khan Awards for Architecture. Read More