Portal:Architecture
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Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings or other structures. The term comes from Latin architectura; from Ancient Greek ἀρχιτέκτων (arkhitéktōn) 'architect'; from ἀρχι- (arkhi-) 'chief', and τέκτων (téktōn) 'creator'. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural symbols and as works of art. Historical civilisations are often identified with their surviving architectural achievements.
Architecture began as rural, oral vernacular architecture that developed from trial and error to successful replication. Ancient urban architecture was preoccupied with building religious structures and buildings symbolizing the political power of rulers until Greek and Roman architecture shifted focus to civic virtues. Indian and Chinese architecture influenced forms all over Asia and Buddhist architecture in particular took diverse local flavors. During the Middle Ages, pan-European styles of Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals and abbeys emerged while the Renaissance favored Classical forms implemented by architects known by name. Later, the roles of architects and engineers became separated.
Modern architecture began after World War I as an avant-garde movement that sought to develop a completely new style appropriate for a new post-war social and economic order focused on meeting the needs of the middle and working classes. Emphasis was put on modern techniques, materials, and simplified geometric forms, paving the way for high-rise superstructures. Many architects became disillusioned with modernism which they perceived as ahistorical and anti-aesthetic, and postmodern and contemporary architecture developed. Over the years, the field of architectural construction has branched out to include everything from ship design to interior decorating. (Full article...)
Selected article –
Dubai Mall (originally known as The Dubai Mall until 2023) (Arabic: دبي مول "Dubai Mall") is a shopping mall in Dubai. It is the second-largest mall in the world by total land area and the 26th-largest shopping mall in the world by gross leasable area, tying with West Edmonton Mall and Fashion Island (Bangkok)—both of which are older than it. It has a total retail floor area of 8946,000 square metres (5,400,000 sq ft). Located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, it is part of the 20-billion-dollar Downtown complex (called Downtown Dubai) adjacent to the iconic Burj Khalifa, and includes over 1,200 shops. In 2011, it was the most visited building on the planet, attracting over 54 million visitors each year.
Twice delayed, Dubai Mall opened on 4 November 2008, with about 1000 retailers, marking the world's second-largest ever mall opening in retail history behind West Edmonton Mall. However, it does not have the most gross leasable space, and is surpassed in that category by nineteen malls including the New South China Mall, which is the world's second-largest, Golden Resources Mall, SM City North Edsa, and SM Mall of Asia. In January 2023, the shopping mall announced that it is officially changing its name from "The Dubai Mall" to "Dubai Mall." The minor name change eliminated one word from its title – "The." (Full article...)General images –
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that the heritage-registered Weston House, designed by architect Cecil Wood for George Weston, was damaged in a series of earthquakes in Christchurch and later demolished?
- ... that St. Bernward in Döhren was consecrated in 1893, when part of Christoph Hehl's design of a basilica in the Romanesque Revival style was built, but the building was only completed after World War II?
- ... that Charles Thaddeus Russell's architectural designs helped to create the "Black Wall Street of America"?
- ... that Leon Stynen has been called one of Belgium's greatest architects of the 20th century?
- ... that John Rauch, of the firm Venturi, Rauch & Scott Brown, was called "one of the unsung heroes of postwar American architecture" by the Architectural Record?
- ... that the Konzerthalle in Bad Salzuflen, an example of spa architecture in the 1960s, is one of the regular venues of the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie?
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- Architecture museums Shchusev Museum of Architecture • Museum of Finnish Architecture • German Architecture Museum
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